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“No salad. I want to eat it. I should eat it. I just don’t.”
“Good, because I was dreading it myself. How about we change it up a bit?” I asked.
“In what way?”
“Skip dinner and join me for dessert,” I suggested. Her eyes widened and I realized how that sounded. “I was thinking ice cream. There is a shop in town that just opened. Thought maybe we could go out instead of eating on the beach.”
“Hmm. I wonder if TJ likes ice cream,” she snickered. “I don’t think that we are going to be able to go without him tagging along.”
“Highly unlikely. But he can wait in the SUV. Heard he can’t have any dairy products,” I grinned.
She said, “Oh, then ice cream sounds perfect.”
I got up off the sand and gave her a hand to help her up. Collecting the empty bottle and glasses, we headed back to the hotel.
We stopped beside the pool. It was amazing how many people were still out tonight. A waitress asked as she passed by, “Would you like me to take those for you?” I nodded and handed the bottle and glasses to her. “Can I bring you anything? Maybe another bottle?”
I really wasn’t a wine drinker, but for dinner it was okay. “Did you want anything?” I asked Kinsley.
“No. I’m fine, thanks.” The waitress nodded and walked away. “I should get to bed. Although I wanted to nap this afternoon, I couldn’t and now, I’m exhausted.”
“Let me walk you to your room,” I offered.
She hesitated but finally agreed.
I was bumped hard from behind and I slammed into Kinsley. She lost her balance. I reached out for her, but it was too late. She grabbed onto my shirt and together we plunged into the pool.
It was cool and refreshing, but I wasn’t thrilled because I knew my cell phone was in my pocket. There was a good chance Kinsley was facing the same issue.
Fuck!
I pulled mine out and quickly put it on the side of the pool. Then turned to Kinsley thinking she’d be doing the same thing. But she was standing there with her hand covering her right ear.
“Is everything okay? Did you hit your head?” I asked, trying to see if there was any blood.
“No. I’m fine. Please. I need to get out of the pool,” she said, trying to pass by me.
There was something wrong. “Kinsley, let me look. I promise I won’t hurt you,” I pleaded.
“No. Leave me alone. I told you, I’m okay,” she said firmly.
I moved and let her pass. She never removed her hand from her ear and rushed into the hotel. I wanted to follow her and make sure that she got to her room okay. But it was evident that she didn’t want me to.
Maybe she was angry with me and thought that I intentionally knocked us into the pool. That was the furthest from the truth. Although I wouldn’t mind taking a dip with her, I knew falling into the shallow end could lead to injury.
God, I hope she isn’t hurt.
I got out of the pool and grabbed my phone off the edge. I wanted to send her a text message telling her that I was sorry. And if she needed anything at all, she could just reach out. I needed her to know that I was there for her.
But as I looked at the screen, I knew the fucking thing was dead. Just a black screen. It wouldn’t turn on. I wasn’t going to bother asking the waitress for a bag of dry rice. I needed a new phone and what I used, they didn’t sell here in Tabiq.
The waitress who’d bumped into me had rushed to get towels. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were behind me.” She was crying.
“It’s okay,” I said. It really wasn’t, but I knew she feared for her job. The last thing I wanted was for her to be fired when it really was just an accident.
“But your phone. It is broken. I will pay for you to get a new one,” she offered.
Lying, I said, “It works fine. Like I said, don’t worry about it.” There was no way she could afford to purchase a replacement. And I wouldn’t want to. Tabiq had suffered enough. I was here to help them. But right now, all I wanted was to help Kinsley.
