CHAPTER 22
They finally arrive to the dock. Once the yacht had stop completely, Kimberly wasted no time getting off. She didn't want to be around Dennis any longer. She jumps off the yacht, not paying any attention, due to the frustration she felt inside. As she leaves the yacht, she takes a tumble down onto the dock.
"Ouch..." she says, trying to get up, but noticed her leg was stinging. she looks at the side of her leg, noticing a big cut-- she's bleeding, "Darn..." she says, pulling herself up from the ground.
She begins to walk away, but then she heard Dennis calling. She slowly limps away, trying to go faster but the pain in her leg won't let her.
"Kimberly Wait!!" He calls her. She can hear him jumping from the dock, rushing over to her side, "I wanna talk to you--" He stops mid-sentence, realizing she's bleeding, "Your leg!" he shouts in horror.
"No need to scream-- I'm right here," she rubs her ear and begins walking away from him, limping.
"You need to get that bandaged up Kimberly--" he tells her in a panic tone.
"I know and I am. I'm looking for the lifeguard tower. They should be able to help me." she tells him, still slowly limping towards the beach.
"Kimberly wait-- You can't walk through the sand--" He quickly lifts up Kimberly, "I'll take you there--"
"Dennis!" she cries, trying to squirm away, "Dennis, Let me go!" she cries.
"Stop moving--" he tells her sternly, "If you walk on the sand, the sand will get into your cut. You can infect it. So please let me carry you there." He stares her down.
She groans, and keeps her mouth shut. He did have a point. She didn't think about the sand. She just wanted to get away.
A few moments later, they finally arrive at the lifeguard tower. A man approaches them and he sees Kimberly's leg dripping with blood.
"Sit here down right here..." the man tells Dennis, "I'll be back..." he rushes out the small room.
Kimberly stares at her leg, which is still dripping with blood. She look at the open wound in disgust. Her leg starts to throb in pain. The man returns with some supplies in hand. He places a clean towel on Kimberly leg.
"Can you apply pressure to her leg?" He tells Dennis to help her, who quickly helps him. He applies pressure until the man finishes up opening everything he needed.
He removes the towel from Kimberly's towel. He washes the excess blood from her leg and looks up at her, "Okay... this might sting a little bit..." he warns Kimberly.
Kimberly takes a deep breath, nodding her head, "Okay..." she closes her eyes.
The man uses rubbing alcohol to clean the wound. She holds her breath, feeling as though someone used a stick to hit her leg. She wanted to cry but she bit her tongue. She quickly grab for the thing nearby for support.
The fiery sting continues to bother her, but she fights through it. The pain eases down a bit. She opens her eyes and notice he's already bandaging her leg.
"You're all done..." the man tells her, "It's nothing serious to worry about. Good thing it wasn't a deep cut."
"Thank you so much sir..." she thank him, suddenly she realize her hand was rather warm. She looks at her hand and realize she had held onto Dennis's hand for support. Without thinking, she lets go of his hand, wiping the sweat on the chair.
"I'm going to give you a few things for your cut-- When you're replacing your bandage, make sure clean it thoroughly. And I think it's best if you stay away from the sand for a few days. You don't want the sand to get into your cut."
"Okay. Thank you so much. I'll remember that," she grabs the bandages and medicine from man and quickly gets up from the chair, slowly limping out of the lifeguard tower.
As Kimberly limps away, she heard footsteps approaching behind her-- Dennis.
"Let me help you," he says to her.
She pushes him off of her, "I don't need your help," she tells him sternly.
"Please-- I just want to--"
"You want to help me?" She looks up at him, "Help me by moving out of my way" she says to him coldly.
He stares into her eyes, nods his head and moves for Kimberly. She doesn't look back nor does she talk to him, she continues to move slowly.
"I'm-- I'm SORRY Kimberly!" Dennis shouts from a distance.
She stops for a split second, feeling her heart warm up-- but she doesn't look back. She limps faster.
She finally makes it into her hotel room. As she walks into her room, she notice Yaya laying on the bed, smiling innocently, resting her head on her hands.
"How was it with Dennis...?" She asks curiously.
Kimberly flops next to her, giving her a stern look, "Horrible." she utters, "I got seasick... I'm never going on a yacht again..." she shakes her head, leaving out the details of her conversation with Dennis.
"Awee... I'm sorry..." Then she notices Kimberly's bandage legs, "What-- What happen to your leg??" She ask with concern.
"Oh, something cut me while I jumped off the yacht--"
"You jumped off the yacht?!" she quickly rises, "Why did you jump off the yacht!? What did Dennis do!?"
"Oh Nothing-- Dennis didn't do anything. We already landed at the dock and I jumped off carelessly. But now I'm fine," She smiles weakly.
"Oh..." she held her chest, "You gave me a scare."
"I'm sorry, I'm fine now--" she elevates her legs, "Enough with me-- What happen to you? I've noticed you have a tendency to leave me with Dennis all of the sudden..." she gives her the evil eye.
"What!?" She shrieks in disbelief, "Why would you say that?!" she gasps, "Look-- I came back here to get my camera but then I heard my phone ring-- my boss called me. You know He's called me 5 times in the last 15 minutes! He's been searching for the transcript of the interview I did before my vacation... Apparently, the other employee-- who I worked with, lost the transcript..." she exhales deeply, lying down on the bed, next to Kimberly, "I almost got fired!" she cries, "But luckily my coworker found it.. so my ass is saved!" she rolls over and smiles at her, "So I just spent my time in here... waiting for you to hear about the yacht..."
"Ooh.." Kimberly says, "Well that's good."
"Definitely Great! I almost died, when my boss told me..." she exhales, "I can't get fired! I don't want to work for my parents or for Dennis!" she buries her face in her hands.
Kimberly laughs, "I'm so exuasted..." she says to her, "I think I'm going to take a nap before tonight..." she yawns.
"Alright... I'm suppose to go meet Barry in a bit anyways... Have a good nap." she gives her a hug and leaves.
After Yaya leaves, she lies on the bed, pondering in her thoughts. She couldn't believe she told Dennis that she loves Tom.
"How could I have said that..." she shakes her head, "It's way too soon to be saying I love him..." she sighs in disbelief, remembering the look on Dennis's face when she told him she loves Tom-- hurt and confused. He was rather angry about it. She's never seen him so angry like that.
"Why are you doing this Dennis...?" she sighs heavily, "What exactly are you trying to prove to me...?" She's confused more than ever. As she closes her eyes to rest, the image of Dennis, still follows behind. She's still thinking about him, when she knew she shouldn't.
"Oh... Why am I still thinking about you, Dennis...? I have Tom now." she opens her eyes, tossing to the other side, "You've been nothing but mean to me Dennis... and Tom's been nothing but wonderful to me..." She closes her eyes once more, feeling tired all of the sudden.
She begins to drift off to sleep, replaying the images of their time spent on the yacht. A smile slowly creeps over her face, "Okay... maybe it wasn't that horrible..." she told herself. She finally drifts off to sleep.
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Dennis flops into an empty seat at the bar. He orders a drink, wanting to drown himself in sorrow. He slowly begins to drink, feeling lower than low.
"I love Tom...." Kimberly's word of love haunts him. His heart aches. It hit him hard right in the chest, feeling as though someone has tied it and he's unable to untangle the mess he's in.
"How could I have been so blind for so many years...? She's been nothing but good to me and I screwed it up..." He drinks away his life, feeling as though it wasn't worth living anymore. A woman as wonderful as Kimberly doesn't come around that often.
He finishes his drink and orders another, wanting the drinks to keep on coming. The pain is too much for him. Drinking will make everything better. His body's feeling numb all over. He's lost in his train of thought, trying to figure out what he can he possibly do to convince Kimberly how much she means to him.
Suddenly, a seductive woman comes up to Dennis, whispering sweet nothings in his ear. He turns to her, gives her a hard stare and brushes her off. He didn't want to live the life he once lived. Feeling appalled by it actually. Barry made him realize that a life without love isn't a life worth living.
"So who's the lucky lady...?"
Dennis looks up, the bartender, who smiles at him sweetly, getting ready to make another drink.
"The woman you're thinking of...? " The bartender ask.
"Oh uh..." Dennis stammers on his thought, "No-- no one." he lies.
"Huh. I see..." she hands him the drink, "You're mouth is telling me no, but your actions are telling me otherwise-- I mean, you just blew off a really hot woman... so there has to be another woman in your life... So who is the woman who broke your heart?"
Dennis gives her a half smile, surprised by what she's saying, "There's actually no woman in life--"
"Huh I see... so you just decided to drown your sorrows away for no apparent reason?"
He stops and think, "It's complicated..." he chuckles, "You wouldn't want to hear it..." he drinks the drink the bartender gives him.
"Try me. I've heard them all," she smiles at him.
He exhales, unsure where to start, "Well--" he begins, getting comfortable in his seat, "There's this woman, who I've known for my most of my life. She's always been in love with me-- but I've always been an ass to her. I hated her actually-- But now she has a boyfriend, who is an old college buddy. And--"
"And now you finally realize how much of an ass you were and that you're in love with her right?" she gives him the eyebrow.
Dennis gives a weak smile and nods.
"And you've been trying to convince her that she isn't in love with the other guy correct?"
He nods his head again, "And she just told me she loves him... but I don't believe her..." he puts his head down, staring at his drink.
"So what have you done to make up for lost time?"
He looks at her with confusion.
"Do you really expect her to go running back to her after everything you've put the woman through?" she chuckles at him, shaking her head, "She's not going to drop her boyfriend for you. She knows better than that. So I'm asking you what have you done for her? To convince her?"
Dennis thinks for a few second, "I tried to talk to her but she won't listen... took her on a yacht... told her I cared for her... uh... I thank her for the Rolex she gave me--"
"Whoa... she gave you a Rolex...?" She shakes her head, "Now that's a woman you want to keep-- So what else...?"
Dennis's heart felt heavy, as he think about everything she's done for Dennis.
"I guess... I-- I really haven't done anything for her..." He stares at the bartender.
She raises an eyebrow at him, "Sometimes, all a woman really wants to hear is an apology, ever thought about that?"
Dennis stares at her dismay, as if a light bulb went off in his head.
"Remember, not all woman are big on jewelries or the fancy things in life. The little things are all that it takes to win our hearts," she winks at him, "If you really love this woman like you say you do-- prove it to her. With actions and words. Let her know. She must be really important to you or else you would have gone with that prowling slut over there..." she points to the woman who was all Dennis earlier.
Dennis chuckles, smiling to himself, "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind..." he finishes his drink.
"No problem-- one more thing," she leans in closer, "Think about what is it that you love about her-- saying because she's beautiful isn't the only answer now, okay?"
He smirks and thinks about it, "Why do I love her...?" he hadn't thought about it.
"Thanks so much..." he smiles sweetly at the bartender, finishing up his drink, "Can you close my tab...?" he tells her, giving her a big tip, "Thanks for your help,"
"Thank you..." He tells her, "You've helped me realize some things."
"No problem... and thanks for the tip," she winks and smile at him, "I hope everything works out for you."
Dennis smiles and walks out the bar, feeling like a new man.
"Time for a new tactic..." he tells himself, smiling with confidence.