Cheating Heart, A Lost Souls Novel: A Lost Souls Novel (8 page)

By the time
Vienna found her phone it had stopped ringing.  For a moment she stared at the number of the missed call.  Her stomach lurched.  She didn’t recognize the number, but wondered if it’d been Brandon since her mother had given him her phone number.  So far, no voice mail had been left.  Vienna set her phone down on the table when she noticed that James was looking at her.  Her phone beeped and she glanced at the screen.  A voicemail had just been left.

Vienna could feel her cheeks redden.  Out of curiosity, she wanted to listen to the message, but at the same time she wanted to delete it.  She made eye contact with James who was still studying her.  He lifted an eyebrow.  She smiled and shoved the phone back into her purse.  “It’s nothing,” she said.

James nodded.  “Okay.”

“And then I spilt the punch ev
erywhere!” Steve said, slapping the table.

“It was the funniest thing
ever!” Kim laughed.  “Especially when Mickie slipped in the punch and everyone thought he was doing a crazy new dance!  You should have seen it!”

Vienna laughed
, trying to be polite, even though she hadn’t been paying attention to Kim and Steve’s story.  She knew that they were enjoying reminiscing, but she really had no interest in their high school days.  Right now she had too many other things on her mind like; who just tried calling her?

“Hey,” James whispered.  “Everything okay?”

Emotions hit her hard out of nowhere and tears pricked the back of Vienna’s eyes.  She tried hard not to lose it. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of him.  She nodded her head and did everything she could to not make eye contact.  She was afraid that the floodgates would open as soon as she saw the concern in his eyes and she’d lose control.

“If you need to talk
, I’m here for you,” James said.  “We’re friends, remember?”

Vienna was afraid to talk.  She didn’t want to cry. 
She prayed to have the strength to hold back.  She nodded.

Kim suddenly stopped talking
when she noticed the pained look on Vienna’s face.  She knew that look well.  Something was wrong.  “You okay?” she asked.

Vienna cleared her throat. 
Her voice came out weak and crackled a bit.  “Um, yeah, I just need to use the restroom.”

James scooted out of the booth to let her out.
  “Do you want me to…?”

“No,” Vienna said,
sliding out of the booth, still not looking at him.  “I’m fine.  Thanks.” 

“I’ll be right back,” Kim said
to both Steve and James as she scooted out of the booth.

Vienna knew Kim was following close behind her, but she was afraid to stop
walking.  She continued straight for the restrooms located at the front of the restaurant.  She’d noticed them when they first entered.  They were near the desk at the entrance where you checked in.

Pushing the door open, Vienna noticed that
both stalls were occupied, so she went straight for the sink.  She turned on the water and slipped her glasses off, setting them on the counter.  Dipping her hands into the cold fluid felt calming.  She leaned forward and splashed the water on her face.

“What happened?” Kim asked from behind her.  Vienna’s mind
had been so preoccupied with thoughts that she didn’t even hear her best friend enter.

“I think Brandon called.  I didn’t recognize the number.  But I’m pretty sure it’s him,” she said. 

“Oh.”

“I feel so stupid.  I almost started balling in front of James.”

“That’s not stupid.”  Kim came up next to her and draped an arm over Vienna’s shoulders.  “Did he leave a message?”

“
Um, yeah,” Vienna said, swiping at the tears that were now mingling with the cold water on her cheeks.  “I don’t know if I want to listen to it.  I’m thinking of deleting it.”

“What if it’s not him?” Kim asked.  “I mean, it might be Kyle.”

Vienna gnawed on her lower lip.  She hadn’t thought about that.  “Oh, God,” she groaned.  “You’re right.  Kyle called me earlier and I never programmed his number into my phone.  It could be him.  You think I should listen to it?”

Kim’s shoulder
s slumped.  “It’s up to you, but I’d just let it sit for awhile.  Listen to it later.  You know, just in case it
is
Brandon.  Don’t let it ruin your weekend.”

Vienna nodded.  “You’re right.
  It’s funny… I haven’t been dating or seeing anyone…well, not seriously anyway and now all of this happening at once…”

A toilet flushed and a woman appeared behind them
from one of the stalls. 

“Oh, sorry,” Kim said, moving out of the way
so she wasn’t blocking the other sink.  “I’m done.”

The woman pushed past
her and began to wash her hands.

“I just feel so confused,” Vienna said.  “Brandon broke my heart and I was finally just getting on with my life.  I didn’t even know I still had feelings for him.
  This is so crazy!  And why did he have to appear just as Kyle and I started talking?”

“I know,” Kim said.  “And it doesn’t help to have James all goo goo eyes over you
, too.”

“What?” Vienna asked.  “We’re just friends.  That’s what we decided after the Marine Corps Ball because of the long distance.”

Kim smiled.  “That doesn’t mean that he’s not into you.  I think he’s just going along with what you want.”

“You
really think so?” She’d never thought of it that way.  She figured he was the one that strictly wanted friendship. 

The
woman at the sink dried her hands and left the bathroom.  Then another toilet flushed.  Another woman appeared at the sink.  Vienna and Kim moved over to the side so they wouldn’t be blocking either of the sinks.  A tall thin woman with long dark hair entered the restroom and disappeared into one of the empty stalls.

“I know so
.  It’s obvious that James has feelings for you,” Kim said.  “It’s kind of like Steve and I.  It’s a little different because we have a history, but I guess we both still kind of want more even though we settled on friendship.”

Vienna scrunched up her nose
.  After the Marine Corps Ball a few months back, Kim had told her that she didn’t have feelings for Steve like she did in high school.  She had said that when she kissed him it was like kissing her brother.  Well, what it would be like if she had a brother to kiss.  And Vienna tried not to envision what it would be like to kiss her
own
brother.   “But I thought you said…”

“Yeah, I know,” Kim said, reading Vienna’s mind.  “I’m confused
, too.  I don’t know what the hell I want.  I was confused about Steve because of the long distance. And I was also seeing Chad at the same time which, of course, was also long distance.  Now I don’t know what I’m feeling.  I have feelings for both Steve and Chad.  And they’re both long distance.  Steve and I have a past that I cherish, but I don’t know if we can ever pick up and have a future.  And Chad wants me to move to the desert to be with him…I’m…”  Kim’s eyes filled up with tears.  “I…don’t know what I want or feel…”

Vienna nodded and put her hand on her friend’s arm.  “I guess we’re both screwed up.  I didn’t know that your heart was just as messed up as mine.
  I’m sorry.  I’ve been selfish.  I haven’t even thought about what you’re going through.”

“We both have a cheating heart
,” Kim said, sniffling. 

“Cheating heart?”

“Yes.  Our hearts don’t think rationally they just make us feel all confused and crazy.  You know, when you’re focused on one person and our hearts are focused on another.  And right now both of us have a lot of things to be confused about.”

“Tell me about it,
” Vienna agreed, thinking of Jack being added into the mix of emotional confusion.

Just then a shrill scream came from the back stall.  The door flew open and
crashed into the wall.  The tall thin woman ran out.  She stared wide eyed at Vienna and Kim.  Her mouth hung open.  She pushed her long dark hair away from her pale white face with trembling hands.   

“Are you all right?” Vienna asked.

She shook her head, pointed at the stall and ran out of the bathroom. 

“What was that all about?” Kim asked,
peeking into the stall.  “There’s nothing in there.”

The door
to the restroom swung open and Vienna clutched her heart when Jack stepped inside.  He had materialized into human form and headed straight for the back stall.  “Are you okay?” he asked, not looking at her. 

“Jack?”
Vienna asked, her heart skipping a beat.  “What are you doing here?”  This was just what she needed in her life right now; more confusion.  The women’s restroom was supposed to be a place to escape men. 

Jack pee
red into the stall.  He could feel the residual negativity from the dark spirit in the restroom even though it was no longer there. 
At least it hadn’t gotten Vienna,
he thought.  “It’s gone,” he said. 

“What’s gone?  Are you going to tell me what this is all about?” Vienna stomped her foot on the ground.
  “You shouldn’t even be in here.  This is the women’s restroom!”

“I see that,” he said, looking around.
  “It’s different than I envisioned it.” 

“I’m sure,” Vienna said, shaking her head.

The door to the restroom flew open and crashed against the wall.  Three women entered.  Vienna turned just in time to see Jack dissolve into thin air.  A large woman with her steel gray hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing a red apron with her nametag pinned to the front of it, introducing her as the manager, pushed past both Vienna and Kim.  She glanced into the back stall.

“Did you see anything?” the
manager asked.  She then pushed the door open to the other empty stall and looked around.

Vienna and Kim shook their heads. 

“A woman ran out screaming,” Kim explained.  “We were over here by the sinks.  Is she okay?  Is she hurt?”

The
manager’s eyebrows knit closely together as she scowled.  “She claims she saw a man in here.”

“A man?” Kim gasped.  “In here?
  With us?”

Vienna hoped she wasn’t talking about Jack.  As far as she knew, Jack appeared after the woman ran out screaming, not before. 

“Yeah, that’s what she says,” the manager explained.  “Some pervert just appeared in her stall.”

“
She said he had dark hair and black eyes and was wearing all black,” explained a short blonde waitress with a squeaky voice, standing behind the manager.

The manager cleared her throat
, stepped aside and glared at the blonde waitress.

“What?” the blonde asked, throwing her arms up in
the air.  “That’s what she said!”

Jack was wearing
a white shirt and blue jeans; looking amazingly cute, in a preppy, modern sort of way to fit in with the times,
Vienna thought, relieved. 
Not black.  Not to mention he had blonde hair and blue eyes.  So it couldn’t be Jack, unless he could change his appearance. 
She forced the thought from her mind.  She knew it couldn’t have been Jack in the lady’s stall.               

“No one in here but us,” Kim said
, shrugging.  “How strange.  Kind of creepy.”

“Yeah,” Vienna agreed, softly.  “Creepy.”

The manager frowned and gave them both a once over before turning to leave the restroom.  The two waitresses followed.  Vienna sensed that the manager wondered if they were somehow behind this. 

Vienna
walked over and stared into the large empty stall.  The little hairs on her arms stood on end.  Something paranormal was happening.  She could feel it in her bones.  She looked up and thought she saw the tail end of a wispy black cloud disappear through the vent in the ceiling.  She stared at the vent for a moment longer to see if anything would reappear, but nothing more happened.  The darkness had moved so quickly she wasn’t sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her, or if she’d actually seen something.

“That was
really weird,” Kim said.  “I wonder what Jack wanted.” 

“I do
n’t know,” Vienna said, still eyeing the vent.  “But it’s probably not good considering something or someone appeared in that lady’s stall.”

“
I totally would’ve freaked out!” 

“Yeah, m
e too.”

“Come on, w
e should get back to our table,” Kim suggested.  “The guys are probably wondering if we stood them up.  I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough what this is all about.”

“Yeah,” Vienna agreed. 
“I’m sure we will.  Ugh, I don’t even know what to say to James…” 

Vienna
prayed that Jack wouldn’t ruin her night and show up at the table, even though she secretly enjoyed the fact that he was there in Oceanside with her.  However, she wouldn’t know how to explain Jack’s appearance to James, especially since Jack just happened to appear when they were in Las Vegas for the Marine Corps Ball, too.