Page 9 of The Other Side of Paradise
“What, really?” She checked her phone. “They should still be on… there must have been an emergency or something. They should be back on now.”
I laughed awkwardly, sure now Dad was out of earshot. “Yeah, probably. I was lying, though, I have my room key.”
“Oh.” The girl blinked fast, and she reached up, scratching the back of her head. “I’m… well, I’m glad that’s resolved, I guess.”
I hung my head. “I just needed an out from that conversation… my family’s all so high-strung. You’re not going back to work now, are you? I wouldn’t want to be working with them right now.”
“No, just, uh, the…” She pointed towards nothing. “The workshop. Tile workshop. I’d been there when I had to leave in a hurry and I left something, so I’m heading back now.”
“Tile workshop?” I rested my arms on the rail, relaxing more into it. Weird having a conversation with a girl standing on the other side of a railing and over a row of bushes, but it was a good distraction from my mind swirling. “What, are you making bathrooms in your spare time between shifts?”
“No… I’ve never made a bathroom in my life. That’s more BB’s thing than mine. Uh—forget that. Tile painting. It’s a group activity Sherry runs in the workshop. The tile workshop, I mean. Sherry—er—she’s a friend of mine.”
“Oh yeah? That sounds fun. I’ll check it out. Who should I say sent me?”
“Buh—” She swallowed, eyes wide, and she took a sharp breath before she said, “Allison. Um… that’s my name.”
“I kinda worked that part out.”
“Right. Very intelligent.” She cringed. Clearly not trying to patronize me and regretting that it had come out like that. Maybe she wasn’t sick, just incredibly socially awkward. Why take on a front desk job at a hotel if you were?
The girl—Allison—looked so different outside of her uniform, it was kind of a miracle I’d recognized her. The uniform was all sleek, pressed perfection, and she was here dressed in a loose graphic tee and faded jeans, chunky ankle boots, her blonde hair let down from the tight bun and falling in messy layers over her shoulders. She was short, curvy, with a full figure and a soft round face peppered with freckles, big round eyes that made her look a little like a scared puppy, and it was kinda cute, in a way.
I relaxed, smiling at her. “Thanks, Allison,” I said. “Well, I won’t hold you up from getting to your tile workshop, grabbing your stuff.”
“Yeah. You too.” She tightened her expression, realizing her mistake, and I decided to call her on it anyway.
“Yeah, going to the tile workshop and grabbing my stuff,” I said. She hung her head.
“I’m tired. It’s been a long day. You didn’t see me, you didn’t hear me, you didn’t, um… this never happened.”
“Have a good night, Allison,” I laughed, turning and swiping the door open, and I barely got my shoes off inside the suite before I collapsed face-first into the bed, groaning against the mattress.
Dad probably would have wanted me to ask the girlhey where’s my sister at,but I somehow doubted this random girl from reception would know. For now, I just wanted to sleep and pray Ryan showed up in the morning, and that I’d somehow go the rest of the trip without running into Dad once.
I didn’t want to admit how much it hurt, the way he’d talked to me. So I just wouldn’t admit it. I’d carry on like everything was normal, bottle it up until I got back to the mainland, and I’d scream at someone until I felt better. That was a healthy strategy.
Chapter 5
Allison
Gavin laughed when he saw my face, handing over my water bottle and sunglasses I’d ditched in the mad dash out of the workshop. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said, and I took the two of them, standing close to him on the back terrace behind the workshop.
“I’ve seen… don’t worry about what I’ve seen.” I shook my head. “Just been a day. Brooklyn always has something weird happening.”
He smiled broadly. “You saw that girl again.”
“What—shut up!” I hissed like an angry cat. “I didn’t see anybody!”
“Mm-hm.” He smiled wider. Son of a bitch, he was onto me. I groaned, looking away, searching for anything to focus on other than his smug smile. The place was still busy even at midnight—the workshop was closed down, but the bars and clubs further down the street were still lit up, and the restaurant across from here was still finishing up with the last customers out on the patio. I really wanted to disappear into the big bushes around here. Instead, I was helpless as Gavin said, “You’ve got a specific look when you’ve seen a really pretty girl.”
“I’ve got a specific look when I’m ready to kick you in the shin.”
He laughed. “Ah, you wouldn’t. You’re so much softer than you let on.”
I glowered at him. Wished I could prove him wrong with a nice swift kick right now, but Iwasso much softer than I let on. Annoying. I looked away. “Apparently her whole family is a mess right now because of that cheating thing I was texting you about. Seems like it’s gotten out in the worst ways. I hear the girlfriend is staying at Brooklyn’s place tonight to stay away from the ex-boyfriend, and Stella was, uh… well, she was stuck in a bad conversation with someone who I guess was her dad? He didn’t look happy. So she flagged me down to get out of it, because I was a staff member she recognized.”
“Lucky you.”
