One Stupid Thing

3:7:92

I groan in protest as I feel myself begin to awaken. I just want to sleep a little longer. Rolling over to face the other side of the bed, I reach my arm out, expecting it to come in contact with a familiar figure, but it just flops down on the mattress. Where did he go?

I blink my eyes open and my surroundings come into focus. I'm not entangled in the navy blue sheets of the room JJ and I share at the Chateau, but I'm alone at the Caldwell Estate. I groan again, annoyed at myself for forgetting that I hadn't fallen asleep in the blonde's strong arms last night. I chose to sleep here instead.

Too frustrated with myself to go back to sleep as I had initially wanted, I roll onto my back and stare up at the ceiling. How the hell am I going to fix this?

A fist raps against the door, but before I can respond, they just let themselves in. I had been expecting Ryan, but instead it's my sister.

"Sarah, what are you doing here? It's not even 8:00 o'clock yet." I push myself up and sit against the headboard. "How did you even know I was here?"

"Ryan let me in. I checked at the Chateau first but no one was there," she tells me, coming over to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Oh."

"So, uh, we haven't talked in a bit. We should catch up." She clears her throat. "Starting with what you are doing here."

I sigh. "JJ and I got into a bit of an argument. He found out that the boat is Rafe's, so you can probably assume how that conversation went."

"He blew up, didn't he?" Sarah predicts.

"Yep. He sure did. Accused me of protecting Rafe and everything. Then, he told me that Rafe and Barry melted down the cross."

Sarah's jaw drops. "Are you serious?"

I nod solemnly. "Yeah, well, then he says to me, 'I guess the real question is if you care more about the cross, or that it was your brother who melted it down.'"

I didn't think my sister's mouth could open any wider. "That's not fair."

"Oh, but that's not all!" I let out an exasperated laugh. "I wanted to prove to him that Pope and the cross matter more to me than Rafe, so I went to Heyward's. When I got there, Pope was nowhere to be found and then Heyward mentioned that the gun he keeps in the register was missing."

"Pope," Sarah realizes.

I nod. "JJ and I didn't get a chance to talk before we were thrown into yet, another situation. I checked at Barry's trailer to see if maybe Pope had went there in search of Rafe, but no one was there, not even Barry. It was late, and I figured we wouldn't be able to clear the air, so I went to the Chateau. I tried to get my things together as quickly as possible, but then JJ showed up."

Sarah stares at me in understanding. "He saw you packing your things and put two and two together."

"Yeah, pretty much. The last thing he said to me was to tell Ryan he says hi." I take a deep breath and look down at my hands as I play with the fabric of the comforter between my fingers. "I just feel so guilty. I know it was wrong of me to try to leave without telling him."

"Well," Sarah sighs. "Maybe I can make you feel a little better. I can assure you that I definitely win the 'worst girlfriend in the world' award."

"Oh, God."

"Yesterday, after everyone had left the Chateau, John B and I had a little fight. I tried to ask him to be honest with me about El Dorado. Anyone could tell that he was lying to us about it being a dead end. He snapped, brought up Dad and... and what he tried to do to me on the Coastal Venture."