Chapter 37: The Café
Enjoy x.
Kayla's POV
I woke up and looked at the little crack the curtain revealed. The sky was still dark. I groaned, trying to go back to sleep. After tossing around for another minute or two, I realized that I was not going to fall back asleep anytime soon. I threw the covers away from me and sat up, rubbing at my eyes. I looked around the dark room and felt a kind of serenity in the silence of everything although there was the occasional, almost unnoticeable, noise from the streets outside.
I walked towards the window and leaned against it as I closed the curtains behind me so that the moonlight would not wake my mom up and also because I just felt like having a moment alone for myself.
I looked down at the street and found a rugged-looking man in his mid-fifties, walking slowly down the street, a plastic bag in hand. I watched him for a while until he turned a corner and was out of sight. I looked at the coffee shop or café that I noticed when I first got here. I remember telling myself that I would go there someday.
Maybe I should visit it tomorrow, I thought.
Now, the café was obviously closed but their outdoor seats have not been shifted, allowing people to sit and enjoy the scenery even when the café was not open.
Then a figure caught my eye. I didn't realize that there was actually a person in one of those chairs until he or she moved. Looking at the build of the person, I was pretty sure it was a guy. My curiousity made me stay rooted at my spot to see what he was going to do.
However, I found myself rooted to the spot for a completely different reason when I realized who it was.
As he lifted his head from his arms and messed his hair with his hands, I stared wide-eyed in shock.
Ron.
Once I had recovered from the fact that the boy that my eyes were trained on really was Ron, I rushed to my bedside in quick, quiet steps to check the time on my phone. It was one in the morning.
I rushed back to the window just to make sure that he was still there and was not just a figment of my imagination. Without thinking twice, I pulled on a hoodie and grabbed my phone as well as room card before pacing towards the elevator.
I paused for a second to contemplate on whether or not I should tell Shane this. I decided against it, not wanting to wake him up if he was asleep. Plus, I could handle this. It was Ron after all. I've known him since forever.
As I quickly made my way out of the hotel and across the street, I kept my gaze focused on Ron. What is he doing out here? That was the only question running through my head.
I placed a hand on his shoulder when I was close enough. "What in the world do you think you're doing, Ron?"
He turned to me at an annoyingly slow speed and seemed surprised when he saw me. "And what are you doing here, huh? You should just go." He said as he narrowed his eyes at me, trying to look angry.
That was when I noticed the smell of alcohol on his breath.
"Ron, what have you been doing for the past two hours?" I asked slowly, trying to hide the accusation in my tone.
"That doesn't concern you."
"Ron, what the hell! I know you've been drinking. How did you even get a drink, you're not even of legal age." I asked, clearly frustrated that he was trying to push me away when he was clearly in no state to be left alone.
"Some guy." He answered, waving his hand dismissively as if it was a normal thing.
"Some guy," I muttered disbelievingly under my breath, pushing myself away from where he was seated as I paced around, "are you out of your damn mind? What in the world could you and Shane have talked about that led to this?" I had my own hand running through my hair, trying to calm myself down.
At that, he laughed humourlessly.
"Well, you'd be killing me right now if you ever found out." He said; the slur in his speech was still evident.
"What did you guys talk about?" I stopped pacing and went up directly to him so that we were face-to-face.
I looked directly into his eyes, trying to somehow figure out what their conversation was about while his eyes seemed to search my face for a second before he brought his gaze to level with mine.
"About you."
Well, I was not expecting that.
"What?" I'm pretty sure the shock on my face was evident.
"You heard me."
"Yes, I did. But what do you even have to talk about me?" There was a hint of desperation in my tone. I was so confused and scared at the same time.
"I'm getting in his way, you know." His eyes, dropped to the table.
"In whose way?"
He brought his eyes back up to meet mine. "Your darling Shane, that's who."
I flinched a little at the way he was addressing Shane.
"What are you talking about?"
Once again, the laugh that I hated pushed through his lips.
"I'm sure you know by now how much he likes you and you probably like him back too but of course I just have to ruin everything."
I could feel heat rising to my cheeks. Did Shane tell Ron? Or was it just that obvious? Does anyone else know? Wait, what did he mean by 'ruin everything'?
"You're not talking sense, Ron. Come on, let's go back to your room so you can sleep, okay."
"You don't get it, do you?" He pulled his arm away from my attempts at trying to get him to walk back to the hotel.
"Ron, stop being stubborn, come on." I huffed as I tried to get him up.
"No, I'm supposed to stay away from you." He insisted, just like a five year old would.
"Why do you need to do that?" I asked softly, hoping that that would work on him to get him to co-operate with me.
"For Shane and for you." I froze mid-push, letting Ron slump back in the chair as he looked at me with an innocence that tugged at my heart.
"Did Shane tell you that?"
That was the only conclusion that I could draw.
"It's not his fault."
Oh, he is so dead. What right does he have to tell Ron that? Does he think that Ron's a threat too? That's too much. He...he has crossed a line this time and I was beyond pissed at him.
"Screw what he says. You don't ever have to stay away from me. That is ridiculous. Now, come on and let's go inside, okay. I'm dying of cold here."
He merely grunted as a response before he allowed me to drag him out of his chair and into the hotel. The receptionist gave me a curious glance as I stumbled to the elevator.
When I let go of Ron once we were in the elevator, he slumped down to the corner of the elevator and looked up at me. Silently, I looked back down at him, taking in his state and how hard I wanted to punch Shane right there and then.
"You look so pretty. How do you get your hair to look that soft?" At that, I smiled a little, feeling some of my anger dissipate. Letting out a chuckle, I shook my head at the drunken Ron as I bent down to help him back up on his feet.
As we hobbled to his room, I could feel his fingers playing with my hair and I think I heard him sniff it at one point but I chose to ignore his drunken actions and instead focused on not crashing to the floor before reaching his room.
"Do you have your room card?" I asked, slightly out of breath at the physical workout.
All I got as a reply was a sheepish smile to which I rolled my eyes at.
"I'm sorry." He said, engulfing me in one of his bear hugs and I almost toppled over. Almost.
"Ron, that's fine," I reassured as I tried to push him off of me to get better balance.
Suddenly, the door flew open to reveal Shane, standing there with his hair in a mess, his shirt missing and a look that told me he was not amused.
He immediately pried Ron off of me and guided him to his bed.
"He had too much to drink so just take care of him and make sure he gets whatever he needs. Do you have any aspirin?"
His lips were still in a thin line as he nodded his head.
I got the vibe that I was not wanted here and so I turned on my heel to leave the room.
"Did he tell you anything?"
I paused in my step.
"Yes."
I spun around to face him and slowly walked back to him.
"And fuck you for telling him to stay away from me. I don't know who you think you are," I seethed in a low tone going through each word slowly, rage burning in my eyes as I glanced at Ron and his drunken state, "but I just can't believe you." I stared straight at Shane who seemed to look guilty for a second, but it was immediately covered up by a mask of indifference.
"Don't you dare let anything happen to him."
With that, I stormed out of the room and quickly unlocked my own.
I checked the time on my phone and realized that it was a quarter to two in the morning now. I walked into the bathroom and splashed water onto my face, letting the cool liquid simmer some of the steam flowing in my veins.
Once I knew I had myself calmed down, I headed to close the curtain proper. I let my eyes take a final glance at the café and it immediately found the chair that Ron was on. It was the only one that was not tucked under the table.
I guess my first visit to the café was very different from what I thought it would be.
I sighed as I walked back to my bed. There were still so many questions running through my mind. What the hell went down in that room before? Why is Shane being such a jerk about it? And why is Ron letting Shane be a jerk about it? Oh, Ron. I felt sad for him. He was never the kind who went out drank himself sick and came back drunk.
I don't know how I'm going to face either of them when I wake up. I just wished I could stay cooped up in this room forever. However, as always, the world was against me as I remembered my mom telling me about the plans for tomorrow.
It took me awhile to fall asleep – understandably – but eventually I did.
I'll get this mess straightened when I wake up, or maybe I'll just ignore it for a while.
Author's Note:
I don't have much to say, surprisingly. Even I am mad at Shane and I'm mad at Ron too. What in the world was Shane thinking when he said the things that he did?? And what was Ron bloody thinking when he decided to get pissed drunk by buying alcohol from some stranger?? Urgh, I'll never understand my characters.
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