Jade

Chapter 23

A woman of about twenty-five entered through the door and came forward.  She had brown chestnut locks, was short and pudgy, with no womanly features.  “Hello Reagan,” Ripley greeted.  She barely acknowledged him and headed straight for Aris and I.  Or should I just say Aris, because she didn't even look my way.  “Hello Yaris,” she greeted with a star struck look in her eyes.  “Hello Reagan,” he returned the greeting.  He held up our enter twined fingers, “I would like for you to meet Jade.  Jade this is Reagan.”  She looked at our hands then my face, worried.  “Nice to meet you,” it sounded like she had to force herself to say it.  “It's good to meet you,” I returned the greeting.  Then there was a long uncomfortable silence.  “Well, should we sit down?” Aris asked, breaking it.

We all walked to the table.  Aris pulled a chair, situated to the right of the head of the table, out for me.  I sat down.  Then he sat at the head of the table.  Ripley sat to his left, right before Reagan could get there.  Lia sat next to Ripley and Max sat next to me.  Reagan sat next to Lia.  We passed around the different platters, each taking some food.  Reagan stared daggers at me the whole time.  Then we began eating.  The chicken was good but a little dry, so still not as good as Aris makes it.  The sides were all delicious though.  I took extra helpings.  Reagan barely ate anything, she just stared at me.  “So Reagan, this is an excellent spread.  Did you make all of this yourself?” Max had noticed the dirty looks I was getting.  She didn't answer.  “Reagan,” he waved his hand between her and I.  She looked at him.  “I was just asking if you made all of this yourself.  It is really good.”  “Lia helped,” she smiled sweetly at him.  Then went right back to staring at me.

I was getting pretty uncomfortable.  I wonder if everyone else is too.  Yes.  Everyone is uncomfortable.  What do I do?  Nothing.  We are almost done.  I was finished eating, so I just sat and waited and tried to ignore her dirty looks.  Why does she keep looking at me like that?  Jealousy.  He took hold of my hand under the table and squeezed.  I felt instant relief.  He started rubbing circles on my palm with his thumb.  Would you like to go to our cabin tonight?  “I'll be okay,” I said out loud without meaning to.  Everyone looked at me.  I could see a bit of anger on her face now.  She has realized that we are sharing secret conversations.  It is okay.  Let her know.  I looked up at his face.  He was staring at her, angry now.  She must have seen me look at him because she looks up at him, then down at her plate, withering under his gaze.

“Lia, I think that it is time to show Jade and I to our room,” Aris spoke up.  “But I made apple pie, Jade's favorite,” she countered, clearly not as uncomfortable as the rest of us, maybe even liking the drama.  “Save us some for tomorrow, please.”  I get the impression that he has a hard time saying no to her.  “It's okay,” I speak up, “I would love some apple pie.”  “And ice-cream?” she got excited.  “Vanilla,” I agreed.  “Reagan, how about you help me serve it?”  They both got up and left the room.

“Sorry about that Jade.  Reagan begged and harassed Lia into letting her come.  She would not take no for an answer,” Ripley explained.  “It's okay.”  “Wait until she finds out that you sleep in the same bed,” Max commented, “she might actually say some angry words to go along with her angry stares.”  I smiled and elbowed him in the side.  He grabbed his side in mock pain, “oh, you wound me.”

Lia and Reagan came in with pie and ice-cream for everyone.  “It looks amazing,” I told Lia as she sat a large piece down in front of me.  I took a bite and closed my eyes.  I am pretty sure that I moaned.  “This is the best apple pie that I have ever tasted.  I'm glad we stayed.”  “She is not joking, Lia.  This is delicious,” Aris agreed.  Everyone else agreed.  Even Reagan, who had barely touched her food, seemed to be enjoying it.  I don't know what Lia had said to her, but she was no longer giving me dirty looks.  We all finished our pie in silence.
“Reagan, can you show everyone to their rooms and I will start cleaning up?” Lia broke the silence.  “Would you like some help with the clean up?” Max offered, standing up.  “Get situated for the night, then, if you feel so inclined, you know where to find me,” she answered.  The rest of us stood up and followed Reagan out of the dining room to a hallway that led to another long hallway.  The first door to the left is a bathroom.  The first door to the right is Ripley's room.  The second door to the left is Lia's.  The second door to the right is Max's room.  The third door to the left is Reagan's.  She assigned the third door to the right to me.  Aris cleared his throat, “Jade will be sleeping with me.”  Reagan looked at him stunned.  Her mouth was literally hanging open.  “Is this our room?” he indicated the last door at the end of the hall.  Speechless, she nodded her head yes.  “Goodnight all.  Come along Jade.”  He grabbed a hold of my hand, opened the door and pulled me inside.  “That was a lot less painful than it could have been,” I commented.  “I just did not give her the chance to protest.”

“I will give you the quick tour.  Here is the bathroom,” he opened a door.  I looked inside.  This must be the master bedroom.  The bathroom had a walk in shower with glass doors, a garden tub with Jacuzzi jets, a double vanity and two toilets in stalls.  I wonder why there are two toilets.  I guess in case we both have to go at the same time.  I do not know.  He opened the closet door where all of the toiletries are stored.  Then back in the bedroom, a door to a walk in closet.

Would you like a cigarette?  Definitely!  Dress warm.  We quietly left the bedroom dressed in our snow suits again.  He took my hand and led me back down the hall, to the main hall, then back to where we parked the snowmobiles.  Ripley, Max and Lia were there waiting.  “What, no Reagan?” I asked.  “She does not smoke,” Lia answered as Ripley lit her cigarette, ”She is probably crying herself to sleep.”  I didn't respond.  It is obvious that the girl is unbalanced.  Aris lit me one then lit one for himself.  “Just ignore her Jade,” Lia told me, “she is harmless.”  I am not so sure that she is harmless.  If she didn't know I was staying with you, she would probably sneak in your room at night.  She has done that before.  I put a stop to it then.  Wow!  I smiled at him.  You have to tell me about that.  Not now.  Maybe later.

“I am really sorry Jade,” Lia apologized, “I knew it would be a bad idea to bring her.  She just kept after me.  I even told her you would be here and that Yaris is only interested in you, not her.  It did not matter to her.  Nothing I said swayed her.”  “It's okay,” I responded, “It's just for tonight.”  “She will be coming to your cabin twice a week to clean.  Other than that, you should not see her unless you come to see us.”  “That's fine,” I answered, not really sure that it's fine.  “If she becomes a problem just let us know and I will switch with her.”  “Okay.”

We finished our cigarettes.  Ripley went to bed and the rest of us went to the kitchen for a drink.  “Pick your poison, Jade,” Max stated looking at the liquor.  I coughed, “I'm sorry, poison.”  “It is a figure of speech for you to state what you want to drink.”  “Oh.”  “I will get it,” Aris spoke up.  He left the room and moments later came back with a bottle of red wine.  He put ice in four tumblers and poured for each of us.  The wine was as smooth as silk and had a sweet flavor.  “Jade picks the good poison,” Lia commented after taking a sip.  Max grunted his agreement.  “I would like to try something other than wine sometime,” I suggested.  “Not tonight though,” Lia advised, “if Yaris is letting you drink this, you drink it.”  “Okay,” I smiled, not understanding what she means.  “You do not understand why, do you?” Lia asked.  I shook my head no.  “Let me explain,” she got a bottle and another tumbler on the counter.  “Do not give her the worst,” Aris warned.  “I would not do that,” Lia put some ice in the tumbler then poured just a little bit of the dark liquid in.  She put a little bit of Coke in and swirled it around.  She sat the drink in front of me.  “This is Rum and Coke.  Try it.”  I brought it up to my mouth and sniffed it, a little worried.  I took a sip.  It burned a little and didn't taste very good.  “Point taken.”  “So if Yaris offers you the good stuff, you drink it.  That is not even the worst.  We will have you try some others on another night.  They are not all bad.”  I stuck with the wine after that.
I finished my first then he poured me another.  I tried to drink it slow like he had told me to at the club, but I am not really sure what slow means, so I paced myself with Lia.  He didn't warn me to drink slower so I assume that I did well.  I started feeling light when I was close to the end of the second glass.  Is this what buzzed feels like?  Probably.  Where have you been, voice inside my head?  You are buzzed.  He poured everyone a third glass.  No more after this.  That's probably for the best.  Am I going to be falling down drunk?  No.  Just happy.  Can we go smoke? 
“Are you ready for a smoke?” Aris asked Max and Lia.  They agreed, so we took our drinks to the back porch.  I am not the only one who was getting happier.  We all were.  Even Aris.  Are you a lightweight too?  No.  You being happy makes me feel happy too.  Do you actually feel what I feel?  Yes.  Not always, but strong feelings push through to me.  Did you push Reagan and Ripley to go to sleep?  He was silent for a minute.  Yes.  Reagan is annoying and Ripley needs to rest up.  Lia was giggling about something.  I am not sure what.  She is just laughing because she is drunk.  Is Max getting drunk?  No, he can handle more than that.  Can you handle more too?  Yes.  I took a drink and looked up at the sky.  It's beautiful here.  I thought that you would like it here.  I finished my cigarette and put it out in an ashtray.  I waited for them to finish, suddenly feeling really tired.  Are you about ready for bed?  Don't push me too much.  I want a bath before bed.  I finished my drink.  Lia was done too.  Aris and Max downed what was left of theirs.

“Bedtime,” Max announced, ”Lia I will help you to your room.”  He offered her his arm and she took it.  We followed them in.  Max took Lia to her room and closed the door behind them.  Aris took me to our room.  “Sit on the bed and wait.  I will be right back.”  He took the tumblers with him.  He came back a little while later and went in the bathroom.  I could hear the sound of water running.  A few minutes later he turned off the water and came out wearing white swim shorts.  “Change into your suit.  We are going to try out the Jacuzzi.”  I chose a white two piece similar to one I have back home.  “Good choice.  You look beautiful,” he complimented.  “Thank you.”  I had the skin put my hair up in a bun.  I met him at the bathroom door and followed him to the tub.  He stepped down into it first then held my hand as I descended.  He sat down and relaxed against the back of the tub.  I sat down between his legs and leaned back against him.  “Are you ready?”  “Yes.”  He pushed a button and the jets engaged.  I squealed/giggled and tried to jump up and out of the tub.  He wrapped his arms around me and held me in place.