Chapter 18: Last minute warning

Ren forced herself off the bed. The breakfast that Louis brought her still lay on the table, untouched. She lumbered toward the bathroom. Literally, she had to literally take a cold shower to clear her mind from the haze. Not to mention to rid herself the smell of last night's merrymaking. She closed her eyes, trying to remember everything that happened the night before. Well, she remembered that first drink, as well as the dancing, but after that…her mind just seemed to black out.

The bath was refreshing but it certainly did not clear everything up, as she hoped it would. She sighed as she made her way back to her room. Louis' words were still ringing clear in her head. Why was he so upset about? It couldn't have that bad, could it? The sound of her phone pulled her from her thoughts. 

She picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey Ren, it's me," a male voice answered on the other end.

"Will?" she asked, surprised to hear his voice.

"Yeah," Will replied uncertainly. "Listen, I just want to apologize for what happened last night. You left hurriedly with your friends, so I didn't have the chance to."

Ren took a seat on the foot of her bed. "Wait," she interrupted, "I know this is a stupid question… but, what happened last night?" Ren laughed sheepishly. "I really can't seem to remember… exactly what happened."

There was a long pause on the other end.

"Will, are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here," Will quickly spoke up. "Well last night, you know, we had a couple of drinks and your friends… your friends kinda got mad at me for that."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "They were?"

"Uh huh," he answered too hastily. "That's why I wanted to apologize and I was hoping I could do it personally." Will paused for a second. "…Say at that café down at Hudson?"

"The one near the beach?"

Will must have sensed the trepidation in her voice. "Please?"

Ren sighed. "Well, okay I guess." There's really no harm in that, is there?

He could barely contain his delight. "Great!" Will replied a little too enthusiastically. "I'll meet you there at two."

"Okay."

"Alright, see you." he quickly hung up.

Ren clicked the phone off and stared at it for a moment. Something was not right, and she could feel it. She just wasn't sure what it was.

All of a sudden, the phone began ringing again. Caught off guard, she jerked in surprise, almost dropping it.

"Hello?" she answered again.

"Hey, sounds like you're okay now. No more hangover?"     

This time, she recognized the female voice on the other line.

"Hi Ruby," Ren replied. "Yes, I'm fine now." She lightly massaged her head. "Just a little headache, that's all."

"That's good to hear. I was afraid that the alcohol might have burned your brain or something, permanently."

"Yeah," she answered with an embarrassed smile. "By the way, Louis kind of mentioned earlier that you and Monique brought me home last night. And, well, thanks."

On the other end, Ruby laughed in response. "Ren, I would do anything, anything, just to get you away from there, specifically away from Will. Speaking of which, could you please remind not to sock him in public every time he gets within ten feet of you?"

Ren shifted her phone to her other ear, unsure of what she's just heard. "Wait Ruby, why would you want to hit him?" Her friend could not be that angry with him. The only thing that guy did was give Ren a couple of drinks.

"Are you serious?! Don't you remember what happened last night?" Ruby asked exasperatedly. "He was taking advantage of you!"

She cringed at her friend's voice. Ren tried to recall what happened, but her mind would just not cooperate. "Ruby, I'm think you're exaggerating. Will is a nice guy." Well he seemed to be, at least.

"I saw it with my own two eyes. He knew you were drunk, that's why he took you to that corner. You two were practically groping each other in there for the entire world to see!"

Ren lifted the phone a couple of inches from her ear as her friend shouted every word.

Ruby continued on. "Just ask Monique. We both saw him pinning you to the couch. Who knows what he might have done if we haven't arrived and stopped." She paused when no sound came from the other line. "Ren, are you listening to me?"

"Yes, I'm listening," she replied quietly. Her headache was surprisingly getting worse.

"Seriously, you better steer clear from him. That guy is nothing but trouble."

Ren considered her warning for a second. Ruby has been her friend for a long time now. She wouldn't say these kinds of things if she didn't mean it. "Thanks for the warning, Ruby," she said gloomily, "but you were just a phone call too late."

"What do you mean? Oh no, don't tell me-"

"I already agreed to meet him this afternoon," she told her meekly. Before Ruby could react, she quickly tried to explain herself. "He just called me before you did and asked me to meet him on a café near the beach. Look, I'm sorry but I really didn't know!"

There was a pause on the other end. "Don't tell me you're going to. Please, do not tell me that!"

"No, of course not," Ren quickly answered. "…Not after what you told me." She stood from her bed and walked over to her drawer. "I'll just give him a call and explain," she said as she rummaged for her wallet. "Listen, I've got to dash to the store to get something, I'll give you a call a little later, okay?"

"You better," Ruby replied and hung up.

Ren took a deep breath as she grabbed her wallet. Her headache has just suddenly gone from bad to worse. Grabbing her purse, she ran downstairs.

She closed the door as she got out of their house. Ren grumbled in frustration as she realized something. All this time she had been accepting rides from other people. But her parents have yet to allow her back behind the wheel. Which meant that she has to walk a few good blocks from their house to the store. The sweltering heat of the sun was not helping at all.

Glancing around, Ren made her way to the store. Louis was still nowhere in sight. She wasn't really sure whether that was a good sign or not.

Finally giving up, she hurried her pace. He made it clear a few hours ago that he didn't want to do anything with her. What makes her think he's actually going to show up?

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Louis slammed the front door shut. "Ren?" Eerie silence greeted him. He dashed to the living room, hoping to find her there. "Hey Ren, you here?" Again, no one was there. Immediately he ran upstairs and headed to her room.

"Hey Ren, about this morning," Assuming she was still in bed, he started to explain.  "I really didn't mean those things… well, not exactly. You see-" Louis stopped in midsentence as soon as he entered the room. Ren's room was completely empty. He noticed the untouched food and sighed. Looks like her sister's mad at her, after all. Well, what would he expect? He wouldn't exactly be eager to talk to her if Ren told him the same things that he did.

Taking a seat on her bed, he wondered aloud. "Where could she be?"

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She walked hurriedly toward the store, trying to get away from the heat of the scorching sun. A blast of cold air hit her as soon as she entered the store. The sudden change in temperature made her cringe. Her head started to pound again.

There weren't many people around; just a woman by the magazine stand, and a couple of kids picking up some chips.    

Ren rubbed her forehead as she looked around. Her headache was getting worse by the minute.

She stopped in front of a shelf and found what she was looking for. One by one, she picked everything up, examining every bottle of medicine in front of her. Finally, she grabbed a bottle of Tylenol and walked over to the cashier.

Someone by the counter made her stop dead at her tracks. It was no other than Will, who had just made a purchase. Great… The last person she needed to see was standing ten feet away from her. It was official then: the whole world is conspiring to make this day as miserable for her as possible.

Unsure of how to approach, Ren just stood there for a moment. She tried to get a glimpse of what he's just bought.

Just as Will turned around, she saw him tuck something in his back pocket - something small.

He looked just as surprised when he turned around and noticed her. Well, well, well… Talk about timing. A smile slowly spread on his face.

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