by Bella Forro
I murmured some sort of response but felt the color creep into my cheeks. I could talk about what I did all day long, but that wasn’t really what they wanted to know. I tried to keep my follow up short and sweet, and not let myself get sidetracked like I knew I could.
Because I knew, they really didn’t want to hear about what I did during the day. What they wanted to know was what was so special about me that Mark would want to spend time with me instead of someone else. And I couldn’t help but think about how they must all be thinking about their own beautiful wives and how Mark could be doing so much better than me.
The worst part was, when I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a single reason why he would choose me over someone else in the first place.
Right place at the right time? Just looking for something to fill the empty space Amy had left behind?
I wasn’t sure, and that didn’t do much to soothe the nerves that were taking root in my stomach.
Chapter 16
Mark
The hotel lobby was everything I knew it would be.
My father was nothing if not consistent.
We parted in the lobby, which was for the best, I suspect because Victoria hadn’t had much to say since we’d pulled up to the airport. And, if it was possible, she’d grown even quieter since we’d boarded.
It was great to see Phil, Dan, and Jim. Even though we’d been friends for years — checking in briefly at weddings and when we had layovers by one another, we hadn’t spent the kind of time together we should have. This was exactly the kind of trip we needed.
But my father didn’t set this up because he thought I needed a little bit of down time with my friends. He set it up because he thought they would be able to sniff Victoria out, unseat this little charade we’d started with and the relationship that was growing from it.
And for the first time I was concerned that maybe he had been right.
I’d known they would bring their wives, of course, and I had known that Victoria wasn’t looking forward to this weekend getaway, I just hadn’t realized how those pieces were going to fit together.
Victoria was silent beside me, more pale than usual, but I could see the little slump of her shoulders, feel the tension she’d been carrying around with her start to let up the further we moved away from the others.
Our room was tucked away in the corner. I’d asked for it specifically when we checked in because I knew it would offer us the most dramatic view of the city and the water. We weren’t with the others, but I thought Victoria might appreciate a little bit of distance where she could regroup as needed.
I thought Victoria would be pleased with all of that, but she just walked straight in and to the bathroom, pulling her bag along with her. The door closed firmly behind her, and I heard the click of the doorknob locking.
So much for a steamy and romantic interlude.
I flipped on the television, just for a little bit of background sound and loosened my tie. If Victoria wasn’t going to take advantage of the view, then I was going to do it for her. I tugged the curtains open and turned on one of the bedside lamps.
Whether she liked it or not, Victoria was going to get to see the city at night. And she was going to like it. You would have to be blind not to, the way the city spilled out, lights twinkling in the inky blackness until it met with the ocean and there was nothing but the endless sea of darkness.
When she appeared from the bathroom, she was dressed in a pair of loose fitting cotton shorts and a tank top. She had let her hair down, and it spilled over her shoulders and down her back, still dark and heavy with water.
“Are you doing alright?” I asked because I suspected I was moments away from her crawling into bed by herself and turning her back to me. I wasn’t sure what I could do to derail the little spiral we were on, but I was willing to try.
“I’m okay,” she said as she began to pull the quilt back, but she didn’t elaborate.
“It seems like, perhaps, you aren’t having a very good time,” I began, treading as carefully as I could. I’d learned a thing or two in the past, and one of those things was that even if you asked very nicely, phrasing a question about a woman’s happiness could lead to something unexpectedly negative.
I was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t happen with Victoria. At least, not in the way I had thought it might.
“It’s fine. It’s just — your friends seem fine. They seem nice.” She raised her eyes until they met mine. “They seem just like you.” Victoria climbed into the bed flipping the quilt back up over her. “It’s just, I don’t think I have anything in common with them. And I really just feel like I’m in your way and I don’t belong on this trip at all.”
There was a long, heavy pause, where I knew she wasn’t finished speaking, and that was alright because I was busy trying to come up with exactly what I should say to her in return. It was harder than I thought it would be.
“Maybe your father is right,” she said quietly, and I hated hearing her say those words.
“No. It’s not like that.” I sat near her on the bed, as close as I thought I should be, all things considered. “You don’t need to be like they are. I don’t need you to be. They don’t expect you to be. This is just my father’s way of trying to make you uncomfortable enough to call things off with us. Don’t give him the satisfaction.”
I reached out to pat her on one of her knees, which she’d drawn up and had her arms looped around. “You just have to spend some time with them. Rub a few elbows. They are going to think you’re great. Just like I do. Trust me.” I offered her a smile, even though I knew it wouldn’t go very far in making her feel better.
“I don’t know. It’s just really stressful. And all the girls look so perfect, and they’ve already coordinated everything they’re going to do while they’re together. And they’ve known each other for so long. And I’m this total loser who doesn’t even like shopping. I don’t know why that has to be our fun activity. Can’t we go scuba diving or something? That’s fun. Shopping isn’t. Plus there’s no talking, and you wear a wetsuit.”
She was so hopeful looking I felt bad for telling her there was no way the others would sign up for scuba diving. “It’s just not their scene,” I said apologetically.
I didn’t have the heart to tell her that it didn’t matter where we went — they would always go shopping.
“You should have brought Cassie, instead. She loves to shop. Plus she loves people. Me, not so much.”
“Well,” I said pointedly, “the next time I’m in the market for a girlfriend and my only qualifications are that she enjoys shopping and loves people, I will be sure to call Cassie up.”
Victoria grumbled in response, but the whole exchange had reminded me I had something I needed to give her anyway. I didn’t think it would make the situation much better, but sitting on it wasn’t going to do me any favors either.
“Look, Victoria. I want you to enjoy this trip as much as possible. And I don’t want you to feel like you have to do anything you wouldn’t normally do to fit in. I know the ladies are big spenders, and I don’t want you to be worried about needing to spend money or feeling like people are judging you for not spending money. I just want you to be comfortable. And to have a good time.”
I handed her a prepaid traveling card I’d set up for her and an envelope with cash in it. I wasn’t sure what was less expensive or which she’d be more comfortable using, and somehow I knew asking her wasn’t going to do me any favors. Either way, short of purchasing a car, she wasn’t going to be running out of money anytime soon.
“I know the deal is off, and I don’t want you to think about this like you’re being paid, or I’m offering you some kind of charity. I just recognize that you’re doing me a huge favor by being here, and I know you’re not exactly enjoying it. So, it’s really like a gift. Just like if I’d picked you up for dinner and brought flowers.”
She gave me a withering look and stared at the card and env
elope I was still holding out to her. “Okay, a credit card and a wad of hundred dollar bills is definitely not the same thing as flowers.”
“Come on, Victoria,” I prodded. “Don’t be unreasonable.”
“I’m not being unreasonable. I don’t want to take your money, I don’t understand why it’s such a big deal to you that these people need to like me, and I don’t understand why you think I’m such a poverty-stricken little sap,” she snapped. “You know, I somehow managed to exist for quite some time before you came along and decided you would like to give me things.”
“Please, Victoria. I don’t want to fight with you.”
I was backpedaling now, and I knew it. Somewhere along the line, I’d forgotten that key approach to keeping things on track, and now I was going to have to do my best to diffuse the situation.
“Sorry, Mark. This whole weekend is just making me uncomfortable.” She heaved a big sigh. “Maybe it would have been best for me to skip coming along in the first place.”
“Nonsense,” I said, leaning in toward her. “What kind of fun would I be having it I were here without you?”
“Well, I’m sure you would be drinking and carousing with your friends.”
“Possibly,” I said, running my hand up her leg. “But then I couldn’t be doing this.” I pushed her knees apart until she slid her legs down and made space for me to move between them. “And this is definitely more fun than any carousing could ever be.”
I let my hand follow the shape of her body, watched her watch me from beneath her long lashes until I was close enough to her to press a kiss to her mouth.
She resisted for just a moment, before letting herself melt into me, and just like that it was like the argument was washed away and far behind us. Her hands were tugging at my hair, my shirt, pulling me closer like she was going to consume me.
And I knew the feeling because I felt the same way.
In a matter of moments, we had stripped one another of our clothes, the dim light from the bedside lamp pooling Victoria in a golden glow, the open curtains on the window letting in the view of the sparkling city below.
My mouth was on the hollow of her throat, the soft sounds she was making vibrating against my lips, her breast was in my hand, the nipple taught and peaked.
I moved my hand between her legs, where she was already slick and eager for me, and I was just as ready to be inside of her.
I tangled my hand in her hair as I moved in toward her, her heat welcoming me as I sank inside of her.
In a matter of minutes, we had found a frenzied pace, and I felt like I was drowning in her.
This was why she had to come with me on this trip. Because I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else anymore. And I needed to do whatever I possibly could to keep my father from destroying what we had.
Chapter 17
Victoria
I hadn’t managed to pull myself out of bed yet.
The morning light was streaming in through the still open windows. Mark had an early launch time with his friends, so we’d been up in time to watch the sunrise.
Which, I had to admit, was pretty spectacular from our bedroom.
And it got even better when we made some time for some early morning cuddling.
It had started out innocently enough, but it certainly hadn’t ended that way.
I stretched, trying to work the kinks out of my body. Everything was deliciously sore, and I was not complaining.
Afterward, we had ordered room service, and we’d eaten piping hot eggs and fresh coffee, Mark had stepped into the shower, and he was already gone for the day.
It seemed like a lot to have accomplished before eight in the morning, and I hoped it would bode well for the rest of the day.
The envelope he had brought for me was still sitting on the bedside table. I wished he had put it somewhere else because there’s nothing like a stack of cash on a bedside table next to a bed where you’ve been thoroughly enjoyed, that makes you want to question everything about the night before.
Even so, I had told him I would bring it. Not because I wanted to use it, not because I felt anything he’d said to me before really had any weight, but because I didn’t want to embarrass him, or myself. In case I needed it, I would have it, and whatever I didn’t need, I was just going to return to him at the end of the day.
I still wasn’t looking forward to the day of shopping. And, I was definitely jealous that while I was tied down to touring boutique after boutique, Mark and the guys would be out on the water. But if I could just get through the next few hours, I would be back home in my own bed, in my own apartment, with people I actually liked, in just a little while.
I kept reminding myself of that while I stepped into the shower, the hot water easing my muscles and making me feel a little bit more ready to tackle the day.
I still had more than an hour before we were supposed to meet and go shopping. But, I knew this wasn’t going to be a casual shopping trip where I was allowed to pull on my favorite, comfortable jeans and a pair of flats.
No, this was going to have to be one of those things where I had to spend thirty minutes making sure my hair and makeup were just right and put on a pair of heels I didn’t want to spend more than five minutes in. Then, the marathon of shopping would commence.
I tried not to let myself focus on all the parts of this trip I was hating, and instead, I tried to focus on the parts I was loving.
Like last night — after the fight — and this morning, where it had just been the two of us, and it was so much easier to see all the things we had in common with one another, and all the things we liked about being together, instead of when we were out and with his friends, and it was just so depressingly obvious how poor of a fit I was for him.
I didn’t want to think about that either. It had been easier, in the beginning. But now, I found I was thinking about it a lot more than before. Like the money on the bedside table, it made me want to question everything about what we were doing together.
I gathered all of the things I thought I might need for the day and headed down the hall toward the others’ rooms, where we had agreed to meet the night before as we had finalized our plans.
The other women knew each other well. Apparently, these sorts of trips were not a new thing to them. They got together, the men spending their time doing whatever appealed to their group, and apparently the women hopped from one boutique to the next, with short trips to the salon sprinkled in.
I was wishing Mark’s friends had wives with a little bit more interest in being adventurous, but they were who they were, so wishing it was different was not going to be doing me many favors at all.
I made my way down the hall toward the block of rooms they had reserved. Mark hadn’t said it to me, but I suspected he had asked for a room apart from the others just to give me some time and space, to give us that little taste of what a weekend away together — alone — could have been like.
That little taste was going to have to get me through all the other parts of this weekend.
I waited outside in the hallway near their doors for just a few minutes before deciding they must be tucked into one of the bedrooms, probably all getting ready together. I know that was what I would be doing if I were there with Cassie instead. Like Mark, their husbands had left hours ago, and I could see the appeal of getting ready together.
I made the rounds, knocking on all three doors to the rooms I knew they were staying in before continuing to stand awkwardly in the hall, double checking the room numbers on the slip of paper they had been scrawled on.
I knew we had agreed to meet there because we’d revisited where to meet at least a half a dozen times, as well as what time and where we would be going.
And, I hadn’t actually had a say in any of it, so the fact that the people who made the final decision in the first place weren’t even there, rubbed me the wrong way.
So, unless they were running behind schedule and late to return to the meeting p
lace, they were intentionally blowing me off. Not that I would consider them running late totally out of the question — maybe they met for morning mimosas and hadn’t kept an eye on the time.
But I also wasn’t going to put it past them that they could be just blowing me off.
Great. I could feel the heat flooding my face, the mixture of frustration and anger and embarrassment welling up inside of me. I couldn’t wait to share this with Mark. I was sure I’d end up hearing something else about how it was an honest mistake, how I needed to make more of an effort.
I was efforting, for crying out loud!
Sometimes, no matter what you do, it’s not enough to please other people. And if he couldn’t see that his friends’ wives were intentionally treating me like crap, I wasn’t sure what else I could do to make the point.
I finally gave up my post in the hallway and headed back to the lobby. I wasn’t going to waste my day standing there in the hallway waiting to be claimed like forgotten luggage, and I certainly wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to do something fun in the city on my getaway weekend — even if I had to do it alone.
I was already planning on what my day might be like — picking up brochures down in the lobby, changing into something more suitable for life, taking a cab to wherever I felt like when I stepped into the lobby.
I was feeling pretty good about the outcome of my morning, actually, until I walked in.
The girls were sitting on the oversized circular bench in the middle of the room, tapping their feet and checking out their nails, as though they had been scuffed during their wait.
“Oh, hey, Victoria,” one of them, Rebecca, said while twirling a piece of her raven colored hair between her fingers. “We were just wondering if you were actually going to join us.”
