8. Ex-Boyfriends & Almost Lovers
If Krislynn thought she had dropped the ultimate bomb and left Chase's ego at least handicapped for the next few years, she was wrong. The boy simply shrugged. "It's cold in here," he said. "Then there's the added element of you in front of me. You're such a turn-off, it shrunk."
"That's bullshit," she shouted, helpless to the smile that suddenly adorned her face. "There's no such thing. It can't shrink from its regular size... can it?!"
"Well in front of you it can," he muttered with mild interest. "Haven't you realized by now why every guy you've had are so incredibly small?"
Krislynn's mouth shot open to retaliate, but then brutal realization sank in and instead of a smartass retort, a scornful moan came out of her mouth. Could it be? Could it really be?
Chase chuckled gleefully as he watched her facial expression morph into a horror show. "Wow. I almost pity you," he laughed as he tugged her over to his suitcase. "Almost."
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," she said as she closed her eyes in attempt for Chase to have some privacy as he put on his pants. "Oh and by the way, how are you going to put a shirt back on? You can't exactly use the same method as when you took it off, now can you?"
Silence followed her question so that she became curious of what Chase was thinking. Hesitantly, she peeked at him by lifting one eyelid and found him standing like a statue with his pants on as he stared at the blue T-shirt he was holding up. "Fuck," he growled and with that one remark, he said everything she needed to know---he hadn't thought this part through.
"Well, you're in Mexico," she said optimistically. "Just buy a poncho."
"Poncho?" He screamed. "I don't wear ponchos! Poncho she says---to hell with that! I'd rather die than wear one!"
Krislynn rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You know for a guy, you sure act like a bitch."
"A bitch? Do you even know who I am?" He yelled. "I'm Chase Evans---highest paid movie director in all of world history! I'm regarded as a genius in Hollywood! I can't walk around wearing a poncho! What if people take pictures? My reputation would be ruined!"
"Chill out, you think way too highly of yourself. It's not like you're a supermodel or a movie star. You're just a director. I've never even heard of you!"
Chase's mouth dropped in a large 'O' and after that, he crawled silently into bed. The shock must have been too much for him to handle. Not only had she criticized him on his attractiveness and even the size of his manhood tonight, she had even stomped on his pride and joy---his art. It was like she was some kind of curse or black star or madwoman.
Settling beside him in bed, Krislynn suddenly felt a small tinge of regret as she turned on the T.V. Sure she had felt the intense need to put him in his place, but now that she did, he was silent and it was making her bored.
After a moment of watching a Mexican soap without understanding a thing being said, she decided to nudge him on the side. "Hey," she murmured. "Want to talk?"
"No," he said grumpily. "Don't touch me."
"So like, what are you doing in Mexico anyways?"
"I said no," he snapped. "I don't want to talk to you."
"And alone," she continued. "Don't you have a girlfriend or something?"
Chase quickly sat up at the remark and trailed a finger seductively down his chiselled chest. "Why do you ask," he said with a smirk. "Are you interested?"
"Oh God," she groaned. "I was asking out of polite conversation. Would you get over yourself? I'm. Not. Interested. You're as attractive to me as a sweaty male locker room is to a feminist lesbian." She paused and stared at him for a second before adding, "That means I find you repulsive Chase, in case you're too stupid to understand."
"Okay, I get it," he grumbled dejectedly. "Vividly. I was just screwing around. Relax. Don't have to act like you're PMSing."
Exhaling a breath of exasperation, Krislynn rolled her eyes. "I'm just going to take that as you don't have a girlfriend," she mumbled. "I don't even know why I asked. Why would anyone in the world want to be your girlfriend anyways?"
The remark seemed to hit him somewhere deeper and his eyes fluttered close as he leaned back on the headboard. "No girlfriend," he admitted with a hint of sadness in his voice.
Krislynn raised her eyebrows with curiosity. She worked as a social worker back in Canada and was extremely keen on picking up people's emotions and there was something in Chase's voice as he said that that didn't quite sit well with her. "Well do you have someone you like?" She asked.
"Why are you so nosy?" He muttered.
"She doesn't like you back, does she?"
His nose flared as his eyes sprung open and glared at her. Sighing, he brought his knees up and crossed his arms on top of them before laying his head down. "She's one of my best friends' fiancée," he murmured.
"Ouch. That totally blows."
"I know," he groaned. "I can't even try to pursue her."
"So you're here on heart break?" She laughed lightly. "Pun completely intended."
"I guess," Chase mumbled, not exactly sure why he was telling her all of this. "He sort of left town. She was lonely and maybe a bit drunk. I was... stupid. Anyways, we slept together. Now she wants to pretend like nothing happened so I left L.A for a breather."
"Wait, let me get this straight! You were sober and you slept with your best friend's fiancée?"
"Yeah."
"WHY?" She screamed.
"Because," he shouted back. "I like her!"
Krislynn's jaw fell open in disbelief. "Well I hope she gives you Herpes," she snapped. "Freakin' asshole."
"Hey," he barked. "As if you've done a lot better."
"Well I didn't sleep with my best friend's boyfriend," she retorted. "That's at least miles better than you!"
Rolling his eyes, he wrenched the remote control out of her hand and started mindlessly flipping through channels. "How about you? Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Just broke up," she replied light-heartedly. "Want to see a picture?"
"Whatever," he muttered, but narrowed his eyes her way as she fumbled for her phone in one of the big pockets of her ugly, hippie-like skirt.
"Here's the cutie," she giggled as she flipped it open and showed him the wallpaper on her phone.
Chase leaned over and took a peek. From the looks of it, the picture was no doubt a candid, but even as far as mortifying candid pictures go, this one was on the extreme side. He had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't high before taking another glance.
"Isn't he just adorable," she bubbled. "If only he wasn't such an ass at the end of our relationship. God! I could have just kept him forever."
Wrinkling his features, Chase gave Krislynn a very disturbed look. Sure, she was no Megan Fox, but she wasn't ugly. In fact Chase thought she was rather cute---though with that nasty personality of hers, he'd never tell her face to face. So why the hell was she dating some guy who looked like Ozzy Osbourne, but with a Mohawk and more piercings?
"Don't you think he's to die for?" She exclaimed. "That long hair, those lazy eyes and those hairy eyebrows---he's so flipping cute!"
Chase snorted in disgust. "Well, if that's your definition of cute then no wonder you find me a turn-off, holy crap! What is he---like a drug addict?"
"Well, he had issues with cocaine," she replied nonchalantly, "but he was mostly an alcoholic."
Chase narrowed his eyes. "Do you do that stuff?"
"What? You mean Coke? God no. I worked as a social worker back home so I often came in contact with guys coming out of rehab or guys with anger issues and whatnot. That's where I met Carlos. Some people just have had a hard life. You can't really blame him for turning down the wrong road with that stuff."
Chase felt his entire body stiffen as he took in Krislynn's appearance again---which suddenly became extremely tiny and delicate. "He didn't hurt you," he murmured, "did he?"
"No," she yelled, anger suddenly fuelling her eyes. "But he did steal all my money and my trailer when he left!"
"You're an idiot," Chase grunted, feeling a sense of relief flush through his body. "Why would you get involved with a person like that in the first place?"
"How do I put this," she mused. "I guess I just like fixing things---not like cars or whatnot but emotional problems. I like help fixing them because unlike a cut on the knee, they're harder to spot and harder to heal. It makes me happy to know that I was useful to someone's life even if every one of them just walk over me and out the door when they make a full recovery."
"So you're attracted to guys with issues then. Don't they scare you? Plus, doesn't it hurt when you put so much effort and trust in them and in the end, they always leave?"
"I'm not scared of anything," she replied smugly, but for the second question, she had to tilt her head to the side and really think it over. "Not really," she concluded. "Obviously, it's upsetting, but nothing a carton of Ben & Jerry's won't fix. Maybe it's because deep inside, I never expected them to stay. We have our fun and then they go and I never miss them---probably because I never fall in love with them."
"But what if you do," he pressed dryly. "What if one of these days you fall in love with some idiot that you know isn't going to stick around? What'll happen then?"
Krislynn laughed. "Then I'm screwed."