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When she pulls away, there’s a beam of satisfaction playing at the corner of her lips. “Always so poetic.”
I try to smile at her words, but the confrontation with Elise from earlier comes back to the forefront and replays in my mind. Roxanne must have noticed a change in my expression as she brings both her hands to my cheeks, forcing me to look her in eye.
“Are you okay?” she asks in a slightly pained voice. “Did I say something wrong, or are you having a change of heart?”
“Oh, no,” I reply immediately. “I’m not having a change of heart, not at all. It’s just…” I cut eye contact for a moment as I think of the best way to tell her the truth. “I’m just worried about my sister. Elise has been really intrusive recently,” I say, trying not to sound too alarmist.
“Elise really needs to focus on her life and not yours,” Roxanne rebukes, before releasing an exasperated breath. She shakes her head, her mind drifting away for a beat. “Does she know about us?” she looks me in the eye with intense curiosity, as if trying to find the answer in my gaze.
“Judging by my last phone call with her, I think not only she does, but she’s also planning on telling my parents about us,” I admit. It’s pointless to lie about something like this. After all, Roxanne knows very well what my family thinks of her.
She pulls away from me, bringing her hands back to her side, and I instantly feel colder at the lack of her touch.
“Would telling your parents the truth be an issue?” she asks, her tone more worried than before.
I ponder for a minute her question, wanting to reassure her, but also, at the same, share my concerns with her. “I honestly have no idea. I couldn’t care less about what they think, but knowing my parents as I do, they aren’t going to be happy about it.”
Truthfully, I’m worried about what they are capable of and if they’d go as far as to do something to her, but maybe I’m just overthinking.
At first, Roxie is silent. Her face is void of any expression, and her eyes are empty as she processes what I just told her. But I keep calm. I have to, even though her lack of reaction to what I’ve said about my parents confuses me.
Damn it. I shouldn’t have told her about my personal problems or brought up my family. She’s quiet for quite some time, while I remain standing in front of her and waiting for her to say something. Maybe I’m overreacting, or perhaps I’ve ruined the atmosphere for what was supposed to be a romantic weekend for the both of us.
She seems distant, engrossed in her own thoughts, when she moves further away from me. But I close the distance between us just as fast. If there’s even a single bit of doubt in her heart about us, I’ll put it out.
She continues to back away until she’s standing against the sidewall. Without a word, she turns away from me, goes to the kitchen, opens the refrigerator, and grabs a bottle of Krug Clos d’Ambonnay. My lips twist into a smile as I recall the last time we drank one of those bottles. She’s up to something, I can tell.
This time, I lean against the wall and keep quiet while observing her. She opens the bottle, picks up two flutes, and then fills them halfway. With the two glasses in hand, she walks back toward me and, without saying a word, hands me one of the glasses.
Slowly enough, she leans forward until her soft lips are pinned against mine for a kiss.
When we break apart to catch our breath, she presses her forehead to mine, and in a quiet voice, she says, “I know your family. I know how powerful they are. But here, when you’re with me, I don’t want you to worry about them. I don’t wantus to ruin our weekend with any of this. We should be creating memories, not destroying them.”
I find myself nodding at her words and she raises her glass to mine.
“I’m proposing a toast to us, to our beautiful weekend and the memories we’ll create.”
Roxanne’s confidence and strength are one of the things that made me fall for her. I can’t contain my excitement, so I grin, my pulse quickening as I picture the rest of the evening. She clinks her glass to mine, and we both take a sip.
“Wanna see a movie?” Roxanne asks, winking.
I can definitely tell we’ll be seeing more than movies tonight.
33
Amsterdam, March 12, 2022
Roxanne
With Andries spendingthe afternoon at the gym downstairs, I read Poppy’s text message from earlier again, and go to the living room, sit on the soft parlor couch, and turn on the TV—only to be met with news of Karl’s trial. I carefully listen to what the journalists say, consciously trying not to get disappointed by how biased they sound. As Poppy mentioned over her SMS, they are trying to paint a positive image of Karl, given the fact that he’s a powerful and successful man, but it’s too sickening to watch the extent they’d go to clear his name. Patricia, on the other hand, has been made to look a lot less than a victim, and much more like a calculated manipulative professional escort who set him up for personal gains. It’s upsetting to say the least.
A part of me is happy Andries is not here to witness the unfortunate state of the news coverage. On the other hand, though, if he’d have been here, he could have finally understood why it’d have been a much easier choice for Patricia to have accepted the settlement. Nonetheless, I keep my eyes on the TV,watching how helpless and naive Patricia appears in front of the judge. All of a sudden, though, my landline phone starts ringing. I answer quickly once I figure it’s from the reception.
“Hello?”
“Good afternoon, Ms. Feng,” the young man greets, his tone always so friendly. “There’s a woman here who’d like to come upstairs and speak to you.”
A woman? My brows crease immediately at his words. “Who’s she?” I ask.
