13
strange start
MARLEY
I’m feeling somany emotions right now. Upset, sad, angry, frustrated, like a burden.
An unbearable silence stretches between us, then we both speak at once.
“I swear, I didn’t mean-”
“Why would you do that-”
“Marley,” he murmurs softly. My heart flutters as my name leaves his lips. Or maybe it’s these drinks, cause my knees nearly buckle. A throb spikes behind my temples, and I wince.
I need my pain medicine. Like, right now.
I turn back into the bedroom to find my makeup bag.
Othello follows.
“What is it? Are you okay?”
No, I’m not ok. I’m practically drunk, which is not a good look in front of a guy I just met. His ex-girlfriend is Carina Sterling.
Carina! Sterling!
I feel faint. It’s too hot.
“I have a headache,” I tell him.
I squeeze my eyes closed, the events of the day blurring together. All I want to do is go to sleep in that big comfy bed behind me. I fumble with the bottle of Ibuprofen, my fingers clumsy from the exhaustion and booze. Othello reaches for it, his fingers brushing mine. I try to ignore the slight brush of electricity from his touch. He opens the medicine with ease and then tips two pills into the palm of my hand. The simple action alone makes me quiver.
“Thanks.”
He goes to the kitchenette and brings back a bottle of water.
I thank him again and swallow the pills with a huge gulp.
“It might do you some good to drink the whole thing tonight before you go to bed. You’ll have less of a hangover.”
“Othello, I didn’t envision my vacation going like this,” I admit, ignoring his advice. “First with meeting you again and now…you lying to people and telling them I’m your girlfriend.”
“I know. And that’s why I feel bad.”
“Do you really?”
“I do. You have to believe me on that.”
“What were you trying to prove? Are you trying to make Carina jealous? Or…” The realization hits me, and my voice drops. “Or do you really still have feelings for her? You don’t have to lie to me.”
Othello shakes his head. “No, I don’t have feelings for Carina. Whatever I felt for her is gone. It’s been gone. For a long time.”
“Then why lie? Why use me like that?”
Othello flinches as if I punched him or something. “Use you? Marley, I would never use you. I messed up. I panicked. But I would never use you. I don’t know why I did that?”
“You don’t know why?” I cross my arms and give him a disbelieving look. “You’re going to have to come up with a better excuse than that.”
