Friday, April 22, 2011
Excerpt #14, from pages 96-97 of "Stream of Consciousness"
The cool coastal air felt good on our faces as we walked back to our cabin. Shockingly, when we arrived at our room, we noticed a note hanging from the doorknob. I figured it was house-keeping or some kind of promotional pamphlet. But it looked like it was written in red lipstick. So I raced to open it up and read the inside which said, “Great time last night.” So my first reaction was to see if there was an address on the note. I thought that maybe someone had put the incriminating material on the wrong door handle. So obviously my next course of action was to chat with Eric directly.
“Honey, do you recognize this hand-writing,” I asked patiently.
“No, what is it?” he asked truly curious.
“Well it’s some kind of love note, which makes me wonder why the heck it’s on our door-knob,” I said feeling kind of irritable.
“Well I have absolutely no idea who that belongs to. I mean, is it some kind of joke? Do you think Jen did this to stir up some cruise-ship drama? You two are like best friends. Maybe she thought it would be sooo funny,” he said laughing out loud while rubbing my neck.
“Not even Jen would play a cruel joke like that on us. What do you think this is? All I can think of is that it might be Molly trying to burn us somehow. She seems like she’s got some kind of vendetta against me with mega jealousy about my friendship with Jadan, so that’s my first thought,” I said sounding incredibly pissed.
“Well there’s only one way to find out,” Eric announced as he grabbed our room keys and his cell phone.
“What, we’re just going to walk over and interrupt their breakfast? I mean, what if it wasn’t Molly? Then that will be one more level of drama,” I said in a stressed out tone.
“Well let’s just charge it Hon. I’m not going to let someone else wreck our cruise and our time together. You know I wouldn’t pull this crap on you, Renee. I’m totally confident in our relationship and I want you to be as well. So I’m pissed that someone is trying to frame me. This is not gonna happen on my watch,” he said like a confident police officer.
“Okay, then let’s head back over to the restaurant to chat with the group about it,” I said having tentative feelings about how this would play out.
When we arrived at the restaurant, the two couples noticed our intrusion the instant we walked in the door. I think they could hear my heart beating a thousand beats a minute. Eric walked straight towards Molly and challenged her directly.
“What’s the meaning of this? Did you write this note?” he said as he threw the note covered in red lipstick at her face.
“What? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said defensively.
“Okay, well we thought maybe you put this on our door since you’ve had a problem with me the second we got on the airplane,” I retorted uncomfortably.
“That’s so strange, someone left that on your door?” Jadan wondered as he looked over the napkin like a professional detective.
“Yeah, that’s so weird,” Jen echoed over the chaos.
“What’s so strange is that I recognize this handwriting. It’s totally familiar to me,” Jadan said glaring up at Molly.
“You’re seriously accusing me Hon? I can’t believe you. After all that we’ve been through and you’re acting like I would do something that insane,” she dog-paddled.
“Well, I recognize that funny little twirl you do on your cursive g’s. Plus this lipstick is totally your color. So I’m pissed too, Hon. These are my friends and you’re wrecking the whole damn cruise,” Jadan said slamming down his water cup for emphasis.
Obviously Molly felt totally discovered and cornered, so she ran out of the restaurant crying. We’d found the culprit with total accuracy. Even though it was so uncomfortable, I was so thankful for Eric’s direct approach. I mean what kind of a week was it going to be if I had to be wondering who was trying to sexually assault my husband? All this to say, the rest of the day was pretty interesting.
“Honey, do you recognize this hand-writing,” I asked patiently.
“No, what is it?” he asked truly curious.
“Well it’s some kind of love note, which makes me wonder why the heck it’s on our door-knob,” I said feeling kind of irritable.
“Well I have absolutely no idea who that belongs to. I mean, is it some kind of joke? Do you think Jen did this to stir up some cruise-ship drama? You two are like best friends. Maybe she thought it would be sooo funny,” he said laughing out loud while rubbing my neck.
“Not even Jen would play a cruel joke like that on us. What do you think this is? All I can think of is that it might be Molly trying to burn us somehow. She seems like she’s got some kind of vendetta against me with mega jealousy about my friendship with Jadan, so that’s my first thought,” I said sounding incredibly pissed.
“Well there’s only one way to find out,” Eric announced as he grabbed our room keys and his cell phone.
“What, we’re just going to walk over and interrupt their breakfast? I mean, what if it wasn’t Molly? Then that will be one more level of drama,” I said in a stressed out tone.
“Well let’s just charge it Hon. I’m not going to let someone else wreck our cruise and our time together. You know I wouldn’t pull this crap on you, Renee. I’m totally confident in our relationship and I want you to be as well. So I’m pissed that someone is trying to frame me. This is not gonna happen on my watch,” he said like a confident police officer.
“Okay, then let’s head back over to the restaurant to chat with the group about it,” I said having tentative feelings about how this would play out.
When we arrived at the restaurant, the two couples noticed our intrusion the instant we walked in the door. I think they could hear my heart beating a thousand beats a minute. Eric walked straight towards Molly and challenged her directly.
“What’s the meaning of this? Did you write this note?” he said as he threw the note covered in red lipstick at her face.
“What? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said defensively.
“Okay, well we thought maybe you put this on our door since you’ve had a problem with me the second we got on the airplane,” I retorted uncomfortably.
“That’s so strange, someone left that on your door?” Jadan wondered as he looked over the napkin like a professional detective.
“Yeah, that’s so weird,” Jen echoed over the chaos.
“What’s so strange is that I recognize this handwriting. It’s totally familiar to me,” Jadan said glaring up at Molly.
“You’re seriously accusing me Hon? I can’t believe you. After all that we’ve been through and you’re acting like I would do something that insane,” she dog-paddled.
“Well, I recognize that funny little twirl you do on your cursive g’s. Plus this lipstick is totally your color. So I’m pissed too, Hon. These are my friends and you’re wrecking the whole damn cruise,” Jadan said slamming down his water cup for emphasis.
Obviously Molly felt totally discovered and cornered, so she ran out of the restaurant crying. We’d found the culprit with total accuracy. Even though it was so uncomfortable, I was so thankful for Eric’s direct approach. I mean what kind of a week was it going to be if I had to be wondering who was trying to sexually assault my husband? All this to say, the rest of the day was pretty interesting.
Labels: book excerpt #14, Stream of Consciousness
