Too Bad, Baby

CALYX: MISTAKES

CHAPTER 4

"So," Tia said as she sat down on one of the wooden chairs in the veranda. We left the manor as soon as we finished dessert. We wandered for a bit near at the woods and circled back to our cabin. She lit up a smoke. "What do we wanna do tomorrow?"

I joined her, lighting up a stick from her pack. "We should quit smoking."

"Hah. Good luck with that. I can't go cold turkey," she said. "We should explore the place tomorrow morning," she suggested.

"Yeah," I agreed. "We can go for a run before breakfast."

I checked my watch. Eight thirteen. "It's too early to turn in. We can still go out for some beers or something. Are you up for it?"

"You just stopped drinking yesterday," she reminded me.

"Nothing heavy," I argued. "Just a few beers, minus the getting laid part."

"Quick question," Tia glanced at me, sideways. "You slept with a bunch of women already."

"That's not a question."

"I'm getting to it so shut up."

I winced.

"What if you change your mind about getting back together with Missy? You already w****d around. Think she's gonna take you back?"

I pursed my lips.

"I'm sorry I can't help it. It was a joke," Tia chuckled. "But yeah, that's the question. Is she gonna take you back? Wait, the better question is- are you gonna tell her about the other women?"

"I don't know," I said quietly. "It's like I already forgot how to be with her. The last time I saw her, she kissed me, and I almost turned away. "

Tia looked at me, concerned. "I'm sure you still love her."

"I do. Maybe that's why it hurts so much," I confided. "I know I love her but I can't stand looking at her anymore. I mean, how would that work? If we get back together, I'll always be reminded of our dead child."

"Give it time," Tia advised. "This vacation will clear your mind hopefully. Try to focus on yourself while we're here. Nobody else can get to you but me, and I promise I'll be a good friend. I'll be your wingman, your errand girl, or whatever you want me to be."

I smiled slyly. "Yeah?"

"Except be your w***e," Tia grinned, rolling her eyes.

"You can't be a w***e," I teased. "You have to have boobs and all to be one."

She smacked my right arm. I laughed for a second and she joined in. I put my arms around her and she leaned her head over my shoulders. Her hair smelled of cucumber and watermelon. God, I could stay with her like this forever. If only I could get a girl like this one.

I knew however, that Tia would never go for a guy like me- a needy, narcissistic ladies man who party hard and doesn't know how to take care of himself. I can't even cook to save my life.

I've never lived alone. I've always had a roommate. And when I was starting to earn good money from the show, I could finally afford an apartment, but still I cannot stand the thought of living in an empty house. When nobody else wanted to move in with me, I remembered Tia.

I knew right away she would take the job and move in, in a heartbeat. I was confident about how she couldn't stand living all the way from Brooklyn and that forsaken neighborhood. It was all she could afford at the time. And I wasn't wrong. She did in fact pack her things right away and never looked back. Her first night at the house, it dawned on me that I couldn't live without her so I had to keep her permanently, or at least until I got married. Or maybe even then, I could still manage to keep her. Tia doesn't know until now that I had to fire my long time PA just to get her to live with me.

With Tia, I get home-cooked meals, a tidy apartment, a secretary and a nurse. I especially needed nursing whenever I was drunk, and that's Fridays through Sundays. Even my own mother would give up on me, living my life like that.

I actually cannot blame Tia for being snappy recently. We never had a decent conversation apart from my schedule briefing, phone call and meeting reminders. And after a long week of taping, she talks to a half drunk, half asleep version of me. I take up all her weekends. She could barely go out long enough to enjoy herself because she worries too much about me. She didn't want me coming home alone from clubs, so she had to cut her dates short. Always. Before Missy and I went steady, I was worse. I brought girls home and have s*x all over the house knowing Tia was home. One time, she walked in on me doing a gorgeous, curvaceous blond bimbo in the kitchen. Oh, the look of horror in her face; it was priceless.

"I'm sorry for what I've said about you not being a great friend," I told her sincerely. "I know it was me who left you high and dry."

"It's alright."

"No. I'm sorry I've demanded so much from you. I mean, how could you have really noticed? I was always dead drunk. Nobody could tell the difference."

"It's my job and I'm happy to do it."

"Really. I'm sorry you couldn't get past second date because of me," I joked.

She tried to pull away. "Shut up!"

I kissed her forehead. "Thanks Tee. Seriously."

Her face turned red. "Let's go get your beer before you get all mushy with me. It's so not you."

"Fine," I said, getting up first, and then pulled Tia up. "Go get dressed."

**************

**************

We picked up a few beers and two bottles of red wine and went back to the cabin. Tia insisted on the flaw in my first plan.

"If we get too drunk, we both cannot drive."

"We'll take a cab then," I said stubbornly.

"Dude, we're not in the city. This place isn't exactly swarming with cabs."

"How do you travel by commuting?"

"We take the bus," Tia said, checking a map on her smartphone. "Unlucky for you there isn't a bus stop near the bar we're heading to."

"Aww dude!" I wailed. "This town is such a bummer! Why did we even come here?"

"Well dude," she responded, slightly annoyed. "For starters we went away to get away from the stupid clubs to clear your head. We didn't travel all the way here just so you could get back to that. We should've stayed in Toronto then if that was our goal."

I grunted. "This sucks!"

"Riiiiiight. And this is sooo much fun for me," she said sarcastically.

"Fine. Pick up alcohol then go back to the cabin. Damn, Tia. This is boring," I complained. "What's next? Poker in the kitchen? Please tell me we're not gonna do that."

"Stop being a baby."

We arrived at the cabin half an hour later.

"Look," Tia called out, peering through the kitchen window. "There's a light in the gazebo."

"So?"

"Look."

"So what?"

"We'll have our drinks there. It's gotta be beautiful."

"Come on, it's too dark out."

"It's not," she argued. "Let's go. Just this once."

We were interrupted by Tia's phone ringing madly. Her eyes lit up upon checking it. "One sec," she told me. "It's Matt."

I forced a smile. "Sure."

"Hey Matt," I heard Tia say excitedly. "How are you? Yeah, I'm good."

Her voice trailed away as she went to her room, chattering like an i***t.

Stupid Matt, I thought.

I went to pick up the two six packs, two wine bottles and Tia's pack of cigarette from the kitchen counter. I stomped my way to the gazebo.

Reaching it, I realized Tia was right. The view from where I stood was lovely. I could see faint lights from across the other shoreline. Looking up, I saw the inky blackness of the night sky, filled with like a million of yellow ,and white specks, sparkling like diamonds. For the first time in many years, I seemed to have forgotten about these sorts of things. I've been living in New York far too long, this beauty seemed to have existed from another lifetime.

I pulled the plastic recliner towards me, and set down the liquor, grabbed a can of beer and sat down.

I was back in my lousy mood.

I was lost in deep thoughts when I heard footsteps behind me.

"Wow," I heard Tia's voice. "It's amazing," she said as she walked towards me, gazing up, smiling. She was holding an empty wine glass on one hand.

We sat in silence for a minute, taking in the beauty of the night. It was breathtakingly romantic.

"Ugh," I grunted.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just thought this place is very romantic and my stomach churned."

"I wish Matt was here to see this," Tia blurted out.

I faked a gag.

Tia pouted. "If you are still with Missy, I bet you two would be having a go at it here in the gazebo right now. Well, suck it up. We're stuck together so let's not waste the ambience by cutting each other's throats."

I made a face. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

She poured herself a hefty glass of wine, and drank the entire thing.

"Whoa, slow down. Thirsty much?"

She poured another. And emptied the glass again.

I watched her do this for a couple of times more.

"Tee," I said. "If you're gonna do that, you might as well drink from the bottle. What's up?"

She did drink from the bottle this time. Great.

"Missy called Matt," she said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She told Matt I was probably snaking you away from her," she told me. "She said that was probably why you wouldn't return her calls even after she called me. Missy even told Matt I was trying to seduce you for the longest time, but Matt didn't believe her. Know what she told him?"

"Tee-"

She cut me off. "She told Matt to ask me to go back to the city right away to see if she's wrong about me, and she said I wouldn't do it."

She went on. "Matt said it was okay, that he was just telling me what Missy said about me, but I swear I could hear in his voice that he's hoping I'd do it. He wants me to go back to show him I care about him and not you."

Tia drank away.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I'll call Matt and explain-"

She interrupted. "No. I know Matt. He might get confused for a bit but I don't think he's gonna go nuts and dump me over it."

"How did even Missy get Matt's number?" I asked out loud.

"He's on the book. Our book," Tia informed me.

"I can't believe her. I can't believe she's turning it into this."

"You should talk to her soon," Tia encouraged.

"No, that's exactly what she expects me to do. Not falling for that."

I finished my first beer and so Tia did with the wine. I tried to keep her from opening the second bottle with no luck. "My God, woman. At least go back to using the glass," I snapped.

"Fine."

She poured another glass.

"You're gonna get wasted."

"That's the plan."

"Oh don't be stupid. Missy's jerking you around to get to me."

She drank, only half emptying the glass this time.

"She's not entirely wrong you know," Tia said.

"You seducing me?" I cracked up.

She threw me a dirty look.

"I can do it if I wanted to," she said, full of confidence. "Not by stripping off my clothes, but I could do it."

"Not a chance," I said, laughing.

"Dammit Calyx!"

"Tia, I can't even picture you getting naked with Matt or whoever. You're so-vanilla."

She emptied another glass and poured another hastily. "Screw you."

"I will let you only if you ask nicely," I joked, still laughing.

"I'm vanilla," she repeated. "Oh Cale, if only you knew."

I chortled. "Come on," I said, standing up. "Let's dance the night away."

"No way, I'm not that drunk," she refused, yet pouring herself another glass.

I pulled her up while she drank her red. "Stop it, will you? Come on, Tee. Just humor me." I held out my hand.

She set her wine glass on the recliner and took it. "You're getting weirder and weirder by the sec."

"I'm gonna show you some of my moves," I bragged. "You'll finally know how I always get the girls."

I placed her arms around my neck and wrapped mine around her waist and started swaying.

"This is stupid," she complained. Despite what she said, she leaned closer, her head on my chest. She's a bit short without heels.

"Pretend I'm somebody else," I told her. "Whatever floats your boat." I put my chin over her head and went on dancing very slowly.

"Are you?" She asked softly.

"I'm what?"

"Pretending I'm somebody else?"

"No."

Tia looked up at me, smiling tenderly. It was dark but I could still see her pupils, dilated.

My heart pounded, seeing her in a different light. I leaned in, closed my eyes and my lips reached hers. Before I knew it, Tia was returning my kiss. Her fingers ran through my hair and I automatically touched her cheeks, like a reflex.

It felt strangely good, tingling sensations flooded all over me as I pulled her closer. She responded passionately, hugging me close.

Our kisses went deeper, longer and more sensual; I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stop on time. I pulled away, breathless.

"Let's go back," I told her.

"I'm sorry," Tia said, as she regained her composure.

"I'm not, so don't be," I reassured her.

She touched her lips, shying away.

We picked up our liquors and hurriedly went back to the cabin. My heart raced even faster once we reached the inside.

"Tia," I called, once it hit me that she was almost in a panic, trying to avoid my eyes.

She turned to me but her eyes wandered as I came close to where she stood.

I didn't want to overthink the moment so I grabbed her.

Tia hesitated for a second, but finally gave in.

This time, our kisses were filled with desire.

We kissed our way towards my bedroom. I set Tia on my bed and I took off my shirt and we continued making out.

"How drunk are you?" I asked, breathless.

"Drunk enough to know I wanna do this," she said, panting.

"Are you sure?"

She pulled her top off. "Not drunk enough to make you feel guilty. I want you," she said, her tapering fingers went up into my hair.

"That's the perfect amount." I stretched myself on top of her and began to kiss her hungrily.

**************

Tia rested on my chest as we lay down on my bed.

It was the most gratifying release I've ever had in a long time, factoring in Missy. For a moment I was confused, as I pondered on the last half hour as it happened so fast. Strange enough, I felt no regrets at all.

I clutched her tighter. She looked at me, her eyes filled with happiness, or so I assumed.

She gave me a quick peck on my left cheek and started to pull away. "Thanks," she muttered.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold it right there," I said, grabbing her wrists, preventing her from getting up the bed.

"What?"

"Thanks?" I demanded. "What do you mean thanks?"

"Uh, thanks for the wonderful evening?" She said teased.

"Nah-uh, no. You don't get to do this lady. I'm not your man whore."

She giggled, and climbed back to bed. "I was kidding."

I kissed her again. "We're so not done yet."

"Okay," Tia murmured as she reached for more kisses. "But we have to talk about this."

"Now?" I was frustrated.

"Yeah. Like how this stays here."

"What do you mean?"

"It'd be our secret," she said, trying to distract me with little kisses on my neck. "And we're only doing it while we're here."

"Fine. Book the cabin for a year then."

She laughed. "No, Calyx. Seriously. Once we leave this place, we go back to slutty Calyx and snappy Tia."

"Yeah?" I said, pinning her down and showered her with small kisses, from her face to her shoulders, in return. "Which Calyx and Tia are we now?"

"The sneaky ones," she said, twirling a finger on my one arm.

"Why do we have to be sneaky?"

"Because, we cannot pretend this isn't a huge mistake. We're supposed to be just friends."

"Friends who hook up from time to time," I suggested. "Does this feel like a mistake? 'Cos it doesn't for me."

"That won't work. This never happened once we set foot in Toronto."

"Okay," I surrendered. "I don't care. If that's what you really want, then shut up so we can do this right and as many times as possible."

"How many times?" Tia sniggered.

"Tia-just shut up."