Guardian of the Fountain Read Free

right choice. More
importantly, she was thousands of miles away from Trey. She could start over.
           The sound
of the front door slamming shut alerted Chrissie that she wasn’t alone anymore.
    “Hello?”
a female voice called out. It was probably Marla.
           Chrissie
shook her thoughts free of the past and went out to greet her new roommate.
Marla’s olive skin tone and dark hair almost made her look like a native
Venezuelan, but this woman showed flavors of Jersey—long, manicured
nails, large hoop earrings, and makeup heavily done with bronzer.  
           “Hey girl,
I’m Marla.” Her raspy Jersey accent sealed the deal. She walked over and set
down two white carryout bags of food on the small kitchen counter.
    “I’m
Chrissie. I just got in not too long ago.”
           “Yeah? I
bet you’re beat. Let’s eat, and then I can show you my favorite spot on the
roof to tan. Prime tanning hours are late afternoon. Don’t want to pass that
up. A good tan makes you look ten pounds lighter, and that’s the truth.”
           “I’m in.”
Here was her chance to work on that tan in an exotic location. She changed into
her bathing suit with anticipation of soaking up some much needed sunshine.
           As they
made their way up to the roof of the apartment, Marla filled Chrissie in on the
details of the village. “There’s only one decent nail lady. She doesn’t speak a
lick of English, and she’s all the way in Caracas. There are absolutely no
attractive guys under forty here. The slim pickings are making the Guido’s back
at home look good.” Marla walked expertly in her leopard-print platform wedges
to a lounge chair on the roof and lay down on it.
           Chrissie’s
flip-flops and jean shorts looked blah next to Marla’s various animal prints. Her
cheeks warmed as she took off her oversized T-shirt and revealed her pasty
white skin in her tankini. Marla seemed completely unaware of Chrissie’s
awkwardness about stripping on the rooftop. True, it was situated away from
prying eyes, but she still felt exposed even though she wore twice as many
clothes as Marla.
           “Here. You’re
gonna need this,” Marla said as she tossed the tanning oil over to Chrissie.
“Take off your shorts or they’ll leave ugly tan lines. I’ll work on the tankini
later.” She smiled behind her dark sunglasses that took up most of her face.
They lay in the warm sun for a while before Marla asked, “So, why did you come
here? What are you running away from?”
           “I’m not
sure what you’re talking about.” Chrissie got the idea that Marla knew what she was talking about.
           “Look,
girlfriend. Give it to me straight. Nobody comes all the way to the deepest
parts of Venezuela just to pay off student loans. I’m guessing it was man
trouble.”
           “Wow.
You’re good. How could you tell?”
           “Nobody
picks at their food and doesn’t care about their appearance unless they’ve been
dumped. You need to visit Marla’s salon pronto.” Marla smiled, pleased with her
spot-on assessment.
           “I found
out my boyfriend was cheating on me with a rich socialite from Dallas.”
           “Ouch.”
Marla dug around in her bag and pulled out a cigarette and lighter. “How long
did you date?”
           “Off and on
for two years.”
           “Double
ouch,” Marla said as she lit up. “The way I see it, he doesn’t deserve you.
Sure, you reflect the sun and you need a good blowout, but you’re a pretty
girl. Plus, you have to have brains to be a nurse. It just shows that he had no
brains.”
           “So, what
are you running from, then?” Chrissie’s skin tingled from the heat of the sun
on her bare skin. The tanning oil, which smelled like coconut and lime,
reminded her that she was not on some ordinary rooftop—she was in an
exotic locale.
           “I don’t
know. I just