good.
“Okay, I am on my way,” I say, hanging up because I can’t even finish the call, I am not stupid by any means. I knew Dani hasn’t been faithful, I suspected it about six months ago when I was gone for a shoot. I hadn’t heard from her for three days and when I came home, she was completely different.
Every time I would ask her, she just said, ‘work had been rough, and she had a long week’. So, I let it go.
We started growing apart. I noticed she had changed but I had changed too. I had grown tired of the spotlight, tired of the attention and the flashing lights from the camera, but not Dani. She loved it, she craved it. There were times, I thought maybe she would cause some stunt that would cause the photographers and media to just go nuts and she would be all over the front page again.
I don’t want that life I never really did; I just wanted a chance for my life to be different, I didn’t want to struggle like my parents did. I didn’t want to worry about money or where my next meal would come from. So, when I was sixteen, I got a job and then I was asked to model, so I jumped at the chance and I haven’t looked back since. I know the stigma of male models being vain or moronic and I was once, don’t get me wrong, but things change, and I am not that stupid kid anymore.
Knocking on the door my fist feels like lead. As I pound on it the weight gets heavier and heavier. When the door opens, I see somber brown eyes, the same brown I have looked into for the past two and a half years. This time they were rimmed with red, the only shade of red that comes with tears and a lot of them. I rush to her, the reaction being a part of me, but quickly she pulls away and leaves me standing in the hallway just as empty as before.
Walking toward the living room I see Lance and Dani in a full embrace. He’s whispering something in her ear and she’s nodding her head with tears in her eyes again.
My phone ringing brings me out of my head. The memory fading just as quickly as it came. I look down and I see that it’s my mom.
“Hey, Momma, I was just going for a run can I call you back when I get finished?”
“Sure, baby, I was just checking on you, making sure you’re holding up over there.”
“Yeah, Mom, I’m fine, just needing a break, a recharge you know.”
“Yeah, honey, I get it, but it’s been three months,” she says, her tone full of motherly worry.
She sighs when I don’t respond right away. “Okay, Kelly, call me when you get done.” I know she’s probably lonely.
“Love you, Mom,” I tell her as I press end and hit the sand, pushing away all the shit that is waiting for me to take care of.
When I bought the beach house, about a year ago, Dani said it was a dumb investment. “There aren’t a lot of A-listers in SeaBrook, why not a beach house in Miami, Kel?”
I hated that nickname; it was bad enough my name is Kelly. She had to add to the problem by calling me Kel. Like I was another one of her bimbo girlfriends.
“Because, Dan!” I knew she hated that name just as much as I hated Kel. “This place is my home; I grew up here. This place is my escape. I’ve always loved it here on the beach. When I was a kid my parents brought me here for our family vacations.”
I always dreamed about being able to buy one of these houses. Running past all the early morning fishermen and the ones that just like to watch the sun come up. Each one waving and saying their good mornings to each other. The tourists come in and watch the sunrise getting lost in the colors that transport you to a different time and place. Jogging by the Waterfront Bistro, I notice my two ladies that have opened the place since I arrived, throwing them a quick wave I finish the run.
She will be mine.
After I finish my run, I head to the best breakfast in town, I love to eat and take in the atmosphere before the tourists flood the beach. View isn’t half bad either,