But he didn’t tell her that. He got out, opened the passenger door for her, grabbed the small, overnight bag he always tossed in his trunk whenever he made the trek from his home in D.C. to the house in Connecticut, and then they made their way to the hotel’s entrance. It was Ricki who looked back to see if there were any scratches on his car, but she couldn’t tell in the dark. And he didn’t care either way. He was dead on his feet. And sleepy. He just wanted to crash.
Ricki was emotionally drained herself. It felt like a wasted day and she was in no condition to continue questioning everything the way she usually did. She was no longer asking why he would pay for her hotel costs, or her car repair costs, or why he bothered to drive her to Milton in the first place. It wasn’t as if they got along swimmingly. They didn’t. It wasn’t as if he wanted to be bothered with her like that. He didn’t. And after saying he was leaving town as soon as he droppedher off, why was he now walking into the hotel lobby with every intention of staying the night? Was it a sex thing? Did he think, falsely, that she was easy like that? Or did that drunk driver have something to do with it? Did that incident make him nervous about driving at night back to his house outside of New Haven? There were too many questions to ask.
So she didn’t ask any. All she could think about was that high-behind bail, and what that public defender said about how it all looked for her sister. Bad, he said. Real bad.
When Vince went up to the counter to wait in line at check in, Ricki found the nearest chair in the lobby and plopped down in it. But as soon as she sat down, her nerves started grating on her. She needed a smoke. Just a few puffs to take the edge off. So she went back outside, sat on a bench beside the entrance, lit up and took a long, slow drag on a cigarette.
Inside, another desk clerk came up and checked Vince in. His initial plan was to get two rooms. But somehow he knew he’d be worried sick about Ricki all night if he was separated from her. So he got one room with two beds. She might complain and declare he was up to no good, but he didn’t give a shit. She could take it or leave it.
But after checking in and getting the key, he turned to tell Ricki to come on. But she wasn’t there. He looked around the lobby and he still didn’t see her. He hurried around to the bar, and looked down the hall, but she wasn’t there. His heart dropped. Did somebody snatch her? Did she decide to ditch him, thinking he had ill-intent towards her? Was she out there all alone?
He hurried for the exit. But when he stepped outside and saw her sitting on that bench, her legs crossed as she took a puff on a cigarette, he exhaled and had to take a moment to regulate his pounding heartbeat again. What relief he felt!
But then he frowned. And hurried over to her. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked her angrily. But before she could say a word, he snatched that cigarette out of her hand, tossed it on the sidewalk and smashed it under his expensive, wingtip shoe. “Do you not realize that shit can kill you?”
Ricki leaned her head back. “I only take a few puffs when I’m overly-stressed. To take the edge off.”
“There’s better ways to take the edge off than killing yourself,” he said as he glanced down her body. By the look in his eyes she could tell he had a very specific way she could take the edge off. But that was so far from her mind that it seemed rude to her.
But it was in the forefront of Vince’s mind. He was edgy too, and would love some bed action with her. But that had to come organically. He never thrust himself on anybody. Least of which somebody eleven years his junior. “Give me the rest of them,” he said to her.
Now it was her time to frown. “Give you the rest of what?”
“Those cigarettes. Give me the pack.”
“I will not give you my pack of cigarettes. No!”
The way she defied Vince did something to him. If she thought for a second he was going to allow her to destroy her body with those cancer sticks, she had another thought coming. He reached over her, grabbed her purse, and then grabbed that pack of cigs out so fast that the wad of cash he had given to her almost fell out too. Then he closed her purse and threw it back at her. He crushed up that pack and then tossed it in the nearby trash container. “Now let’s go,” he said firmly.
Ricki couldn’t believe how much she allowed his controlling ass to get away with when it came to her, but that was the kind of day she was having. The only reason she didn’t cuss him out and take a hike was because she actually trustedhim first of all. But also because he balanced his domineering personality by demonstrating what she perceived was great concern for her. And it wasn’t just thosethoughts and prayerskind of concern either, but real, actionable concern. He stopped her from going with that trucker and drove her all the way to Milton. He sat in that courtroom with her. He was getting her car repaired. He was getting her a hotel room. He gave her big money for her birthday.
It was that side of him that kept her from going off on his ass the way she usually would have done had any other man come at her the way he’d been coming at her the entire time they’d been together. It had only been one day, but he’d already treated her better than any other man she’d ever known. Which she knew was a sad commentary on her relationships. But it was true. Every man she’d ever been with never gave to her, but was more than happy to take from her. And to take it repeatedly. Being with a man like Vincent Fontaine was a very different experience for Ricki.
That was why she didn’t vow to fight him in the streets over her cigarettes but got up and went back into the hotel with him. And even when they got upstairs and he unlocked the door and went into the hotel room with her, and she saw two beds that indicated they were going to share that room, she didn’t say a word. It didn’t even bother her. Because as soon as she saw that bed, she couldn’t help herself. She pushed past him as he was closing the door and dropped across that bed face first. She was done.
Vince watched her as she crashed. Then he opened his suitcoat, placed his hands on his hips, and exhaled. What on earth was he going to do with this girl? He didn’t sign up for this! But there was no way he was leaving her alone until he found out for himself why she hated her own hometown and ifshe had any idea who might take issue with her presence back in town.
When he plopped his overnight back on his bed and began opening it, she turned onto her back and looked at him. Then she got up and put her dead phone into one of the charging ports on the desk in the room. “I’m going to take a shower,” she said as she began to head for the bathroom.
“What are you going to sleep in?” he asked her.
“That bathrobe,” she said, pointing to the white, terrycloth robe hanging on the back of the closet door. “I’ve got to wear my clothes again tomorrow, until I can buy something. I can’t sleep in them too.”
Vince pulled out a brand-new dress shirt still in its packaging. “You’ll be more comfortable in this than that bulky robe,” he said as he tossed it to her.
When she saw XL on the shirt, she knew it was way too big for her. Which was the point. “Thanks,” she said.
“Want me to order room service for you?”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t eat a thing. Not tonight.”
He understood. He wasn’t exactly hungry either.
When she went into the bathroom she closed the door. Vince could also hear her lock the door. Which made him smile. She knew his slick ass too well already!
But inside the bathroom, as Ricki ran the shower water, she stood at the mirror staring at the reflection looking back at her. She looked like she felt: drained.
She knew she had to stick around and try to get the prosecution office to drop the charges, because she knew nobody in their family was going to lift a finger for her or Erica. They were both a disgrace to them. Two bad seeds. There was no way they would help.
