Page 37 of Road Trip
“Good morning,” the attendant said. “How can I help you?”
Before we left him we had our passes in hand, groovy lanyards with fucking kick ass pins on them already, complimentary passes to the Mermaid’s Lair for a character dining experience, and passes for preferred viewing area for the nighttime show at Pacific Playland for the following night.
“We take care of our military and law enforcement officers,” he said with a genuine tone of gratitude. “I hope you enjoy your stay with us. Please let me know if there is anything we can do to make your stay more enjoyable.”
Kelly smiled at the man and stuck his hand out to shake. “Thank you. This is very kind of you to do this. I appreciate it.”
He seemed almost verklempt.
I put my hand on his chest and said, “Are you ready, babe?”
He grinned down at me. “Let’s do this.”
Kelly
Abra was so full of contradictions. Sometimes I’d look at her and her little smirk and think she was looking at the world with contempt. But I realized that that was her way of taking it all in. She wasn’t a negative person at all. She was cautious, and maybe even a little insecure, but I didn’t think she could have faked her enthusiasm that day, despite the way she kept her phone away from me. She definitely had something to hide. It made me uneasy, but it wasn’t the right time to confront her. She was radiant, childlike, and full of joy once we reached the park, and it looked so good on her. I’d get the truth out of her eventually.
We explored every inch of California Cruisin’. We went on everything from the giant roller coaster, which wasn’t as terrible as I’d imagined, to the caterpillar ride. We tried to get passes to ride the new Renegade Racers ride, but were denied and advised to come first thing in the morning on our last day when we had early entry with our hotel accommodations and could get there first thing. Abra pouted a little, but when I leaned down and gently kissed her luscious lips she beamed up at me.
We ate lunch on the pier. Clam Chowder in a bread bowl never tasted so good as it did when she fed it to me. She broke off little bits of bread while she chatted happily and she fed me pieces from her hand, caressing my lips on her way back to her bowl for more.
Her phone buzzed again, making her jump. She pulled it out and frowned down at the screen.
“I’m just going to go to the bathroom for a sec.”
Before I could respond, she hurried away with her phone out, making a call. Who the hell was she calling? Had she lied about someone at home? What could have her so damn jumpy? What if she…?
I started shaking, thinking the worst possible thoughts. My stupid brain even had me suspicious to the point I was playing out scenarios that she was involved with my attack after all. When she returned, she was going to tell me what was going on, or…
Wait a darn minute, Kelly.I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. Interrogating her was a terrible idea. I hated that part of the job, but I did it, and did it well when it was necessary. I was never comfortable doing it in my personal life. I avoided conflict quite often, which was part of why my last relationship, if you could call it a relationship, had ended. There had been something off about the girl for quite a while and I pretended like I didn’t know for the longest time. When I caught her out with another guy, I had my answer. Her only defense was that I’d been working so much, she wasn’t going to wait around. A casualty of the job. Like so much of my life.
I had to let it go. I’d be patient.
For dinner we had a reservation at the Mermaid’s Lair restaurant for the character dinner and discovered we would be getting to meet the princesses. She was so excited, which was good since she’d returned from the bathroom acting like nothing was wrong. I decided to ask her over dinner what was going on.
I couldn’t believe my tough little tattooed lady had a soft spot for fairy tales. It made me think perhaps the tough act was in response to her life not being very fairytale-ish. I had so many questions.
“They are so beautiful,” she gushed as the young women were introduced. “Can you imagine? Getting made up like that every day and wearing those heavy dresses around the park? Ew, I bet they get little kid snot and germs all over them.”
We both cracked up, but I could see she admired them. I looked closer at the makeup she’d put on this morning that still looked flawless. She took so much care. Every line was perfect, each long lash expertly brushed and evenly spaced. Her brows were lined and shaped in perfect arches and her lips—Lord help me—those ruby red lips had me mesmerized. I was trying to decide just how to bring up the strange phone calls, but I was distracted by her beauty.I tried so hard to listen to every word she said, but she caught me.
“Earth to babe! Were you listening?” She was laughing, thankfully, and didn’t seem perturbed.
“I’m sorry. I was just thinking how beautiful you look today and how your makeup and dress put all of them to shame. You are the princess here.”
Her face fell and it looked like she was going to tear up a little. I reached for her hand, and she pulled it away.
“Would you excuse me?” She stood quickly, knocking over some silverware. I tried to call to her, but she was hurrying down the aisle and into the building toward the restrooms.
I plopped down in my chair, stunned. I had no idea what I’d said, and I couldn’t help the frustration bubbling up. I looked out over the water and watched the sun starting to go down. It really was a breathtaking sight, but my breath had been taken by the woman who’d just run away. She had me mesmerized, which made me uneasy for the first time. What if this was all a lie?
I sat for a few more moments, warring with myself over whether I should go after her or wait for her to return. I was just standing to go after her, unable to take it anymore, when she put her hand over mine on the back of the chair.
“I’m sorry, Kelly.” She sat across from me, and I looked at her intently. Some of her eyeliner was gone and her eyes looked glassy.
“Whatever I said, doll, I’m so sorry.”
She took a drink of her water and held up her hand. She wiped her mouth on her napkin and sat back in her chair. Her feet swung back and forth under her chair and with her hands in her lap she looked very much like the rag doll I first thought of when I saw her.
