Chapter 15 #2
Since she asked, I guess I have to give her all the details. At least it’s a great story.
“Well, it all started the first night of the trip to Las Vegas with Justin.”
“Hurry up, Eden! I want to see if we can get into watch that pool tournament,” Justin says in a whiny voice I’m close to hating right now.
“I’m coming! Why do you care about some pool game?” I ask as I hurry out of the hotel bathroom in my new black strapless mini-dress I bought especially for this vacation. “So, how do I look?”
Twirling around, I wait for him to compliment me on my new dress. Since he’s never seen it, I expect a few ooohs and ahhhs, at least.
“You can’t wear that to this. Go back in and change, but hurry because we’re missing everything.”
I stand there in shock staring at him. “Why? It’s a gorgeous dress.”
He winces and leans back on his hands on the bed. “It’s too slutty. There are going to be a ton of guys at this tournament. Go change, and hurry because I’m not going to wait around.”
“I’m not changing, Justin. I bought this dress specifically for this trip. It’s not slutty, and even if it is, who cares? We’re in Vegas. Have you seen the people here? Just coming up in the elevator we saw two women I’m sure were hookers. I thought you’d like this dress.”
That last comment is an afterthought, especially since by the time I say that, he’s watching TV and ignoring me.
This trip was supposed to be a way for us to put the spice back in our relationship since after a few months together, we’ve gotten a little stale.
Every date is the same. Same topics to talk about. Same places to eat.
The same sex time after time.
I thought a short trip to Las Vegas would liven things up between us. Since he has no interest in my new, sexy dress, that plan seems to have failed miserably.
When I don’t make a move to go back into the bathroom to change, he turns to look at me like he can’t understand what’s going on. “Why are you still wearing that? We’re missing everything, Eden. Come on. Let’s go!”
“No, I’m not changing. Either I go like this, or you can go alone.”
Rarely do I like to issue ultimatums, but this is a hill I die on. I just hope Justin doesn’t let that happen.
I wait, holding my breath and silently praying to God he’s going to realize he’s making a mountain out of a molehill. Why can’t he just be proud to have me on his arm in this dress? I look great in it. Why can’t he see that?
Justin stands from the bed and glares at me. “Fine. Then I’ll go alone because you aren’t leaving this room in that dress. Over my dead body.”
With that, he walks out, leaving me standing in our hotel room stunned and hurt. What has happened to the man I met four months ago who loved showing me off when we went out? He never even said a nice word about how I look in this dress.
As tears burn at the back of my eyes, I steel my emotions because there’s no way in hell I’m going to break down and cry. I’m in Las Vegas looking great. He can go to that stupid tournament. I’ll just go down to the casino and gamble.
Screw him!
I take a final look at myself in the bathroom mirror and force myself to smile. It’s going to be okay. I don’t need to be attached to Justin’s hip to have a good time.
“You look great,” I tell my reflection. “Now go have fun!”
Ten minutes later after a ride down to the main floor with a woman who couldn’t gush enough about how gorgeous I look in my dress, I emerge from the elevator with my confidence renewed. Justin doesn’t want to be seen with me? Fine. Then I’ll make my own good time.
Just as I reach the enormous double doors to the casino, Justin calls out, “Eden! You came down anyway?”
For a moment, I debate whether or not I should even bother to respond to him. It’s not in my nature to ignore people, though, so I turn my head and look down the hallway to see him rushing toward me.
“I’m going to gamble, Justin. Go to your tournament.”
He grabs me by the arm just as I take a step toward the doors. “It was over by the time I got there. Maybe if you didn’t take forever to get dressed, although I can’t imagine why it took you so long since there’s barely anything to this getup.”
Stunned, I stare at him, but he practically drags me toward the front doors of the hotel. At first, I don’t fight him because I can’t believe he’s acting like this. When my brain finally catches up with my body, I yank my arm from his hold.
“Where are we going? If you didn’t want me to be seen wearing this at your all-too-important tournament, I can’t imagine you want everyone on the strip to see me walking down the street in this, what did you call it? Oh, yeah. A getup.”
He glares at me and grabs hold of my arm again. “I’m not having this discussion with you here, Eden. I think we need to leave.”
“Leave? We just got here. We’re scheduled to stay here for three nights. I’m not going anywhere.”
What the hell is he thinking? Leave? To go where? Does he actually think we should leave because of this dress?
Justin gets in my face, something he’s never done before, and I swear I see pure rage in his eyes when he says through gritted teeth, “I will not have my girlfriend seen looking like a fucking whore. Get upstairs to that room and change, or I swear to God, Eden, you’re going to be walking the streets to find another hotel room. ”
Something inside me snaps, and I yank my arm away.
“Go fuck yourself, Justin! I will not be talked to like that. I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you, but if you think you can speak to me like that, you can have the damn hotel room.
I’ll just get another one. For now, though, I’m going to gamble. Have a nice night.”
For a long moment, we stare at each other, and I suspect he’s as reluctant to take the next step as I am. I don’t know what’s causing him to behave this way, but this isn’t Justin.
From behind me, I hear a man’s voice say my name, and I spin around to see Marius King. As he walks toward me, Justin says in a low voice, “You better go back upstairs and change right now. I’m warning you.”
I ignore him and say hi to Marius when he stops in front of me, but a second later, Justin grabs me by the hair and pulls my head backwards.
Tears well in my eyes it hurts so much, and now on top of everything else, I’m embarrassed because Ava’s brother-in-law is seeing this whole thing happen right in front of him.
“Whoa, buddy. Leave the lady alone. She clearly isn’t interested in whatever you’re offering. Go get a drink and blow some money at the tables. Don’t do anything stupid,” Marius says.
Justin releases his hold on my hair and pushes me aside, now furious with another man instead of me. “Whoa, buddy yourself, dickbag. Who the fuck are you to tell me how to handle my girlfriend? Go back to whatever table you were losing your own money at and leave us alone.”
Humiliated Marius is seeing me like this, I lower my gaze and look down at the floor. How did this trip go so horribly wrong?
“Listen, man. I don’t want to cause you trouble, but I’m not going to let you treat Eden like this. I’ve known her since high school, so I guess you could say we’re friends, and friends don’t let friends hang with shitheads who are so clearly fucking below them. So shove off before this gets ugly.”
I don’t know what Justin’s face looks like as Marius says that, but a second later, he pushes me hard toward the wall.
I look up just in time to see him lunge at Marius.
Fists fly, and when I don’t get out of the way quickly enough, Justin punches me in the eye.
I scream, and the two men go careening into the wall nearby.
The security guards who were standing in front of the casino doors come running over, further adding to my humiliation.
They pull Marius off Justin, who continues to shit talk, and one asks me if I’m okay. I quickly assure him I’m fine because it’s bad enough I’ve been punched in a public place by my now ex-boyfriend. Strangers feeling bad for me would be too much to bear.
“Mr. King, do you need any assistance?” one of the security guards asks Marius.
He shakes his head and brushes a piece of lint off his black dress shirt. “I’m fine. That man physically attacked this woman.” All three men look at me, and Marius asks, “Do you want to press charges?”
All I want to do right now is crawl into a hole and hide. Pressing charges against the man I came here with sounds so awful I don’t even know how to answer.
When I shake my head, Marius and the security guards step aside to talk for a few moments. After they’re done, one of the men gives me a sympathetic smile before he and his fellow guard walk over to Justin and Marius comes to stand by my side.
“Sir, you’re going to have to leave. Now.”
“I’m a guest at this hotel, dammit! I won’t be treated like this,” Justin barks, attracting even more attention to us.
“Not anymore. Let’s go.”
As they escort him out of the hotel and he loudly complains the whole time, I bury my face in my hands, unable to endure all the stares from strangers passing by. Beside me, Marius slips his arm around my shoulders and pulls me against him in a hug I didn’t realize I needed so damn badly.
“Come on. Forget that guy.”
I drop my hands and look up at him with tears filling my eyes. “I came here with him. He reserved the room and everything. What am I going to do if they don’t have any more rooms?”
“You’ll come with me. They comp me a suite here whenever I’m in a tournament, so I have more than enough space. We’ll stop at your old room, grab your stuff, and take it all up to my suite. Easy peasy.”
Confused by his kindness since his claim about us being friends was a bit of a lie, I ask, “Why are you doing this? You barely know me.”
He smiles, and I swear it’s like all the bad that’s happened in the past hour disappears into thin air.
“Not true. I know you and Ava are as thick as thieves, and if Ava is crazy about you, then I have to figure you’re all right.
Now come on. We’ll get your stuff and get you settled in up at my suite. ”
I nod, wishing I knew how to show him how thankful I am. We begin walking toward the elevator, and it’s only us when we get in and he presses the button for his floor.
We don’t say anything the whole ride up, but just as the doors open and we step out, he looks at me and winces. “I think we better get you some ice and fast. That eye looks rough.”
Could this day get worse?
I hurry back into the elevator and study myself in the gold, reflective walls. I look like some battered housewife. Jesus Christ, how did my life turn into this? Justin was never Mr. Right, but he wasn’t Mr. Beat The Hell Out of Me either.
All I want to do is cry. I look awful.
Marius pokes his head back into the elevator and takes my hand. “Let’s go, bruiser. You’ve had a tough fight today, but you came out pretty good.”
My head begins to throb as I let him lead me down the hallway. “You’re not funny. I look terrible. I feel even worse.”
He smiles and points toward his room. “We only have to walk a few more feet. You relax, and I’ll get some ice. If you’re hungry, I can order room service. I know I could use a drink, and I’m thinking maybe you can too.”
I don’t say anything because I’m overwhelmed by how wonderful he’s being right now. I have to finally ask why he’s really doing any of this for me. My being friends with Ava seems like a pretty weak excuse.
“Why are you being so nice to someone who’s practically a stranger?” I ask when we reach the door to his hotel room.
Marius shrugs as he opens the door and gently escorts me inside to the biggest hotel room I’ve ever seen in my life. Even with only being able to see out of one eye I can tell this suite is enormous.
I turn to face him and see him smiling at me. “Maybe I’m just a nice guy.”
Marius King a nice guy? No way.
Taking a deep breath, I let it out in a rush after telling Ava the beginning of our story. She sits listening like her life hangs on every word, and when I stop for a break, she shakes her head.
“I never liked Justin, but why did you lie to me when you came back? You said you had a great time in Vegas. I believed you because you extended your stay to a week. Why didn’t you tell me the truth about what happened with him?”
Like that day in the lobby of the hotel in Las Vegas, I hang my head in shame. “I was too embarrassed. I let him do that to me. I don’t know what was wrong with me. I’d never let anyone treat me like that.”
“I’m just glad Marius showed up and got him kicked out and gave you a place to stay. It’s definitely an exciting beginning to you two.”
She has no idea. If she thinks that was exciting, just wait until she hears how we spent the week and then got married after seven days.