Forever Fades Away

The thin sheets were sprawled all around my body the morning I woke up. I looked over to my side and noticed it was empty; no Brian. I stretched and somehow managed to get myself up off the bed.

These past two days had been magnificent. Zack stayed true to his word and kept his distance. We saw him last night at the bar with a beautiful brunette at his side. They seemed like they were having a great time. He then came over to congratulate Brian and I.

I noticed he looked a bit down when he looked at my ring. No doubt he thought of Gena. His sorrowful look then disappeared and he took his side next to the woman and continued as though nothing happened.

Today was our last day here and I didn’t want to go back I wanted to escape everyone and everything I had left behind in California. No work, no stupid classes, no girls trying to break up my relationship. All my stress had been mounting up so bad that it was starting to affect my health. Who would miss that?

“You’re awake?” I looked over to who had been speaking to me. It was none other than Brian.

“Yeah, what are you doing awake so early?” I walked over to the table and took an orange. We had an abundant supply of fresh fruit each day that was brought in by the maids.

“I just wanted to see how Zack was doing. He’s still drunk,” he laughed.

“That boy is going to hurt himself really bad one day.” I kept peeling my orange.

“I’m tired. My ankles for some reason are really swollen too.”

I looked over to Brian, he had been sitting on the bed. I took a peak at his ankles are sure enough, they were swollen.

“You’re not pregnant, are you?”

“You’re funny.”

“Not really, I’m just trying hard to not scold you right now?”

“Scold me? About what?”

“I guess I should scold myself here too. Too much alcohol this past week, on top of more smoking than usual. What happened to that? I thought you said you were quitting?”

“Yeah, I don’t know. I guess I’m a social smoker now.”

I finished my orange and threw the remnants away. I looked over to the closet that held my suitcase. It was calling me over, telling me to start packing. I ignored it and got up, “What are we doing today?”

“I really don’t feel good baby, I need to lie down a bit.”

“What’s wrong?” I walked over to Brian and took a seat next to him. I gently rubbed his back, hoping it would comfort him.

“I feel sick and I’m tired. Let’s go back to bed and sleep some before we have to start packing.”

“Do you want something to eat? I can go get something from the restaurant if you’d like?” Brian was laying down now.

“No, it’s fine. I’m not hungry,” he rolled onto his side away from me. Had we been home, panic would have started to kick in by now, but I was so relaxed by this point I saw no need in it.

“Well, I’m going to go get some breakfast, it’s that okay? I’m hungry.”

“That’s fine,” Brian mumbled. I kissed his cheek and left.

The restaurant downstairs was amazing. The hospitality the owners showed was comforting. It really made you not want to leave. We had met an elderly couple that moved here after their retirement from Vermont. We usually dined with them whenever we ate here.

“Mary, Daryl!” I saw them and waved to them. They motioned for me to come over.

“Hey sweat heart, how are you? Are you solo this morning?” Mary asked. She was warm and extremely friendly.

“I’m solo this morning. Brian isn’t feeling well this morning. I came in to get some breakfast. Mind if I eat with you two this morning?” I asked the couple

“No problem at all, pull up a chair.” As I pulled my chair out to sit, I noticed Zack stroll in. He was wearing his sunglasses, no doubt to cover up his red eyes that usually accompany hangovers.

“Excuse me, I see my friend.”

I walked over to where Zack was sitting, “Hey Zacky, you okay?” he looked at me and lifted his sunglasses.

“Hungry, food, now.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the table with Mary and Daryl.

“This is my friend Zack, he came with Brian and I on the trip here. Zack, this is Mary and Daryl. They live here.”

“I don’t know how you guys live here, it’s beautiful. I would never get anything done.”

“Oh, you get used to it. Ready to order?” Daryl asked.

Our breakfast went amazingly smooth. Zack seemed a bit intoxicated, but it was nothing like Brian had mentioned. I was expecting him to still be so intoxicated you couldn’t understand him. We ate and Mary and Daryl left, they had activities planned out for the day.

“Are you ready to go home?” Zack asked.

“No, I don’t want to. It’s so relaxing here. I don’t want to get back to whatever drama is waiting back home.” I gazed out towards the windows, admiring the ocean view.

“I’m sorry,” Zack said.

“For what?” I casually asked him.

“The drama,” he coldly stated. He leaned back into his chair.

“You don’t have drama,” I looked back at him. “You’re one of the few that bring any drama Zack. I love having you around.”

He took off his sunglasses. His aqua-blue eyes still carried depth to them, even though they were lined in red at the moment.

“No, I’m sorry I’ve been attached at the hip with you guys, I just really needed something like this to let loose.”

I nodded and smiled at him. I placed my hand on his own, “Brian is always there for you, no matter what. And I want you to know that even though you and Brian are friends, don’t think that you’re not welcome in my arms. It was hard to see you go through that, but I’m glad you did have fun. You deserve it.”

He smiled and moved his hand away from my own. He placed his sunglasses on his head again and got up.

“Let’s go take these pancakes to Brian. I need some advil or something, my head is killing me."