16. Yet Another Scum.

BETH.

Tony and I had dinner together and when it was time to pay the bills, we argued about who would pay.

I’ll pay the bills; don’t worry,” he said, pulling his wallet our out his pocket.

“No, I invited you to sit with me so I’ll pay,” I answered, opening my purse.

After arguing for a while, I won, obviously, and he allowed me pay for the meals but promised to pay next time we ate together. I knew we might not have the opportunity to eat together like this again but I agreed.

Tony offered to walk me back to my room and I accepted his offer. We walked out of the restaurant and we headed towards the direction of my room, the one I shared with Jeremy. I still couldn’t believe he forgot we had dinner plans. I get that he’s living his dream of going on a boat cruise but we came here to have fun and spend time together. Why did he not show up to dinner? Or did something bad happen to him? I thought in fear.

“So, I enjoyed the steak we had,” Tony said, striking up a conversation and pulling me out of my thought.

I looked up at him and he had a smile on his face; I smiled back and said, “I did too; it was one of the best steaks I have ever had and that wine really complimented the dish.”

“Yeah, Stella Rosa is one of the best non-alcoholic wines I’ve ever tasted,” he said.

“Yeah, when I get back home, I’ll try to get some. It was really nice and it tasted better than some alcoholic wines I’ve had,” I said.

Tony smiled and I smiled back at him but then there was silence for some moment until I stopped walking and spoke up again.

“Okay, so this is my room,” I said, pushing the door open, still looking at Tony.

“Well seems like someone is trying to surprise you,” Tony said, staring at something on the floor.

I turned around and fixed my eyes on the floor. There were red petals everywhere at the entrance and it really did look like Jeremy prepared a surprise for me. It looked really romantic and I smiled at the nice gesture.

“Aww, so he was preparing a surprise for me all these while? And here I was getting upset with him for forgetting about our dinner plans,” I said to myself, a smile still etched on my face.

“Well come in. Let me quickly introduce you to Jeremy and vice versa,” I said to Tony.

“Okay,” Tony answered.

I walked into the room and he followed behind but then I suddenly stopped in my tracks. Tony seemed to notice that I had stopped walking and he stopped too.

“Beth, what’s wr…,” he was saying but then stopped talking.

He must have seen what I saw. The entire room had beautiful romantic decorations on the walls and more red petals on the floor but that wasn’t what stopped me in my track. What actually stopped me was the fact that I saw Jeremy, my boyfriend, kissing a strange woman in our room, the room we were meant to share. I was dumbfounded. I didn’t know what to say or do. I became weak and felt my legs would give up anytime soon.

I could feel a lump in my throat; it was as if words were stuck in my throat. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. All these while, I thought I had finally found the one that was unlike the other guys I had ever dated in my life. But unfortunately, he was just one of them. Now, I was starting to regret why I didn’t listen to Yeesha and the others.

“Jeremy?” I said.

Jeremy broke the kiss and jumped up from the bed. He began moving around the room restlessly. Then he looked up to me and said,

“Beth, it’s… it’s not what you think, okay? She’s… she’s actually…. Room service. Yeah, she’s here for room service. She was just looking for something, yeah,” Jeremy said, stammering.

I was speechless. I couldn’t find the right words to say to him.

“And what was she servicing? Your tongue?” I heard Tony say beside me.

“Collette, can you leave please? I’ll see you later,” Jeremy said to the white lady, who was staring around in utter confusing. I watched as she picked up her purse and walked out of the room. She closed the door behind her and I turned back to face Jeremy.

“And who are you if I may ask?” Jeremy said, looking at Tony.

Before Tony could reply, Jeremy spoke again.

“Why are you here with a guy, Beth? Did you come on this boat cruise to see him?” he asked sounding upset.

I was angry he thought that way. I was even more angry he sounded upset after he has been caught cheating. The nerves of him, I thought. I never even had plans of going on a boat cruise not until he mentioned it and now he had the nerve to accuse me of coming here to meet another guy? Before I could reply him, Tony spoke up.

“I am Tony and I’m Beth’s friend. I will speak on her behalf. You claim Charlotte or whatever her name was was here for room service but you were caught red-handed sticking your tongue into her mouth. You have this gorgeous woman here who is looking out for you more than she does for herself and you had the guts to bring another woman into the room you both were to share. Even if you think Beth is so stupid, which she isn’t, it doesn’t mean every other person is.”

I looked at Tony’s face and it was red. He was very angry and looked like he was going to strangle Jeremy any moment from now. But just when I thought, he had said it all, he added, “I should have beaten you up when I saw you at the bar with that slut but I didn’t and now I’m regretting it, you hopeless man-whore. You don’t deserve her; you’re just a worthless piece of shit and you should be left to in the trash that you actually belong in.”

What? Jeremy was at the bar with that same lady while I was waiting for him at the restaurant? I looked at Jeremy and he looked scared; probably because of Tony’s threat. The more I stared at his face, the more I hated him so I ran out of the room, feeling dejected.

“Beth?” I heard Tony call my name but I ignored him and ran down the passage.

I ran as fast as I could until I found myself at the ship’s lounge. I sat on one of the lounge chairs at the lounge area of the ship and tears began to pour down my eyes. I couldn’t cry in front of Jeremy and Tony and all those tears I tried to hide, came pouring down my face with full force.

“Beth?” I heard a familiar voice call my name.