She looked at him, obviously clueless.
“Come on, Do. Ecstasy, of course.”
She had kind of suspected it, but she was still shocked. Wasn’t Ecstasy considered to be a hard drug? Totally illegal, that’s for sure. She knew there were people dealing it illegally in some of the nightclubs she frequented.
Once a guy had offered her and her friends some of those pills at a rave, but they didn’t take them.
And now here she was—having sex two nights in a row with this American, totally under the influence of Ecstasy.
Todd looked at her inquisitively. “Do you have a problem with that?”
She sat at the edge of the bed. “To be honest, I kind of do. I’m actually really against drugs. Well, against hard drugs anyway.”
“Oh, come on! Smilies aren’t really hard drugs, according to my brother. They’re just happy pills, to help you have a good time. They’re not going to turn you into a junkie.”
Dominique remembered a picture compilation her father had shown her online when she was about fifteen years old. They were consecutive mug shots of a Canadian woman who was addicted to heroin. The first time, when she’d been picked up for prostitution, she looked like a pretty, young student. But during the six years that followed, she was picked up a dozen times more; you could see her deteriorate rapidly. Eventually, she looked like an old lady; she had a sunken in face and was almost completely toothless. This is what happens to people who use drugs, her father had made clear to her.
“Everybody uses them!” Todd insisted.
“Did you smuggle those pills into Aruba from Texas?”
He let out a cynical laugh. “What? No way! I’m not crazy. I’d get caught right away.”
“So, you bought them here?”
“Of course. Isn’t Aruba still part of the Netherlands? I heard that you can just buy drugs in a store where you live.”
She sighed. She didn’t feel like explaining Holland’s drug policies at this point.
Todd turned himself toward her and put his hands through her messy hair. “You’re not afraid that you won’t enjoy sex without the Lovehearts, are you?”
She smiled and gave him a kiss. “Well, I certainly hope not.”
“Let’s prove that theory wrong right now, and then you’ll know right away that it’s not true!”
He didn’t wait for her answer, but pulled her close to him.
32
Dominique had no idea how long she had slept after making love with Todd, but after she’d finally showered and entered the living room in her bikini, it was already the middle of the afternoon.
Todd, dressed in a bathing suit and T-shirt, had already announced that he was going to take it easy that day.
“Hungry!” he yelled out as he dove back into the refrigerator. He came out with a carton of milk and a variety of ingredients for a huge sandwich.
“I’m going to make some eggs. You want some, too?” Dominique asked while she turned on the coffeemaker.
“Absolutely.”
“With bacon?”
“Of course!”
“And cheese?”
“Why not?”
The fact that there were eggs in his foreseeable future did not stop Todd from making a sandwich so big he could hardly get it in his mouth.
Dominique looked at him with pure amusement. She limited herself to drinking a cup of coffee while making the eggs.
She placed two plates on the table then slid the fried eggs onto the bread.
Todd covered his eggs with large amounts of salt and pepper, after which he folded the slices of bread together, making an egg sandwich.
Then he attacked it as if he had not eaten in days.
Dominique sat down across the table from him. She ate her food properly, with her knife and fork, in small bites.
There were no other dirty dishes on the kitchen counter. Because Angie had said that she usually came after Dominique and Lilian had left, she assumed that Lilian had not eaten yet.
She looked at the clock: it was past three thirty.
“Wow, Lilian is in for the long haul,” she said. “Do you think she brought Marc home?”
Todd grinned. “I told you he was going to get to third base with her! I knew it!”
Dominique couldn’t deny she was curious to know just how far her friend had gone with her new flame. To try to figure it out, she opened the large sliding door and looked at the pool. But there was no one there.
She continued on to the garage and saw that only the Jeep, in which they had driven home last night, was in the driveway. Lilian must have taken a taxi home, she concluded. But with or without Marc—that was the big question.
Back in the living room she wondered if she should knock on Lilian’s door. She looked down the hallway.
Todd read her mind. “Don’t disturb them,” he said, reaching out to grab the remote control to the flat screen TV from the side table. “Those two probably worked hard last night. They will need their beauty sleep.”
Dominique sat down in the chair next to Todd. Lazily, they watched the screen together, while Todd zipped from one channel to the next to avoid as many commercials as possible.
After half an hour Dominique became increasingly impatient. She got up. “I think I’m going to wake them anyway,” she announced. “I would really like to make plans for tonight. I mean, if you guys are leaving tomorrow, we better make the most of it now, don’t you think?”
Todd shrugged his shoulders and didn’t take his eyes off the TV screen. “Of course!”
Dominique went to Lilian’s bedroom and put her ear to the door. Not a single sound inside. Those two must be sleeping, she figured. For a moment, she considered returning to Todd and simply waiting for them to get up. But then she realized that Lilian would have been on her doorstep the moment she woke up.
So she knocked.
When there was no answer, she knocked again; this time, harder.
Still nothing.
Dominique hesitated. She couldn’t just barge in, could she? What if they were right in the middle of … But the thought passed quickly when she realized if that were the case, she would hear them.
So she knocked a third time. After waiting a while—you never know—she opened the door and peeked inside.
The curtains were open, and Lilian’s bed looked untouched. Slightly disappointed, she returned to the living room.
“They’re not here,” she reported.
Todd looked up. “Oh, so that’s why.”
“Why what?”
“That’s why we haven’t seen them.”
“Uh, yeah, that would be obvious!” she responded, a little crabby. “But she could have let us know.”
He began to laugh. “When exactly? When we were fooling around? Besides, why would they? You’re not her mother!”
“No, of course not, but …”
“Then don’t whine about it,” he interrupted her. “There’s nothing is worse than whining women.”
“Yes, almost as bad a rude men,” she fired back. “I’m sure you can understand that I don’t like the fact that I don’t know where my friend is? I mean, we’re on vacation together, dammit!”
Todd let out a bored sigh. “Well, I’m on vacation with Marc, but you don’t hear me going on about it. I’m not going to worry about it. I’m sure they’re in our hotel room.”
“Well, maybe we should try and give them a call then,” she offered.
Just then a loud ringtone rang out.
Todd took his phone from his pocket, looked at the screen and put up his hand. “Here’s Marc now.”
He put the phone to his ear, keeping eye contact with Dominique.
“Yo, man, what’s up?”
He listened for a moment and nodded to Dominique. “In the hotel, we figured. Shall we meet up in, let’s say … an hour or so?”
He listened again.
“Yes, in the square where we sat yesterday. We can have a drink first and then have di
nner at that Italian place.” He nodded impatiently with his head. “Yeah, man, of course I’ll be on time. About six o’clock. If you get there first, reserve a table for us.” He disconnected the call and grinned at Dominique. “Everything’s fine; we’ve got about an hour.”
Before she could respond, he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.
33
Todd parked the rented Jeep at his hotel. Then he and Dominique, intimately entwined, walked to the Oranjestad city center, which seemed to have the ultimate and permanent vacation feeling.
“I could really get used to this,” Todd said, flipping up his sunglasses so he could kiss her without bumping their sunglasses together.
Dominique returned his kiss and pulled herself closer to him. She felt so at ease with the giant American, who seemed to think it was perfectly normal that the world offered him so many beautiful things. Todd didn’t worry about anything, and that attitude was catching to those around him.
It was a little after six when they arrived on a square dominated by young people on terraces. You could hear music everywhere, and people were talking and laughing. On the street, a few performance artists were creating living statues.
“I was here a few times with Marc this week,” Todd said, looking around. “Looks like they’re not here yet.” He pointed to an empty table. “Let’s go ahead and have a seat.”
They sat down. The waiter jumped up to take their order; Todd ordered a beer for himself and asked for some peanuts. Dominique ordered a Diet Coke.
After the waiter left to get their order, she said, “I still need to process all that whiskey from last night. I can’t believe you’re drinking beer already.”
He grinned. “Girls are lightweights. Besides, I want to make the most of it tonight, since we leave tomorrow.”
She knew that all too well. She was dreading it, even if she’d only known him for such a short time. She wished she could keep him with her the whole vacation.
“Are we going to see each other again?”
He gave her a disapproving look. “What did we decide? No sentimental stuff, lady! What happens in Aruba stays in Aruba! Right?”
“Yeah, but …”
Todd leaned in to her and placed his finger on her lips. “Shhh. Don’t ruin it. So far, this has been the best vacation I’ve ever had.”
Apparently, he didn’t find it all very dramatic. And he was right, of course, it was better to enjoy the few hours they had left together. She was going to keep her chin up.
Casually, she looked around. “What’s taking them so long?”
He grinned. “What—am I suddenly not enough for you?”
The waiter returned, making his way in between the other tables, his tray balanced on his fingertips. With a very gallant gesture, he placed the two glasses before them.
“I really want to see Lilian; I have so much to tell her. Besides,” she said teasingly, “she will still be here after tomorrow, and you won’t. At least with her I know I will see her again.”
“Oh, are we starting that up again,” he answered with his mouth full of peanuts. “Don’t think about tomorrow—live today!”
Just then Marc entered the square. He had one hand in his pocket and carried a newspaper in the other.
When he saw them, he waved and walked toward them.
“There are tornadoes in Kentucky and Indiana,” he announced, plopping down in one of the chairs and tossing his sunglasses and newspaper on the table. “It looks like they’re also expecting them in Alabama and Tennessee.” He looked worried. “I’ve got family in Nashville. This is not good.”
Before Todd could respond, Dominique said, “Too bad for you. But where is Lilian?”
“You animal! Don’t tell me she’s still knocked out in our hotel room!” Todd said so loudly that the other people around them looked their way.
But Marc looked confused. “Lilian? Isn’t she with you guys?”
34
“What do you mean?” Dominique said sternly.
Todd saw how shocked she was, so he said to Marc in a serious tone, “Yo, dude, this isn’t funny. Where is Lilian?”
“Really, I swear to you, I don’t know.” He leaned in closer to them. “I thought she went home.”
“When?” Dominique asked.
“Last night.”
She locked eyes with him. “When last night?”
Marc lifted his arms in an apologetic gesture. “After you guys had left.”
“Wait a minute,” Dominique said. “So you weren’t with her all night?”
Marc smiled sadly. “That’s right. And, believe me, that was not my decision.”
“She didn’t want to go with you?” Todd asked.
“I thought she did at first,” Marc answered. “But then, suddenly, she was just gone.”
“Just gone?” Dominique’s voice sounded angry. “How can she ‘just’ be gone all of a sudden?”
Marc rubbed his eyes and continued to sit with his hands covering his face for a moment. Then he looked right at Dominique.
“Okay, so Lil and I were at the campfire. That was going great. Well, you saw us.” He smiled, but quickly continued when he saw her serious face didn’t change. “I really thought she was going to ask me to go to your house. But then we noticed you guys weren’t there anymore. And I saw Todd’s text message.”
Dominique looked at Todd for a moment. He nodded and said, “That’s right. When we were waiting for the boat, I texted him that we were taking the Jeep home.”
“Precisely,” Marc continued. “So, because I had to use the restroom, I decided to see if I could try and catch up with you, to see if we could all drive home together. But when I reached the docks, the water taxi had just left. I could see you both on the deck.”
“So then you went back?” Dominique asked.
“Yes, of course.” Marc leaned back again. “To our spot and to the terraces, but I didn’t see her anywhere. I looked for her on the beach and by the restrooms, but she was nowhere to be found.”
“You could have just called her,” Todd said.
“Yes, of course I tried that too. But she didn’t pick up. She also didn’t respond to any of my text messages. I looked for her at all the other campfires too, also at all the clubs and terraces, but I couldn’t find her. Well, then it was clear to me.”
“What was clear … ?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “She just didn’t want me to go with her. So she left alone. It was a real letdown, I must say, certainly after the way she kissed me on the beach. If she really didn’t want to do more than that, she could have just told me so.”
“You should have called us!” Dominique called out, accusingly.
“Oh, sure!” he sniffed. “To say what exactly? ‘Guys, Lilian left without me. You guys having a great time without me?’ I was disappointed enough.”
Dominique didn’t entertain his self-pity. “I don’t understand. She never made it to our house. Where could she have gone?”
“I don’t know,” Todd said. “Maybe she bumped into someone she knows?”
“One of those other friends of yours,” Marc suggested. “You know, the ones who work here?”
Dominique didn’t answer, but grabbed her phone and pressed the speed dial for Lilian number. After two tries, still no answer.
So she texted her: LIL CALL ME! DO.
She waited a few minutes, but there was no response.
The waiter returned to their table, took away Todd’s and Dominique’s empty glasses, and asked cheerfully what else they would like to drink.
Todd and Marc each ordered a beer. Dominique shook her head, obviously distracted.
Her head was overflowing with thoughts. What was she supposed to do? What if Lil had met a cute guy—maybe one of the other Americans or Canadians they had met before?—and had left with him. Then she would probably be upset if she started to play worried girlfriend now. But, on the other hand, she really was worried, especially since she hadn
’t heard a word from her since the previous night. That wasn’t like Lilian.
Todd put his arm around her. “Don’t worry; she’ll surface sooner or later.”
“Yeah, she’s probably with one of her other boyfriends,” Marc said. He smiled, but his eyes were cold.
35
“So, shall we eat something now anyway?” Todd suggested after two beers.
Dominique decidedly shook her head. “No, I want to go to that hotel first.”
“To the Enlightenment Hotel?” Marc asked, surprised. “What do you want to do there?”
“Go and ask our friends there if Lilian went home with one of them last night.”
She got up. When she saw Todd get up, too, she quickly said, “No, it’s okay. You guys stay here. I’ll catch up with you later.”
She rushed in the direction of the boulevard. She preferred that Todd and Marc didn’t come with her, because she was afraid that Chuck and especially Dave would not be as forthcoming as they would be if she went alone. Besides, she just wanted to find Lilian as soon as possible.
She was so deep in thought when she crossed the street that she almost got hit by a red sports car, the driver of which honked the horn at her profusely. She raised her hand apologetically without even turning around.
The Enlightenment Hotel shimmered in the afternoon sun. It was just as busy as it had been the day before. On her way to the large sliding doors at the front entrance, Dominique sent a text message to Dave: AM IN HOTEL LOBBY. NEED TO SPEAK TO YOU QUICKLY. DO.
She sat down on a round sofa in the luxurious lobby, which was built in a circle around a fountain, and she waited. Within minutes, both Dave and Chuck entered the hall. They were in uniform again. Dominique got up and walked to them.
“If this is about getting new wristbands, I can’t do that every day!” Dave warned.
She smiled quickly. “No, I understand that—that’s not why I’m here.”
Chuck laughed. “Aha! You just wanted to see us again!”
“That, too, but mainly what I want to know is if Lilian went home with one of you last night?”
Dave noticed the serious tone in her voice and placed his hand on Chuck, who was about to make another joke.
Bon Bini Beach: A Thriller Page 10
