Sunny

Chapter 27

That evening Rhea sat in in the hotel room looking out the window, watching the boat traffic on the river. She wondered if anyone else in the world was a screwed up as she was. She had an amazing man that loved her, he called her his heart and soul, his muse, and all she could do was run away.

But he was her heart and soul too, and it would crush her if her love for him ruined him. She wiped away the tears that ran down her cheeks as she hugged her knees to her chest.

The knock at the door startled her and she jumped when she heard it. The press at the dock and the hotel had been a nightmare and she had been a little on edge since she had arrived. She slowly made her way across the room looking out of the peephole. Lola was waiting with a large bag on her shoulder and a rolling suitcase behind her.

Rhea opened the door and when Lola looked at her with only sympathy and no judgment Rhea broke down all over again. Lola pushed her into the room and closed the door behind her.

"I've brought you a few things. Eli mentioned that when you left you didn't take anything with you."

Rhea nodded as she crossed the room and curled up into a ball on the bed. "I'm a terrible person Lola," she whispered as she closed her eyes.

"No, you're not, your only confused, so we're gonna talk it out. Remember when my father left my mother all those years ago?"

Rhea nodded.

"We talked it out, you helped me figure out why I was mad and scared and it helped me." Lola walked over to the chair in the corner and dumped the luggage. She pulled from the bag all kinds of goodies and threw them on the bed, then she pulled out her laptop and some of their favorite movies.

"First, we're going to stuff our faces and not think. Then were going to have this," she held up a bottle of wine, "and cry a little, then we will start to figure it all out." She unzipped the suitcase and pulled out a pair of pajamas throwing them at Rhea. "Put these on, they're extra fuzzy." Lola pulled out a pair for herself and they quickly changed.

Then Rhea did what Lola said and forgot about everything for a few hours as they watched some of their favorite movies. It reminded her of when they were kids and they would have slumber parties and their only problems were the homework that was due on Monday and who was going to ask Lola out next. Rhea rarely ever got asked out because she was always so shy.

"This reminds me of when we were kids and we had no real problems."

Lola nodded, pushing the laptop aside and reaching for the wine. "It's time for phase two." Lola poured them each a glass and when they were snuggled back under the covers Lola looked over the rim of her glass at Rhea. "What the hell is wrong with you girl?" she asked with a shake of her head.

That was all it took, Rhea started to ball like a baby spouting words so incoherently that Lola didn't try to understand as kept reminding Rhea to take sips of wine in between her gulping sobs.

Eventually, she handed Rhea a box of tissues and settled back, watching her friend as she dried her eyes and blew her nose.

"Now, phase three, start at the beginning. And I would like to go on record as saying that, perhaps, if you had trusted me from the beginning and shared, you wouldn't be in this mess now."

"I probably wouldn't." Rhea agreed sullenly.

"So, tell me, how did you get your job with Elias Emory and Victoria Hewitt?"

"One of my teachers at the culinary school was friends with Victoria's personal assistant. When the job came open I was suggested. Most jobs in L.A. are landed by word of mouth. You have to know someone who knows someone. A job is very rarely advertised."