"To be honest I felt it was being rushed but I also like him. He is very polite and we have similar familial backgrounds. But I was hoping we could meet sometime after you get back Rebecca so you get a better picture."
She scratched her neck and contemplated more heavily. If I had to guess she knew something I did not.
Just as I was going to ask, her phone rang. Her face turned stiff. The ringtone was distinct. Rebecca was the type of person who would assign unique tones for everyone in her contacts. Alans was a jazz song from an artist they both loved. So when it rang we became silent. Noemi and I stared wide-eyed at what Alan could possibly call at this hour for.
Rebecca took a deep breath before answering the call. At that moment I felt my heart squeeze in my chest. I already knew something had happened.
"Babe put Celeste on the line right now." Alan commanded. She did not have her speaker turned on but we could hear what he said. The silence was enough to hear a pin drop let alone his voice over the phone.
"Alan, babe, whats wrong." Her voice was shaky. "Please pass it to Celeste right now." He gave no room for arguments. I rushed over to grab the phone. My face felt hot, I did not have to be Sherlock Holmes to know why he called.
I did not even get a chance to answer before he changed the call to a video call. This threw me off and it took me a minute to switch the call. The screen displayed what Alan was seeing. And it was an ugly sight. They seemed to be in a club room and all the guys were struggling to hold Dean down. "What the hell happened?!" I was shocked. I clamped my hand over my mouth and looked in the direction of the rooms. I prayed no one heard me.
I had seen Dean angry before but never like this. His eyes were like a wild animal. Feral and wild. His clothes were disheveled as the other guys struggled to keep him at bay. His tattoos sleeves which were hidden were now on full display.
"I WILL KILL THAT MOTHERFUCKER!" He roared loudly pushing them off only to be held back again. On the other side left completely alone and bleeding was a man whom I assumed to be Greg.
Alan walked over and shoved one of the guys away from Dean and he grabbed his hair pulling violently. He shoved his phone to Deans face. "Look who is watching, relax and talk to her."
Dean barely glanced over at me before finally he stopped struggling. He breathed heavily as he regulated himself back to normal. "Dean?!" I hissed. The other girls glanced at one another in complete shock." He turned his face away from me. Rebecca took the phone from me. "Alan spill what happened."
He at that point took the phone back from Dean. Clearly he seemed to want to hide anyone from saying what triggered Dean. "I will call you later when I sort this out I just needed him to relax." He hung up the phone leaving us in shock. He just dropped a bomb and expected us to act like nothing happened.
Us girls sat in complete silence, our wine long forgotten. "Well damn that is something." Noemi finally broke the silence. "Seems he still is a restless son of a gun." Rebecca gave her a warning look and I felt irritation seep into my blood. I was no expert but Dean usually had reason why he disliked someone, he did not seem like the kind of guy to hurt someone to that extent over nothing.
His bloodied hands from when someone intentionally gave me caffeine came to mind. While crass and unrestrained, he has never pushed his luck that far. So Alans cousin must have done or said something unspeakable.
I felt overwhelmed. "I need some fresh air." I stepped out from the villa. The marine layer pooling in the beach gave a clouded look but also made the air cooler. All the stresses I have been feeling were even more pronounced. This all felt too much. I grabbed my phone to look at the time. It was nearly three in the morning.
My phone had been put on silent and I saw several missed notifications. They were messages from Dante but seeing them made me more stressed and annoyed. Rebeccas warning creeped into my mind forming doubt, was he being honest with me?
And why was I more worried about Dean right now. A hidden feeling that I shoved deep into my soul felt like it was clawing its way up. I slapped my hands to my cheeks to center myself. "Ok I need to relax. I need to calm down."
I heard footsteps behind me and Rebecca came out and handed me a glass of water. "Here, I am sure you need some right now." She wrapped us both into a blanket. "Are you ok?" Rebeccas was easily the mom of our friend group. She always had that motherly disposition to notice things in others and take care of them. Her kindness was her strongest suit.
"Yeah its just... my mind is a mess right now. I am worried about Dean and I feel bad that this ruined what is supposed to be the best night of your life before your wedding. I also now feel more doubt about Dante and this night is supposed to be about you not me." My voice trailed out at the end.
"You and Dean did nothing wrong. If Alan was worried about Dean he would not have invited him to the party. Dean for as long as we have been in the same schools and social groups has never once changed. He is his truest self and is not afraid to show it. We know how he is and accept him for it. Alans cousin was the one who messed things up." She rubbed my back tenderly soothing me from my anxious state. "Did Alan say what happened?"
Her face darkened and the hand rubbing my back paused momentarily but she soon went back to rubbing it and pulled the blanket tighter. "I only have a gist but it I will have Alan explain once we get back. He is still sorting the mess out."
"In light of that Noemi and I decided to cut the party short. Most of the girls husbands were on the trip as well and it won't be long until they hear of it too. I am not sure if local authorities will be involved so it is best that as a unit we all stop now. To get ahead we will have everyone head home tonight. Noemi is coordinating with the flight crew and is waking up the girls right now."
"Lets go pack. The day was still a success and I had fun so don't feel weighed down ok."