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Capri, July 4, 2022
Dan
I had broughtAndries into the study at the villa to talk, but now that we’re here alone, nervous energy is consuming me. Pacing the length of the room, I open the windows facing the sea and let the fresh, briny air fill the space between us. All of a sudden everything feels so small, almost as if Andries and I are shut in some closet together with him breathing down my neck––not the open, spacious room before us.
Am I really going to do this? What choice do I have, anyway?
Andries breaks the silence first, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking at the ceiling. “Hey, man, I didn’t mean to upset you. I only invited Johan because I felt bad that Elise had to be alone this entire trip. He was her first crush, and I figured that she’d love to see him again after all this time, you know?”
Finally I have to quit fidgeting with things and face him, crossing my arms, annoyed at his lame excuse. “Come on, Andries. Is that really why you invited him?”
He lowers his gaze back down to meet mine and raises his eyebrows. “Well, yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”
“Enough.” I sigh, scrubbing a hand over my face. “How long have you known about me and Elise?”
My friend opens his mouth as if to deny what I’m saying, but he looks at me and takes a second to absorb my stance and the look on my face. I know this is going to be a huge moment between Andries and me, and while I’ve tried to avoid him finding out the truth for so long, a part of me is relieved to just be done with it.
The two of us stand in silence, just observing each other, until Andries’s shoulders fall and he pinches the bridge of his nose, letting out a long exhale.
“When we boarded the plane to Capri I had already heard a rumor that Elise had spent the night at your house. At first, I figured that rumors were probably nonsense––considering how cold the two of you were to each other on the plane––but then it occurred to me that you two weren’t standoffish towards one another, and it confirmed to me that there was something going on between the two of you.”
When he mentions Elise sleeping over the night before we left for Capri, I want to kick myself. I had been so reckless to let her stay, but in the moment, it’d have taken an act of God for me to make her leave my bed. “Where the hell did you get that information?”
“There is no way I’m going to tell you that,” Andries scoffs, and this time it’s him that paces off, staring out the window to avoid looking at me. He’s pissed off, jaw clenched so tightly that it’s obvious to me even from across the room.
I lower myself into one of the leather chairs in front of the desk, trying to think of who out of the people at the hookah party might have told Andries about Elise staying over. I can’t think of anyone that would care enough to report such a thing, as most probably didn’t even know who Elise was.
That at least makes the list shorter. Who had I invited that would recognize Elise by sight alone and would be aware enough of her that they would notice she spent the night? Whoever it was would have to know Andries, too, and have some sort of reason to want to get into his good graces.
When I consider all of that, it isn’t hard to come to the only logical conclusion. “It was Tatiana.”
Andries nearly jumps out of his skin when I speak so suddenly into the silence. “What?”
“Tatiana told you about Elise staying the night with me.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “So you aren’t even denying that she slept over?”
I lean forward in my seat, eyes fixed on his with just as much stubbornness. “And you aren't denying that it was Tatiana who was playing spy for you?”
“Don’t you thinkplaying spyis a little dramatic? Why can’t it just be a friend looking out for a friend?”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes my lips. “Maybe because Tatiana was in love with you for so long and still wants to be on good terms with you whenever possible?”
He turns pale, and then red. “Are you trying to say that I’m manipulating Tatiana? Using her, even?”
“More along the lines of Tatiana being so used to doing anything for you just for a scrap of your attention that it might be second nature to her now.” I shrug, taking a pen off the desk and twirling it between my fingers. “Maybe a part of it was her being worried about Elise, but I think it had more to do with you than anything.”
“Whatever, Dan,” Andries snaps as if losing his patience. “Something tells me you’re just trying to change the subject.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” I say sarcastically. “I brought you in here to talk, remember?”
Andries drags a chair over and sits in it across from mine, leveling me with a stoic look. “So talk.”
Well, it’s now or never. After this moment, I can never take back Andries knowing that I not only broke my oath to him, but I’m actually in love with his sister. There is nothing else to be done though, and I just can’t tolerate him bringing in some other past crush of hers right under my nose, especially not in the villa I paid for. He needs to know the extent of how I feel… Maybe if he knows it isn’t just some one-time fling, he will feel differently about it?
I can only hope so.
