Chapter 51

“Hey, let’s take a step back,” Jill said. “I’d try to stop him. I really think this will be fun. Cabo is a fun place!”

“I’m sure it is,” I said. “I’m not talking about the specific activity. I’m talking about a disturbing habit that’s developing. I know where she learned it so I can’t even be pissed at Liz. We talked about this trip a hundred times. None of you mentioned barhopping or clubbing as a nightly ritual. If you had, I’d have stayed in San Diego and you could have come down without me.”

“We wanted you to come,” Liz said.

“Then tell me what I’m getting into beforehand so I can make an informed decision,” I countered. “Don’t just drop shit on me after it’s too late for me to change my mind. I don’t react well – as you might have noticed.”

“It’s Sunday night so it won’t be bad,” Jill said. “Just go out with us for a little while. If you don’t like it, we’ll come back.”

I rolled my eyes toward the ceiling. I knew the women were not going to spend 90 minutes getting ready to stay somewhere for half an hour and then leave.

“If I don’t like it, I’ll find something else to do and you folks can stay there,” I said. “You obviously enjoy it.”

“That’ll split security too thin,” Dom said. “That’s something we need to discuss. If we go anywhere, we go together. I mean, if Jill has to pee, we all go with her and wait outside the restroom. We go to the bar together and we never leave drinks unattended.”

I pinched my nose and then held up my hands in surrender.

“You might have fun if you give it a chance,” Skye said.

“I might,” I agreed. “I’ve been to clubs in San Diego and Austin and even Little Rock. I didn’t enjoy those but this might be different. I’ll do my best to go into it with an open mind.”

“You’ll have better company at least,” Jill said with a smile.

“Uh-huh,” I said. “So, how do I need to act while I’m there?”

“What do you mean?” Liz said, sitting opposite me.

“I’m sure there is some etiquette I’ll need to follow if someone famous wants to talk to you or dance with you or whatever,” I said. “Are we posing for pictures? Are you signing autographs? How do we treat drunken assholes? Am I supposed to avoid eye contact with my betters? Fill me in now so I don’t have to guess.”

“It’s pretty much a case-by-case basis as far as autographs,” Dom said. “Most of the people out at night down here understand propriety. But, yeah, there might be a couple of drunks. Some of them will be recognizable. Let Brian and me deal with them if at all possible.”

“The photos will be the same way,” Liz said. “Going in, we might stop if they are polite. Coming out, we’ll probably stop for one or two shots just to prove we’re not staggering drunk. Are you good with that?”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I’m just asking so I’m clear. What about other celebrities? I’m sure a lot of them will look for a chance to talk to you.”

“Probably not,” Liz said.

I looked at Jill but she was looking at her hands.

“You have painted a picture of the incredibly insecure, upwardly mobile people that live in your world,” I said. “I doubt any of them will pass up the opportunity to have a photo taken with you if they get the chance. For the past six or seven years you have been the most recognizable person on the planet. Surely everyone here sees that.”

“The problem isn’t in your logic; it’s in the application,” Jill said, finally glancing up again. I like to think that she felt a twinge of regret for putting me (and therefore Liz) into an uncomfortable situation. “Everyone here believes himself to be the most famous person here. They live in their own bubble, surrounded by people whose only job is to continually tell them how great they are. Yes, some of them will want to talk to Liz. Some of them have prior relationships with Liz. You’ll need to take your cues from her about if she wants your participation in the conversation.”

I nodded but didn’t speak. I was certain the nature of the “prior relationships” would have a large bearing on if I was permitted to speak or not.

“It’s not going to be bad, Travis,” Liz assured me. “We’ll go out, have a few drinks, dance a little and then come home. It’s just a chance to blow off steam. I like Cabo because the atmosphere is...”

“Exclusive,” I finished for her.

“That isn’t what I was going to say,” Liz replied. She kept her tones modulated and refused to rise to my baiting. “But, yes, in some ways, it is exclusive. It’s not a public beach in San Diego where everyone and his brother can walk up and talk to me. It’s not a New York disco where a guy strung on X can try to grind his pelvis against me as I walk by. There will be people you recognize. You can speak to them if you want. There will be people I recognize and want to speak to. I can’t foresee an instance that I’d see someone that I want to speak to without you but it might happen. I don’t know.”

“No!” Dom said. “We’re spread too thin to let you have a private conversation with anyone. If you want to talk to someone without us, you call them on the phone tomorrow. Liz, we’re staying together. If you want to do things differently then you might as well fire me now. If you’re somewhere, I’m there. If I’m there, the rest of them are there. That’s the way it is. Tell me you understand that before we even head out. Otherwise, I’ll call Ryan and then Brian and I will head home and you can do what you want.”

“He makes sense, Liz,” Jill cut in. “You agreed to that when we talked to Ryan about it.”

Liz closed her eyes but nodded.

I stayed out front while the females went back to get ready.

“Man, I didn’t know they’d kept this from you,” Dom said. “I mean, yeah, we all heard what you said in L.A. but I thought you knew.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I just don’t like getting yanked around by my nose. I thought I was pretty clear about my thoughts on nightlife.”

“Yeah,” Brian said. “I should have made sure you understood the itinerary.”

“It’s not your job to keep me informed about where I’m going and what I’m going to be expected to do,” I said.

“We come down here once or twice a year,” Dom explained. “But you’re the first guy Liz has brought along since I’ve been on the detail. That fact alone is going to create a little bit of excitement. That’s why Ryan insisted we stay together. Otherwise he was going to give up his weekend at home and come with us. Just keep your cool and don’t let some asshole bait you. Some of the guys we meet have egos three times their normal size. Just stay cool. It’s bad enough that you’re already pissed off about going.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “My only fault is how the information was imparted. I wasn’t asked if I wanted to participate. I was told I had to participate regardless of what I might want. It’s like the private beach thing Friday. That didn’t just pop up. That had been in the works for days if not weeks. She knew it would piss me off so she massaged the message and made it sound like the thought just came to her. I’m not going to be ‘managed.’ Not by Liz; not by Jill; not by anybody.”

I saw them nodding.

“That said, I really am going to do my best to give this a chance,” I continued. “Liz enjoys this sort of thing and I’m not going to dismiss it without trying it. I hope she’ll do the same for the things I like that she might not.”

“I will,” Liz said from the hallway. I wondered how much she had heard. I didn’t have to wonder long. “I’m not trying to manage you, Travis.”

“Give us a minute, guys,” I asked the other occupants of the room. They got up and headed outside without a word. I waited for the balcony door to close before I turned back to Liz. “What do you call it, then?”

“I don’t know what to call it,” Liz said.

“You get pissed off when people do this to you,” I said.

“I know and I’d be pissed off if you’d done it to me today,” Liz said.

“Things like this are the reason I haven’t pressed my attorney to send the contract back to you yet,” I said. “I don’t work for you. I don’t have to go where you tell me to. I don’t have to do whatever you want me to do. I have a choice and I’ve proven capable of making decisions as to what I want to do and what I don’t want to do.”

“I just wanted you to come with me,” Liz said.

“And I probably would have even if you’d been honest with me,” I told her. “But if we start withholding information this early in the relationship it’s only going to get easier as time passes. I won’t live that way, Liz. I will never be a guy where you tug on a leash I come running. If that’s what you’re looking for then you need to keep on looking.”

“I’m not looking for that!” Liz said angrily. “Yeah, I fucked this up. I wanted you to come and I didn’t think you would if you knew everything. And, yes, I knew you’d give in once we got here just like I knew you’d give in on the beach if I really wanted to go.”

“I’m not always going to give in,” I told her. “I’ll go out tonight and I will do my best to have fun. If I don’t, you’re on your own for the rest of the week. OK?”

“If you don’t like it we’ll find other things to do during the evenings,” Liz said.

“I’m not asking that,” I informed her. “You enjoy this. That’s the only reason I’m willing to go tonight. Liz, if you want to go dancing and drinking, I’m not going to throw a fit about it. If I want to do things I like, I don’t want you pissed at me for doing them.”

Liz took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“I just wanted everyone to see us together,” she said.

“And I’m fine with that,” I told her. “I understood from the outset that some parts of being your boyfriend would include doing things I’ve never done before or things I might not particularly like to do. If you had told me this was one of those things, I’d have been OK with it ... at least for tonight. But you’ve got to understand that I’m going to tell you ‘no’ about some things. Look, I’m OK with small groups. Eight or 10 people are fine. But I don’t like being around hundreds of people I don’t know – and probably wouldn’t like. I deserve to have the right to decide what’s right for me – even if it interferes with what you think is right for us. You deserve that right, too. And, Liz, sometimes what’s right for me is going to have to take precedence. OK?”

Liz lowered her head and nodded.

“You look nice, by the way,” I said.

She looked at me and laughed lightly. She had on a long T-shirt and little else.

“Go get ready,” I said. “Your adoring public awaits.”

“I hope my adoring boyfriend awaits, too,” she said.

“He does,” I said. “Anything particular you want me to wear tonight?”

Liz shook her head.

“I’m wearing white so whatever you pick will be fine,” she said.

“Cutoff sweats and a tank top it is!” I said.

“Some of the people we see tonight will be wearing something similar,” Liz said. “If you want to dress that way, it’ll be fine. We’ll both go casual if you want.”

I chuckled.

“You already have your outfit picked out,” I said. “I figure you three coordinated your outfits for the week already. I’ve tossed enough monkey wrenches in your plans. If you want, set out what you want me to wear tonight. I’m good with it.”

Liz leaned over and gave me a hug.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Me, too,” I said. “I could have brought this up in private but, like I said, you learned it from Jill and Stephanie and Ryan. I wanted her to pass the word along to those two that trying this on me again is a really bad idea.”

Liz kissed my cheek and headed down the hallway.

I watched her go and wondered if the cracks that had started to form would cause the whole relationship to crumble.

The ladies looked sexy when they emerged from the back bedroom that was set up as their changing station.

Jill wore a pair of tight black leather pants and a dark blue pullover that had a scoop neck that dipped so low that there could be no question that Jill wore nothing beneath it.

Skye wore a short maroon skirt that showed off her long legs and a black long-sleeved sweater that stopped well before the skirt started.

I had just cataloged those two visions when Liz emerged in a white tube dress that left her shoulders bare. It was so short that I was sure her tampon string would hang out the bottom if she went without panties. She couldn’t pull it down without having a boob pop out the top.

“Ready?” she asked in a bright voice.

I looked down at the clothing she’d selected for me. I had on a pair of tan linen pants and a dark green pullover.

“You look fine,” Jill said with a wink. “You guys are just arm candy.”

“Knock it off, Jill,” Liz said sharply.

Jill’s head jerked to her friend.

“He looks good,” Jill said. “They all do. I was just making a joke.”