by Linda Verji
“It does?” Roman couldn’t hide his surprise. He’d expected Javier to make him grovel for a lot longer.
“Yeah, April’s like your little sister so you’re protective of her.” Javier explained, “I’ve got a friend who’s like that to me too. And I’ve gotten crazy a couple of times because someone wasn’t treating her right.”
Roman would’ve corrected Javier that April was definitely not like his little sister, but he was so relieved that Javier didn’t plan to drag out their silent war that all he could say was, “So we’re good?”
“We’re good.” Javier stretched his arm out and the two men shook hands on it. “To tell the truth, I’m glad April’s got someone like you in her life. She’s a really good person.”
“She is,” Roman agreed. Frankly, he was embarrassed at how obtuse he’d been for the last couple of years. It had only taken Javier a couple of days to peg April for who she really was – yet he was supposed to be the immature one.
The waiter reappeared right then with their drinks and set the drinks in front of him. Javier took a deep gulp of his before adding, “And she’s definitely not a groupie like you told me.”
“No, she isn’t.” A fresh spurt of shame rushed through Roman. Now that he was being honest with himself, it was kind of obvious why he’d said those things to Javier. It wasn’t to protect April from Javier. He was just trying to keep April to himself, and had done it in the lowest way possible. By ruining her reputation. Now he felt like a heel. A chill crept down his spine at the mere thought of April hearing the things he’d said. Thank God she hadn’t.
“The more I get to know her, the more curious I am.” Javier inhaled deeply. “I want to know her more. Maybe even get serious.”
“Get serious?” The alarm that speared through Roman was like a lightning bolt. It sent shockwaves through him, squeezed his lungs and brought his heart to an almost standstill. “I thought you said there was nothing between you two.”
“There’s nothing. Yet.” Javier smiled softly and his eyes glazed as if he was thinking of her. “But I can’t lie, she’s got my attention.”
No. No. No. The word rang in Roman’s head like a defective alarm. Javier wasn’t supposed to be serious about April.
“Maybe you can help a brother out.” Javier set his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “You know her well, right? Give me some tips. What do I need to do to get her to give me a chance?”
“Well… um…” Roman swept his thumb over his suddenly dry lips.
“What kind of guys does she like? When was her last relationship?” His eyes intense with curiosity, Javier continued, “What kind of things does she like her man do for her? How does-”
“I can’t help you with that.” Roman cut off the younger man before he could continue with his questions.
Surprise flashed in Javier’s eyes. “Why?”
Roman decided to be honest. “Because I’m in love with April.”
A sudden shocked silence fell between the two men as Roman’s words hung between them. Roman watched Javier, waited for him to absorb his words. Surprise flashed in the man’s eyes then confusion. He shook his head as if to clear it. “What?”
“I’m in love with April,” Roman repeated.
It still didn’t sink in. “Say that again?”
“I’m in love with April.” The more Roman voiced his feelings, the more sure of them he was. Yup! He was completely and utterly smitten with April Merit. And finally Javier was starting to get it too because the confusion completely disappeared from his eyes. In its place anger came.
“You bastard.” His voice was low but there was no mistaking the rage in them. “Is this the kind of crap you called me here for?”
“No, I only called to apolo-”
“Shut up. Shut the hell up,” Javier cut him off roughly. “You’re telling me now that you’re in love with April when you’re the one who introduced us?”
Actually, that wasn’t accurate. Roman hadn’t introduced them. In fact, he’d tried his best to keep them apart. But he couldn’t tell Javier that – not when the man was spitting fire and looking for someone to burn.
“You’re not in love with her,” Javier spat out. “You’re just mad that I’ve got something that you haven’t.”
This time Roman had to speak up. “This isn’t about you and I or what you’ve got. This is about me and April.”
“Nah! This is about your ego. You’re just faking being in love with her because you don’t want to see her happy with another man.” Javier’s eyes narrowed. “You know how I know that?”
Roman eyed him.
“I heard about you from her brothers,” Javier informed him.
Instant surprise lanced through Roman. Javier had met April’s brothers? When? That surprise was followed by worry. Exactly how far had they gotten that they were now meeting family members? God, he hoped not too far.
Javier continued, “I heard about how she’s had a crush on you for ten years and how you’ve done nothing about it. So don’t give me your ‘in love’ spiel. Save it for someone who doesn’t know the truth.”
“It’s not a spiel,” Roman responded coolly. “It’s the truth. I didn’t know that I was in love with her then, but now I do. And I’m going to tell her.”
“Don’t you fucking go telling her anything.” Javier exploded. “Keep your mouth stitched shut.”
Roman didn’t think that it was the man’s place to tell him what he could or couldn’t tell April, but he explained anyway, “If I don’t tell her, I’ll go crazy.”
“Then go crazy,” Javier gritted through his teeth. “Have you even thought about her at all? You strung her along for ten years-”
“Actually it was closer to three years than ten,” Roman corrected automatically. He hadn’t even known that she had any feelings for him until she’d started working at Tellers.
“Ten years. Three years. Still too long,” Javier retorted. “Imagine how she felt? How can a man leave a woman hanging for two whole years? Pretending he can’t see what’s right in front of his eyes but keeping her right beside him so he can continue to bask in her adoration? That’s some selfish bullshit right there.”
If Javier’s words weren’t accurate, they wouldn’t have stabbed at Roman. But they were, and they did. Real pain coursed through Roman as those words cut through him with the accuracy of a knife peeling back his layers and revealing his sins. He closed his eyes tightly as his hand curled into a fist on the table. “Stop it.”
“You stop it,” Javier countered. “Stop wasting April’s time. Stop getting in her way and let her move on to someone who can love her the way she deserves to be loved.”
“I love her,” Roman pushed out through the tightness that had closed his throat.
“Do you really?” Javier worked his jaw. “April loved for three whole years. You only discovered your feelings when? Five minutes ago? And yet you’re acting like the sky is falling, like your feelings are the only ones that matter. You’re such a selfish bastard that you can’t even love her for as long as she’s loved you without trying to take an ad out in the paper. She deserves better. I’m better.”
The young man abruptly pushed his chair back and stood. “… So you better keep that mouth of your stitched or I’ll stitch it for you. You lost your chance. Live with it.”
And with those words, he stormed away leaving Roman alone at the table with his sorrows and thoughts. Roman sighed as he tossed back a healthy gulp of his whiskey. It immediately burned a hot trail down his throat, but that burn was nothing compared to the metaphoric yet still painful welts Javier had just left him with. Roman felt like he’d been viciously flayed with an electric whip then doused with boiling salt water.
It hurt.
Damn, the truth hurt.
Javier was right. He didn’t deserve April, and it was wrong for him to burden her with his newly discovered feelings just when she was about to find happiness with another man. The pain knotting his stom
ach, ballooned, welled, until it consumed his entire being. The wise men were right.
You never know what you have until it’s gone.
CHAPTER 13
On Sunday morning, April woke up to four missed calls from Javier. Of the four, two had occurred at around three a.m.. As soon as she saw them she shook her head and chuckled. Probably drunk-dialing. That man! She expected him to call again to apologize for blowing up her phone, but instead he showed up at Tellers at around nine in the morning.
“I didn’t even know you could wake up this early,” she teased as she welcomed him with a smile. “Have you come to apologize for ruining my sleep?”
“No. No. No.” He seemed agitated as he ran his hand over his hair. “Can we talk a minute?”
She frowned but nodded anyway. “Sure.”
Once they were in the parking lot, he immediately turned to her. “Has Roman said anything?”
Immediately alarm raced through her. “Said anything about what?” Roman hadn’t even arrived at work yet so there was no way he could have talked to her. Panic lacing her tone, she asked, “Did you two fight again?” There were no visible blemishes on Javier’s face but there was no telling what injuries lay beneath his pink shirt and white pants. “Did something happen between you two?”
Javier made a sour face as if he’d just swallowed a bitter pill. “Something like that.”
She watched him with wide eyes. “Something like what?”
Instead of answering her question, Javier said, “Don’t listen to anything he says.”
April frowned. “Why not?”
“Because…” Javier paced the length of space between the hood and trunk of his car before he leveled a piercing look at her. “… That guy’s crazy.”
Roman could be unreasonable, and stubborn, and selfish… but he wasn’t crazy crazy. Unless he’d done something crazy last night. “Why? What did he do?”
Javier spun around to fully face her. “Who do you like more? Me or Roman?”
What? The question caught her by surprise. Where was this coming from? Why would he even ask her something like that?
Before April could voice the numerous questions racing through her mind, Javier shook his head and waved his hands. “No, don’t answer that. That was childish. I’m being a loser. Ignore the question.”
Now she was beginning to get a little scared. Seeing him so agitated was unsettling. What could Roman possibly have done to him? “Javier, what’s going on-”
He cut her off mid-sentence. “April, I really, really like you.”
His confession came so out of the blue that she didn’t know how to respond to it other than with silence.
“I really like you,” he emphasized. “And I don’t want anyone getting between us. I don’t want Roman getting between us.”
She could’ve reminded him that there was nothing between them but she chose to deal with the most urgent matter. “I told you there’s nothing between Roman and I.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure,” she insisted.
“Good. Good.” Javier swiped his fingers across his bottom lip. “Don’t let him sway you.”
Sway me how? What in the world was Javier talking about? But before she could interrogate him further, he leaned forward for a brief hug. “I’ll let you get back to work.”
And with that he got into his car and left in a squeal of tires.
What was that about? April watched the retreating car with no small amount of confusion. Javier had blown in like a tornado then disappeared like an exorcised ghost, leaving her with numerous questions. What had Roman done to him to make him act so strangely?
When Roman got to the restaurant, she didn’t even wait for him to get to his office. She ambushed him at the stairs. “What did you do to Javier?”
Roman stiffened and his eyes widened. “Did he say that I did something to him?”
“No… Yes…” She frowned. “I don’t know.”
“We didn’t fight if that’s what you’re asking,” Roman said, not that it made things any clearer.
“Then what happened?”
“We just talked.” Roman rubbed his chin as his eyes lowered to his shoes. “Nothing else.”
He was being deliberately vague, wasn’t he? Glaring at him, she asked, “Talked about what?”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
She narrowed her eyes. “I’m asking you.”
Roman was silent for a long moment then he said, “It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
Was that supposed to be reassuring? Because it really wasn’t. Whatever they had talked about had Javier acting strange and Roman acting evasive. How could she not be worried? She asked, “What did you talk about?”
“How many reservations do we have today?” he asked in a blatant attempt to change the subject.
“Roman!” she screeched.
He sighed. “Don’t worry about Javier and I. We’re good.”
No they weren’t. But no matter how hard she pushed during the next couple of days, neither of them would tell her what was going on. Yet, it was very obvious that something was going on. Javier took to dropping by the restaurant almost every day, allegedly to eat but he always stayed until closing time and insisted on driving her home. Sometimes, it even felt like he was keeping an eye on her.
Roman was often in the restaurant during Javier’s drop ins, but he kept a significant distance from whatever table Javier was seated at. Almost as if he was avoiding the younger man. Even worse, Roman had taken to evading April too.
He wasn’t unfriendly, but there was definite cooling in his attitude towards her. There was no more being called to his office to discuss what was going on between them. No more following her after closing time to make sure she got home safely. No more unexpected kisses. It was almost as if he’d decided to treat her like just any other employee.
His behavior should’ve made her happy, but it grated on her damn nerves.
Fine, she’d said that she wanted him out of her business. But saying it and actually wanting it were too different things. Having Roman behaving so distantly with her was unsettling and annoying, especially because she was still so aware of him. Every time she saw him, memories of the one kiss they’d shared flooded in, overwhelmed her. And along with those memories came yearning! She wanted to stride over to him, yank him into a dark corner and kiss him again, test if all those wild feelings she remembered were real or just figments of her imagination.
Yes, she was crazy.
But he was the one who’d made her like that.
Damn him!
CHAPTER 14
The day of the big wedding dawned bright and clear. And Snow made a beautiful bride indeed – albeit a nervous one.
“What if he doesn’t show up?” Snow’s gloved hands fluttered nervously in front of her face. Her panic-stricken eyes met April’s in the mirror. “What if he leaves me hanging at the altar?”
“Greyson?” April laughed as she straightened her friend’s veil. “You’re more likely to leave him at the altar than he is to leave you.”
“But he’s so perfect.” Snow sighed. “And I’m not.”
“Are we talking about the same Greyson I know?” Vina, who was standing a couple of feet away helping Snow’s cousins zip up their dresses, said. “That man is as far from perfect as my dad’s old beat up Ford is.”
Snow whirled to face her. “Did you just compare my man to a beat-up Ford?”
“Fine! He’s a beat-up Lexus,” Vina corrected cheekily, drawing laughs from everyone in the crowded hotel room.
Since Snow had chosen to allow the bridesmaids to choose the color of their dresses while keeping the design and fabric the same, her bridal party was quite colorful. The only one whose color was set was April since she was the maid of honor. Her ankle-length, baby-blue, chiffon dress matched the sash of Snow’s virginal-white, trumpet gown.
Smiling, April bent to hug Snow from behind. “Don’t worr
y, Snow. Greyson would never leave you hanging.”
Greyson was one of the most dependable people April knew. All through the wedding preparations, he’d done his part and more, making it clear that he was in with Snow for the long haul. It was too bad that his cousin hadn’t taken a page from his book.
“Aren’t you people ready yet?” Yvonne pushed her way into the room. “Everyone’s waiting for us in the garden.”
“Just ten minutes,” April yelled out as she raced to find Snow’s shoes. ‘Just ten minutes’ ended up being almost an hour, but eventually the bridal party made its way down to the wedding’s scenic garden venue.
Once the reverend, the groom and the groomsmen were lined up at the altar, the music welled up and the wedding march began. First went each of the bridesmaids. Smiling, groomsmen wearing black tuxedos and ties matching the ladies’ dresses met them in the middle of the aisle and walked them to its end. Next came the pretty flower girls who dropped white and blue petals along the aisle preparation for Snow. Then it was Snow’s turn.
Everyone stood up when the song to welcome the bride started.
The veiled Snow emerged, with her father and step-mother flanking her on both sides. April walked a distance behind them to make sure that Snow’s train didn’t get tangled in the pillars or chairs.
With everyone’s attention on Snow, April was practically invisible and it gave her the chance to get a good look at everyone around them. So many of the couple’s friends and relatives had turned up that all the lawn chairs were occupied and some people even had to stand. They all watched as Greyson left the altar to come and meet Snow.
But while everyone was watching Greyson, April was watching the man walking alongside him. Roman. Though Roman was smiling, his face was drawn as if he’d lost some weight in the last couple of weeks. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part because she wanted to think that he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him.
Yes, it was possible to see someone every day yet still miss them.
