Roommates - 7. Chapter 7

When my eyes focused I looked over and saw that the bed beside me was empty. Looking at the floor I noticed Brett had moved his clothes. And, when I looked for my own, I saw that they were neatly folded on the hotel room table. Looking at my cell phone, which was on the nightstand beside my wallet and watch, I saw that its battery was dead. I had expected Brett to sleep most of the day after our night on the town. He had been far worse than me. I gave up wondering where he was and focused on my churning stomach, throbbing head, and a terrible taste in my mouth.

I stood up slowly, rubbing my eyes trying to wake myself up. I was normally a morning person and when I glanced down at the digital alarm clock I saw that it was already ten o’clock, well past breakfast. Frowning, I walked across the room, already hearing the voices of Dad and Mom in my head as I stepped into the bathroom. Going overto the sink, I looked at myself in the large mirror. My hair was a mess and stubble was forming on my face. My skin felt rough, and my eyes were also bloodshot and irritated. I turned on the cold water. Bending down and cupping my hand, I caught the water and quickly sucked it into my mouth. I swished it around for a while, trying to wash away the taste from the alcohol, before spitting it into the sink and turning the water back off. With the taste gone it helped ease my churning stomach. After I had taken my morning pee I stripped away my boxer briefs and turned the shower on, planning to take the longest shower in my life.

It had been a long time since I had been on a wild night out. The last had been in college, when we had been threatened to be kicked out after having been thrown in prison for the night. Brett had tried to drag me out many times after that, but I had never accepted. We were almost through with college, which I was determined to finish. But that hadn’t stopped him from continuing the wild Thursday night romps with everyone else. His being able to function this morning finally made sense to me. He was more used to this than I was. I only wondered where he had gone this morning.

Using the complimentary shampoo, I started to wash my hair. The water was fluctuating between tolerably warm to extremely hot. I had to dance around under the shower spray every so often, trying not to get suds in my eyes as I washed my hair. It was getting longer than I preferred, but still short enough to be styled the way I liked - the way Brett disapproved me having it. After rinsing my hair, and having forgotten to grab the soap before entering the shower, I just let the water wash over my body, since it was now at the perfect temperature. I knew that I would be able to take a proper shower when I got back home.

I also realized that I would need things to do on that boat if I wanted to stay away from my parents until they had time to get over us sneaking out with the staff. We hadn’t planned on staying in a hotel, but the fear of getting caught, drunk, late at night, and Brett close to passing out, had made it easier for Kathryn to decide that we should. It would also have made it easier for her and Carl to do whatever she had planned for them afterwards. I just hoped she had told Carl not to give our parents more proof to bitch about later.

“Yes. How did you get in here?” I asked, pulling the shower curtain closer to me, hoping it was thick enough to hide me completely.

“I have the keys to both our rooms. We’re checking out soon so hurry it up,” she said, before closing the door and leaving me alone.

I turned off the water, noticing the strong smell of chlorine in the air for the first time since I had started my shower. My mind had been racing with thoughts and worries. I knew I would have to sit down and sort things through thoroughly, so that I could focus on my parents and their anniversary party. Grabbing a towel I wiped my body dry. I wrapped the towel around me, not knowing who was waiting on the other side of the door, and then grabbed my boxer briefs. When I re-entered the bedroom, and saw that it was empty, I became concerned about Brett again. Other than the portrait painting session, this was the longest I’d gone without seeing him on this trip.

I hurried to get dressed, only taking the time to rub my hand across my hair to smooth it down against my head. Grabbing my wallet, I put my watch back on whilst doing a quick scan of the room to make sure nothing would be left behind. When I walked over to the door and opened it, I found that Kathryn was waiting by herself for me in the hallway.

“Where the hell is Brett?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“He’s waiting in the car,” Kathryn said, smiling at me. “He’s ok.”

“I just hadn’t seen him all morning and he’s normally not a morning person,” I said, trying not to sound as protective of him as I was feeling. I had always wanted to look after Brett, and sometimes I felt that I had to, even if he would have been be pissed if he knew that I worried about him.

“Yeah, ok,” she said, winking at me. “How are you today?”

“I feel like shit,” I said, putting my arm around her shoulder and leaning against her slightly.

“Well I don’t feel like dragging your ass to the car, either,” she said, pushing back against me.

“Do you think we’re going to get into trouble when we get back to the boat?” I asked as we entered the elevator, to go down to the lobby and out to the awaiting taxi.

“Well, yes. I expect us to be bitched out all afternoon,” she said, laughing.

“Me too,” I said, sighing and rolling my eyes. “Do you have any Tylenol?”

“Yes,” she said, shrugging me off her shoulders so she could rummage through her purse. “You better hope these kick in before we get back.”

“I know,” I said as she handed me the bottle, which I opened and took out two of the pills. She held up her bottle of water for me to wash them down. As I took it from her she took the pill bottle back off me and replaced it into her purse. Opening my mouth, I put the pills on my tongue, then took a few small sips of water to help me swallow them. My head still hurt from the hangover I was suffering from, which made me regret having agreed to get away from the yacht for some air.

When we got out to the cab and I saw Brett and Carl were already sitting in the back seat. Mom and Dad were sure to have noticed that Carl was missing, as he was the one who tended to them when they sat out on the front deck in the morning. He also usually put chemicals into the pool to keep the water clear and sparkling. He would almost certainly lose his job if they knew he had slipped away - and worse if they know that he was out with Kat all night. They were already hunting for the first person she had slept with, and I still didn’t know if they had found out about her and Walker.

“I’ll get in front,” I said, peeking into the window and seeing that there wasn’t much room for me in the back seat. As I got in the cab driver looked impatient and hurried in the direction of the docks. Carl called one of his friends who was working on the yacht to be waiting for us on the dock. The loud boat would give us away and I wanted the drive to last longer, hoping the pills would settle my headache, but we were already at the docks.

“We went shopping while you slept late,” Kat said as the cab driver popped the trunk and we were getting out.

“When did you get up, Brett?” I asked, noticing that he had been quiet the entire time.

“Early,” he said, shrugging.

“Are you ok?” I asked as I reached for some of the bags in the cab. Kat pushed my hand away, then handed me a bag she already had in her hands. Then Brett snatched up the bags that I had first intended to carry to the end of the docks, where we would wait for the boat to come for us.

“I’m fine,” he said, offering me a short smile. Kat had bought Carl something as well, as he also was carrying a bag. I figured they had also bought me something and that it was in the bag that Kat didn’t want me to carry. I liked surprises, so I didn’t want to spoil what they had planned. I just hoped it was a gift, instead of some grand scheme that Brett had planned that would hugely embarrass me and make me the laugh of the entire yacht. He had been bored on the yacht, so he’d had plenty of time to scheme against me. I didn’t give it much thought. I knew I would never figure out what the plan was. I would just have to stay observant and hopefully spot it coming.

“What did you guys buy?” I asked, not wanting to peek inside the bag fearing it would be my sister’s new underwear or something.

“Clothes and stuff,” Kat said. “I wanted to go shopping, and they were awake so I dragged them with me.”

“I wanted to pick up a few things too,” Brett said. I saw that he was carrying three bags.

“I can take one of those bags,” I said, noticing that he looked overloaded.

“Nah, I can manage it,” he said.

That’s when I noticed that he had cut his hair. It wasn’t long and blond anymore. Only the tips were blond, and I looked him over carefully to see if anything else had changed. I was upset that I had only just noticed the change, making me realize that I hadn’t been paying a lot of attention to him lately. He liked his long surfer hair, and I never seen him without blond hair. It gave him a more dignified look; the blond tips only making him look a year or two younger than he really was, and not the surfer type anymore.

“Don’t mess up the gel,” he said, smiling at me. “Do you like it?”

“Yes,” I said, letting my hand drop down to my side again. The trunk door slammed then, causing everyone to jump.

“Someone needs to pay me so that I can get back on my way,” the driver said, standing by his cab.

“Here, how much?” I asked, taking out my wallet.

“Sixty even,” he said. “You kept me waiting a lot longer than I would like to have been waiting.”

“Sorry,” I said as I handed him the money. We started walking to the docks to wait for the boat.

“I think Brett looks handsome now,” Kat said as she put down her bags on the docks. She pulled her sunglasses from their resting place on the top of her head and cleaned them before slipping them over her eyes. It was already bright and warm this morning, and I wanted out of my stale clothes and into some fresh ones.

“Here he comes,” Carl said, snapping me from my gaze, which had fallen on Brett again.

He didn’t know that I was looking at him, as I was standing off to the side, slightly behind everyone else. The dock was thin and we couldn’t all stand on the edge waiting. I didn’t know why he had made all the changes, and it only made me more curious to see what was in his bags.

When the boat was stopped and safely tied to keep it from drifting away, we all stepped aboard and took our seats. Brett kept the bags as far away from me as he could, making sure they were closed so that I couldn’t see in them. I didn’t recognize the name of the store on the bag, as I wasn’t much into labels or fashion.

“It’s ok,” Kat said, offering him a smile. She kept eye contact with the driver of the boat a little longer than I thought was normal, and I just rolled my eyes. I didn’t know if Walker knew about Carl, but I did know that Carl knew about my sister’s recent indiscretions. It was probably the talk of the staff after Mom and Dad had started the investigation to rid the yacht of the person that gave my sister hickies.

“So will you get into trouble, Carl?” Brett asked over the roar of the boat’s engine.

“Probably,” he said. “I didn’t report to the supervisor this morning.”

“Will you be fired?” I asked. “I’ll help you out if you think you will be.”

“No, I’ll probably be warned,” he said not sounding too sure of himself.

I thought he was in more trouble then he let on, but that he didn’t want Kat thinking that she was the cause of it all. I’m sure he had wanted to return back with the rest of the staff, but Kat had talked everyone into staying in the hotel.

“I can’t tell you,” she said. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

“That means you’re good, Carl,” said Brett, leaning forward so that he could see Carl’s expression. I laughed when I noticed Carl smile and look away. It only gave them both away, and Kat knew it too.

“Leave him alone, ass!” she said, smacking Brett on the leg.

“So who was better, really?” Brett asked. I noticed that Kat blushed as well.

“Oh it doesn’t matter, Brett,” she said, still not going to answer him out loud. She did lean in and whisper something in his ear though, so he would get his answer later if he hadn’t just got it.

“I’m going to cut off the engine now,” Carl’s friend said.

“Roy, I’ll help. Where’s the other oars?” Carl asked, standing up and looking around.

“Under your bags,” he said.

Carl carefully moved the bags and took the other set of oars. They both rowed bringing the boat closer to the yacht. When we reached the side there were people waiting for us. They helped us off the boat and I noticed that Brett was still being protective over the bags, and that Kat took the bag that I had been carrying.

“Thanks, Roy,” I said as I offered my hand to him. He shook it and offered me a quick smile before I turned and exited the boat.

Brett and Kat hadn’t waited for me and when I got to my room I saw that Brett was in the bathroom and the bags were nowhere in sight. I didn’t try to search for them, as I never have gone through his things. Hearing the shower start in the bathroom I changed clothes and put some on some deodorant. Deciding to get the fight over with, I left a note for Brett and walked down to Kat’s room. I found her in the hallway, just leaving. Noticing me she smiled, so I waited at the end of the hallway for her.

“So that we can get the fight with our parents over with and done?” I asked, and she laughed.

“Yeah,” she said, letting go of me so that we could walk up the stairs. It was Noon now, so we decided they were probably out on the deck drinking tea and helping as much they could with the planning of the anniversary party, since they had planned to move everything forward a few days so that we could all return to our lives.

“Good lord, what’s went on here?” Kat exclaimed as we entered the front deck. The chairs were over turned and there were empty wine bottles on the table, wine glasses scattered about the whole deck, and some of them shattered on the ground.

“Damn,” I said, getting worried about what happened. Walking around the table, with Kat following close behind me, we saw our parents covered up with the tablecloth. They were lying beside the covered pool. Dad had lipstick smudges on his neck and face, and Mom’s hair was a wreck. They were both starting to show signs of sunburn.

“Should we wake them up?” Kat asked, walking over to get a better look at them.

“Yes,” I said. “They’re going to feel like shit if they stay out here.”

“They’re going to feel like shit anyway,” Kat said, laughing. “Well I guess we can’t feel bad. Looks like they had a better time than we did.”

“Oh shit, Kat!” I said. “They’re naked.”

“Yeah, you have to be to have sex, little brother,” she said, slapping me on the arm. “Get laid, William. It’s bad when our parents can live it up better than you.”

“How should we wake them?” I asked, glaring at my sister. I could have a good time without having sex. I wasn’t even sure I’d ever be wanting sex after seeing the sight now in front of me.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t want to go anywhere near them.”

“Me either,” I said. Looking up towards the top of the yacht I saw the loudspeakers. “Maybe we can get the captain to sound a horn or something.”

“I’ll go,” she said. “You wait here to make sure they don’t freak and fall overboard.”

“Why do I have to?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“One reason is because I’m older than you. And the other reason you’re the favorite,” she said, before stepping up to the door leading to the captain’s quarters. I waited, hoping they would wake up before Kat got up there. I did step to the entrance of the hallway in case they started freaking out. That way I would have time to hide my head, not wanting to see the one thing a person doesn’t want to see, their parents naked.

“What’s happened out here?” Brett said, causing me to jump.

“Oh, the parents had a little too much fun,” I said, grabbing Brett’s arm to stop him from getting a better look.

“What?” He asked, smiling as he stood on his tiptoes trying to get a better look.

“You don’t want to do that,” I said. “Beyond that table they’re naked, and Kat is telling the captain to sound some horn to wake them.”

“Well, shit, everyone had a good old time last night,” Brett said, standing beside me. We both went quiet and waited.

When the horn sounded both Dad and Mom sat straight up. Luckily Mom kept the tablecloth up as it was pinned under her arm. They both looked around as if they didn’t know where they were, and I ducked behind the door so they wouldn’t see me. Brett, though, didn’t move. They weren’t going to freak out too much. But we did hear Mom scream, and Dad tell her to be quiet, and get her clothes on, before the hired help came running and saw them. Kat appeared beside us and took our hands causing us to run with her down the hallway to the living quarters. The fight with our parents would have to wait and hopefully they had been too preoccupied to notice we had gone.

“Did they wake up?” Kat asked after we had entered the living room of the yacht.

“Yeah,” Brett answered. “I heard your Mom scream.”

“I can’t believe they went wild. They’re too old to be doing shit like that,” Kat said, shaking her head as she sat down on the couch.

“What do the two of you want to do today?” I asked, after having sat down in a chair.

“I’m tired,” Brett said, as grabbing a couch pillow and putting it in Kat’s lap before laying his head on it. She reached up and stroked his hair, messing up the gelled style. He didn’t care now about his hair being messed up, and I thought that he was ready to go home and get back to normal. My family had exhausted him and I felt bad about him suffering through this with me. My parents weren’t the most open and accepting of people.

“So have you given any thought of how you’re going to come out to our parents, Will?” Kat asked, looking in my direction. She was still stroking Brett’s head, but he had moved it slightly so that he could see me as well.

“I’ve decided not to,” I said. “Not on this trip anyway.”

“I think you should tell them,” Kat said. “They’ll be ok with it after a while.”

“I don’t want to be trapped here with them if they don’t, though,” I said, crossing my arms, “and I don’t want to ruin more of their summer by telling them after their anniversary.”

“What are you afraid of, Will?” Brett asked. He then shifted himself again so that he was now looking at the ceiling. The question made me study the top of his head more. We’d had serious conversations before, but Brett would always look at me the entire time. I didn’t like discussing my own problems, and would rather help Brett with his. He was never short of them, with the way he handled things. I thought he should understand me more, and know not to ask a question like that. I didn’t have an answer and not telling my parents might suggest that I was scared. I knew I was old enough, and successful enough, to survive with out their money. A huge part of me, though, had always wanted their acceptance and approval, and so far I’d had that. The only thing they didn’t like about was that I’d kept Brett as my best friend.

“I’m not scared,” I said as I stood. “I am hungry, though, and I think I’ll walk to the kitchen for a snack.”

“Could you please meet us in the dining room so that we can eat together?” Kat asked. “Just snack food, fruit and stuff, so that we don’t ruin our appetite for dinner.”

“Why don’t you come with me?” I asked as I stood by the entrance waiting for them to follow me or send me on my way. Brett hadn’t got up to come with me like I had expected him to do, and I looked at him as I waited.

“I’ve picked Carl for now and I don’t want to run into Walker,” Kat said, smiling.

“Ok then,” I said, turning and walking out of the room.

On my way down to the kitchen, after remembering it was on the bottom away from everything else, I decided that I would get Brett alone and find out what was really wrong with him. I needed to put my mind at ease when it came to him. If I knew that he hated it here I would leave with him tonight and go back home to where he thrives.

Entering the kitchen I didn’t see Walker. So I walked over to a table where people didn’t look busy and, when they didn’t notice me, I cleared my throat.

“I would like a snack tray delivered to the dining room. Something light. Some fruit or something,” I said. “Thank you.”

“William?” Walker asked as he approached me. I didn’t really want to talk to him, afraid that I would let it slip that he was just a one night stand to my sister. It wasn’t my place to tell him, but if he asked I didn’t have an excuse or a lie to tell for my sister.

“I’m just here to get a snack tray,” I said. “Good to see you again, but I have to get going.”

“Could you tell Kat to call?” he asked, putting his hand on my shoulder to stop me. He let his hand drop as I turned to face him again.

“Yes, I will,” I said, offering him a short smile. He let me leave and I walked back up to the dining room. When I entered I saw Brett and Kat sitting at the table with my parents. I wanted to turn back around and leave.

“Good afternoon, William,” Mom greeted me, smiling briefly in my direction, but not directly at me.

“Sit down, William,” Dad said. Brett pulled out a chair for me and I walked over and sat down beside him.

“What is wrong now?” I asked after the room fell quiet.

“I received an e-mail today and I am extreme disappointed in you two,” Dad said, bending down and picking up a piece of paper. It was a copied tabloid from the gossip column of the newspaper. He shoved it in our direction and when I saw the four of us entering the club, and a few more pictures from when we exited it later that night.

“I do believe we caught you two having a little too much fun as well,” Kat said as she took the piece of paper from me and slid it back across the table.

“Yes, but we had our fun in the privacy of our own yacht we didn’t flaunt around like the three of you did,” Mom said after they both glanced at one another. I had thought for a second that we had the two of them trapped and the fight would have ended before it began.

“We’re adults,” I said. “We snuck out to get some air.”

“And to get drunk,” Dad added. “Especially Brett. Which isn’t a surprise.”

“I’m sorry,” Brett said. “I shouldn’t have gotten drunk knowing the company I was with.”

“Thank you,” Mom said. “I don’t want this to become a habit at all.”

“It won’t be,” I said as they stood and walked out of the dining room, leaving us alone again.

“You shouldn’t have apologized to our parents,” Kat said, turning to look at Will.

“If you tell parents what they want to hear it makes them shut up quicker,” he said, shrugging.

The food was brought to us and we ate silently. When we had finished Kat said she would leave us to see if Carl had been fired. We hadn’t seen him all day and she was getting worried about him.

“Ok,” she said. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” I said. I then stood up and Brett followed me out of the door.

“I’m going to take a nap, could you leave me alone for a few?” Brett said as we entered the hallway.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked. He shook his head, “Yeah, I’ll leave you alone.”

“Thanks,” he said and then turned around. I was left in the hall not knowing what to do with myself now that both of them had different plans. Deciding to stay away from the parents I walked to the living room. I turned on some soft music and laid down on the couch trying to plan how I would get Brett to talk to me after he woke up later.

Mom and Dad had said nothing about dinner. So, when no one came to get me for it, I guessed they were still mad at us, and had decided to have food delivered to them instead of a formal family dining room setting. I wasn’t hungry due to the snacks we had eaten, so I stood and walked out of the living room, down the hallway, and then down the stairs to the room I shared with Brett. He wasn’t there. I didn’t know where he would have gone, and wondered where he was. So I turned, walked back up the stairs to the deck, and not finding him there, I gave up, sat down and looked out at the ocean. He was probably hanging out with Carl, and Kat and would come to find me. I was beginning to think he needed a break from me. We had been the center of each other’s lives for a long time, and some time apart would perhaps do us both some good.

“You know sunsets are the best out here in the ocean,” he said as he sat down beside me.

“Are you homesick?” I asked, watching him look past me to the darkening water of the ocean, as the sky turned from blue to shades of purple, gray, and orange. We had been lucky so far to not have had a rough day or night out here, which made us appreciate the sunsets and sunrises a lot more.

“No,” he said, finally answering me. The sun still had a while before it would disappear to leave a star filled night.

“Is there something wrong, then?” I asked, grabbing his hand to get his full attention.

“No, I was just tired earlier,” he said, trying to sound sure of himself. If it wasn’t big he tried to keep a strong appearance, so I let it drop. He will talk when he wanted to talk, and I didn’t want to push him. Not when a yacht can seem so confining. We both sat there and I let go of his hand, turning to watch the sun set with him. Just after sunset, when the lights on the deck came on, destroying the view of the blue twilight, I stood.

“I guess you’re tired,” he said, standing with me. He let out a long yawn, looking slightly nervous again.

“You ready for another nap?” I asked, nudging him with my elbow, “Nice to see you’re back to your old sleeping habits.”

“Yeah, I’m ready for bed,” he said. “I didn’t sleep much during my nap.”

“You wasn’t in the room when I went to check on you,” I said, trying to see if he’d slip and tell me what he was scheming. That only made me remember the bags, and this whole thing could be a tactic to throw me off, until the day came when he’d pull whatever scheme he had on me.

“Carl didn’t get fired,” he said. “He came to see if we were hungry, but I didn’t know where you had gone.”

“Well that’s good,” I said as we entered the hallway leading to our room. He opened the door when we got there and I walked in to find the bed already made. I glanced in his direction to see him looking at the bed as well.

“Looks like they’ve come in to clean again,” he said as he started stripping out of his clothes. He went into the bathroom as I was just finishing undressing. When he had finished I took my turn, and when I came back out he was already in bed. He had the covers pulled back for me, and when I got into bed he turned out his lamp. I reached over and did the same to mine.

“Goodnight,” I said, looking in his direction only seeing his silhouette.

“Goodnight,” he replied as he shifted in the bed to turn on his side with his back to me. I let out a long sigh, then turned over and closed my eyes, and tried to settle my mind so that I could sleep.