Broken Road (19 page)

She continued following him until he reached a closed door and opened it. She walked in, looked around and said, “Please don’t tell me this walk-in closet is supposed to pass as my bedroom?”

“We’ll expect two hundred and fifty dollars every first of the month. That should cover food and board.” He smiled at her and leaned against the doorway with his arms folded across his chest. “Morgan, it’s nice seeing you again. I’m glad you finally decided to get in touch with me, even though it was only because you needed something from me.” He gave her a sad, little pout she found endearing.

“I’m sorry, John. It was wrong of me. It’s just that my boyfriend would have freaked if I had contacted you.” Even though it was a blatant lie, it was less hurtful than telling him the truth, which was that she found him completely unattractive and had no interest whatsoever in pursuing a romantic relationship with him.

“And he doesn’t mind now?” he asked curiously.

“He doesn’t care about anything I do anymore since we broke up.”

“Sorry. It’s his loss. Besides, you’re far too pretty to be tied down to a Jersey loser. We Floridian men are much more sophisticated.”

She smiled at his comment, but decided it would be best to avoid responding to it at this moment.

“How much did you say the rent and board is?” she asked in an attempt to change the subject.

“Two hundred and fifty dollars a month.” He watched her when she wasn’t looking and noticed she may have gained a few pounds since he last saw her. Not a lot, perhaps five or ten pounds only, but definitely all in the right places. He loved her short, dark, hair, which gave her that spunky, in-your-face look. She had big, brown, puppy-dog eyes that sometimes seemed a little sad. She wasn’t too tall, which was great, since he was only five ten. He hated it when the girls he dated were taller than him. She turned toward him, so he quickly diverted his eyes from the brief study he was administering on her ample backside and smiled at her.

“Then expect me to eat a lot because this room isn’t worth ten dollars a month,” she said and sighed resignedly.

While Morgan was busy inspecting her new living accommodations, just a few miles away, Jarrod was on the phone speaking to Alec.

“So, how’s college life treating you so far?”

“No complaints yet,” Jarrod responded. “Then again, I just got here.”

“Have you seen Angel yet?”

“Shhhhh…I don’t want Mom to know,” Jarrod scolded.

“She’s not even in the room. She’s upstairs crying over her eldest son abandoning her…”

“Dude, seriously?” Jarrod’s voice was laced with concern.

“Nahhh…just kidding. She just stepped outside to get the mail.”

“Good. To answer your question, no, I haven’t seen her yet. It’s crazy. I keep hoping I’ll bump into her, but
nada
.”

“I see you learned something from watching that Spanish soap opera. So go find her.”

“I’m trying but it’s not easy.”

“Yeah, well, while you’re out there searching for your one true love, just watch your back for your former love.”

“Huh?”

“She’s there,” Alec simply said. Jarrod froze while desperately hoping Alec was not referring to Morgan.

“Not Morgan? Please tell me not Morgan,” Jarrod pleaded, knowing all along that that was exactly who Alec meant.

“Morgan.”

“Dammit.”

“Listen, I’m serious. Be careful. Who knows what she’s capable of?” He was worried for his brother. As far as he was concerned, Morgan was bat-shit crazy.

“Yeah, I will. Do you happen to know if she’s in or near Gainesville?”

“I don’t know. I’ll do some investigating and let you know what I find out.”

“Thanks. Whatever you find out, any little thing, just call me and let me know, okay?”

“Definitely. Hey, and let me know when you find Dreamgirl.”

“I will. Talk to you soon,” Jarrod said before hanging up.

Chapter Nineteen

A
fter numerous letters, phone calls, and incessant pleading by the two young ladies, Angel and Ileana still failed in their endeavor to become roommates. They were both terribly disappointed, but nonetheless happy to be attending the same college and fortunate enough to be in two of the same classes. This was no surprise, since they had both decided to major in advertising, in hopes of someday opening up an agency together. As they were heading toward Broward Beach to enjoy the sun after a lengthy two-hour marketing research class, they spoke of inconsequential topics such as the latest rumor concerning Britney Spears and her latest love interest, the pros and cons of wearing a thong, and a nauseating overview concerning the key ingredients found in head cheese. The conversation concluded in the culmination of a debate over the merits of ingesting Gingko Biloba in liquid or pill form.

“Didn’t you take it in liquid form for awhile?” asked Angel.

“I don’t remember,” Ileana stated flatly while looking perplexed.

“Obviously you didn’t take it for a long-enough period,” laughed Angel.

They sat down under a tree and plopped their books down beside them. Ileana leaned back on her elbows with her legs outstretched, crossing her ankles one over the other. Angel sat with her legs crossed in a yoga-like meditation style.

“I don’t know how you find that position comfortable,” said Ileana. “I would end up with the worst leg cramps if I sat that way for more than a minute.” She sat up for a moment to place her hair into a ponytail with a hair tie she pulled out of her back pocket.

“I’m flexible,” Angel responded with a wicked smile and a wink.

“Yeah, right. Too bad you don’t put that flexibility to good use.”

Angel just smiled and closed her eyes, lifting her head toward the sky to feel the warmth of the sun on her face. When she had awoken that morning, the day brimmed of promised rain, but thankfully that promise had been broken and the sun now stood proudly in the sky, favoring all with its brightness and beauty. She took a deep breath just as Ileana let out a long, disgusting belch. Angel got a whiff of what presumably had been Ileana’s now fully digested lunch. She scrunched up her nose in disgust.

“Jeez, Ile, that’s disgusting. You smell like…like…hot dogs. At least forewarn me when you’re going to do that.”

Ileana chuckled and said, “Sorry.” One of the benefits of being so close to someone was that you could totally be yourself and let loose, literally, and still be loved by that person. “Girl, you need to open your eyes. You’re missing all the hot guys and their gorgeous, toned bodies.”

“I have only one gorgeous toned body on my mind,” stated Angel with a deep, depressed sigh.

Ileana turned to look at her friend and felt sorry for her. Based on how Angel had described this Jarrod fellow, he sounded almost too good to be true. No one was that good-looking or sweet or romantic or funny or any of the other twenty or thirty laudatory adjectives Angel had used in describing him. Damn that horrible cousin of Angel’s.

“Have you seen him around campus yet?” she asked.

Angel opened her eyes, staring straight ahead at nothing in particular and said to her friend, “No, but I keep looking, though. It’s so weird. I want to see him, but at the same time, I’m terrified that I will.”

“There’s nothing weird about that. You like him and you want to see him. The problem is, you know that if you do, it’s going to be super awkward. I mean, you were kind of mean to him by not returning his calls and then changing the number so he couldn’t call you anymore.”

“He was mean to me first. He used me to make Morgan jealous.”

“You’re basing that allegation on what Morgan told you. You know you can’t believe a word that bitch says. I don’t even know why you bother with her.”

“She’s never done anything to hurt me,” Angel said, not fully understanding why she was defending her cousin.

“Until now.”

“We don’t know.”

“Exactly. We don’t know and we never will know unless you speak to him.” She hesitated in continuing but did so anyway by adding, “Angel, you know I love you. You are by far the most special person in my life, aside from my family.”

“I hear a ‘but’ in there…”

“
But
you’re too good. Don’t you see what your cousin is doing to you? She wants Jarrod and she won’t hesitate to do anything and everything in her power to get what she wants, including lying to her cousin.”

“I don’t know what to think. I should just forget about him. I mean, it’s not like we even dated…but I just can’t help but feel that he’s special. It’s like…when I think of him, I feel all warm inside. It’s like he…he…”

“If you dare say he completes you, I swear I’ll throw up right here,” Ileana said, throwing herself backward onto the grass.

“Shut up,” Angel said, laughing, but then suddenly became serious and said, “But yeah, I sort of feel like if given the chance, he could.”

“Be forewarned,” said Ile.

“Forewarned about what?” and all of a sudden, Angel heard what sounded like a foghorn sounding off a warning signal to an oncoming ship. The smell that followed it collided into Angel with a staggering blow. “Good God, Ile! By chance, was that hot dog smothered in chili and raw onions?”

Close to a month went by and still no sightings of Jarrod or Angel had been made by either one. Angel thought that should be a relief, but she was becoming more and more frustrated as time passed. Her mind began to work on overdrive again. Did he transfer to another college to avoid seeing her? Did he and Morgan get back together and he decided to stay closer to home to be near her? Perhaps he was not physically well enough to be on his own and was forced to delay furthering his education. So many questions, so few answers.

Jarrod returned to his dorm room at Murphree Hall after a training session at Perry Field. Physically speaking, he was feeling great. His arm felt good and his pitching strength and power was returning at a considerably progressive rate. A few more months of intense training and practice, and he might be ready to give Griffin Wyatt a call.

Mentally speaking was a different story. He kept searching for Angel and couldn’t find her. He had asked around, but nobody seemed to know her. Even when he’d described what she looked like, they still didn’t know who she was, but every guy he’d asked was more than willing to keep an eye out for her. Unfortunately, Jarrod was pretty sure they weren’t planning on getting in touch with him if they did indeed find her.

As he entered his dorm room one night, he found his roommate sound asleep in his bed with the television blasting. Dave Johnson looked like a colossal giant sleeping in the small twin-size bed furnished by the university. He was massive in every sense of the word. Approximately six foot three in height and powerfully built, he had been the star linebacker of his high school football team and was attending UFS on a full ride. Extremely intelligent, he was majoring in engineering with a minor in physical education. He amazed Jarrod with his ability to juggle his school workload, athletic commitments, and “diversified frolics,” as Dave would call it. The teddy bear of a brute was a walking encyclopedia of useless, but quite interesting, information and funny as all hell. He sometimes reminded Jarrod of Dante, and he imagined they would have liked each other quite a bit. Dave kept Jarrod in stitches, which was a good thing, seeing that Jarrod wasn’t finding amusement and distractions anywhere else. His juggling ability wasn’t as impressive as his roommate’s.