Waves Of Passion

Chapter 6

The only downside about the date was when Justin told Eliza that he would be leaving town for a few days. The deal Christina DeLuca was making in the Middle East required him to be out there for a few days. A week at most, he had said. It was just a mere seven days but the thought of it made Eliza feel empty. It was something that Celia had noticed the night before and Christina did too. As it turned out, Eliza was not as good at hiding what she really felt as she thought. If anything, she was showing all she was feeling without even intending to.

“You alright there?” Celia asked as she looked at Eliza who was obviously out of it.

Eliza looked up and nodded.

“Sure,” she said forcing a smile.

“Really?” Celia asked. “Because it’s your day off and you just decided to work.”

Eliza shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

“Really? You working on the one night of the week you love so much. It is always all about spending the day being a couch potato for you but today you decided to come in anyway even though your days off now are more important than they used to be because of the new job and everything.”

Eliza shook her head. “I am fine, Celia. I just need the extra cash,” she said.

“Really? You have almost double what you used to get so I know it is not about the money,” Celia pointed out and Eliza shook her head. She had not mentioned anything about Justin or about their date. As far as Celia knew, the only contact she’d had with Justin was that night he came to the bar. But apart from that, there was nothing more. She was not sure she wanted to tell Celia all that. It was not that she wanted to keep anything from her best friend but Celia was a little traditional and protective. She was sure that telling her would stir up a storm.

“It is not about the money, Celia. I’m…comfortable.” Eliza tucked her dishcloth into her apron. “I just didn’t feel like being in the house staring at the same old four walls today. That’s it.”

Celia didn’t look like she believed a word out of her mouth.

“That’s it, huh?”

“That’s it, Celia. Stop rattling my cage, will you?” Eliza said as she walked to one of the customers at the far end of the bar.

“Whiskey, neat,” he said and she nodded.

“Coming right up,” she said as she grabbed a glass from the shelf and poured him a whiskey. “I know you just walked in but I have to tell you that it’s just twenty minutes until last call,” she said smiling at the man. And he nodded.

“I think this is the only drink I will have tonight then,” he said and Eliza looked at him.

“Everything alright, sir?” she asked and he shrugged.

“I am a man in his forties drinking alone. What do you think?” he asked and Eliza sighed.

“Want to take a minute to share?” she asked and he shook his head.

“I am not sure if there is anything to share really,” he said before he took a sip of his whiskey. “As of five o’clock today, I officially became a divorced man.”

Eliza frowned when she noticed that he still had his wedding ring on.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said in a sympathetic voice.

“I guess I should have seen it coming when I noticed all those long calls on our cell phone bill but I think I was a little too trusting,” he said.

She shrugged.

“Hey, we’ve all been there,” she said as she poured him another drink. “This one’s on the house,” she added as she pushed the glass towards him before making her way back to where Celia was just in time to see Christina walking in.

“Christina….hi,” she said feeling a little confused. “What are you doing here?” Her eyes ran down her supervisor’s body and she raised an eyebrow. “Looking like that?” she asked and Christina rolled her eyes.

“Every so often, we are allowed to let our hair down and wear something other than a T-shirt over a swim suit,” she said as she sat down at the bar. “Plus I also wanted to see what you do when you’re not saving lives.”

Eliza could hardly get over the short tight dress Christina had on that showed off her curves. Her hair was flowing luxuriously on her shoulders.

“Celia, this is Christina, my supervisor at Wave Tide and Christina, this is Celia, co-owner of the Hump Bar. My friend and kind of my other boss here.”

“Co-owner? Who is the other partner?” Christina asked.

“My partner,” Celia said. “So, what’s your poison?”

“Chardonnay,” Christina said. “But first tequila, mezcal if you have it.”

“Are you just looking for trouble?” Eliza asked as she looked at Christina who just shrugged.

“Why?”

“Mixing drinks? Never a good idea.”

“Can’t a girl just be happy?” Christina asked as she slowly tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. She looked both happy and sad. Eliza could not really get a good read on her. It was like she was trying to purposely avoid talking about what was ailing her. “It’s a beautiful day and I am just celebrating it. That’s all,” Christina added as Celia walked up to their table with Christina’s drink.

“So, are you going to tell me what is going on with you? Or are you going to make me beg?” Eliza asked and Christina shook her head.

“Let’s just say that there is cause for sadness and cause for celebration.” She reached for her tequila and raised it before she flashed down the contents. “And that is all I am willing to say about it.”

Eliza nodded even though at the back of her mind she could not help but wonder what was really going on.

She leaned back in her chair and reached for her own drink before she took a sip as she waited for Celia to come back to the table and have a bonding talk. She sipped on her drink and her mind drifted off to Justin. She could not wait until he was back. His trip seemed to take forever and she could not wait to see him once he was back.