Naked (8 page)

“Absolutely,” Caelyn said. “Thanks again. Thanks so much.”

“After work tomorrow, I’ll show you that room I was telling you about.”

“Okay,” Caelyn smiled.

Kenzie waved, walked off to another part of the restaurant.

As they left Mean Margarita’s, Elijah was walking slightly ahead of her. He was heading toward the motel, but going at a quick pace. Caelyn struggled to stay with him.

“Hey, slow down,” she said.

“I’m tired, I want to get back to the room.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. I just told you, I’m tired.”

Caelyn grabbed his forearm, and he finally slowed. His eyes met hers and now she could see the hurt in them. “Elijah, something’s wrong. Why won’t you just tell me?”

He stopped walking. “So you got a job, that’s cool.”

“I thought so,” she replied, wiping a strand of hair that had blown into her eyes.

“But what was that stuff about her showing you a room?”

“She mentioned that she has a spare room in her house—“

He interrupted with harsh laughter. “Of course she does.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He just shook his head and started walking again, albeit a little slower this time.

“Elijah, she said. “What’s wrong with her showing me a room?”

“For free?” he said.

“She didn’t say. But at least it’s something.”

“And what do you have now? Are you sleeping on the street?”

“No. You paid for a room, but—”

“Oh, I guess it’s nothing, though.” He waved her off.

“Elijah, I’m totally confused.”

“That lady is a creep,” he said. “The minute I saw her, I got a bad vibe. I don’t know what her deal is, but I don’t trust her.”

“I don’t see what’s so bad about her offering to let me stay somewhere for awhile.

Maybe she’s used that for other waitresses in the past.”

“I’m sure she has,” he laughed.

“I don’t get it.”

“Of course you don’t.” He didn’t elaborate.

They walked in silence until they got back to the room. Once inside, the room felt small and almost claustrophobic. Elijah spread out on the bed and turned the TV on, while Caelyn sat in a small, rickety chair nearby.

She looked at him, her leg bouncing up and down nervously. “I don’t understand what I did to get you so upset.”

He wouldn’t look at her. “I guess you’re happy with how everything played out.

You don’t have to try and smooth it over now, Caelyn.”

She took in his words and then a flood of anger jolted her to her feet. “Happy with how things played out? Do you think I chose any of this? I’m just trying to survive.”

His eyes met hers briefly, then went back to the TV. “That’s the thing. You don’t have to try and survive, because if things go bad here, you’ll always be able to call Mom and Dad to help you out of it.”

“I’m sorry I don’t have enough street cred for your liking, Elijah. And I’m really sorry that ever since we got here, you’ve been acting like a total baby. But please—

please don’t try and convince me that these are all my problems. Because I know that you’ve got plenty of your own.”

His eyes hardened and his jaw set in the way she’d become accustomed to seeing when he was angry. “You just keep telling yourself that, Caelyn.”

“No, Elijah.” She was going to continue, but she knew it was useless. He wasn’t listening anymore. He was lost in his own world, and she didn’t really understand how it had happened—but everything between them seemed to have come apart in an instant.

***

That night, Elijah slept on the floor.

She’d told him not to be silly, that she didn’t mind sharing the bed—but he’d refused, and then she’d given up.

In the end, Caelyn was too tired to keep fighting, especially when she had no idea what they were even fighting about.

Before bed, she’d gotten another text from Alicia.

I’m still worried about u.

Sighing, she texted back hastily:
Don’t worry I got a job waitressing on the
island. It’s all good.

But was it all good? She didn’t know anymore.

She’d fallen asleep sometime later out of sheer exhaustion, sleeping through until the next morning, when she was woken up by Elijah talking on the phone.

He was standing just outside the motel room, but she could still hear him through the paper-thin walls.

“I’m coming back, that’s all you need to know,” he was saying, as Caelyn blearily opened her eyes.

She saw that she had to get ready for work anyway, so she sat up and tried to piece her thoughts together.

Elijah’s pillow and blanket were lying in a messy pile on the floor. She felt sadness well up inside her at the sight of it. She’d wanted him next to her last night. She wanted to be talking and cracking jokes with him right now, instead of this.

Hearing him say he was ‘coming back’ sent a chill down her spine. Did he mean back to Boston, back to those bad friends he’d been alluding to?

“Give me a couple of days,” Elijah said. “Don’t worry about it. Just tell them what I told you. No, this last part.” He laughed, but it wasn’t the same laugh she was used to—it was bitter. “Yeah. I just got caught up in some stupid shit, brother. I’ll hit you up later when I’m on the road.”

A moment later, the doorknob turned and he re-entered the room, slowing down when he saw she was awake.

“Hey,” she said, softly.

“Hey.” He looked at her. “You sleep well?”

“I guess. You?”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll be okay.”

What did that even mean? What did any of it mean? She was so frustrated, she wanted to scream at him. But somehow, she couldn’t find the words.

She was scared that he was leaving Florida and going back to Boston. She was scared that she’d never see him smile again, hear him laugh, feel his fingers stroking her hair.

But she was also scared to tell him any of those things, because ever since last night he’d been unreachable. He seemed angry and distant, like he was finished with her for some reason.

“I guess I’m going to shower and get ready for my first day at the restaurant,” she said, smiling. “What about you?”

He bent down and picked up the pillow and blanket, tossed them on the bed.

“Guess I’m going to hit the road.”

Her stomach dropped. “Where to?”

“Don’t know just yet.”

“Boston?”

He glanced at her. “Maybe.”

“I thought you said you needed to get away from…bad influences.”

“Maybe I did. Maybe I’m going back anyway.” His eyes met her as if challenging her to say something to sway him.

She wanted to tell him that he should stay, that she wanted to see him again. But she got afraid once more. The truth was, he didn’t want to stay and she couldn’t bear to hear him say it to her face.

So she just smiled again. “Will I see you when I get out of the shower or are you just going to—“

“Nah, I should get an early start,” he said, cutting her off. “You take care, though.”

She felt tears spring to her eyes and turned away, moving toward the bathroom.

“Have a nice trip, Elijah,” she muttered, as she closed the bathroom door and heard him readying his things.

She didn’t shower for long—maybe five or ten minutes. And then she got out of the bathroom fast, hoping to catch him before he left. But he must have been more intent to get out of there without seeing her.

She stepped out of the bathroom and found the room key sitting alone on the table with a handwritten note next to it.

I paid for an extra night in case that other room doesn’t work out.

-Elijah.

She sat on the chair and read it, feeling the ink on her fingertips. Tears were rolling down her face. She wished she could have at least gotten his phone number or something.

Now she knew she’d never see him again.

***

Something strange happened when she got into work.

The waitress who had introduced her to Kenzie was working behind the bar, setting out freshly dried glasses. When she saw Caelyn walk into the restaurant, she grinned widely. “Hey, you.”

“Hey,” Caelyn said.

“Ready for your first day?”

“As ready as I can be. A little nervous.” And sad, she thought, but saw no reason to mention that.

“Your name’s Caelyn, right?”

“Yeah. What’s your name again?”

“Rosemary, but everyone just calls me Ro.” Ro smiled again as she set another glass on the bar. “Well, Caelyn you must be popular, because someone already called for you.”

“Really?” Caelyn frowned. “Who?”

Ro shook her head. “I don’t know. He didn’t say. He just asked if you were waitressing here today, and I said I thought so. I told him you weren’t in yet and asked if he wanted to leave a message. He said no thanks and hung up.”

“Weird.” Caelyn felt an odd thrill run through her body.

It had to have been Elijah looking for her. Maybe he wanted to apologize for the way he’d left things. Perhaps this meant that she was going to speak to him again after all.

The thought picked her mood up and she was able to start her day of training with renewed enthusiasm.

Before Kenzie arrived, Ro showed her some of the ropes—showed her the schedule and gave her a quick tour of the restaurant. They only had a skeleton crew on until about noon, when more of the staff began arriving.

But everyone was incredibly friendly and made her feel welcomed. Once Kenzie and the rest of the staff showed up, everything kicked into overdrive. Customers were beginning to appear and be seated, food was being prepared, a few folks sat down at the bar.

Caelyn’s duties were mainly to follow Ro around and help her as she watched her do her job, learned the menu and the procedures of the restaurant. Even though she wasn’t waitressing, it was still hectic, as she was running food to tables, getting drink orders, and dealing with customers the whole time.

She was breaking a sweat, but basically enjoying herself.

It was a lot different than sitting in class all day, but she wasn’t sure it was a bad thing.

The hard part was when she occasionally allowed herself to envision what it would be like at night, going back to a room with nobody waiting for her.

And it wasn’t even that she missed her roommates in the dorms.

She missed
him
.

Elijah.

He’d left so suddenly, and she was still hung up on wondering why.

It wasn’t until the evening, just a few hours before her shift ended, that everything turned completely upside down.

Up until then, she’d been doing her job, hustling, learning everything as fast as possible. Ro seemed happy with her, and Kenzie was happy if Ro was happy.

At around eight o’clock, Caelyn took a break. She grabbed a Diet Coke and stood out back with some of the other servers and kitchen staff, most of whom smoked. They all talked while smoking, and she drank her soda.

Then she went inside, dumped her drink at the bar, and went to the bathroom.

The woman’s bathroom was towards the back of the restaurant, and there was a long hallway leading up to it, that hooked around a corner.

Caelyn was coming out of the bathroom when someone familiar rounded the corner. It took her a moment to place who it was, because she had no way of imagining that this person could show up there.

When she saw him, it was as if her entire mind just shut down.

She almost seemed to go deaf, and her vision narrowed. She stumbled a little.

He smiled at her. “I’ve been looking for you,” he said.

She tried to swallow but it was like there was a boulder in her throat. “What are you doing here?” she asked, but it barely came out of her mouth.

Jayson smiled wider. “I came to find you, babe.” He reached out to touch her and she stepped backwards.

“How did you know where I was?”

“Lucky for you, your friends really care about you. Alicia told me you got a waitressing job out here, and it didn’t exactly take a genius to track you down.”

“Why would you track me down? Obviously I left for a reason.”

He cocked his head as if it had never occurred to him that she was trying to get away from him specifically. “Because I couldn’t figure out why you just stopped responding to me. I thought we were together. I thought there was really something between us.”

She looked around, but the hallway was empty. She thought about screaming, but didn’t know what she’d say if people came running to help.

Say that he raped you.

No, she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t open that can of worms. She’d run to Florida to avoid this very moment, and here it was, happening anyway.

“I need to get back to work,” she said, trying to walk by him.

Jayson blocked her path. He was a very large guy. He wasn’t as cut and muscular as Elijah, but he was bulkier and taller. And he was much, much stronger than her—she knew that already. “Come on, I flew all the way out here to see you. Doesn’t that get me some brownie points?” he chuckled.

“I can’t do this right now.”

His smile disappeared and he reached out and grabbed her wrist. “Listen,” he told her, his voice dropping to a lower register. “I want you to come home with me.” His hand tightened. “I like you. And I want you in Boston with me.”

“I don’t want to go anywhere with you,” she said, finally meeting his gaze.

But his eyes were the same as the other night—there was nothing in them but coldness and blackness. “I get what I want,” he said. “I think you saw that firsthand, didn’t you?”

“Fuck off.”

His hand tightened, and now her wrist hurt. There was a searing pain. “Listen, I can make things worse than you could ever imagine if you try and mess with me,” he told her. “Don’t go down this road, baby. I’m warning you.”

“Caelyn?”

The voice that called out was from behind them. Jayson turned around and looked at the person. “Who are you?” Jayson said.

And that’s when Caelyn saw who had spoken. Relief flooded her instantly.

Elijah was standing there, as if he’d somehow known that she needed him right at this moment, as if he’d heard her and come running. His expression was strangely calm.

“I’m a friend of Caelyn’s,” he said simply. “Who are you?”

“Oh, that’s funny—you’re her friend. Well, she’s my girlfriend.”

“You must be Jayson,” Elijah smiled. “I’ve heard a lot about you.” He walked towards them casually.

“Good things, I hope?” Jayson turned and looked at her with his dead eyes.

Suddenly, Elijah sprang forward. Within fractions of a second, he’d grabbed Jayson by his shirt and thrown him into the wall. Jayson’s head collided with a vicious thud, and as he came bouncing off, Elijah hit him in the belly with a hard punch, doubling him over.

Caelyn let out a startled yell.

Elijah was like a man possessed. He smashed Jayson in the face with a series of uppercuts and then, when Jayson fell to the floor, he jumped on top of him and started punching him over and over again.

There was blood everywhere. So much blood, Caelyn had never seen anything like it. She tried to drag Elijah off.

A group of people had formed in the hallway, but they were too frightened of the violence to step in.

“Stop,” Caelyn cried. “That’s enough. Please, Elijah.”

Finally, Elijah got up. Then he looked at her. “I’ll never let anybody hurt you again. I told you that,” he said.

She nodded, unable to even speak after what had just happened.

Moments later, two policemen were pushing through the crowd. One of them immediately grabbed Elijah while the other knelt down to check Jayson, who was moaning and kicking his legs slowly, trying to get up.

“Stay down, we need to check you over,” the cop said.

Elijah was being arrested.

“Put your hands behind your back, son,” the cop told him. Elijah complied obediently. He looked at Caelyn and sort of shrugged, as if to say, what can you do?

The cop on the ground grabbed the radio off his lapel. “We need an ambulance at Mean Margaritas. Repeat, we need an ambulance as soon as possible, over.”

Caelyn stumbled out of the way, as they led Elijah out of the restaurant in handcuffs.