Chapter Five
Tessa yawned as she yanked her tank top over her head, tossing it aside, and pulling an oversized football jersey on in its place. She had no idea how late it was and her head was spinning, but she doubted it was just because of the trio of Strawberry Daiquiris she'd had in the past hours. For some reason, she couldn't stop thinking about Jason Matthews and how his entire face seemed to brighten when he smiled or how adorable he had looked when he realized that there was no way he had a chance to win the game of pool they had been playing. Tessa shook her head, as though trying to shake those thoughts free, and looked at herself in the mirror. Jason is your boss, she mentally told her reflection, so get control of yourself. She nodded once, but she wasn't satisfied.
From the main room of her apartment, which was little then a single room with a bathroom off to the side, Tessa could hear Ashlee bouncing on her bed as she sang along, quite out of tune, with the radio that she was blasting despite the fact that it was well past midnight. The tiny dog, which now believed that it had run of the apartment, was yipping and running around as well and Tessa rolled her eyes. Her sister wasn't the problem, she'd dealt with Ashlee her entire life; it was the dog that was going to have to go.
Yawning again, Tessa opened the bathroom door and stepped out, stretching her arms above her head. She narrowed her eyes when she saw that the dog was on the bed as well, running around Ashlee's legs as she bounced around the mattress, acting as though she had never had so much fun before.
"With you, I can let my hair down!" Ashlee declared loudly, screeching horribly along with the singer on the radio. She flopped down on her stomach and picked up the dog, holding it eye level. "I can say anything crazy!"
Tessa clicked off the radio. "Get that thing off my bed." She commanded, not unkindly, and Ashlee complied, tossing the dog off the bed and rolling off herself, grinning at her sister. "What are you so happy about?" She asked.
"Nothing." Ashlee told her, sitting cross-legged on the floor and reaching out for Tessa's makeup bag. "I just saw you with that guy, Jason." She looked at her sister, waiting for her to elaborate on her claim.
Tessa brushed dog hair off her comforter. "Yeah, so?" She questioned. "We were just playing pool."
Ashlee took a silver nail file out of the bag and proceeded to file her fingernails. "Okay, fine." She said, shrugging her shoulders. "If that's all it was..." She looked down at her nails, as though she didn't care any more about the conversation.
"That is all it was." Tessa assured her, sitting on the edge of her bed so that she could watch her sister. "He's my boss, Ash, that's it."
Ashlee continued to file her nails, feigning disinterest. "Okay, fine." She said again. "I just don't understand why you're lying to yourself." She grinned at Tessa.
Tessa pulled a pillow off her bed and swatted her sister in the head; Ashlee laughed and ducked to avoid another blow. "You're such a brat, Ashlee." She said with a smile. "And I am not lying to myself." She sighed. "Jason and I were just playing pool, that's it." She wished she could sound so certain in her head.
Ashlee shrugged and picked up the nail file again. The dog crawled into her lap and attempted to lay down but she pushed him away from her. "Go away, Chili." She commanded and the dog flopped down beside her.
"Chilly?" Tessa repeated. "Why did you name it that?" Ashlee opened her mouth to reply. "Because its fur is white?"
Ashlee shook her head. "No, Chili, like the food." She answered and patted the dog, putting the file back into the makeup bag. She looked at her nails and nodded.
Tessa looked at her sister. "You're so weird." She mumbled, flopped down in bed and shutting off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness.
Ashlee lay down on the quilt her sister had given her, looking up at the ceiling; the dog crawled onto her stomach and she didn't bother to push it away. "Tess, you know that woman, Nicole?" Her sister said she did. "I saw her talking to this guy at the bar tonight."
Tessa waved a dismissive hand in the darkness. "That was probably just her fiancé." She told her sister.
Ashlee sat up, looking through the darkness in Tessa's direction. "They were talking about the hotel." She said. "About making Vincent sell it to Nicole's dad."
Tessa sat up as well, suddenly much more interested in what Ashlee had to say about her least favorite person in Hawaii. "Really? What else did he say?"
Ashlee told her about what she had heard and Tessa listened with interest, trying to figure out if she should tell Jason, or Vincent or just confront Nicole herself and use what her sister said as a sort of blackmail. She decided against the latter, what would be the fun in that? Nicole didn't have anything she wanted anyway. Except it would be nice not to be bossed around by anyone anymore, if she was the assistant general manager at the hotel...
"What are you thinking?" Ashlee asked suddenly, startling Tessa out of her thoughts. "You were quite, that means you were thinking about something."
Tessa shook her head, certain that her sister couldn't see her in the darkness. "Nothing." She told her. She lay down again, though now she didn't feel much like sleeping. In the morning, she'd tell Jason what Ashlee had told her and... Suddenly, she wasn't thinking about Nicole at all; why had she decided to tell Jason? Was it just an excuse to talk to him again? No, she decided quickly, she had a better relationship with Jason, that was all.
Ashlee lay down as well and closed her eyes, realizing just how exhausted she was. Before she could drift to sleep, something she hadn't been able to do in days, Tessa's voice caused her to open her eyes again. "Why'd you come here, Ashlee? Is it really that bad at home?"
"Yes." Ashlee answered with a sigh. "I had to leave; you should understand, you left too."
Tessa sighed as well, hearing for the first time just how much Ashlee seemed to blame her for deserting her back in Detroit. There were plenty of things she could have said to her sister at that moment, but none of them came out and she hated herself for that. She and Ashlee had always been close -"Us against the world" Ashlee used to say when they were younger- but sometimes it was too hard to tell her sister just how she understood everything she had gone through. She just hoped Ashlee understood.
"I'm glad you came here." Tessa said instead, unable to keep from thinking just how hollow those words sounded, even if they were true. "I love you, sis. Hawaii just wasn't the same without you."
Ashlee was silent for a moment. "That's because you didn't have anyone to cause trouble with." She remarked and Tessa could tell that the moment had passed. "But I somehow have the feeling that's about to change."
Tessa didn't answer, simply smiled into the darkness.
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Even out of the corner of his eye, Jason could see the sly smile that his best friend and roommate was giving him as she kicked her shoes into the corner of their bungalow style home. He looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "What?" He questioned, though he wasn't quite sure he wanted to know what was on MJ's mind.
"So, I guess you've finally gotten over Nicole, huh?" MJ remarked and Jason sighed, wondering just what idea MJ had gotten into her head this time.
Jason looked at her, feigning patience. "What makes you think that?" He asked, though all he wanted to do was go to bed and sleep through the remaining hours of the night, which were slowly ticking away.
From his spot on the couch, where he was helping himself to a midnight snack of Frosted Flakes, Frankie smiled at his roommate. "We both saw the way you acted around Tessa." He explained and Jason groaned inwardly. "Hell, everyone in the whole bar saw the way you acted with her."
Jason shook his head immediately, holding up a hand as though hoping to deflect his friend's claims. "I have no idea what you're talking about; Tessa and I were just playing pool." He said, his patience being replaced by weariness. "I'm her boss, she's my employee, end of story."
MJ nodded her head even as she raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Okay, whatever you say." She mumbled, flopping down on the couch beside Frankie. "But you can't deny your feelings forever." She figured if she weren't so tipsy, she could offer better advice.
Jason sighed wearily, and shook his head. "I'm not even going to justify that with a response." He mumbled. "And if there's no more false claims to be made, I'm going to bed."
Neither of his friends stopped him and Jason trudged wearily down the hall toward his bedroom, pausing to study himself in the bathroom mirror. He looked like the same old Jason Matthews, general manager at the Grand Waimea; he figured he'd know if he had suddenly fallen in love.
Besides, it was just completely illogical that he could be in love with Tessa anyway, she was the exact opposite of everything he'd ever wanted in a woman. She was loud, she spoke her mind at all the wrong times -and the right ones-, she didn't have the most savory past, even though she had a good heart and a great smile and those bright chestnut eyes hidden behind her flowing chestnut hair...
Jason sighed, though this time there was no exhaustion in the gesture, just disbelief; there was no way MJ and Frankie could be right because there was absolutely no way that he could ever fall in love with Tessa Lewis. End of story.
Only now, he was beginning to doubt himself.
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"You look nice." Ashlee observed, leaning against the side of the bathroom door and peering at her sister, who was standing in front of the mirror slowly applying mascara. "Hot date today?" She grinned and Tessa paid her no attention. "Oh, that's right, just work with Jason." The grin grew wider.
Tessa didn't look away from her reflection as she reached out and slammed the bathroom door in her sister's face. She wouldn't let herself believe that Ashlee's explanation for why she was spending so much more time on her appearance that morning be the right one. From behind the bathroom door, Ashlee laughed but didn't say anything else, as though her sister's reaction alone was enough to prove that she was one hundred percent right in her claims.
Tessa rolled her eyes, as though she had just realized just how badly Ashlee had missed the mark. So what if she was spending a few extra minutes primping in front of the mirror? She did have an important job at an upscale hotel and it made since to look nice when you were going to work.
Especially when you were working with Jason Matthews.
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Jason straightened his tie as he headed through the perfectly polished doors of the Grand Waimea, checking his suit to be sure that it was free from wrinkles; at least in the beginning hours of his day, he wanted to seem like he had everything together. By mid-morning, something had always come up to make him forget all about keeping everything orderly but that knowledge didn't keep him from at least making sure his tie was on straight.
As he headed through the lobby, Jason's eyes scanned the faces of the guests before him until he found Tessa in the crowd, standing behind the guest relations desk already looking bored. Ashlee was standing beside her, looking as though she were painting her nails and generally slacking off on the duties she wasn't exactly being paid for. Jason headed in their direction, trying to talk himself out of the fact that he were using Ashlee as an excuse to see Tessa.
Ashlee looked up and saw Jason coming their way and, biting down her smile, elbowed Tessa in the ribs. Tessa elbowed her right back and was about to ask her sister just what had gotten into her when she noticed Jason as well. And suddenly, she felt quite nervous, something that she had never really felt before in her life.
Jason stopped in front of the desk and smiled at Tessa; Ashlee went on painting her fingernails, acting as though she didn't notice him or sense the jitters coming from her sister. "Morning Tessa." She smiled at him. Jason turned his attention to Ashlee. "Don't you have rooms to clean?" He questioned.
Ashlee looked up at him, capping the nail polish bottle and blowing on her fingernails. "Nicole's not here yet." She explained. "I have to catch in with her before I can breath if I'm on hotel property apparently."
Jason rolled his eyes but didn't move to object. Instead, he said, "If she's not around in thirty minutes, check in with one of the other maids, they'll let you know what to do." Ashlee sighed and nodded. He turned his attention to Tessa. "So, I was thinking that I deserve a little rematch at the pool table, if you're up for it." He smiled again.
Tessa couldn't help but smile as well, ignoring the not so secretive look that her sister was giving her. "Sure, that is, if you're up to losing again."
Jason raised an eyebrow. "We'll just see about that." He remarked. Tessa rolled her eyes, letting him know that he talked a good game but couldn't deliver. After taking her criticism with a smile on his face, Jason headed off toward Vincent's office, leaving the Lewis sisters to stare after him.
Ashlee looked over at her sister. "I told you that you liked him." She remarked with a knowing grin.
Tessa gave her sister a shove. "Don't start that again." She commanded. "And go away, I have work to do."
"That's right, you have enough of a distraction, thinking about Jason to be bothered with me." Ashlee remarked, ducking away from her sister before Tessa could swat at her. She headed into the lobby, grinning at Tessa as though she knew something that the older girl didn't.
Tessa rolled her eyes. "You're such a brat, Ashlee." She called after the girl. "Grow up, we're not in middle school."
Ashlee just smiled and disappeared down a hallway, heading for the elevators, leaving Tessa feeling like an idiot for shouting across the lobby, noticing that several of the guests had stopped to stare at her.
Feeling her cheeks redden slightly, Tessa returned her attention to the computer screen in front of her, which showed her nothing of importance. Still, she couldn't help but wonder why she couldn't take her own advice; she wasn't in middle school anymore, it didn't do any good to deny it if you had feelings for anyone. So...why couldn't she just come out and say just how she felt about Jason?
Because you don't have feelings toward Jason, Tessa told herself promptly. End of story.