Rebel(64)

I make a point of turning my back to her while I sip my scotch. What’s wrong with me? Only a few weeks ago, I would’ve been all over that. Drag her to my suite, fuck her silly and that’s it. No strings, no obligations. Just fucking. Hit it and quit it. Buy her a little something nice, like maybe a top that actually fits, and she’d be happy as a clam.

Now? I’m not even fucking interested.

Apparently my cold shoulder’s obvious enough, since the blonde stomps away with her drink, probably looking for someone who’ll play her games.

It’s all Angie’s fault. She broke me.

For the first time, someone made me work for it. And the biggest fucking joke? When I thought I won, turns out I lost. She won, because she’s out there enjoying herself and I’m in here with my brain stuck on the one woman who wants nothing to do with me.

It’s like I wake up, think of Angie, jerk off, take a shower, think of Angie, jerk off, go out, think of Angie, and while I don’t jerk off, I think about going back to my suite to take care of business. Because she’s in under my fucking skin.

And not only is she having the time of her life without me. She’s going places. Fucking med school. What am I doing? Drinking. Go me. Maybe I should’ve stuck it out in business school. If Dad were here he’d be on my case and shouting “I told you so.”

Speaking of Dad, I make another attempt to call out and fix the shitstorm I accidentally threw Marie into. I’ve been trying since Angie told me about it, but the connection has been down since the storm. I tap his picture and surprisingly enough the call goes out. Even more surprisingly, he picks up.

“What do you want?”

Great. He’d better fucking appreciate this. “Hi to you too, Dad.”

“Where the hell are you? I haven’t seen you since last week. Ever thought about showing up for work for a change?” Well, can’t say he doesn’t get straight to the point.

“You’d never believe it, Dad. I’m on a cruise. Isn’t that amazing?” I put a little extra cheer in my voice just to piss him off.

I’m a bit surprised when he laughs. “You took those tickets? What would you do that for? Did you bring a date?” He’s drinking something, and slurps it loudly, probably just to irritate me.

“Yeah, Dad. I did. I’m here with my shiny new sister. And good thing too, because wouldn’t it have been awkward to go stag to my own wedding. Angie made quite the blushing bride.”

The sound of him coughing as whatever he’s drinking catches in his throat makes my day. “You went through with my wedding? Hope you got my money’s worth. Just tell me I don’t need to get my lawyers involved.”

“Nah, we took off before he made us sign anything and trust me, nobody is expecting us to make it final now. But this isn’t about my fucked up pretend marriage, it’s about yours. It’s about the money that went to Marie’s flower shop.”

“Who told you about that?” He listens, letting out his breath slowly in a deep sigh as I explain. “What the hell were you thinking? Do you know how bad you made her look? How bad you made me look?”

“Yeah, you know what? I’d give you a lecture about being a paranoid fuck and too suspicious for your own good, but I’ll wait and let Angie do it since she does it so much better. Maybe she learned it from her mom. You’re in for a treat.” I roll my eyes, and for a moment I get a glimpse into how she sees me. “But yeah, Marie didn’t know anything about it, so don’t blame her.”

“Oh, I won’t. I’ll blame you. You do some of the stupidest fucking things, you know that? When are you going to grow up, Gavin?” He’s on a roll now. This is his favorite topic, how useless I am. “Speaking of Angie, you could do a hell of a lot worse than her. She works hard, she has goals, she reads. Books, Gavin. With words. You should try one some time.”

“She hates my fucking guts right now, but good to know you approve. I didn’t know all I had to do to impress you was to be literate. Maybe I’ll try one of these ‘books’ you speak of.” He can’t see my air quotes, but I’m sure he hears them in my voice.

“Gavin...” he sighs. “You’re too smart to keep playing dumb forever. One of these days you’re going to find something you care about. I just hope it happens before you fuck things up beyond repair.”

I could be wrong, but he almost sounds paternal. Maybe it’s the scotch. “What can I say? Like father like son. If you fix things with Marie, maybe there’s hope for me yet.” It’s weird. Despite it all, I think this is the closest we’ve had to real conversation in years.