Annalisa pushed past her into the room. Her friend looked like she was about to blow a gasket. She was shaking. Zoe was pretty sure she’d never seen her quite this angry. Watching her survey the room did nothing to still Zoe’s fears. It was too easy to see it all through Annalisa’s eyes. The naked bodies. The empty booze bottles. The tray on the table with still-lingering traces of white powder smudged across its surface. All that and the odor of sex still heavy in the air.
Annalisa turned to look at her. “So you’ve been here all night?”
Zoe grimaced at her tone and said, “Yeah.”
“Having a little party, right?”
Zoe shrugged. “I guess.”
Emily sat up in bed and stretched her arms high over her head as she yawned again. She was still nude and made no effort to cover herself. “Look, what’s the big fucking deal? Seriously. Zoe’s a grown-up. She can do what she wants. Who the fuck are you to judge?”
Emboldened by Emily’s sharp tongue, Zoe felt a bit of her own defensiveness fade. Some of the shame seemed to vanish as well. “Yeah. So I had some fucking fun last night. So what? Nobody got hurt.”
Annalisa did not look chastened by this reproach. “Well, that’s where you’re wrong, Zoe. Somebody did get hurt.”
Zoe frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“You need to see Chuck.” She clapped a hand around one of Zoe’s wrists and began to drag her toward the door. “You need to see what happened last night while you were off playing with these creeps.”
Emily raised a middle finger. “Fuck you too, bitch. I’ve never fucking liked you. Stupid whore.”
Annalisa paused with her hand on the door and turned to face Emily. “I’m glad you said that, Emily. I always thought you were only pretending to like me for Zoe’s sake. Now I know.” She glanced at Zoe. “We all know.”
Zoe’s head was throbbing again. “Can we please just stop this?”
Emily sneered at Annalisa. “Boring cunt.”
Zoe was pulled out into the bright sunlight. The door to her own room was standing open. She made Annalisa halt just outside the door, laying a hand on the other girl’s shoulder and turning her toward her. “Look, I’m sorry Emily was so mean. She didn’t mean any of that. I’ll…talk to her about it.”
Annalisa’s expression softened some. “I appreciate the thought, but there’s no need to play peacemaker, Zoe. Honestly, it’s a relief. I’m so tired of the game. She’s a user. The only sad thing is how totally fooled she has you.”
“You’re not being fair.”
Annalisa shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. But let’s leave it for another time.” She nodded at the open door. “This needs dealing with now.”
Zoe frowned, feeling anxious again. “Is it…really that bad?”
Annalisa didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to-the grim look on her face said it all. Zoe’s anxiety increased as she followed her inside. The bathroom door stood open at the far end of the room. She heard water running. And an intermittent splashing sound. She brushed past Annalisa, stopped at the door, and put a hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp.
Chuck was in there, attired only in his jeans. He was leaning over the sink and splashing cold water on his face. He looked at her and tried to smile, an effort rendered grotesque by his swollen lips. His face was bruised and abraded in several places. There was more swelling around both eyes. His bare torso bore similar signs of abuse. Someone had kicked the living shit out of him.
Zoe’s eyes watered. “God. Chuck…what happened?”
He shrugged and stood up straight, gingerly patting his face dry with a white washcloth. “Got jumped outside a bar across the street at three in the morning. Couple guys in ski masks. It looks worse than it is.”
Zoe wiped tears from her cheeks with the back of a hand. She stepped into the bathroom and cautiously touched one of the welts on his face, eliciting a small wince. “Jesus, Chuck. You poor thing. I’m sorry.”
More tears came then, followed by a sob, then still more sobs. She was shaking. Chuck pulled her into his arms, allowing her to press her damp face against his warm neck. He stroked her hair and patted her back, whispered words of reassurance. She’d already felt pretty damn guilty, but hearing and feeling his sincerity only made it worse. She thought of what she must have been doing while Chuck was being assaulted and felt like pure shit. He’d only gone to that bar because of his frustrations with her. This was all her fault. The sobs intensified and pretty soon she was wailing like a baby. Chuck just held her and rocked her very gently, cooing in her ear until she began to calm down.
She moved back a step, but stayed in his arms as she looked up at him and blinked away more tears. “What did the police say?”
Chuck’s expression turned stony. “Police?”
“You did call the cops?”
Chuck shook his head. “No cops.”
“Are you shitting me? You can’t be serious.”
Annalisa snorted behind her. “Oh, he’s serious. We’ve spent the last hour going round and round on this. Got fed up and said I’d call them myself. Would’ve done it, too, except Chuckles here threatened to smash my BlackBerry into a million little pieces. Can’t have that.”
“Why on earth wouldn’t you call the cops? They might have killed you, Chuck.” Zoe started trembling again as she said this. Because it was absolutely true. Chuck could easily have died while she was off screwing and snorting half of Colombia up her nose. The thought brought the enormity of it all home again, causing fresh tears to spill. “Oh, Chuck.”
He cupped her face in his hands. “Hey, look at me. Listen to me, okay? I’m fine. I’m not dead. Sure, I look a mess, but it’s nothing permanent. They got my credit cards and all the cash I had, but I’ve already canceled the cards, and Dad’s wiring some money.” He forced a laugh. “How old-school is that? We’ll have to go to a Western Union. It’s kind of funny when you think about it.”
The crease in Zoe’s brow deepened. “No, it’s not. It’s not funny at all. I want you to call the cops, Chuck.”
“No.”
“Goddammit. Why not?”
“I’m trying to tell you. The money’s covered. And we’re on fucking vacation. I’m not about to let anything ruin that. The way things stand, we can still get to Myrtle Beach today and get on with having a good time. We can put this bullshit behind us and have a great vacation. Or“-a smirk indented a corner of his mouth-“I can call the cops and it’ll become this huge stinking deal.” He shook his head. “Fuck that. Me? I’m ready to hit the road.” He ruffled her hair. “Looks like you had a rough night, too. Take a shower. We’ll grab some breakfast and get moving again. What do you say?”
Zoe stared at him without speaking for a long while. It was clear a part of him really believed in what he was saying. But something still didn’t feel right. He was putting a lot of effort into making this thing go away. It was odd. This was no mere petty theft he’d endured. He’d been violently assaulted.
Still…
Chuck had always been good at talking people into doing things his way, a talent handed down to him from his big-shot father. She had been sure she’d developed an immunity to his manipulations, but now she wasn’t so sure. She wasn’t sure about a lot of things. She stared at his wounds and her heart ached for him. Some remaining ember of the passion she’d once felt for him began to flare back to life. It was stupid, but she couldn’t help it. She looked at his beaten face and wanted to help him heal.
Make him whole again.
She sighed and summoned a smile. “Okay. You win. No cops.”
He grinned, then winced in pain. “Awesome. You won’t regret this, Zoe. I promise.”
He pulled her into his arms again and she hugged him back with all her might. She looked over his shoulder and saw Annalisa’s reflection in the bathroom mirror. There was a look of intense disapproval on her face. Regardless of the sympathy she obviously felt for Chuck today, she just as obviously still didn’t like him. It’d take more than one savage beating at the hands of masked strangers to change that.