Rainwater Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story (14 page)

T
he next morning I woke to the soft
sound of more rain on the roof. I lay in bed, staring at the dark ceiling,
trying to fall back asleep but not having any success. My alarm clock told me
it was only four in the morning. I groaned and tried to close my eyes one last
time, but my body was convinced it was lunchtime and that I needed to get up. I
realized that I hated jet lag with a passion.

I got up and walked into the
kitchen, ready to start a pot of coffee and get something to eat. Halfway
through the living room, I tripped on a laundry basket in the middle of the
floor. After shouting swear words at the plastic hamper and threatening to melt
it into sporks, I turned on a light and successfully navigated to my coffee
pot. As I waited for the coffee to brew, I glanced around the small room. Even
in the dim, pre-dawn light, it was a disaster area.
Much like my life
, I
thought.

"I'm fixing this," I said
aloud to no one. I started by putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher until
the coffee pot sputtered to silence. It felt good to organize and put things
away, trying to tame the mess that was my life. Mug in hand, I started to clean
up my living room.

Three loads of laundry later, my
house was spic-and-span again. I glanced around the room, smiling at how it
felt more like home. I glanced at my phone on the now clean coffee table. I
hadn't heard it buzz or chirp, and no light was flashing on it to indicate a
new message. Before I could stop myself, I picked it up and looked just to make
sure I hadn't missed one.

Empty. No new messages. I set it
down, wondering if I should send Owen the first message. The blank screen
stared up at me. I wasn't sure what part of the world he was in. He never said
whether he was going back to Dubai or back to New York. My fingers itched to
text him, but I was the one who said I couldn't live his executive lifestyle. I
was the one who had asked to go home. I didn't want to get his hopes up for
something I couldn't give.

I regarded the silent phone for a
moment, willing it to ring. It simply sat there like the piece of plastic it
was. I felt like screaming. I needed something to do. If I sat here much
longer, I was going to burst into tears and I didn't want to cry anymore. The
tears, anger, and hurt were all welling up in my chest, and I wasn't ready to
deal with any of it. I wanted the illusion that things were the way they were
supposed to be.

I went to the kitchen and started
pulling out pots and pans, turning on the oven and pulling out my cookbooks. If
I couldn't sit still, at least I could be productive. Flour covered my kitchen
in no time as I went to work kneading bread, baking cookies, and using up all
the baking supplies in my pantry. I only had a few things in my fridge, so I
couldn't do much more than the basics.

After a run of cookies, a loaf of
banana bread, and a failed experiment at egg-free brownies, I could go no
further with my meager supply of groceries. I knew I wasn't going to eat all
the things I had just baked, but at least it was now closer to lunch than to
breakfast.

I picked up my phone, fully intent
on calling Marissa, and if I happened to check my messages as a result of said
phone call, I wasn't going to beat myself up about it. No messages.

I wanted to pout, but instead I did
what I had intended, and called Marissa. I knew Allie was working today, but
Tuesdays were usually Marissa's day off. All I got was a cheery sounding
voice-mail recording.

"Hey, so, I'm back in town.
Give me a call when you get this." I tried not to sound as dejected as I
felt, but I knew she would see through me in an instant. Getting a call from a
friend who is supposed to be on vacation saying they're back in town is a
pretty sure way to know something happened.

The urge to do something, anything,
was growing stronger. I needed to get out of the house. There wasn't anything
for me here; no reason for me to stay indoors. I hopped in the shower, rinsed
the flour out of my hair, and changed into jeans and a comfy shirt. I didn't
need to impress anyone today.

A piece of paper fluttered from the
door jam as I opened the it. My heart caught for a second as I thought of Owen
leaving me a note, but I quickly recognized the apartment building's logo.

Dear Resident,

We are sorry to inform you that
the intercom and door lock system for your building is currently broken. Please
note that visitors will be able to use the intercom to notify residents of
arrival, but the two-way communication and door unlock features are currently
unavailable. The resident will have to manually open the door to allow visitors
into the building.

We apologize for any
inconvenience and hope to have this fixed as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

The Management

I crumpled the paper and tossed it
into the trash bin before closing the door. Just my luck that the system would
break, I thought. Then, I realized that I didn't have anyone to visit me
anymore. My annoyance disappeared into a fog of self-pity as I stepped out to
my car.

I headed into downtown Des Moines,
looking for something to do. After driving aimlessly through the city, I
decided I should at least get groceries. I turned to head toward the highway
when I saw the dome for the botanical gardens.

We were in front of the Des
Moines Botanical Gardens, the big glass dome glowing slightly from an inner
light. Owen stepped out of the car and immediately shrugged out of his jacket
and draped it across my shoulders without even asking. It was warm and smelled
like his cologne. I took a deep breath, my insides going tingly at being
wrapped in the scent. He grabbed my hand in his, his body heat seeping into my
palm, and pulled me inside.

The memory hit me, and I turned
into the parking lot unsure of what I was expecting to accomplish. Owen
wouldn't be here with me this time. But I wanted so desperately to feel a
connection, to feel that glow of happiness. I was going to just look inside,
remember the good times, and then leave. Maybe it would help me find some
closure.

Inside the dome, the air was hot,
humid, and sticky to the point of being uncomfortable. Children in matching
T-shirts shrieked through the exhibits, weary looking guardians chasing slowly
after them. Some sort of children's tour was going on, filling the room with
screaming kids.

I tried to work my way over to the
waterfall where Owen and I had eaten our picnic dinner. It looked different in
the daylight, the soft glow replaced by the harsh glare of the sun. I could
barely hear the musical song of the water falling over the loud screeching of
sugar filled kids. I stared at the waterfall for a moment, trying to recall
exactly how it had felt the last time I was in this room, but instead of
romantic kisses on my lips, strangers kept bumping into me. Everywhere I went,
the crowd managed to jostle me.

I remembered the sweet scent of
plumeria, and went to find one of the strange-looking trees. I walked around
the room, but couldn't find a single one. When I saw a tour guide pointing out
various species of edible plants to several interested adults, I headed over
and asked where a plumeria tree might be.

"I'm afraid we don't have any
plumeria here. I saw one once in Hawaii, though, and they sure are beautiful.
Sorry about that," the young woman told me. I sighed, thanked her and
headed back to my car.

I was drained. I didn't want to be
out anymore. My throat hurt from holding back tears, and I felt shaky and sick.
I just wanted to go back to bed. So I hopped in my car, went home, and did
exactly that.

***

I
woke up early again the next day
and immediately got groceries and then hid in my house before the rest of the
world could wake up and bother me. I still felt grouchy, and crowds were the
last thing I wanted to deal with. I was giving very strong consideration to
simply becoming a shut-in and never having to deal with human beings again when
Marissa called.

"Hey you! Allie and I are
coming to get you at five-thirty to go to Zoo Brew with us, so you'd better be
ready," she said into the phone. She had been texting me nonstop from the
moment she thought I was awake until well after lunch when she decided to
finally just call. There was no doubt in her voice that I was going to go
whether I wanted to or not.

"Marissa, I don't know... I
mean I'm still jet lagged, and.." I said, trying to get out of it.

"And there is beer and wine at
the zoo. Allie and I already bought your ticket. We had such a great time last year
when we went, remember? Come on, animals and alcohol? What could be more
fun?" I could tell she wasn't going to take no for an answer. Remembering
the good time we had dancing to live music and getting free wine samples at the
adults only event last year made me smile.

"All right. I'll get dressed
and we can go."

"Sweet! We'll come pick you
up!" I could hear her grin through the phone. It was hard not to smile
back when I thought of how big her smile could be. When I set down the phone, I
felt optimistic for the first time all day.

The zoo grounds were hot and humid.
It had rained early in the morning, but the sun came out around noon and
instead of drying up the water, had just turned the outdoors into a sauna. It
wasn't quite to summer levels of heat, but it bordered on uncomfortable. Even
the animals looked just a little too warm as we wandered around the zoo,
sipping on our plastic cups of wine from the local winery.

I told my two best friends the
sterile version of what happened. I had practiced it in the mirror, so I could
say it without crying. I had left Dubai because the sheik's son had tried to
assault me. Owen and I were broken up. It just wasn't working out. Both women
nodded sympathetically, keeping quiet until I changed the subject.

We wandered aimlessly, following
the crowd, until we came to an animal enclosure. Adults were playing with the
child-sized plastic peep hole, popping their heads up into a bubble in the
middle of a prairie dog town.

"I still can't believe you
Iowa folks think this counts as a zoo exhibit," Marissa said shaking her
head as she peered into the prairie dog exhibit. "Seriously, back home,
those things are freaking
everywhere
."

"Yeah, yeah, Ms. New Mexico,
but they aren't here. At least I've never seen them," Allie replied. It
was a zoo tradition for the three of us to stand here and say these lines. It
was comforting to hear them sound exactly the same, like nothing had ever
changed.

"It would be like having an
exhibit on geese. I'm just tickled pink that you Iowans put them in a
zoo." Marissa leaned against the glass as we watched the little rodents
scamper in and out of their holes, their high-pitched chirps almost making a
song.

"I think I'd like an exhibit
of geese," I said as I drank my wine.

"You would," Allie said,
shaking her head. I grinned at her. She knew how much I loved walking the river
in the spring and looking for baby goslings. It was something I looked forward
to every year.

"Let's go look at the tiger.
That's at least a
real
animal." Marissa shooed us away from the
exhibit, pretending not to glance behind her as we left. Marissa had moved out
to Iowa five years ago from New Mexico after a bad breakup, but she still
considered New Mexico her home. I knew the prairie dogs were actually her
favorite animals here, but that she would never admit it in public.

We dutifully walked toward the
tiger enclosure, laughing as we joined a couple watching the tiger. In the big
cat's pool, someone had placed what looked like an empty beer keg. The tiger
was having the time of his life playing with the giant floating toy. I could
see puncture marks through the metal and was glad he was on the other side of
the glass.

The tiger crawled out of the water,
then turned around and pounced on the floating keg. The keg, of course, bobbed
and dunked him into the water with a delightful splash. The tiger popped to the
surface a moment later with a look of surprise on his face.

"Aw look, the big kitty made
Kaylee smile," Marissa said in a baby voice before she laughed and put her
arm around me. I almost punched her, but I knew she was only trying to help me
have a good time. The tiger had gotten a hold of the rim of the barrel and was
pulling it out of the water, playing with the steel drum like a kitten with a
new toy.

"I think he's adorable. You
know I've always liked cats," I said nonchalantly. Allie grinned at me. I
finished the last of my wine, glad for a moment to feel normal. This was how my
life was supposed to be. I loved spending time with my friends, visiting the zoo,
and having a good time. For a short minute, I was able to forget that my heart
was broken and for that, I loved my friends even more.

"Well, I'm out of wine,"
I stated, staring into my empty cup. Marissa raised her eyebrows, and Allie
shook her head when I didn't move to do anything about it.

"So, go get more. That's the
beauty of Zoo Brew. I don't think they've run out of alcohol yet." Marissa
pretended to check her watch, making me laugh a little.

"Alright, you two want
seconds?"

Allie and Marissa both held out
their empty glasses, their eyes back on the tiger.

"Hey! I am not your waitress!
This is a self-serve kind of a place ladies," I chastised. They both fell
over in a fit of giggles at their supposed cleverness. I shook my head at them,
glad to have them in my life. This day was actually becoming enjoyable because
of them.

Marissa hooked her arm around mine,
and Allie repeated the motion on the other side. "We're off to see the
Wizard..." Marissa began to sing, her voice horribly off key.