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“I had some vacation time coming, and I told Anthony what was going on. He gave me an extra week. We’re slow in the summer anyway.” I have known Anthony DiBenedetto for ten years or so. He’s like the big brother I never had, but he was also my boss before I went away to college. He owns a restaurant named after himself back on the mainland. I started out as a hostess and made my way from waitress to bartender. I would work during holiday breaks, but I always took the summer off. He had plenty of kids back from college to fill in the gaps. Brenda made her way up same as me, but she didn’t go away to college and now manages the place.
“I should have known,” I mutter, displeased.
“I didn’t give him any details, just said you needed me.” Her voice is weak and apologetic.
“It’s okay, I’m glad you’re here.” I give her a crooked smile to let her know she’s off the hook. I can almost feel the tension radiating off her dissipate. She gives me a huge beaming smile, and she knows she’s won this battle.
After that display of weakness on my part, Mac stays pretty much to the other side of the bar helping the natives that are starting to stagger in. These are the people who don’t come by ferry but stay here either for a week or for the entire summer. Some people live here year round. There are a few people left that came by boat, but they leave before it gets dark. It’s very expensive to dock overnight so they either go to another beach or anchor off the bay side and wait until morning.
On my fourth beer, I notice the bar is starting to get busy. I don’t want to stay much longer. I know too many natives, and I don’t want to spend all evening explaining where Evan is. I am just about to tell Brenda to wrap it up when the blue-eyed Adonis walks in. He has a white polo shirt on with a pair of designer khaki shorts. Wow. I don’t remember him looking this good. I guess it wasn’t the wine. Now that I see him closer, his eyes are even bluer than I thought. Deep cobalt blue like the ocean. He’s tall, maybe six feet or so, taller than the crowd around him. And he’s built. He must work out all the time to have a chest and arms that perfect. I catch myself staring, shake my head to clear my thoughts, and spin around. “Bren, we’ve got to go,” I say faster than I mean to.
She gives me a strange look. “Why? I have a full martini.”
“Take it with you. I can’t be here right now.”
“Um . . . okay.” She looks at me weird but doesn’t question me. “I’ll call over to Mac and settle up.”
“No, I’ll tell Melissa to keep the tab open.” She’s the other bartender on tonight who happens to be in shouting distance. “Melissa!” I signal over to her.
“Hey, Liv, what’s up?”
“We have to go, something came up. We’ll be back in tomorrow. Keep my tab open?”
“Sure, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She looks at me, her eyes swimming with sympathy. Mac must have told her about Evan. She probably thinks that’s why I’m leaving. I’m not about to correct her.
“Tell Mac we had to go, I’ll talk to him later,” I yell back to her as I exit the bar.
“What the hell was that all about?” Brenda asks.
“I saw someone I didn’t want to talk to,” I lie. Well, it isn’t really a lie. It’s more of an omission. If she knew about the sexy guy next door . . . She likes to play matchmaker, and I am not in the mood to be her guinea pig.
“I understand,” she says supportively. I nod as she sips the martini we ran out of Casino’s with. At home, I grab another beer, and we head out to the back deck.
The sound of the waves crashing on the beach has always been like a cure for me. It makes me feel at peace, even though my world has come crashing down around me. I glance at my cell phone. Sixteen missed calls and twelve messages. I sigh. Can’t anyone figure out that I don’t want to talk? I’ll call them back when I’m ready to.
I scroll down to see who called. Ten missed calls from my mom. I can’t talk to my mom yet. She loves Evan, and I’m not in the mood for a fight. I’ll have Brenda call her in the morning. Brenda has a way of smooth talking her, and Mom won’t ask too many questions.
Evan’s sister, Taylor. What does she want? My ex college roommate, Brandi. I should have known with a name like Brandi that she’d be a whore. I am almost interested in what she could possibly want but not enough to talk to that tramp. Evan’s mom. What? She must be pissed at him since she and I got along well. A couple of Evan’s friends who were mutual friends, considering Evan and I were together so long. Everyone called except Evan. My mind begins to stray back to that horrific day.
That Monday morning, I had just finished my final exam in Economics of Coastal and Marine Ecosystems a full hour early. I was heading back to my dorm room to freshen up before I headed over to Evan’s house for lunch. I told him I wouldn’t be there until at least noon; it was just after ten.
I entered the dorm and rounded the corner toward my room. Reaching for my keys, I accidentally dropped them on the floor. I bent down to pick them up, and that’s when I heard it. Moaning and groaning on the other side of the door. I almost walked away. Brandi wasn’t dating anyone and sometimes would bring home random guys from The Park Bench, a bar near campus. I would have left, had I not heard her moan Evan’s name.
I opened the door a crack, just in case it was another Evan. But it wasn’t. It was my Evan. They were both naked on my bed. MY bed! He was fucking her hard and fast from behind, and they both appeared to be enjoying it. He had her bent over the edge of the bed so they didn’t even know I was in the room. I tried to back out, but I dropped my keys again. They both turned and saw me standing there in horror and froze. “Oh crap, Liv,” Evan muttered. I’m not sure if he was talking to Brandi or me. I turned and ran out of the room.
Evan followed me out into the hallway with a blanket wrapped around his waist and not much else, yelling after me, “Olivia, wait . . . I can explain.” Why do men always think that they can explain?
“I don’t want to hear it,” I screamed at him. Tears started to cloud my vision. “There is no way to explain your way out of what I just saw.” I was shaking. My head was reeling. Did I really just witness that?
He ran his hand through his dirty blonde hair and begged. “Please, let me explain.”
“We. Are. Through,” I said succinctly, making sure he heard every word. I took a deep breath. “Don’t call me. Don’t come find me. It’s over.” I started to sob. I couldn’t look at him. He just stood there staring at me like I had cheated on him. He took a step toward me, but I backed away. I was so baffled as to what I’d just seen that if he touched me then I might have snapped.
My brain wouldn’t comprehend what was happening. I was dizzy. I couldn’t see straight. I needed some fresh air, so I turned and ran. Ran straight out the front doors of my dorm and away from the horror I just witnessed.
I know I told Evan not to call, but I can’t believe that he listened to me. He never listens to me. Maybe that’s why his mother called, so he wouldn’t have to.
Now, I am too tired to listen to the messages. I sigh. I wonder what he’s doing. Stop it. I shake my head to clear my thoughts and take a long pull on the Amstel.
