by Pamela Ann
Arrogant son of a bitch!
“Fuck you, Carter!”
Still grinning, “Well, that was the idea baby.”
“Ugh! You’re incorrigible! I don’t even know why or how I tolerated your absurdity for the last few months!” I exclaimed and made a move to leave the bed but he caught me and pulled me back to him and I landed on my back.
Hovering on top of me, he spoke. “Don’t leave. Stay.”
Stay here…for now or stay with him until he was done with me? It was a double entendre. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I have to move on.” He could take that in any way he wanted to. But I was done yo-yoing with my emotions over him. I think.
I had my future to think about and that’s what I should put first. Messing around with Carter would be great. I mean he’s great in the sack, but then what? Would I have to go through the motions again once the novelty wore off? I think not. It would be better to just let him go.
Pushing him off of me, I scrambled to my feet. Heading towards the bathroom, I stopped midway. “Oh, by the way, thanks for the orgasm.” I smiled at him and headed towards the bathroom.
Hardy har har. His expression was priceless. Take that jerk!
“Without pain, there would be no suffering, without suffering we would never learn from our mistakes. To make it right, pain and suffering is the key to all windows, without it, there is no way of life.”
- Angelina Jolie
20
When I got out of the shower, Carter was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, he went fishing with some of the gals and guys. I was somewhat relieved, but my mind was nagging me. Did he fuck some other girl from his army of skanks while I was in the shower? Amanda seemed to be following him everywhere. She was pretty gorgeous, but a skank all the same.
Harsh? Yeah, but she totally deserved it. I remembered her calling Carter incessantly (while we were still together) wanting to ‘kick it’. Seriously, ‘kick it’ was her code? Ugh!
I guess there are a few types of women this world has to offer—the loose women, the prudes, and the closeted whores. I guess, I fell in the closeted whore’s section. I do love sex, but I just don’t sleep around or steal someone’s guy. That’s just not me.
There were a bunch of people out on the lake and a few strolling outside just chilling, but I didn’t really know any of them. When I found Brody in the kitchen, I was hella relieved.
“Hey, Brody, do you know where the girls are at? I can’t seem to find them anywhere.”
Brody stopped drinking from his bottled water and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Try checking their rooms, they’re in the west wing. I think they’re talking or whatever.”
I gave him a quick wave. “Thanks bud.” I went back upstairs towards the west wing.
Sure enough, I could hear women’s voices talking inside the room but I couldn’t make out whatever they were saying from the hallway. With a soft knock, I pushed the door open. “Why are you all in here? The weather is bright and sunny outside!” I cheerily greeted the quiet crew.
All three women looked at me. Lindsey was sitting crisscrossed on the bed;, Amber was sitting on the couch hovering over a table with a bunch of credit cards splayed all over it; and Trista was standing against the wall looking pained.
Okay…
“Did I just miss something? Why are you guys looking all glum? Did someone just die?”
Trista just shrugged and kept staring at Amber. I looked at Lindsey for answers. “Amber’s parents are getting divorced.”
Oh, no.
I rushed to Amber’s side and gave her a tight hug. “Hang in there. You’re a tough cookie.”
Amber sadly nodded her and sniffed. Aw, she was obviously crying. “I hate this shit. I don’t know why dad had to cheat on my mom with a stewardess. A fucking STEWARDESS! How original. And now he’s buying the fucking whore a house in Malibu. What a fucking gold-digger. That home wrecker is killing my mom right now. My mom’s hysterical.” She sniffed again and wiped her eyes. “You know what the most fucked up thing is though? The stupid bitch is our age. Can you believe that shit? My father is banging a chick our age. What a disgusting pig! I hate him!” Amber started crying severely. I rubbed her back when I thought she couldn’t breathe from all her sobbing.
“I don’t think it’s wise to lay all the blame towards the mistress, Amber. It does take two to tango you know.” Trista put her two cents in the subject.
Why weren’t these two consoling Amber? I wondered when they didn’t make a move to make our friend feel better.
Amber growled. “Yeah, you would know, right? It takes one to know one!” Her accusatory tone and eyes landed on the shocked Trista.
What did she just say?
“What the fuck are you talking about, Amber?”
Amber just snorted. “I followed you two weeks ago because you were being so sneaky. Funny isn’t it? You’re screwing your cousin’s husband!”
SHIT.
My eyes went back and forth between the best friends. Trista looked teary now. “I didn’t mean for it to happen like that, I swear. Harry and I got drunk one night at a family party and it just happened.”
OMG! Trista really was a mistress…to her cousin’s husband? Talk about scandalous!
“Well, don’t you think it’s high time you stop fucking each other’s brains out before it gets worse, Trista? Don’t you think what my dad is doing to me and my mom is horrible?” Trista slid down the wall and plopped on the floor looking distraught. Lindsey rushed over to her side and tried to soothe her.
“I can’t leave him. I don’t think I can,” Trista whispered. “It’s too late now. I’m in love with him.”
“You’re ruining your life, Trista! You’re not that kind of woman.”
“Well, you’re not one to talk about ruining lives. You’ve been using cocaine for like forever!” Trista retorted back with vengeance.
Cocaine? No.
I pushed Amber and checked her. Fair enough, she had a clear baggie of powdery white stuff sitting on her lap. And lots of it!
“You can’t be using this shit, Amber. This is so bad for you! Your dad’s not worth it. He’s not worth ruining your life over!”
“I’m an adult. I can do whatever I want!” Amber yelled back as she prepped her paraphernalia on the table, right there in front of us.
“Amber! Stop it!” Lindsey stood up and tried to take away her stuff. Amber stood up and ended up slapping Lindsey’s face. Lindsey recoiled from the impact.
“What the fuck!” Lindsey screeched.
“I want you all out of my business right now. None of you are of any help! Do you hear me? SCRAM!” Amber sat back down again. Opened her tiny baggie and poured the powdery white stuff on the table. With her Platinum AMEX card, she made three perfect straight lines, tediously. She took out a tiny black straw and snorted the first line in her left nostril. She closed her amber-colored eyes and tilted her head back, sniffing and clearing her nasal passage, making sure she got all of the powdery stuff inside. She then opened her eyes and looked at us each in the eye. “I need you all to leave. Just give me time. I need this right now before I go crazy. I’m not going to ask again.”
Frozen and horrified, Lindsey and I both looked at Trista—who merely just shrugged and left the room. What the hell! Were we just going to leave Amber in here wired and high? Lindsey followed suit. I stood there staring at Amber, not knowing what to do.
“Amber…please…listen to me.”
Amber gave me a sad smile. “This is not the first time, my friend. I’m sorry you’re witnessing this ugly side of me, but I am what I am. I quit before and quit again, but I just need time to process things, okay? I really like you, Emma. But right now, I really need you to leave. I just want to be alone.”
“Amber… you’re hurting. You can’t possibly be okay to be left alone.”
“Each person hurts differently. Each person processes hurt in their own way. This is how I cope with it.”
I just wa
nted to hug her. Her eyes were so haunted and anguished. I felt helpless. With a begrudging nod, I silently left the room. I found Lindsey and Trista at the end of the hall waiting for me.
“How long have you guys known?” I asked the two people that have known Amber the longest.
“Ever since it started,” they both responded in unison.
“Well, isn’t there a way to help her?” Why were they acting like this was this was normal?
“We both told her parents before but they just didn’t care. They said their daughter’s a big girl and that she could handle herself.”
I blinked for a few seconds before Trista’s words sank in. “Are you serious? What kind of parents would say stuff like that about their daughter’s addiction?”
“Give her a week or two, Emma. This is her way—fucked up way, yeah—but it’s her way to cope,” Lindsey murmured.
I stared at her wide-eyed. So, I guess this was just a routine for them? Uh, I don’t know. I didn’t like this. I feel like there’s something that we should do.
It sucked to sit idly by and watch your friend be in shambles.
I still had an hour and half or so before the planned barbeque downstairs. I didn’t want to be idle anyway and ponder much about Carter because that a no-go zone for now. Lindsey and Brody went for a walk and Trista went to go with some other folks to go hiking. Amber was still stuck in her room. When we checked on her earlier, she was sleeping on the bed. The table where she snorted her cocaine earlier was wiped clean. I mean, looking at it—you wouldn’t have guessed she was snorting lines on that thing. By not doing much about her addiction, I feel like an enabler. But since Trista or Lindsey weren’t even doing anything and her parents weren’t planning on an intervention, what’s there to do? It was such a sticky situation.
All by my lonesome, I figured I should get my priorities straight. And the number one priority is to start studying my movie script. I badly wanted to call Bass but I couldn’t find my phone anywhere and I didn’t have his number memorized so calling him was impossible.
So, I decided to enjoy the bedroom porch and the view and start reading through the ’Blasphemous’ script. I know I basically had months to go through it but I wanted to make sure I nailed the part right. This film would be my debut and wasn’t going to do it half-ass. I wanted to embody Angela and her feelings towards Logan and her Greek husband, Spiros.
After reading fifty pages, my cheeks were flushed. Wow, Martin’s aiming for this film to be a heck of a rollercoaster of raw sex and a mind-bending whirlwind of emotions. The first kiss alone between Angela and Logan the first night they meet is scorching. SCORCHING to the point where I could see me and Bass kissing like our lives depended on it. Gosh, that kiss will be explosive.
Okay, I get that Bass and I will be nude during the love making scenes but the thought of it now…makes me break out in a sweat. If I felt like this already just thinking about it, how am I going to feel when Bass and I are naked. I guess Martin was right and why he chose to cast me as the lead. The chemistry between us would definitely be electrifying.
I closed the script and decided that I would read it later. Provoking thoughts of Bass and me in that heated sexual ordeal was too much to take in daylight. Out of options, I retreated to the massive bed, inviting me to sleep.
A nap would do me wonders.
“Hey aren’t you that chick?” The girl asked as she snapped her fingers, trying to remember where she saw me.
“Don’t think so,” I mumbled as I forked the ribs and placed them on my plate.
The girl still pondered, “Yup got it! You were in like in the Celebrity Gossip magazine, right? I think you were with Bass Cole! OMG! O.M.G! Yeah! Yeah! That was you! You guys were coming out of the club together! Shit, you’re dating Bass Cole! Can I take a picture?” She handed me her phone while I stared at it horrified.
Are you kidding me? I don’t understand why she’s freaking out like this. The decently composed girl turned shrieking monster made me want to hide somewhere.
“Wow, you’re really pretty!” She kept on going. I was beyond relieved when Lindsey joined us.
My friend butted in, but not to help me. “I know right? Give me your phone. I’ll take the picture!” Lindsey offered and the ranting girl happily obliged.
What the hell? This was stupid. I’m not Bass’s girlfriend!
“But I’m not his girlfriend!” I interjected but they both didn’t seem to care.
“Give me a pretty smile, Emma! One, two, three say cottage cheese!” I wanted to murder Lindsey right then and there.
Once the annoying girl left with her stupid picture, I wanted to sock my friend. Lindsey put her hands up. “Listen—I know that was stupid and I had a lot of fun teasing you, but honey, you have to start getting used to stuff like that. In seven months’ time this little bubble you live in will no longer exist.”
She was right but I didn’t want to point that out to her. Instead, I asked about Amber and Trista. The two heavy revelations from the best friends still shocked me to the core.
“Amber is hard-headed. There’s no way around her. Trista, on the other hand, seems to be hopeless. She’s in love with that Harry guy and doesn’t want to leave him.”
Hell.
It was how I felt. It was like watching Trista and Amber spiral downwards and there was nothing I could do but watch it as they struggled to stay afloat. With Amber, the situation was a bit complex for me to tackle alone. But with Trista, that’s like a sleeping volcano. It could erupt anytime without indication. Trista was unyielding and even though she’s a sweet pea, she’s standing ground with her declaration of undying love to Harry. Harry… what a prick! Screwing two women at the same time and cousins to boot! Every guy’s wet dream but every woman’s nightmare.
We were all having barbeque and enjoying the placid view of the beautiful lake before us. There were bonfires, music and tons of drunken folks singing and dancing.
Lindsey and I found a place to eat and chat without the loud crazy cackling of other people. Lindsey and I stopped stuffing ourselves with ribs when we saw Cece come out of a darkened corner with Cooper. Doing God knows what. My eyes immediately darted to Lindsey.
I think anger/pain/hatred/jealousy were all etched on her pretty face. “Linds?”
“I’m fucking speechless right now. Does Cece have to get a taste of every guy that I’m with? I don’t get her. And as for Cooper, he can go fuck himself and stuff his sausage in Cece’s contaminated pussy.”
“Sorry—I know you liked Coop.” Lindsey did. She wouldn’t have slept with him if she didn’t. Now I’m wondering what’s going on inside that pretty head of hers.
“I just lost my appetite. Want to drink with me doll? I know you haven’t touched much alcohol lately, but I’m asking you to drink with me? I want to just forget what I just saw.” Crap, my friend is hella hurt.
Men, hate them and yet we can’t live without them.
I stood up and pulled my friend out of her seat. Before we started commiserating in our drunken misery, I had to give her a big I-love-you-no-matter-what kind of hug.
“Come on let’s look for a bottle of Hennessy and Patron. It’s time to break this party!” My hurt friend said with proper determination.
I didn’t doubt it.
Lindsey Mason had one purpose and that was to show Cooper Haze a big fuck you.
“Maybe our girlfriends are our soulmates and guys are just people to have fun with.”
- Candace Bushnell
21
We’d been drinking for about two hours straight now and I must say none of us were coherent. Once the alcohol hit Lindsey’s bloodstream, she was unstoppable. She danced and made out with Brody, for Cooper to see, what else?
“Get your tight ass up here, Emma!” Lindsey and Trista (who decided to come out of hiding) tried to gather me up with them.
I was about to get on top of the mahogany bar and join Lindsey dance Coyote Ugly style when Carter pulled me back.
This better be good…
“Don’t you dare get your drunken ass up there, Emma!” He bellowed but something flashed below me and my eyes went straight to his pocket.
Carter was wearing white surfer shorts and I could easily see my phone screen flash in his pocket.
Bass Cole Calling… it said.
I lunged towards him and dug inside his pocket. “Give me that!” I ordered but Carter was too strong for me and he pulled my hand out before I had the chance to even brush against my phone.
Fuck! How many times has Bass called? How many times has he sent messages? And they all went unanswered.
“Didn’t I make myself clear that you don’t get to have it back until we hit Santa Barbara again?”
Since Carter was a major Jerk (yes, with a capital J), I threw him my two middle fingers. “F.U.C.K. YOU! Why don’t you go stick this up you idiotic ass and spin on it?”
Whoops! Too harsh? My bad.
With that parting, I joined the girls on the bar just when Womanizer came on the speakers. Ha ha ha! Can you say the song was perfect for all three of us gals?
Superstar
Where you from, how's it going?
I know you
Gotta clue, what you’re doing
You can play brand new to all the other chicks out here
But I know what you are, what you are, baby
Trista and I bumped our butts together as we continued on. Guys gathered around the table taking videos and hollering. Lindsey was getting all hyped up.
Look at you
Gettin' more than just re-up
Baby, you
Got all the puppets with their strings up
Fakin' like a good one, but I call 'em like I see 'em
I know what you are, what you are, baby
Carter on the other hand, his simmering anger could be felt somewhere in the room, but I didn’t have it in me to look for him. His abhorrent antics was getting to me and I didn’t know if I could stand being close to him and not kill him.
