After the End

by Brenda Barrett

  "Got it," Lia said. "She will no longer be mentioned."

  When Lia left the office Enrique threw the picture of Colleen that he had on his desk across the office. It landed with a thud on the thick carpet. It didn't even have the grace to break like she had broken his heart.

  He wished he could stop thinking about it, he wished that he could stop caring. He wished that he had never met her.

  He would never again have a serious relationship. Not after this. He was going to be twenty-six next month and he realized that he shouldn't be thinking that way at this time. He could find someone in the future. He was still young, or at least that was what his father had told him when he had dropped him at the airport. He still felt a tingle of embarrassment when he thought of the ride to the airport. He had cried. He had allowed his dad to see him crying. So undignified and unmanly—he hadn't cried since he was a child.

  His father had had tears in his eyes too, and he had squeezed his hand in sympathy when he left for the boarding lounge. It was over. He would never again cry over a woman. Never.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Colleen was getting desperate. She tried to call Enrique so many times but the calls went through to voicemail. When she called his office Lia told her that he wasn't in, and she did it with much relish. Colleen was beginning to wonder if he was really there and just didn't want to talk to her.

  She was getting desperate now, really and seriously desperate. She hadn't heard from him for a whole week. She drove over to Hibiscus Lodge; surely his mother would be able to get through to him.

  She had to tell the security guard at the front her name, and she deliberately said Colleen Lopez. The security guard sent her through with a wave after briefly talking to someone on the phone.

  She drove through a long winding driveway bordered by so many different colors and varieties of hibiscus it was clear to see where the house got its name.

  She had never been by the Lodge and when she came out of the car she realized why everyone spoke about it with such hushed tones. It was a lovely building, with an eye-wateringly gorgeous garden. She spotted ornamental plants with strange blossoms that complemented the ever-present hibiscus plants. She stood in the driveway looking around and almost jumped when someone cleared their throat behind her.

  "Madam." It was a butler. "Mrs. Lopez is about to have lunch. Come this way, please."

  Colleen nodded, looking behind her at the view of the bay and the flowers.

  "It is so nice here," she gushed to the butler, who had a serious professional expression on his face.

  "Miss Constanza does most of the gardening herself," he told her, walking into an airy room that led out onto a patio.

  "Colleen," Constanza said waving her over.

  Colleen walked over to her. "Mrs. Lopez, I am sorry to barge in without calling."

  Constanza raised her eyebrows. "Call me Constanza. We would have been better acquainted by now if Enrique had not rushed you over to the States as soon as you got married. I am happy you stopped by. I was thinking about visiting you."

  She indicated to a chair across from hers. "Would you like something to eat?"

  "No," Colleen said. She smelled the faint smell of fish and looked in Constanza's plate. She was having salmon. Colleen swallowed; she felt a bit nauseous looking at it.

  "So," Constanza said sipping from a glass with water, "my family have all been watching from afar to see how the current situation would play out. Enrique told us you were back with your first husband, but I find it curious that you are still living at the villa."

  "I am not back with Isaiah," Colleen said carefully. The scent of the fish was really wreaking havoc in her stomach.

  "That's what I told Franco," Constanza said gleefully, "but he insisted that Enrique said you guys were finished. I don't understand."

  Colleen frowned. "I've been trying to call him, but he won't answer his phone. Isaiah told him some lies about us and Enrique just left."

  "Ah..." Constanza said, "now I get it."

  "I love him," Colleen said simply. "I just want us to be together again."

  Constanza searched Colleen's face thoroughly, staring at Colleen so long, Colleen felt like squirming.

  She finally dropped her eyes to her plate. "He loves you too. I knew about you from high school. When we moved here from Kingston. He had just one year left at high school and maybe I shouldn't have uprooted him from his school, but I would have been alone here. My husband could only come down on weekends. The commute would be too much.

  "Anyway, we moved. He went to that school, and was mad at me for guilting him into coming here, but a few days later he was like a lovesick fool. I heard your name around here so much. He played love songs and in general acted like a hormone-ridden teenage boy." She grimaced. "And then he became depressed when he found out that you already had a boyfriend." She got up. "This is high school happening all over again. I'll call him, so that you guys can have your happy ending."

  "Thank you so much." Colleen nodded and then had the insane urge to throw up. "Can I use your bathroom?"

  "Sure, this way," Constanza said.

  Colleen barely made it to the bathroom. She threw up the contents of her breakfast and then slumped over the face basin. She washed her face and looked into the mirror. She was having an unusual aversion to fish lately.

  When Colleen emerged from the bathroom she overheard Constanza on the phone.

  "He went to where?" she was asking in a high-pitched tone. "Oh, thanks, Lia."

  Colleen heard the clicking of her shoes as she walked back to the living room.

  "You poor dear, you don't look so well," Constanza said when she saw Colleen.

  "I have gotten so sensitive to fish lately."

  Constanza frowned. "You live in a fishing village; isn't that weird? Unless..."

  "Where is Enrique?" Colleen asked anxiously, interrupting Constanza.

  "Mexico." Constanza sighed. "According to Lia he won't be back for another two weeks."

  "Oh." Colleen's shoulders slumped. "Okay then. And then I guess after that it will be somewhere else, and he doesn't answer my calls. So it is really over." Colleen sighed. "Can I get my job back?"

  "Your job?" Constanza asked, confused. "Surely you don't want to be working now when you er...can't stand the scent of fish."

  "I can do pastry," Colleen said, almost pleading. "That's what I am good at, anyway. I even did a decorating class and stuff. I can basically do anything in the pastry world."

  "Is that so?" Constanza looked like she came to some decision and then she sighed. "Okay, here is what we will do. Since you do not want to sit around like a pretty housewife, I know several persons who are getting married at Sea Breeze and even privately and they need cakes. We could start out with Maria; she's a distant cousin. She's family; we'll start with her wedding."

  Colleen chuckled. "So if she hates it then the flop stays in the family?"

  Constanza grinned. "Something like that. I hope your stuff is really pretty because you'll need to build a portfolio. This is fun. I have a decent camera. We can start taking pictures as soon as you are done with the cakes. Are you sure you are up to it, Colleen?"

  Colleen nodded. "Sure. Thank you. It will be nice to be busy, take my mind off everything."

  Constanza hugged her. "Let’s go sit on the patio and talk. After all, you can't stand the scent of fish."

  "That's right," Colleen said.

  "I'll just ask Rufus to bring some sandwiches instead, because I am famished." Constanza said. "Would you like something to eat?"

  "No thanks," Colleen said, "I doubt I can keep anything down at this time."

  She missed the smile that lit up Constanza's face when she called for Rufus, the butler.

  *****

  "Your mom is on the line," Lia said to Enrique as soon as he stepped into the office. He had spent two weeks in a new development in the beautiful Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, and it had not done anything to improve his mood.


  "Oh and another thing," Lia said cautiously. "She who should not be named called you several times. She sounded tearful when she told me she can't get you on your cell phone."

  "She called?" Enrique asked eagerly. He couldn't help it. Though he had counseled himself to toughen up when he thought of Colleen, his heart rate increased in the most alarming manner. Hearing that she called was doing strange things to his resolve to forget her.

  "Yessss," Lia hissed, "she is totally out of line. Maybe she was calling you to tell you how happy she is with her new dude. Well, old dude. Since he was before you, but then again he was after you so that makes him..."

  "Shut up, Lia!" Enrique winced. "Put my mother through and find out what's wrong with my cell phone. If my wife..." he stumbled and then corrected himself quickly, "my mother can't get through to me on it."

  "Well it's not the service, it's me," Lia said. "I told the provider to block all calls from Jamaica."

  Enrique growled. "Colleen is not the only one who calls me from Jamaica. I have business in Jamaica. Reverse whatever you did. Now. This minute!"

  He picked up the office phone. He would have to apologize for snapping at Lia. Before he left for Mexico, he had told her that he didn't want to take calls from Jamaica.

  He wondered how many calls he had gotten from Colleen…his family. He had wanted to grieve alone but surely if Colleen had been calling...

  When his mother came on the line she sounded really happy.

  "Enrique, couldn't you have checked in with me? Your dad and I are concerned about you. Well, I am at your villa," she said casually, "Colleen and I had a doozy of a wedding yesterday…your cousin, Maria. Remember her? She’s Papa's cousin…Lucas’s daughter. We are planning another one for next week."

  Enrique paused. He hadn't heard anything else but Colleen's name.

  "You had a wedding with Colleen? How? What's going on?"

  "Colleen does amazing cakes and she is super creative too. She is such a good decorator that people were talking about the cakes at the reception. I am having fun doing things with her."

  "But..." Enrique could barely sort out his thoughts. "Why is she working with you?" He felt betrayed by his mother, of all people. Why was she being nice and working with the woman whom he loved but was off limits and flaunting it in his face like this?

  "Why not dear?" Constanza asked. "She wants to keep busy. I figure we'll have to stop soon, when she becomes too big. You know, the poor girl doesn't even know that she's pregnant, and I am not going to tell her. I had the same issue with fish when I was pregnant with you, and let me tell you, it was hell."

  Enrique felt a rush of blood to his head. He could hardly breathe. "Hold up, Mom. Colleen is pregnant. By Isaiah?" His hands started to literally tremble on the phone.

  If his mother said yes, he wouldn't be able to take it. Maybe his heart would explode; it was already doing a weird pounding rhythm and he was gulping in air like he was drowning. Yes, maybe he would explode.

  "I would doubt that," his mother said, "of course not. That's my grandbaby. I am going to be a grandma. I am almost fit to burst with the news. I want to have a family party, announce it. Come home and work this out soon."

  "But how do you know that the baby is mine?" Enrique ran trembling hands through his hair. "Mom!"

  "Why don't you call her?" Constanza asked her son gently. "She is in the shower now—or better yet, show up here."

  Enrique was thinking the same thing by the time his mother hung up the phone.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Colleen was sitting by the beachside when Maureen came over.

  "I have the papers in my bag," Maureen said, giving Colleen a hug. "Sorry it took me so long to get it down here. Of course, I could have couriered it down, but I wanted to see you."

  "I was hardly around." Colleen shrugged. "I was busy these past couple of weeks."

  "Oh yes, you were telling me about your new career as wedding cake maker." Maureen pulled a lounge chair closer to Colleen and sat down. "So here we are."

  "Here we are." Colleen nodded.

  "It is not a bad way to spend the day," Maureen said, pulling out a novel and adjusting the umbrella. "Remember when we used to read together by the sea?"

  "Yes, when we were waiting for our respective husbands to come home." Colleen grinned. "We hated it whenever a book ended."

  "Yup, because we figured that a lot of the juicy stuff happened after the end." Maureen grunted. "And weren't we right. We are testimony to that. So many things happen after people meet and fall in love, etcetera, etcetera."

  Maureen counted off on her fingers. "Husbands disappear for years and then come back again, children are born and children die. I am sorry, Colleen, you were wrong; juicy stuff happens after the end."

  Colleen nodded. "That is true. I thought my story with Isaiah would fall along the lines of childhood sweethearts marry, they have children and live by the sea and they live happily ever after. Instead, husband disappears at sea and years later returns and now, I have divorce papers in my hand. The End."

  "Not the end, that's the start of a new chapter," Maureen added, "with a hot rich Latino guy named Enrique Lopez."

  "No," Colleen groaned, "my story is not going to end so well with Enrique. He doesn't want to hear from me anymore. He has Lia as his bulldog at the office. She won't put through my calls and he doesn't answer his cell phone when he sees that it is me calling."

  "Because he thinks you have moved on," Maureen said sympathetically, "and he doesn't want to be hurt again. Men can be just as stubborn and irrational in guarding their hearts as women. Go to New York and confront him. After you get Isaiah to sign those papers, though."

  "You think I should go?" Colleen asked.

  "Well, he can't avoid you if you do," Maureen said. "Chase the guy, grovel at his feet, and marry him again to make it legal this time. That's all Tucker wanted when we heard that Greg was back. Confirmation that he was my one true legal husband as soon as possible."

  Colleen swung her legs off the lounger and stood up suddenly, feeling dizzy when she did.

  "What's wrong?" Maureen asked when she saw her staggering.

  "Don't know," Colleen murmured. "I can't stand the scent of fish and now I am dizzy when I suddenly get up. I must be coming down with something."

  "Yup." Maureen grinned. "In eight months or so, you'll be cured."

  Colleen sat down abruptly. "No. I thought about it but...no."

  Maureen laughed so loud, the chair shifted. "Congrats Colleen. You are going to be a mommy!"

  *****

  Colleen walked to Isaiah's place the next evening. She had confirmed her pregnancy the night before with a test kit and as if confirmation was the catalyst her body needed to let go, she had been sick on and off for most of the day. She hadn't had much time to be happy that she was finally going to have a baby or sad that her baby's father was avoiding her like the plague.

  She walked down the familiar streets of the scheme and stopped at Miss Lou's gate. Isaiah was at the gate laughing and talking to Molly Stevens. Men knew Molly for her free favors and as usual, she was clad scantily, touching Isaiah on his arm. Colleen smirked when she drew closer to them. So much for thinking that Isaiah was at home, tragically broken by the fact that she left.

  "Hey," she said to both him and Molly.

  Molly said a hasty hello and then retreated.

  Colleen smiled at Isaiah. "Molly. Really?"

  Isaiah held up his hand. "No. Don't even hint at the possibility. She wanted my autograph because apparently, I am a celebrity. I was on TV."

  Colleen chuckled.

  "How've you been?" Isaiah eyed her longingly.

  "Not so well." Colleen took out the papers. "I am pregnant."

  "Whoa." Isaiah digested the info slowly and then said roughly, "Damn."

  "Thanks for your well wishes," Colleen said gently. "Sorry I blurted it out like that."

  Isaiah mumbled again, "Damn."

  Coll
een waited for him to recover.

  "I wish it was my child." Isaiah looked at her and then shook his head. "You know what, I would still take you back even if it weren't."

  "Oh Isaiah." Colleen handed him the papers. "I need you to sign."

  "Yes, I guess. You guys are a family now. I can't come between that. Damn."

  Colleen handed him a pen and he pressed the paper on the wall and signed.

  "I never dreamed that this would happen," he murmured. "Divorce. I always thought that for us till death do us part would work."

  Colleen laughed dryly. "It did."

  "Oh right." Isaiah handed the papers back to her. "Someone should adjust the wedding vows for fishermen and soldiers and whoever may go missing in their line of work."

  "To what?" Colleen asked, smiling.

  "Till at least ten years after death do you part or something like that; after then you can think of moving on." He sighed. "I was going by Mama's place, want to come?"

  "No," Colleen shook her head. "I can't stand the smell of fish right now."

  "That's why you were sick the other evening, at the party when I was kissing you. I was tipsy but I realize now that you weren't even responding to me. Were you?"

  "No, I wasn't. Sorry Isaiah." Colleen held on to her handbag. "Well, I am going back home. Take care."

  "No wait, I'll walk with you," Isaiah said. "Not to your home, just out to the road. I don't want Enrique to shoot me."

  Colleen was about to say that Enrique was not around but changed her mind. She didn't want Isaiah pursuing her now.

  "And you don't need to say sorry," Isaiah said. "I get it, you've moved on. Remember when we were in high school and I used to write you letters?"

  "Yes," Colleen grinned, "with the lyrics from people's songs. If you heard a song before me, I would think it was your own words."

  Isaiah laughed; a man had to find the right words. "You know what's playing in my head right now?"