Remember This

by Shae Buggs

  “Oh yes I would,” she says and she drops the phone into her pants and pulls her shirt back down over the top of them. She walks away as if she didn’t have her best friend’s phone wedged between her jeans and her lace thong.

  “You know I’m not afraid to reach in your pants and grab my phone, right?” I laugh. I should be flattered that I have such good friends looking out for my sanity.

  “Listen Lucy, these pants are so tight I practically had to butter up my legs to get into them. There is no way your hand is going to even fit in here as long as my butt is occupying the space,” Drey says with a snarky look on her face.

  “Alright, Alright, you win!” I relinquish as we both walk out of the bathroom laughing. “But please tell me you didn’t put it down your underwear too.”

  “Like I always say, go big or go home,” she smirks.

  “You disgust me. Please just sanitize it at some point!”

  We walk out into the living room and the bell hop is just dropping off our bags. We put them away in our own rooms. As I come out, I see Drey in her room locking my phone away in the safe. I shake my head in disbelief and she sticks her tongue out at me playfully. There’s a knock at the door.

  “I’ll get it,” I say laughing at her audacity. I open the door to reveal a six foot tall girl with long dark hair, wearing a pink and yellow sundress and the cutest rhinestone flip flops.

  “Kara!”

  “Hi, Lucy!” she says. “Mexico agrees with you. You look great!”

  “Thanks, so do you.”

  “Why hello love bird,” Drey adds from the living room couch. “Where is your knight in shining armor?”

  “He went to find Mason. I told him we will just meet him at dinner,” she explains, flashing her pearly white teeth. She has always been gorgeous and polished. “I think they are planning a boys golfing trip tomorrow while we are at the spa. How are things with Mason? Is he any closer to getting his memory back?”

  “Who knows,” I say getting annoyed. Any time anyone mentions Mason these days I get annoyed. “But he hasn’t forgotten how to be a bonehead. I can’t stand him, always getting his way.”

  “Well, he his rather charming,” Kara says and Drey nods in agreeance. There’s a shuffling sound at the end of the hallway.

  “Scott?” Kara asks. “I thought you were going to find Mason.”

  “I am,” he says as he kisses his wife on the shoulder. “Hi girls,” he beams giving us a wide smile and big bear hugs. Scott is a great guy and has always been a good friend to Mason. He is quite attractive but doesn’t ever acknowledge that he is. He dresses nice and always smells like Acqua di Gio by Armani. “The woman at the front desk gave me his room number and it looks like his room is…” He looks around the hallway and squints his eyes at the number on the door adjacent to ours. “…right next to yours.”

  “What?” I screech as I snatch the piece of paper out of Scott’s hand, read the number, and then look at the number on the door. This door is also a double door just like ours and in little letters on the plaque it says “Island Suite.” “This must be a mistake.” I can feel my face heating. “Mason’s room is supposed to be in another tower as far away from mine as possible.”

  Just as I finish my sentence, the door diagonal to ours opens. There he is in all of his glory, wearing a white robe and slippers, eating a chocolate candy. “Hi honey!” he beams.

  4. Arriba

  “The nice lady at the front desk upgraded me to this room for free. Wasn’t that nice of her?” Mason smiles.

  I have no words. Why is this happening to me? “Yeah, that was so great of her,” I blurt out sarcastically. “But did she have to put you in the room right next to mine?”

  “Oh, I requested that part,” he says. “I didn’t want to be too far away from my angel.” His tone is confusing and I can’t tell if he is being sarcastic or not.

  “Ok, Mason, that’s enough,” I cave, finally reaching my breaking point. “We can fight all we want in front of our friends but as soon as our parents get here tomorrow, we need to act like we like each other which won’t be easy. Let’s just get through these next few days and make it as painless as possible, ok?”

  “Sounds great, sweetie pie. I’m guessing your Scott,” Mason smiles as he turns away from me and welcomes the man next to Kara into his room. “Sorry I don’t remember anything about our past. My wife seems to have a little bit of a temper,” Mason says as he looks back, glares at me, and closes his door. I storm into my room.

  Ok, Mason is back in the game. I let him score another point but that stops here.

  “I don’t understand you two, Lucy,” Kara says as she scrunches up her forehead. “You know I will be on your side no matter what but do you mind explaining what is going on?”

  “Well, there isn’t much to say. We both got busy with work, we grew apart, a few months ago he started being an ass and then I started casually hanging out with Eli. But Mason never knew that. I came home one night, saw the red bra in our living room and I threw a giant wine bottle at his head. Now I’m left to clean up the mess and reenact our entire existence together. That about sums it up,” I breathe.

  “I know most of that, Lucy. I was there that night at the hospital, and I’m your best friend so I have listened to you vent for hours about Mason. I just don’t understand why you have to fight. Mason used to be a good guy and you two made an amazing couple. He has always been a flirt but he used to adore you so he would never act on anything. I’m even surprised he brought that girl home. I guess I just thought that since he has no memory of his past that he might act like the same man that you fell in love with.”

  “Oh, Kara, such a helpless romantic,” I say but I start going back through the past week and try to figure out if Mason really was back to his old self. I guess he wasn’t as standoffish as normal. I didn’t really give him a chance. I wasn’t very welcoming to him but it’s hard to pretend that he didn’t do anything wrong.

  “What are you thinking?” Drey asks. They’re both staring at me as I gaze at the floor deep in thought.

  “I was just thinking about what you said,” I say looking at Kara. “I wonder if he would be the guy that I fell in love with, now that he has no memory. I was so rude to him from the very start that I didn’t even give him a chance.” I pause and let everything sink in. “But then again, he is the one who batted his lashes at the British girls on the plane and finagled his way up to a suite on the highest floor just to annoy me. Nope!” I exclaim feeling all my rage towards him flood back. “He deserves to be played with.”

  “Oh, thank God that conversation is over. I thought you were going to side with him and fall into his trap,” Drey says. I see Kara roll her eyes and she playfully throws a pillow at the two of us.

  “You two are going to be single forever!” Kara laughs. “Drey, I swear you don’t have a romantic hair on your body.”

  “That’s not true. I made chocolate covered strawberries for Elijah once when we were going out.”

  “I remember that,” I smile. “And then you asked him to eat them off your body!” I shout grabbing the pillow Kara threw at us and hit Drey across the face. “Romantic my ass. That’s just plain kinky.” We all laugh until tears stream down our faces. I feel so much better being around my friends.

  It’s warm out on the terrace at the restaurant and the sky is changing from the bright blue it was earlier to more of a pink and orange tone. Every table is covered with an umbrella and along the edge of the terrace there are misters that spray lightly. When there is even the slightest breeze, you can feel the mist at the tables. We walk through the restaurant and see Scott and Mason at a table in the far corner of the deck drinking beers. They both have on nice linen shorts and sandals. Scott is wearing a pressed sea foam green button down with a beachy looking fedora and Mason has on a yellow polo shirt with his aviators.

  “Well don’t they look nice,” Kara says as we round the corner of the restaurant finding our way to the table
with the guys. I wince a little. My legs are never going to be the same after my attempt at the splits.

  Kara sits down next to Scott and gives him a kiss, Drey sits down at the end of the table, which leaves me sitting next to Mason across the table from Kara. Mason leans in and tries to kiss me as he pinches my butt at the same time.

  “Stop it!” I snap as I smack him with my napkin. Mason and Scott both laugh and Kara shoots Scott a stern look. He immediately straightens up and grabs his beer not saying another word. He’s a little whipped. He loves Kara so much that he would do anything for her. It’s sickening.

  “While you ladies were primping, we decided to order for the whole table,” Mason says looking smug as ever. “Well, since I don’t remember what any of you like, Scott did most of the ordering but I ordered us the drinks.

  “How nice of you guys,” says Drey grabbing her martini and taking a sip. “I’m starving so anything sounds good to me. So, what’s the plan for the rest of the trip, Lucy?”

  “I have us booked all day tomorrow at the spa,” I start, trying not to look at Mason. “Scott, did you mention a golf trip for you guys?”

  “Yes, we are going golfing all day tomorrow,” he says with a big grin on his face. Mason and Scott love golfing so they should have fun. Not that I care if Mason has fun or not but it should keep him occupied so he doesn’t bother me while I’m trying to relax.

  “Good,” I say. “Mason, our parents get here tomorrow evening so make sure you are back by six because we have the rehearsal and dinner.”

  “Do we really need to rehearse?” Drey whines. “Haven’t we all done this before?”

  “Yes, but Mason doesn’t remember any of it and I need to practice pretending that I don’t want to vomit every time I kiss him,” I say pretending my husband isn’t sitting next to me. “My parents obviously know that he has amnesia but they don’t know that we hate each other.”

  I glance over at Mason and he is eyeing me quizzically, almost as if he’s hurt. What does he have to be mad at? He’s the one who brought a girl into our house! I’m immediately irritated that he has the audacity to have a little pity party.

  “What is your problem? Are you even listening?” I ask.

  “Yup, act like we love each other,” Mason says with his mouth full of the tuna the waitress just brought over.

  “Well, that might be pushing it a little but, ok,” I continue explaining the rest of the itinerary for the trip. “Tuesday, the day after tomorrow, is the wedding. We are having it on the beach around sunset again just like last time. Mason, don’t forget to pick up the tuxes from the little place in the lobby of the hotel. The three of us girls are going to the spa for massages and then to have our hair and make-up done. After that, we are getting ready in my suite. I don’t care what you guys do that day as long as you show up that night,” I say to Mason and Scott who look lost in the details.

  “I was thinking we might go parasailing or rent a pontoon boat or something,” Scott says digging into the spinach dip. “I’m not sure though, we might just play it by ear.”

  “Whatever you do just be careful,” Kara chimes in. For whatever reason, my immediate reaction is to agree with her. Why do I care if he is safe? I must be having a lapse in judgment. What I should be wishing is that a shark will bite off his penis. I’d like to see him cheat on me then.

  “Right,” I say after slight pause. Everyone starts braking off into their own conversations at the table while I sit there thinking. I can’t help but think about how yellow is such a good color on Mason. After all, I was the one who bought him that shirt and introduced him to the color. But it’s not just the color of his shirt that makes him attractive; he smells so good too. He is wearing his cologne that I like so much and I can smell it when the wind picks up.

  Just as I am inhaling to get one more whiff, the waitress comes by to clear the table. As she leans over next to Mason to grab some plates, I can see her peak at him through her eyelashes. Her dress is so short that you can practically see her butt. In fact, I think you can see her butt. Judging by the smile that appears on Mason and Scott’s face, I think I am right. Well, that was enough to change my train of thought.

  This is exactly why I can’t stand him. He can’t keep his eyes to himself and girls definitely can’t keep their eyes off of him. I think that might be why he went for me in the first place. I didn’t give him any attention when we first met and I don’t think he liked that very much. He was insistent on wooing me and making me come apart at the seams until I finally caved and fell for his charm. It didn’t happen overnight though and I think I bewildered him.

  I just have to get through a couple more weeks at most and then he should have his memory back. We can get a divorce as soon as he remembers who he is. After the divorce, I can really focus on my career. Speaking of that, I need to check my email. I wonder if I can figure out the combination to that damn safe. I hope everything is going ok back at the office. If I could just get my phone and check to make sure, then I would be able to enjoy myself more.

  “Lucy, I am going back to our room and Kara and Scott are leaving,” says Drey interrupting my thoughts. Everyone has finished eating and I realize I have spent the entire evening thinking about Mason.

  “I’m coming too,” I say a little flustered. “Let me just grab my purse.” We walk back to the room exhausted from flying all day. I take a quick shower and climb into bed. As I lay there, I try to sort out my feelings for Mason which is more difficult than it should be.

  Maybe Kara is right. Maybe he will go back to normal and he’ll act like the man I fell in love with. He used to make me feel like I was the only girl on the planet when we were together. We definitely fought but we never went to bed angry. I miss those times.

  If I wasn’t so busy with work, I would have been sad that I lost my best friend. But, being the work-a-holic that I am, I didn’t even pay attention to my emotions, or his emotions for that matter. Now that I reflect on it, I sound like a self absorbed bitch. My work was more important than my marriage. But I wasn’t the only one who let things go. Mason stopped trying too.

  And now I am marrying him again. I really got myself into a ridiculous situation when I hit him in the head but I think the satisfaction of hitting him may have been worth it. I wouldn’t recommend it for other upset wives, but, man did it feel good.

  I close my eyes trying to push memories of Mason out of my head. I have to put up with him during the day so I definitely don’t want to dream about him.

  Kara, Drey and I all walk into the spa early the next day. The lobby of the spa is decorated in lavender and turquoise. It smells like lavender too. The dress I have on is all white sheer lace. My swim suit underneath is a dark purple. I don’t know if it’s the lavender calming me down but I feel refreshed and ready to relax at the spa.

  “So, I booked us hour massages and then we will have lunch here at the spa pool,” I say as we change into white robes in the dressing room. The room has hard wood floors, plush chairs next to the windows and it is lit only by the bright sun. We put our clothes in a locker and sit in the chairs by the window waiting until our massage room is ready.

  “What’s the plan after lunch?” Drey asks.

  “I was thinking mud baths would be nice,” I say looking out at the view of the beach. It really is peaceful here.

  “That sounds amazing,” Kara smiles. “I have never had a mud bath but I have heard they are to die for.”

  “Mason and I got them when we were here for the wedding last time and they actually have four tubs in one room so I thought we could reserve a room for the three of us so we could chat,” I say excitedly. The spa is one of my favorite parts of vacation and I need all the relaxation I can get on this trip.

  “Ladies, right this way,” says the tall slender woman in a black skirt and blazer that checked us in at the front desk. Her heels clank against the floors as she shows us to our room.

  The room has three massage beds that face a wall
with floor to ceiling windows. The view overlooks the pool and the beach is in the distance. The woman instructs us to get comfortable on the beds and tells us that our treatment will start soon. We take our clothes off and lay stomach down on the beds. There are white fluffy towels by the beds that we used to cover ourselves from the waist down.

  “I feel so exposed,” Kara laughs as she struggles to get the towel to stay on her lower half.

  “I just hope we get don’t get Birtha, Gretta, and their charming boy/girl sibling Ox like we did last time, Drey snorts remembering our last experience together at the spa. “They were good with their hands but not much to look at.”

  Just as Drey finishes laughing about how Ox had a beard and boobs, the door to our room opens.

  “I have died and gone to heaven,” she gasps as she surveys the gorgeous men walking in the door. There are three of them in white pants and tight white shirts all carrying bags that say Coco Beach Spa on the front. They’re all fairly tall, muscular, and very tan. Two of them have dark hair and the other is blond.

  “Hi,” one of the dark haired men says and he smiles revealing perfect teeth. “We are going to be giving you lovely ladies a massage today.

  Drey, Kara, and I try to say something but nothing but grunting and snorting comes out of our mouths. We’re beyond mesmerized by the gorgeous men that will soon be rubbing oil all over our bodies. Drey gives me her “I know who I will be having sex with tonight” look as the blond one makes his way over to her bed and starts unpacking his bag. As he walks past me I get a whiff of clean laundry. The tallest of the dark haired men walks to Kara’s bed and accidentally brushes up against her as he sets his things on the ground. Kara nearly jumps out of her skin and as she does, her towel slides off of her body again exposing her entire naked backside with the exception of her underwear. She reaches and catches the towel seconds before it hits the ground.