Like, Care Love

Ch. 17.

 

Like, Care, Love

 

 

Kent woke up in his condo feeling nothing but guilt about being so… however he was with Erica last night.

 

“What was that?” Kent asked himself out loud.  The girl is getting married, he debated with himself silently.  The girl is getting married to Marc, your best friend.

 

The thought of Marc suddenly reminded him of his odd and painful surfboard stab wound.  He took off the shirt he fell asleep in and saw that it was at least starting to heal, but still looked pretty bad.  Who the hell stabs someone with a surfboard Kent thought, but could he really blame Marc? 

 

Out in the ocean of Malibu Beach, Kent had basically admitted he liked Erica, even though he himself wasn’t sure what he felt about her.  He tried to compare it to other times he’d been in love, but he knew deep down that he’d really never been in love, so how could he know?  Either way Marc was not happy to hear Kent cared for Erica, and after seeing both of them kissing in the hospital why wouldn’t he resort to violence?

 

Kent threw his black covers onto the floor and got up to check his phone for messages.  He removed it from its charger and saw that there were three missed calls from an unknown number.  Who could that be?  Ignoring it for now Kent tossed the phone on the bed and went to go shave.

 

Using the old straight razor his father used to use, he leaned over the counter, looked in the mirror, and found himself thinking about Erica more as he quickly and skillfully grazed over the contours of his face.

 

Why on earth did he run to her rescue at the sight of her apartment on the news?  Why did it feel so perfect to have her there in the hospital, holding his hand, telling him everything would be alright when he thought he wouldn’t make it?  Why of all people was she the person he wanted there? And why, right now, was he excited by the fact that she was in his other house this very moment, but felt saddened knowing she would leave soon?

 

“Ow, f**k!” Kent exclaimed from cutting himself with the razor.  He never did that.  He washed off the rest of the shaving cream, with half of his face unshaved, and wiped the blood off of the cut.

 

He stared for a long time at himself in the mirror and then couldn’t look anymore.  Kent realized the answer to all of those questions.  He’d known it all along, and this was the first time he admitted to himself:  He liked her, cared for her, and possibly loved Erica Grey.  He’d been trying to fight it this whole time by putting her down, but every single emergency situation they experienced in the very short time of knowing each other showed that when push came to shove, he’d do anything for her.

 

He sunk down on the black leather living room couch and exhaled.  The feelings became hardened like stone inside of him, and the more he tried to be numb to them the more they stayed.  It was like being nauseous, drunk, and certain all at the same time.  He wished he just had a photo of her to look at her, as if that would somehow relieve his feelings.

 

The cell phone rang again, and Kent went to pick it up and saw the same unfamiliar phone number.  He pressed ignore and then dialed a different phone number.

 

“Kenty!  I thought you would never get out of the hospital!  How are you babe?”

 

“We’re going out tonight Nikki, VIP at Area.  I’ll pick you up at 10 and then we’re going back to my place.”

 

 “Oh my gosh, awesome!  Well, what if I bring some of my girlfriends?” The airhead replied eagerly.  He knew she would jump at the chance of being in V.I.P.

 

“Yes, even better.  See you then,” Kent quickly hung up.

 

He knew if there was anything to make him forget about these weird confusing feelings for Erica, it would be a good bottle of booze and a couple of s***s. It would cure him like he had a bad cold.

 

Two voicemails from that odd phone number flashed, and Kent once again ignored them.  There was too much to worry about right now, his properties, what car he would drive tonight, and how to drown out the feeling of love for good.  Too bad all of his money couldn’t help him with that last one. 

Reviews

[Sssss]

dlfjklksxlz! i bet those unknown calls are Erica from one of the cells she usually steals...wonder if something happened to her... LOVED THE CHAPTER! cant wait to see how everything plays out after this! Keep Writing~!