by Emma Easter
“If I hear anything from her, I will let you know. There’s no point in you staying here and torturing yourself like this.” She picked up his phone from the table and began to punch in a number. Her phone rang on her lap and she picked it up. She gave him back his phone. “You have my number now, and I have yours. I promise I’ll call you as soon as Sofia comes back.”
“We are supposed to get married in two days’ time,” he said, more to himself than to Edith. But he decided to heed Edith’s advice. He glanced at his phone. It was a few minutes past five o’clock. Reluctantly he stood up and staggered to the door, emotionally weary. He had gone back to his apartment and had been pacing the living room ever since.
He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was eleven o’clock now, and Edith still had not called him. He sighed and picked up his phone, unable to resist any longer. He dialed Sofia’s number. Just as he’d expected, she did not answer. He dialed Edith’s number and scrubbed his face with his hand as he waited for her to answer. When she did, he asked if Sofia had returned.
“She hasn’t, Jude. I told you I would call you as soon as she comes back.” There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and then Edith said, “Wait, Jude, someone is at the door. It might be her.”
Jude’s pulse raced. “Please, let it be her,” he whispered, and relief flooded him when Edith told him Sofia had just walked into the house.
“I am on my way right now,” he said, and hurried out of the apartment.
He took a cab so he could get to Edith’s quickly. He kept looking out the window, willing the cab driver to go faster than he was. At the slow pace this driver was going, Sofia would have left again by the time he arrived at Edith’s house.
The driver finally arrived and parked in front of Edith’s. Jude jumped out of the cab after paying his fare. He ran into Edith’s small house and found her in the living room.
“Where is she?” he asked Edith.
Edith pointed at a door to the left of the living room. “She's in there, packing her things. I tried to talk her out of it, but she refused to listen to me. Maybe she will listen to you.”
He immediately went into the bedroom Edith had pointed out to him. He found Sofia standing near the closet, throwing her clothes into a suitcase. She looked up at him, and a look of shame filled her face. She looked down again and continued to pack her clothes into the suitcase.
“Sofia, what are you doing? Why didn’t you come back yesterday?”
She did not answer.
He went to her and took her hand before she could throw another dress into the large suitcase. He looked her in the eye. “What happened, Sofia? Why didn’t you come back?”
She looked embarrassed and there were tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Jude. I truly am.”
He held her hands. “What are you sorry for?”
She looked down, and he tilted her chin up so she would look at him again. “George and I have reconciled,” she said in a small voice. “We’re getting married soon.”
He felt like someone had slapped him. “You are getting married to George? I thought we were getting married, Sofia. Our wedding is in two days. And how can you marry your ex when he’s already married?”
She blinked and stared at him with a look of surprise. “Edith told you George was married,” she said.
“Sofia, we are supposed to get married in two days. How can you marry your ex?”
A shadow fell over her face. “George has left his wife, and once his divorce is final, we will get married,” she said. She looked him in the eye. “Jude, you know it’s for the best. You remember the day we were talking about our exes, and I said I would go back to mine if he ever came back? You remember you also said you would do the same.”
He felt his heart shredding into pieces. “That was before I fell in love with you,” he said.
She looked down again. “I’m sorry. Maybe you think you love me now, but we have only known each other for a few weeks. I’ve known George for years and you have known your ex since you were teenagers. I think the best thing would be for both of us to go back to our exes, Jude.”
“But I don’t love Keziah, and I don’t want to be with her. I love you and I want to marry you.”
“No, Jude. This whole thing between us is nothing but a business transaction.”
He cried, “You know it isn’t! At least not for me. Not anymore.”
“Jude, Keziah can get you a Green card. You won’t lose anything by not marrying me. I’ll go back to George and you can marry Keziah, and then she’ll file for a spousal visa for you. You will get your Green card in no time.”
Frustration consumed him. “I don’t care about the Green card! I want you!”
“Jude, stop it!” Tears fell down her cheeks, and she dashed angrily at them. “I have to go.” She locked up her suitcase and started to pull it out of the room.
He held her hand, stopping her. “Sofia, look at me.” She refused to look at him, and he turned her face to his. “I love you, Sofia. Deeply.” He folded her in his arms and felt her melt into him. He sighed with relief as she wrapped her arms around him, and then he winced when she pulled away abruptly.
“Please, Jude, stop trying to stop me from leaving. I have to go.”
“Sofia, I love you,” he said brokenly.
“You think you love me now, but our relationship started because you needed a Green card and I needed money. We are both in love with other people, but we got carried away with the novelty of our situation.”
“That isn’t true,” he said.
“Yes it is. And you will realize it one day.” She pulled her suitcase out of the room.
He followed her to the living room. “Don’t go, Sofia. What about our wedding?”
“There will be no wedding, Jude. At least not between you and me. I’m getting married to George, and you will ultimately marry Keziah. That’s the way it’s meant to be.”
She got to the door with her suitcase and he leapt forward, desperate to stop her from leaving. He stood in front of her, blocking her way. “Sofia, tell me the truth. I will let you go if you tell me you don’t feel anything for me.”
A trail of tears ran down her cheek, and he wiped it away with his thumb. “Please let me pass, Jude,” she pleaded. He stayed where he was and she sighed. “Please, Jude!”
She looked at Edith, who was standing on the other side of the living room. “Please tell him to let me pass,” she said.
Edith shrugged.
Jude sighed, his heart heavy. It was wrong for him to try to force her to stay, no matter how much he loved her. He finally stepped out of her way, and she opened the door and walked out of the house, taking his heart with her.
He collapsed on the sofa and held his head in his hands. He had lost every single thing that was important to him. Sofia had walked out of his life, leaving his heart in tatters. He was an illegal immigrant and it would not be long before he was driven out of this country. Not only had he lost Sofia, he would have to go back to a war zone. He definitely couldn’t go back to Keziah as Sofia had suggested because, not only did he not love her but he would be using her simply to get a Green card if he went back. That just wasn’t him. He stood up and went to the door, feeling numb.
“What are you going to do?” Edith asked.
He turned around and said, “I have to go and pack. Who knows when I will be dragged back to my country. I have to be prepared for it.”
He had no money to buy a plane ticket. It was amusing in a terrible way that the only way he might be able to get back to Bakali would be through his deportation.
He opened the door and walked out of Edith’s house, surrendering himself to the excruciating distress he felt at the fact that he had been dumped once again, right before his wedding. Whatever awful fate awaited him when he went back to his war-torn country might not be as bad as that.
Chapter 17
Sofia yawned as she turned on the bed and snuggled up to George. She blinked an
d opened her eyes. George was not on the bed anymore. Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned and saw him shrugging into his business suit. He smiled at her as he picked up his gold wristwatch from the dresser and clasped it on his wrist.
She started up on the bed and stared at him. “Where are you going, George? I thought you said you’d lost your job because your wife’s father fired you. But it looks like you’re going to work.”
He walked up to the bed and smiled at her. “I was fired, but I need to get another job. I need to meet up with business associates and acquaintances; anyone who can help get me another job.”
She suddenly remembered that today was supposed to be the eve of her wedding. She would have been getting married to Jude tomorrow if she’d not decided to stay with George. Now the wedding would not take place. Her heart squeezed with pain, but she brushed the thoughts aside. There was no use dwelling on what would have been. The decision to stay with George rather than marry Jude had been a tough one, but she’d made her decision and she would have to be content with it. George was her future now. She looked up at him. “So you are leaving me all alone in this hotel room? What am I supposed to do with myself all day?”
He leaned down on the bed, cupped her cheeks, and kissed her. “I’ll be back this evening,” he said, stepping back again. “Hold tight.” His gaze swept the length of her, and then he winked. “When I get back, we can order room service again and spend more time together.”
She looked around at her luxurious surroundings and groaned inwardly. George was going to leave her here and go off to do whatever he had planned for the day. He expected her to wait for him until he came back to sleep with her.
An uncomfortable feeling rose up in her, and she felt a little cheap. She knelt on the bed and wrapped herself with the duvet. “I cannot stay in this hotel room all day doing nothing, George,” she said to him.
“I promise, Sofia. I will be back as soon as I can.”
“Can we go out when you return instead of staying in the room?” Without thinking it through, she said, “Maybe we could go to an art class?”
She winced as suffocating guilt enfolded her. Her date with Jude at the art studio had been memorable. In spite of how uncomfortable she’d been about the attention her painting had garnered, she had had a lot of fun. Was she trying to recreate that date with George? Jude had praised her painting skills. Would George do the same if they went, or would he still be indifferent? She quickly brushed all thoughts of Jude aside and focused on George. He was looking at her with a curious expression on his face.
“Can we go to an art class?” she asked again, wanting to know what he would say if he saw her painting again. It would definitely not be to the same art class she and Jude had gone because bringing another guy just days after she and Jude were there would be really strange.
“An art class? Whatever for?” he asked. He brought her his tie and, she leaned forward to tie it around his neck for him. When she finished, he stepped back and buttoned his business suit.
She studied him. He looked as dapper as always. Jude’s face appeared unbidden in her mind. Unlike George, who lived mostly in business suits, Jude sported jeans and T-shirts almost all the time. But he always looked gorgeous, even dressed casually every day.
Stop thinking about him, she chided herself. She said to George, “It’s an opportunity to spend time together creatively instead of just staying in this room. We can draw random stuff and have fun doing it. Jude said I was a good painter and that I could have my own studio and hold an exhibition.” She winced after she had spoken and pressed her lips tightly together.
George frowned. “Who is Jude?” He shrugged before she could say anything. “We’re not going to an art class, Sofia.” Once again, he winked at her. “I’d rather do something much more enjoyable with you when I return.” His eyes swept her body. “Besides, by the time I get back, I’ll be too tired to go out.”
She opened her mouth to protest again, but he put his finger over her lips, stopping her words. “Order anything you want to eat for breakfast and lunch, Sofia, and charge it to my card.” He kissed her again and then picked up a file from the bedside table. “I’ll see you later.” He stepped back from the bed and left the room.
She huffed and sighed wearily. Great! George is gone. What would she do with herself now?
For a short moment, she sat staring at the door, and then she got out of bed and shrugged on her silk robe. She wore her slippers and padded out of the bedroom to the living room. This particular hotel suite George had booked for them reminded her of the one they had stayed in when they’d gone to Prague. It was luxurious but minimal at the same time. She opened the curtains, stretched, and looked out the window at the view of the city.
A while later, she called to order a large breakfast and then went to take a long, soothing bath. She shut her eyes as she immersed herself in the bubble bath and immediately Jude’s face appeared in her mind. She groaned. She hadn’t stopped feeling guilty since she’d left him at Edith’s yesterday. It did not escape her that this was the second time a fiancée had broken up with him days to their wedding.
She bit her lip as she thought about Jude. If only things were different. But they weren’t. She was destined to be with George, and he with Keziah. It was why fate had brought his ex back into his life despite how slim the probability had been of that happening. And it was why he had gone to see her and kissed her days before their wedding.
But he did not spend the night with her like you did with George, she scolded herself.
She moaned. She had to stop thinking about him! She climbed out of the bath and dried her body. After putting on her clothes, she made her way back into the living room and turned on the television to try to distract herself from her guilt. She flipped through one channel after another and then got up when the double doorbell rang. She opened the door and smiled at the waiter as he rolled her breakfast into the room.
After she’d eaten, she sprawled on the sofa and soon fell asleep. She awoke sometime later and began walking around the suite, completely bored. She flipped through a stack of magazines on the coffee table, dozed once more, and then woke up again.
She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a few minutes past one. Her stomach rumbled in spite of the large meal she’d eaten this morning. She thought about calling and ordering lunch and then changed her mind. If she stayed cooped up in this suite alone for one more minute, she would lose her mind. She had to get out.
She put on a pair of jeans and a loose top and left the suite. Riding the elevator down to the lobby, she considered going to one of the restaurants in the hotel for lunch, and then an idea came to her. She strode out of the hotel and began to walk down the street, looking this way and that, hoping to find a fast food restaurant. She clearly recalled her date with Jude and the delicious hamburger she had tried the next day. She wanted another one. She hadn’t had a burger in years, except for that day.
She found a McDonald’s, entered, and ordered a double cheeseburger. She sat down at a table near the window and began to consume her burger. George would not be happy if he saw her in a fast food restaurant eating this cheeseburger. She had spent her years with him dining on expensive gourmet foods. He never went to fast food restaurants and he had influenced her to never eat junk food. She would probably have to give it up again now that they were back together.
As she ate, she thought about Jude again. She clearly recalled their first date. How nervous and cautious she had been before the date, but how relaxed and comfortable she’d felt by the end. She’d discovered they had a lot in common, and before she knew it, Jude had swept her off her feet.
Do you love him, Sofia?
She squeezed her eyes shut for just a second. She didn’t have an answer to that question. She cared greatly for him, but how could she love him and love George at the same time?
And do you still love George?
She immediately dismissed that thought. Of course she loved
George. They had been through so much together over the years, and she had stuck with him despite the ups and downs of his marriage and the pressure it put on their relationship. He had promised on various occasions to leave his wife so they could be together, but he had not. She’d still stayed with him. Thankfully, he had finally come to his senses and left Elena. She was going to marry him soon. Of course she loved him.
Her heart ached as she recalled for the umpteenth time what Jude had said to her yesterday. He had pleaded with her and told her he loved her. She sighed as the same question arose in her heart. Do you love him?
She could not think about that right now. Even if she did, there was no point dwelling on it. Just as she had told him, their proposed marriage had been nothing but a business transaction and they would eventually get divorced. This way was better.
For who?
She groaned and pressed the unsettling question out of her mind. Hurriedly finishing her burger, she left the restaurant. She still didn’t want to go back to the hotel suite, so she strolled down the sidewalk aimlessly. She continued to walk until she got to a commercial area with businesses and corporations. She looked into the windows of a few clothing stores and then continued to walk until she approached George’s former workplace.
She started to walk past the investment company and then blinked in surprise when she noticed George’s Mercedes parked at the side of the building.
Why is George’s car here?
She stopped beside the car and looked up at the building, wondering if George was here. She sighed and told herself she was overthinking things. Even if George was in the building, he was probably here to get his things from his former office. She started to walk away, but curiosity got the better of her and she turned around and walked into the building.
She had been here a couple of times to see George and knew her way around. She rode the elevator up to his office and stepped into the reception area. Caroline, the girl who manned the front desk simply smiled and nodded at her. She continued on until she got to the front of his secretary’s office. Sheila, his fifty-something-year-old secretary, looked up at her as she walked in. The woman always looked stern and she had never spoken more than a few sentences to her. Today, she frowned and narrowed her eyes.
