Chapter 16
“Then you realize, it’s not who sweeps you off your feet, but who grounds you. It’s not who steals your heart, but who makes you feel like you have it back”
—Pablo Neruda
I woke up around nine in the morning to the sound of my phone. Opening my eyes required great effort; the night before I had gone to bed after three in the morning and had no idea what time I’d finally fallen asleep. I reached for my phone, feeling around the nightstand. It was a message from Niky.
“He’s awake.
Don’t worry, he doesn’t remember anything.
He has the hangover from hell
He deserves it”
Me:
“Hangovers are depressing
and horrible. I speak from experience
Be nice to him and above all don’t yell”
Niky:
“Want to take care of him yourself?
I’m sure he’d be more
willing”
Me:
“I doubt it. Sorry to say
but he doesn’t usually do what
people tell him”
Niky:
“Don’t I know it ”
Me:
“Good luck!”
I put down my phone and rested my head on the pillow, trying to get a little more sleep, but it was impossible not to think about him and how he must be feeling.
I remembered the day I had woken up at his place after a major drinking binge, and his concern and advice.
If he hated drunkenness so much, why had he done it?
Perhaps everything that had happened had overwhelmed him.
Just as sleep was overtaking me again, my phone rang once more. It was Niky again.
“Can I call you?”
Me:
“Yes, of course”
I sat up in bed, concerned. Less than a minute later, her call came through.
“Niky, what’s happening?”
“We have a little problem,” she stated, though her voice didn’t sound particularly worried.
“With Henry?”
“Well yes, lately he’s the only one causing problems, but in this case, the culprit is Waylon.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, confused.
“Waylon is here because he came to check on Henry, but the idiot really put his foot in it. He told Henry that he’d met you and that he liked you a lot, and added that you were beautiful, all with a lovesick puppy face.”
“What? Why would he say that?”
“I guess that’s what he thinks, but the issue is that my brother got angrier with Waylon than I’ve ever seen him.
He started demanding to know how you two had met and who had introduced you.
Waylon kept looking at me, not knowing how to get out of the mess.
Finally, I had to step in and said that I had introduced you. ”
“Are you sure he doesn’t suspect anything about yesterday?”
“Well, that’s another problem...”
“Just tell me, Niky!”
“This jerk may have a hangover from hell, but stupid he is not, even if he looks it. He knows you and Waylon hadn’t met before because otherwise Waylon wouldn’t have confused you with the woman who drugged him, and I told him yesterday that you had just arrived, so he put two and two together and realized you must have seen each other yesterday.
The problem is that Waylon was supposed to be with him, so. ..”
“What?”
“I think he suspects you were at the bar. He’s bombarding me with questions. He’s like a caged lion pacing back and forth; his hangover even seems to have disappeared. I had to lock myself in my bathroom to talk to you,” she said, laughing.
“I don’t see what’s funny. What are you going to tell him?”
“I suspect I’ll have to tell him the truth.”
“Nooooo!”
“Dali, I don’t have a choice, unless you want him to come to the hotel and ask you himself, because I should clarify that’s what he was planning to do. I think Waylon is a dead man; in fact, I should leave the bathroom to make sure he’s still alive,” she said, unable to stop laughing.
“Niky, don’t laugh. I don’t want him to know I was with him.”
“I’ll tell him you did it so I wouldn’t be alone, but I don’t see any other solution.”
“Don’t you dare tell him I was the one who took off his clothes!”
“I’d take great pleasure in telling him that, so he’d be embarrassed and stop doing stupid things.”
“No, Niky”
“I won’t do it, for your sake and because I feel a little sorry for him. If I told him that, I imagine it would destroy what’s left of his dignity, if he has any left.”
“Don’t be so hard on him.”
“I have to go because he’s turned into a Neanderthal and is pounding on my door. I’ll call you later.”
Oh God! What a mess I’d gotten myself into. I should book a flight and go back to Paris. Only a few hours had passed since my arrival and I was already caught up in problems with Henry.
Damn fate!, I exclaimed.
I got up, I couldn’t stay in bed anymore. I decided to go to the hotel gym to use all that adrenaline rushing through my body like a runaway horse. I needed to burn off all that built-up energy that had nowhere to go. I changed into yoga leggings and a sports bra.
I was leaving the suite when I heard my phone ring. It was Niky again. I sighed, I had to answer and find out how she had “solved” the situation.
“Niky.”
“We have another little problem,” was the first thing she said.
I rolled my eyes and went back to sit on the couch. I suspected I needed to be sitting down to hear what she was about to tell me.
“I’m listening.”
“I told him you came with me to the bar because you didn’t want to leave me alone.”
“That’s what we agreed on.”
“He asked if he had said anything to you. I don’t know why he’s so worried about that, but we told him you hadn’t said anything. But Waylon put his foot in his mouth again. It’s clear that man doesn’t think before he speaks!”
“Can you stop beating around the bush and get to the point? Focus!” I demanded, because my anxiety was getting the better of me.
“I guess Waylon didn’t know how jealous my brother is of you, but that’s exactly why he shouldn’t have provoked his demons. Waylon thought it was a good idea to tell him that, so you wouldn’t see him in that awful state, he had distracted you by asking you to dance and...”
“He’s gone crazy, that’s not believable,” I interrupted, not because I thought Henry could be jealous, but because it was hardly credible that we would start dancing knowing how drunk he was and having said I accompanied Niky so she wouldn’t be alone.
“Well, let me tell you that Henry not only believed it, he nearly killed his best friend. He lunged at him and said if he laid a single finger on you, he would kill him. To give you an idea of the situation, I had to separate them and stand between them.”
“This is getting more and more complicated,” I said, defeated.
“But I have something else to tell you...”
“From your voice, I suspect it’s not good either.”
“You suspect correctly. Henry is on his way to the hotel. We couldn’t do anything. Waylon tried to talk some sense into him, but my brother is blinded.”
“Whaaaat?”
“I understand your brothers banned him from entering, that’s what he told me, so I don’t think he’ll make it to your suite.”
“Great! Just what I needed. Niky, this isn’t good.”
“I know, but we couldn’t do anything. Waylon went after him, but I don’t think he’ll listen. Now he thinks his friend is interested in you.”
“Damn Waylon!”
“Men...”
“Niky, I’ll call you if anything happens, or you call me.”
“Alright, we’ll stay in touch.”
Sitting on the living room couch, I stared at the phone not knowing what to do.
If Henry was coming to the hotel, I doubted they wouldn’t let him in.
Most likely my brothers had lifted that restriction because it didn’t make sense to keep it.
The doorman would surely let him in. I could go to the gym and forget about it, but I had no doubt that man would wait for me until he could talk to me.
What did he want to talk about? I wasn’t sure.
Another option was to stay locked in the suite and not answer his call, but was that the right thing to do?
Why did I have to hide? I didn’t have answers to most of the questions I was asking myself.
I hadn’t even gotten up from the couch when a knock at the door startled me. I looked up seeking divine help.
Do I really deserve this?, I whispered.
I stood up decisively, better to face it sooner rather than later.
When I opened the door, I found not only Henry but also his clueless friend.
Both looked at me with surprise, although I was supposed to be the surprised one.
Henry scanned my entire body and lingered longer than necessary on the exposed skin of my midriff that the top revealed.
Then he raised his gaze to my eyes and anchored it there.
He looked at me with longing. My stomach flipped; those wonderful blue eyes took my breath away.
“Henry, Waylon, what are you doing here?”
“That top you’re wearing shows too much skin, put something over it,” he ordered, then looked at Waylon and added: “And what are you looking at? You can leave, Waylon, don’t make me lose my patience.”
“Hello, Dalina. How are you?”
Henry looked at him again, clenching his jaw so tightly that I could hear the sound and thought he might break all his teeth.
“Are you deaf?!” Henry exclaimed.
“Can someone please tell me once and for all what you’re doing here?”
“I need us to talk and for you to explain some things to me.”
“Henry, I don’t have to explain anything to you. Besides, I was just heading to the gym,” I stated, trying to sound calm, though I was extremely nervous having him in front of me.
“Dalina, let me in.”
“Dalina, do you need me to stay?” Waylon asked, and seeing Henry’s contorted face, I had to agree with Niky—this man didn’t value his life!
“Waylon, leave! Last time I’m telling you. Don’t make me forget we’re friends!”
I looked at him and nodded. I didn’t understand what he was trying to do, but I imagined he said it because he saw his friend was very worked up.
“See you around, Dalina.”
“Not even in your dreams,” Henry said.
Waylon looked at me and smiled, then turned and left.
“May I come in?” he repeated.
“What do you want, Henry? I really need to go out, so please be brief,” I said, and moved aside to let him pass.