Aloha handsome!
I sit up tall as I gaze at the screen. I’m jazzed to hear from her even though I hate knowing that she’s with the Viking.
What? You’re already in Maui?
Yes I am. I don’t mess around. I’m a woman of action.
I feel the jealously scorch my insides as I imagine her in his arms. I’m surprised how much it burns.
Good for you. Is it everything you hoped?
It’s paradise. What’s not to like?
Have you had sex on the beach yet?
No. Apparently Mr. Clean has an issue with sand. He doesn’t like it against his skin.
HE DOESN’T LIKE SAND? You’re in Maui for God’s sake.
Sigh. I know.
Does he leave the hotel room?
For meals and when we take strolls on the beach he wears those goofy water shoes.
HE WEARS WATER SHOES FOR WALKS ON THE BEACH?
Would you stop with the shouty caps?
Water shoes aren’t manly, Elle.
I know, but he doesn’t wear them in bed.
Hey, what’s he doing now?
He’s on a business call. I think I’ll go prance in front of him in my bikini. Last time I did that he got off the phone right away and we never made it downstairs. ;-)
There’s that burn again. I don’t want to let her go. I don’t want to think about him fucking her in paradise.
Do you miss me? I’m about to delete that mushy crap but my traitor finger hits send.
Yes . . . lots! Bikini worked! Gotta go xo
Thursday’s family dinner is tense. Ma has never looked so fed up with me. She purses her lips as she gives me the once over. Even the bun in her hair seems wound extra tight.
“What do you mean Lourdes is not your type? She’s pretty and she’s a girl. That’s your type.”
Trisha snorts.
Ma’s face grows more flushed. “Maybe she’s too good for you.”
I push my dinner plate away. Thanks to her hounding me, I’ve lost my appetite. “If that’s what you want to think, be my guest.”
“Was she not attentive enough? I know how you like women to dote over you. She seemed very eager when you two met.”
I look up with as stoic face as I can muster. “Oh she was attentive all right. But there’s good attentive, and not so good attentive. She was more the latter.”
Ma pokes her finger out at me. “Must you speak in riddles, boy? Explain what that means!”
Trisha smirks. “Ha! I bet she didn’t fawn all over him, like most girls do. It was a big blow to his massive ego.”
“Do you realize that you sound like an irritating twelve year old, Trisha?”
She ignores me which serves to confirm my observation.
“So, Ma, it looks like your two-for-two is zero-for-zero in the matchmaking department,” Trisha says.
Dad throws a concerned glance Patrick’s way and I notice Patrick’s expression fall. Just seconds later he excuses himself from the table mumbling something about needing to get back to work.
When he’s left the room Ma hisses at Trisha. “Do you ever think before you open your mouth, Trisha?”
“What? You raised us to always tell the truth.”
“Yes, but there are times it’s better to keep your mouth shut. If you haven’t learned this by now I wonder if you ever will. You hurt the poor boy’s feelings.”
Trisha shrugs and continues eating.
I push my chair back. “I’m going to go check on Paddy.”
Dad nods.
When I get to his room his door is closed. I can’t believe that my older brother still lives at home. No wonder it’s hard for him to date. What kind of woman can be okay with that? I knock.
“It’s open.”
I step inside, and glance around. The Star Wars and anti-motivational posters of his younger years are gone, now replaced by world maps and posters from different countries. It takes some re-adjustment on my part even though the rest of the room looks pretty much the same. He turns and notices what I’m looking at.
I point to the pictures. “These are interesting. I don’t remember seeing them in here before.”
“No I put them up this year.”
“What’s with the maps and pictures from exotic places?”
“I really want to travel. I’ve got a plan to go somewhere different every year.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask surprised. Patrick never seemed the traveling type. “So where will you go first?”
“I just booked a trip in the fall to Morocco.”
This is a revelation. I never thought my brother had an adventurous spirit. “Wow. That’s so cool. Who are you going with?”
His gaze drops down to his computer screen and he skims his fingers back and forth over the keyboard. “No one. I’m going by myself.”
My stomach sinks. Why did I have to ask him that? “Well you know, what’s great about that is then no one can tell you what to do.”
He smiles, seeming to appreciate the encouragement. “Yeah, that’s what I told Ma and Dad.”
“Some people are a pain in the ass to travel with. I went with that girl Bethany to Vegas about five years ago, and when we got there all she wanted to do was shop. We had a big fight right in the middle of the Caesar’s Forum mall.”
His eyes grow wide. “Oh, that must have been awkward.”
“I’ll say. She stormed off, then locked me out of our hotel room, and I headed home early.”
“Oh man! Yeah, so if when I’m in Morocco, if I want to spend all day at Ben Youseef Madrasa no one can harp on me about it and then lock me out of the room.”
“Uh huh,” I agree, not asking for an explanation of this place he’s mentioned. Evidently he’s done a lot of research. I sit down on the edge of his bed. “Hey, Patrick? Can I ask you what happened with Elle?”
There’s a long pause while he stares into space. I’m almost ready to change the subject when he replies.
“I thought she was enjoying our date. She seemed to like the exhibit, but at the end of the afternoon, when I asked her out again, she said no.”
I can see the disappointment in his eyes and it makes me feel bad for him. “I’m sorry, dude. Did she say why?”
“She said I was a great guy but her heart already belonged to someone else. She was hoping we could be friends.”
My stomach sinks. Is it more serious than she’s been saying with the Viking? I thought he was only for sex. Maybe she hasn’t been straight with me.
Patrick looks oddly relieved by my reaction. “So you’re surprised?”
“Yeah, I am. She’s been seeing this guy, an architect for a few weeks, but I didn’t think she was that into him. I guess I was wrong.”
“So you talk to her a lot?”
“Well, we’re pretty good friends. Why?”
“Just wondering. She seems great. Why haven’t you asked her out?”
“When we first met I thought she was everything I needed to avoid.”
“She is really different than the girls you used to hang out with. What do you think about her now?”
“I think that we make great friends. And that’s probably a good thing since apparently the kind of guy she goes for isn’t anything like me.”
Patrick doesn’t respond but he looks deep in thought.
“Hey, Ma has the pound cake you like for dessert. Let’s go have some, okay?”
He nods and gets up. I pat him on the back, and ruffle his hair, all brotherly-like, before we walk down the hall.
His sandy brown hair is thick and the mess I’ve made of it gives him an edge. “You should always wear it that way,” I say. “Chicks like it like that . . . mark my word.”