A Week at the Beach (2 page)

            “I never do!” I shouted at her as she walked out towards the front door. 

            It was true.  Even though I always told her to be safe, and even told her to call me if needed, I never bothered to wait up for her.  What would be the point?  She wasn’t likely to get home until morning anyway.  Once, in college, she left for a date on Friday night and didn’t make it back to the house until the following Tuesday.  Apparently, that date went well.

            I curled up in bed and got lost in my book.  At some point, after I’d fallen asleep, a loud noise from somewhere downstairs woke me.  Figuring it was just Chrissy returning from her date, possibly even with her date, I just turned my light off and pulled the blanket up around me.

2.

I woke up the next morning with a big grin.  Sleeping in a king size bed was like sleeping in an ocean of softness compared to my twin bed at home.  The sun was shining in the window, and I could hear the sea gulls screeching over the beach.  I rolled around on the bed for a few more minutes before I finally got up and got dressed.  It was still early, and since Chrissy probably wasn’t awake anyway, I thought I’d eat a quick breakfast then go for a run on the beach. 

            Once I was dressed, I headed towards the bathroom but was surprised at the sound of running water.  I thought Chrissy had said that her bedroom had a private bathroom, but maybe I was mistaken.  I shrugged it off.  It wasn’t like there weren’t at least five other bathrooms in the house!

            Downstairs in the kitchen, I hummed happily while waiting for my bread to toast.  I reached into the refrigerator for the butter, and when I stood up, I found myself face to face with a stranger.

            “Good morning!  I didn’t know this place came with a cook,” the tan blonde man standing across the kitchen from me said with a smile.

            I studied his face for a second, searching my memory for what Chrissy’s blue shorts man looked like.  For some reason, I remembered him having darker hair. 

            “Hey, Nick!  You won’t believe this!” another male voice rang out from somewhere upstairs.

            “What?” the blonde in the kitchen replied.  He slid into one of the chairs at the table.

            “I guess I was too tired to notice this last night, but I certainly didn’t miss it this morning.”  The voice got louder until another tan, but brunette, man stood in the kitchen.  He continued his story without even noticing me.  “Clearly the cleaning crew that we employ is scamming us!  Not only was the bed in my room not made, but the last person that was here left an entire suitcase, including a pair of dirty panties on the floor!”

            The blonde at the table laughed.

            “Don’t get me wrong, they were nice panties.  I wouldn’t mind meeting the legs they used to wrap around, but I don’t like it when I wake up with unidentified panties on the floor when I had no part in putting them there!” The second man laughed as he sat down.

            “Where’s Chrissy?” I asked when the men stopped laughing.

            “Who?” they replied in unison.

            “Chrissy?  I’m assuming that one of you is the guy from the beach yesterday.  The one she went out with last night?” I clarified and set the butter down on the counter.

            “Who is that?” the brunette asked the blonde in confusion.

            “The cook, I think,” the blonde answered with a shrug.

            “I am not the cook!” I answered.  I was starting to get a little annoyed with this game.

            “Well I certainly hope you aren’t the maid, because if you are then you are doing a piss-poor job of cleaning this place!” the brunette snorted.

            “Okay, this has gone on long enough!  Obviously, you both followed Chrissy here last night and one of you slept with her.  Which one of you was wearing the blue shorts yesterday?” I asked and put my hands on my hips.

            The guys looked at each other.

            “When the hell did you pick up a girl last night?” the brunette asked the blonde.

            “Me?” the blonde pointed at himself in disbelief.  “I didn’t pick anyone up last night!”

            “Then who the hell is Chrissy?” the brunette asked.

            “I don’t know a Chrissy!” the blonde responded.

            “Here’s an even bigger question,” the brunette added.  “Who the hell is this?”

            Both men turned to look at me. 

            “I’m Cami,” I answered, but they both continued to stare at me in confusion.  “I’m Chrissy’s friend.”

            The blonde shook his head, “Who is this Chrissy chick you keep talking about?”

            “Wait!” the brunette put his hands up to shut his friend up.  He turned to me.  “If you aren’t the maid, or the cook, then who are you? And why are you in this house?”

            “Why are you in this house?” I shot back at him.

            He stood up.  “I asked you first.”

            I stared him down before answering in a confident tone.  “I’m here for the week on vacation with Chrissy.”

            “This is a privately owned house, it isn’t for rent.”

            “We didn’t rent it.”

            The brunette and I stood facing each other in a standoff while the blonde’s head pinged back and forth between us like he was watching a tennis match.

            “How did you get the keys?” the brunette asked.

            “Chrissy got them from her stepdad.”

            “I thought you said you called and checked to see if the house was being used this week,” the blonde finally spoke up.

            “I did.  My dad said the house was open.  Who is Chrissy’s stepdad?”  The brunette was still staring me down but the look had changed from anger to suspicion.

            “Ned Davis.”

            The brunette rolled his eyes, “Uncle Ned.”  He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and pressed a number.  “I’m calling my dad.  We’re going to get this whole thing cleared up.”

            I stood in my spot in the kitchen, listening to the brunette man talk to his dad on the phone.  My eyes roamed over him.  Both men looked to be in their mid to late twenties, very fit, and very tan.  The brunette’s nails looked manicured, but I couldn’t be sure.  I glanced over at the blonde, but turned away quickly.

            Apparently, I wasn’t the only one checking people out. 

            As I turned away, I caught the beginnings of a smile on the blonde’s face.

            “Well, dad talked to Uncle Ned and it seems like you girls are legit, although, I’ve yet to see this Chrissy girl that you keep talking about.”  He put his phone back in his pocket.  “How long before you girls can be out?”

            “What?” I asked in disbelief.

            “Uncle Ned didn’t follow the procedure.  He was supposed to check the calendar and then mark it if he wanted it.  Since he didn’t do that, and I did, you girls will have to leave.”  The brunette shrugged nonchalantly.

            “Like hell we will!  It’s not our fault Ned didn’t follow the rules.  We were here first, and we’re not going anywhere!” I put my hands on my hips and looked him square in the eyes.  There was no way I was going to let him bully us into leaving.

            “I’m sorry Tammy, but those are the rules.  You and the phantom Chrissy will just have to leave.”

            I took a step closer to him.  “My name is Cami, not Tammy!  I don’t care what the rules are.  We aren’t the ones who broke them, and we were here first.  That suitcase you found in your room was Chrissy’s, and so were the panties.  As far as I’m concerned, you two can find somewhere else to go for the week because we’re not leaving.”

            “Listen here, Cami,” the brunette stepped up to me and spoke angrily at me.  “I don’t care if you two girls have been staying here for the past month!  In this family, we have rules about how to schedule time in the vacation homes and for the use of the private jet.  The fact that Uncle Ned didn’t follow them and let the daughter of his latest gold-digging whore of a wife have the keys is not my problem.  Get your shit and get out!”

            “Whoa!  Wait!” the blonde stood up and got between us.  He didn’t touch me, but he put his arm out to stop me.

I had already lunged forward at his rude friend.  His arm stopped me and kept me from being able to reach the brunette.

“This house has like ten bedrooms or something.  There’s no reason why we can’t all stay here, right?” He looked from his friend to me.

I took a deep breath and stared at the brunette.  As angry as I was for the rude way he had handled the situation, there really wasn’t any meat to my argument against breaking the rule.  As long as he kept his mouth shut, I could handle sharing the house with him.

The blonde looked at me expectantly.

I nodded in agreement.

The blonde turned to his friend.

The brunette looked me up and down.  “I guess she can stay.”

“Thank you,” I said sarcastically.

The blonde dropped his arms and nodded at us. 

The room was silent as we went back to our original positions.  Both men sat back down at the table and I moved back to the counter and buttered my toast. 

The sound of the back door opening made us all look up.  Chrissy walked loudly into the room, couture heels in her hand, and her hair a mess. 

She smiled when she saw me, but then flinched when she saw the two men sitting at the table. 

“Jesus, Cami!  I told you to go out and get yourself a man, not a set of men.  Was there a buy one get one free special I missed?” Chrissy giggled and smiled at the men.

“I think we just met Chrissy,” the blonde leaned across the table and said to his friend.

It only took a few minutes to fill Chrissy in on what she’d missed.  Surprisingly, Darren, the brunette man, didn’t put up a fight when Chrissy insisted on staying in the master bedroom that she’d left her things in. He agreed to move to the larger bedroom at the other end of the hall. 

            “So, you’re Ned’s nephew?” Chrissy asked Darren as she pinched off a piece of my toast.

            “Yes,” he smiled at her.  “And you are the daughter of Ned’s latest wife?”

            Chrissy nodded, “Why weren’t you at the wedding?”

            Darren smiled at her, “I was at his first three, so you’ll forgive me for not traveling across the country for this one.”

            Chrissy giggled. 

            I rolled my eyes and looked down at my breakfast.

            “Who is that?” Chrissy asked.

            I looked up and watched as Chrissy pointed at the blonde still sitting at the table.

            Darren followed her gaze, “This is my friend Nick.”

The blonde gave us all a quick wave.

“And you brought him here?” Chrissy asked. 

I could tell from the smile on her face that she was up to something.  I actually knew Chrissy well enough to know exactly what she was thinking and what she was probably going to say next.  I tried to suppress the smile that was forming on my lips.  I glanced from Darren to Nick, hoping to catch both of their reactions.