Status: Some aren't at all like they seem.
The Unforgettable
Beach House
Bing!
Starts my alarm and I jolt, my hands clench and Carlo yells out.
“Ah!”
My eyes fly open, I see Carlo has his hand at the back of his head and his eyes squeezed shut.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“You pulled my hair,” he replies.
“Oh no, I’m sorry,” I say now realizing and releasing the handful of hair.
The alarm still blares in the background loudly, I turn around and switch it off and toss my phone back on the bedside table. I turn back around to face him, he looks relaxed now.
“Good morning,” he chuckles.
I smile and say good morning then we share a few kisses. He slides his hand to my side, looks at me with sleepy eyes.
“How did you sleep?”
“Good, you? I’m sorry again about your hair.”
He smiles, his sleepy smiles are so adorable. “It’s okay, I’ll take a hair yank every morning if I get to open my eyes to your beautiful face.”
I blush, he kisses me then we get on the topic of calling out.
“Today’s the day love,” he stretches and his voice strains as he does.
I turn around and grab my phone it’s 7:30, now would be the best time to call so I sit up, Carlo tells me it’s better to lie better so I do.
“And breathe through your mouth, makes you sound more contagious, don’t forget to cough,” he explains.
I giggle, “what have you cracked the code on calling in sick.”
He shrugs, “something like that.”
I laugh more and roll my eyes then I pull up the HR number saved in my phone and call, it rings a few times then goes to voicemail, thank God I get to leave a message.
“Thank you for calling Airntel’s Call Center’s HR Department, unfortunately we cannot take your call right now. Our hours are 9am to 6pm, Monday through Friday. Please leave a message with your name, number and if applicable ID number and someone will return your call as soon as possible. Thank you, and have a great day.”
“Hello,” I cough, Carlo smiles widely which makes me smile too but then I stop and continue. “I need to ask for a sick day today, I’m not feeling very well.” I take a couple long breaths, “My name is Gianna Hutchinson, phone number – cough- (722)-321-7781, ID number, 4568910024. Thank you.”
After I hang up and slide my phone back on the table Carlo runs his hand through my hair.
“How’s your head feeling?”
“Better, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“That’s great to hear. We can get going then.”
I laugh and ask in surprise, “where are we going?”
“Where ever you’d like,” he sits up, cracks his knuckles. “But to start I was thinking we could drive to the next town over, go to breakfast there’s a nice breakfast place I'd like to take you to. I wouldn’t want to run into a client in town, or you run into another coworker on our hooky days.”
I nod, “that’s true.”
It’s silent for a moment I think we’re thinking about the same thing, about the restaurant incident, gosh I’m never going to get away from that day.
“I will head downstairs to make some coffee,” he says abruptly. “Get ready for me,” he kisses me on the temple, stands and slides on his boxers then leaves the room.
I get ready, I drink coffee, he drinks three shots, then he gets ready and we get in the car.
The day is spent with jazz of course, warm food, more coffee, shopping, kisses, a movie, more food and wine and now we’re lying in his hammock together this time in the cool breeze of the night.
“I love you,” he whispers in my ear.
His breath tickles my ear, I smile and giggle drunkenly, he kisses my neck I moan softly. He pulls me closer to him, hitches my leg around his waist.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he says exasperatedly as he kisses from neck to my lips then my chest.
“Make love to me right now Carlo, right here.”
“Oh sweetheart,” he whispers against my skin.
We do it there in the hammock, this only works because he has no neighbors, I’m kind of loud because I’m drunk but it’s okay.
When I wake up in the morning hair a mess in the bed Carlo wakes me up with kisses all over my face.
“Wake up love.”
I stretch and look at him smiling.
“Sweetheart, call out I want to go on a drive.”
“Huh?”
“It’s 6, call and leave a voicemail so that we can go,” he says excitedly.
He hands me my phone, I stare at the phone for a second then groggily make the call and leave a voicemail. Carlo runs and downs his shots while I shower and get ready, and while I drink my coffee he showers and gets ready and we’re off down the road, it’s still a little dark out.
“Where are we going Carlo?”
“Driftwood beach.”
The beach, I haven’t been to the beach since Roslyn’s twelfth birthday. That’s so exciting.
“Really?”
“Yeah, you do like the beach right?” he looks concerned.
“I love the beach, I haven’t gone in years!”
He cheeses hard and squeezes my thigh. The drive is almost five hours long but he knows some back ways so we could get there a little sooner than five hours a little before noon, even with stopping for food and a bathroom.
We ride down the road alongside the water and sandy beach and after a while pull up to a driveway and he pulls close to the garage which is attached to a medium sized house on stilts.
“Where are we?” I ask peering at the house from the front windshield.
“I have another house here,” he says getting out, popping open and going to the trunk.
“What?” I ask myself, then I undo the seatbelt and get out of the car. “You have another house?
He nods not saying much, “Carlo, are you a millionaire?” I ask.
He chuckles and shakes his head, “not quite. My uncle, he was a millionaire more likely a billionaire. . .”
He’s hiking bag straps on his shoulders. “When he died he left my mother, my siblings and I an inheritance because he had no wife nor kids. It’s how I got to America, paid for schooling, got my office along with this house. I actually lived here before moving to that other house.”
I look at the house again, “wow,” I say quietly. “Why didn’t you just stay here?”
“I needed to stay closer to my clients, I had more in Atlanta than here in Jekyll Island. People come here to relax Atlanta is where the stress festers.”
I stick my tongue out and shake my head thinking of his use of the word fester, I think of a bubbly blister.
He raises a brow at me, “what’s wrong?”
I shake my head again, “I just don’t like that word?”
“What word?”
I clear my throat, “fester.”
A smile cracks across his face as he slams the trunk closed he has bags also in his hands and he makes his way to me, wraps an around me hugging me. A bag bumps into my shoulder.
“I’m sorry love, gosh you’re adorable.”
He presses his lips to my forehead, “come on see what it’s like inside.”
I offer to take some bags before we go walking up the wooden steps but he shakes his head and leads on. I take in a deep breath of the salty air, and I thought his other shower was blissful. It couldn’t get any better than this. He unlocks the door and goes inside I follow him in and shut the door quickly because the wind is starting to pick up. It smells like the sea in here as well, this is going to be a relaxing day.
Carlo places the bags on the bamboo dining room table then he cheeses at me.
“Let me give you a tour,” he extends a hand.
I take it and we walk through the house, it’s bright in here. The walls are tan, the floors are smoothed tan wooden planks with large rugs throughout the place. His kitchen has matching appliances, I guess that’s a thing of his, with a stocked bar. The living room has swinging chairs, a fireplace and a flat screen TV. We round the corner to a second living room which is more spacious, large windows to look out at the beach, and a staircase. Upstairs is his bedroom and bathroom, large comfy bed, sweet and sea salty smells, large bathtub and shower combo. Now were sitting together downstairs in the sunroom watching the sand blow and the trees sway as the wind wildly dances through the air.
“It’s probably going to rain soon, I’m glad I brought a cooler of food. I’m going grab it from the car,” he kisses my forehead and leaves the room.
I stand up and go to the window, the clouds grow thicker and darker, a spot of sunlight shines through the clouds over the ocean, it’s like a call for the lost souls to the heavens. I pull out my phone and take a photo with it, I’ll share this on Instagram later. When I exit the camera app I see that I have seven notifications.
Chris has called three times and left three voicemails since last night and a text. I bite my lip, I should probably talk to him so he doesn’t worry or think something’s up. I sigh, I don’t want to think about him right now, get weird around Carlo, ruin the whole day. I lock my phone and tuck it into my back pocket, I’ll worry about it later. Out of sight out of mind.
Starts my alarm and I jolt, my hands clench and Carlo yells out.
“Ah!”
My eyes fly open, I see Carlo has his hand at the back of his head and his eyes squeezed shut.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“You pulled my hair,” he replies.
“Oh no, I’m sorry,” I say now realizing and releasing the handful of hair.
The alarm still blares in the background loudly, I turn around and switch it off and toss my phone back on the bedside table. I turn back around to face him, he looks relaxed now.
“Good morning,” he chuckles.
I smile and say good morning then we share a few kisses. He slides his hand to my side, looks at me with sleepy eyes.
“How did you sleep?”
“Good, you? I’m sorry again about your hair.”
He smiles, his sleepy smiles are so adorable. “It’s okay, I’ll take a hair yank every morning if I get to open my eyes to your beautiful face.”
I blush, he kisses me then we get on the topic of calling out.
“Today’s the day love,” he stretches and his voice strains as he does.
I turn around and grab my phone it’s 7:30, now would be the best time to call so I sit up, Carlo tells me it’s better to lie better so I do.
“And breathe through your mouth, makes you sound more contagious, don’t forget to cough,” he explains.
I giggle, “what have you cracked the code on calling in sick.”
He shrugs, “something like that.”
I laugh more and roll my eyes then I pull up the HR number saved in my phone and call, it rings a few times then goes to voicemail, thank God I get to leave a message.
“Thank you for calling Airntel’s Call Center’s HR Department, unfortunately we cannot take your call right now. Our hours are 9am to 6pm, Monday through Friday. Please leave a message with your name, number and if applicable ID number and someone will return your call as soon as possible. Thank you, and have a great day.”
“Hello,” I cough, Carlo smiles widely which makes me smile too but then I stop and continue. “I need to ask for a sick day today, I’m not feeling very well.” I take a couple long breaths, “My name is Gianna Hutchinson, phone number – cough- (722)-321-7781, ID number, 4568910024. Thank you.”
After I hang up and slide my phone back on the table Carlo runs his hand through my hair.
“How’s your head feeling?”
“Better, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“That’s great to hear. We can get going then.”
I laugh and ask in surprise, “where are we going?”
“Where ever you’d like,” he sits up, cracks his knuckles. “But to start I was thinking we could drive to the next town over, go to breakfast there’s a nice breakfast place I'd like to take you to. I wouldn’t want to run into a client in town, or you run into another coworker on our hooky days.”
I nod, “that’s true.”
It’s silent for a moment I think we’re thinking about the same thing, about the restaurant incident, gosh I’m never going to get away from that day.
“I will head downstairs to make some coffee,” he says abruptly. “Get ready for me,” he kisses me on the temple, stands and slides on his boxers then leaves the room.
I get ready, I drink coffee, he drinks three shots, then he gets ready and we get in the car.
The day is spent with jazz of course, warm food, more coffee, shopping, kisses, a movie, more food and wine and now we’re lying in his hammock together this time in the cool breeze of the night.
“I love you,” he whispers in my ear.
His breath tickles my ear, I smile and giggle drunkenly, he kisses my neck I moan softly. He pulls me closer to him, hitches my leg around his waist.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he says exasperatedly as he kisses from neck to my lips then my chest.
“Make love to me right now Carlo, right here.”
“Oh sweetheart,” he whispers against my skin.
We do it there in the hammock, this only works because he has no neighbors, I’m kind of loud because I’m drunk but it’s okay.
When I wake up in the morning hair a mess in the bed Carlo wakes me up with kisses all over my face.
“Wake up love.”
I stretch and look at him smiling.
“Sweetheart, call out I want to go on a drive.”
“Huh?”
“It’s 6, call and leave a voicemail so that we can go,” he says excitedly.
He hands me my phone, I stare at the phone for a second then groggily make the call and leave a voicemail. Carlo runs and downs his shots while I shower and get ready, and while I drink my coffee he showers and gets ready and we’re off down the road, it’s still a little dark out.
“Where are we going Carlo?”
“Driftwood beach.”
The beach, I haven’t been to the beach since Roslyn’s twelfth birthday. That’s so exciting.
“Really?”
“Yeah, you do like the beach right?” he looks concerned.
“I love the beach, I haven’t gone in years!”
He cheeses hard and squeezes my thigh. The drive is almost five hours long but he knows some back ways so we could get there a little sooner than five hours a little before noon, even with stopping for food and a bathroom.
We ride down the road alongside the water and sandy beach and after a while pull up to a driveway and he pulls close to the garage which is attached to a medium sized house on stilts.
“Where are we?” I ask peering at the house from the front windshield.
“I have another house here,” he says getting out, popping open and going to the trunk.
“What?” I ask myself, then I undo the seatbelt and get out of the car. “You have another house?
He nods not saying much, “Carlo, are you a millionaire?” I ask.
He chuckles and shakes his head, “not quite. My uncle, he was a millionaire more likely a billionaire. . .”
He’s hiking bag straps on his shoulders. “When he died he left my mother, my siblings and I an inheritance because he had no wife nor kids. It’s how I got to America, paid for schooling, got my office along with this house. I actually lived here before moving to that other house.”
I look at the house again, “wow,” I say quietly. “Why didn’t you just stay here?”
“I needed to stay closer to my clients, I had more in Atlanta than here in Jekyll Island. People come here to relax Atlanta is where the stress festers.”
I stick my tongue out and shake my head thinking of his use of the word fester, I think of a bubbly blister.
He raises a brow at me, “what’s wrong?”
I shake my head again, “I just don’t like that word?”
“What word?”
I clear my throat, “fester.”
A smile cracks across his face as he slams the trunk closed he has bags also in his hands and he makes his way to me, wraps an around me hugging me. A bag bumps into my shoulder.
“I’m sorry love, gosh you’re adorable.”
He presses his lips to my forehead, “come on see what it’s like inside.”
I offer to take some bags before we go walking up the wooden steps but he shakes his head and leads on. I take in a deep breath of the salty air, and I thought his other shower was blissful. It couldn’t get any better than this. He unlocks the door and goes inside I follow him in and shut the door quickly because the wind is starting to pick up. It smells like the sea in here as well, this is going to be a relaxing day.
Carlo places the bags on the bamboo dining room table then he cheeses at me.
“Let me give you a tour,” he extends a hand.
I take it and we walk through the house, it’s bright in here. The walls are tan, the floors are smoothed tan wooden planks with large rugs throughout the place. His kitchen has matching appliances, I guess that’s a thing of his, with a stocked bar. The living room has swinging chairs, a fireplace and a flat screen TV. We round the corner to a second living room which is more spacious, large windows to look out at the beach, and a staircase. Upstairs is his bedroom and bathroom, large comfy bed, sweet and sea salty smells, large bathtub and shower combo. Now were sitting together downstairs in the sunroom watching the sand blow and the trees sway as the wind wildly dances through the air.
“It’s probably going to rain soon, I’m glad I brought a cooler of food. I’m going grab it from the car,” he kisses my forehead and leaves the room.
I stand up and go to the window, the clouds grow thicker and darker, a spot of sunlight shines through the clouds over the ocean, it’s like a call for the lost souls to the heavens. I pull out my phone and take a photo with it, I’ll share this on Instagram later. When I exit the camera app I see that I have seven notifications.
Chris has called three times and left three voicemails since last night and a text. I bite my lip, I should probably talk to him so he doesn’t worry or think something’s up. I sigh, I don’t want to think about him right now, get weird around Carlo, ruin the whole day. I lock my phone and tuck it into my back pocket, I’ll worry about it later. Out of sight out of mind.