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Figuring that she isn’t going to be the one to back down first, I sigh and walk over to the stone bench in the middle of the garden and pat the empty space beside me. Roxanne clenches her jaw in annoyance, but comes and joins me anyway, even if she doesn’t turn in my direction.
“I’m not trying to crowd you,” I tell her after a long moment of silence between us. “But I want you to know my dad wants me to be the one to tell Andries.” She stiffens beside me, but I continue, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to.”
Her posture softens as she turns to look at me. “Thank you, Elise. Really.”
“The biggest reason I’m not telling him is that I think he should hear it from you.Youshould tell him as soon as you can if he doesn’t know yet.”
She shakes her head, crossing her arms again as if she’s trying to hold herself. “I don’t think so, no.”
I lay a hand on her shoulder. “Roxanne, sooner or later he’s going to find out. My dad isn’t going to let such an opportunity get away. You know they want to make sure the wedding won’t happen, and this incident is the perfect pawn for them. You have to beat them to the punch.”
She laughs sardonically. “It’s so convenient, isn’t it?”
I frown in confusion. “What do you mean by that? What’s convenient?”
Changing her attitude again in a flash, she glares at me acerbically. “Everything was going so damn well between Andries and me, and all of the sudden the only secret you have against me blows up on the news and goes viral.”
My mouth falls open in shock. “Roxie, I’ve been here the whole time! How would I have orchestrated such a thing? I’ve got nothing to do with this, you have to believe me.” I pause, considering if I want to show my hand or not, but I’m already in this deep. Might as well jump all in. “This sounds more like Karl’s doing than mine.”
“Why do you mention him now?” she demands.
“He’s the one that sent the video to Dad first. Other people did, too, but Karl was first.”
Roxanne searches my eyes, looking to see if I’m lying to her, but apparently whatever she finds satisfies her. Shoulders slumping, she nods. “Fine, I believe you. But I’m still going to tell Andries on my own, in my own time.”
Looking towards the villa and then back to me, I get the cue that Roxie wants me to leave. Having said my piece, I relent, wishing her good luck and really meaning it before I exit the garden.
As I stroll back to the villa, in no rush, I decide to try and call Dan again. With all of this going on, he’s really the one I need to speak to. Not because I want to talk to him personally, which I do, but because he’s always the best person to have around in these sorts of situations. Andries may have taken a shine to Johan, but no matter what he says no one will ever be able to replace Dan, and if Andries hits the roof when he finds out about the video, he’s going to need Dan more than ever.
I try to call him, but as I expected, there is no answer. I swear I feel like throttling him when he gets back, but there’s no time to waste seething about it. Calling Andries is out of the question since he’s the one I need watched, so after a moment of deliberation I call Johan.
Miraculously, he picks up. “Oh thank God you picked up. Is everything alright?”
“Hey,” Johan sounds confused. “How are you, El? Things are all good here. We just finished sailing for the day and are having dinner at the bar with the crew. How are you?”
“Fantastic,” I lie. “How is Andries?”
He pauses. “Oh, uh, he seems to be doing okay. Why?”
“Can you call me if something changes on that front? And please don’t let him get drunk.”
“Sure,” he sounds more bewildered than ever, but it’s a blessing that Johan is such a good sport. “I’ll be over watching him, for whatever reason…”
“I can’t explain right now, but I promise I will when I am able to. Can you trust me on this?” I need to know he isn’t going to go straight to Andries and report this phone call, but who knows?
“Yeah, El, I’ve got you. Don’t worry.” Another pause, before he continues. “Will I be able to see you tonight when we get back?”
“Probably, yeah.”If shit hasn’t hit the fan by then, I think.
“Great,” he responds brightly. “See you soon, then.”
I hang up without saying anything else, a pit in my stomach. I’m glad Johan answered, but I had really been hoping to talk to Dan. That he would still be ignoring me right now, when I really need him the most, is breaking my heart. It’s not like he knows what I’m dealing with, but it could be any sort of emergency, and he would never know! Does he really care that little about me?
I lean against the front of the villa, not wanting to go back in yet as I contemplate my next move. I have a feeling Roxanne doesn’t really intend on saying anything to my brother. I think she’s hoping to keep it a secret till we’re back home so she can tell him in private instead of around everyone, or maybe she’s hoping it will all have blown over by the time we return to Amsterdam. I guess I’ll just have to keep an eye on her and my brother and watch for any changes in behavior. He, Dan, and Johan being out so late is already weird, considering the timing of it all, but I have no proof that it’s connected to the Bar Rouge incident.
I jump when someone touches my shoulder, whipping around to see an apologetic-looking staff member. I had been so lost in thought that I hadn’t even heard him come outside. He asks if I’ll be joining Lili and Robin out for their dinner, or staying at the villa for dinner instead. Once I find out that Roxanne is staying behind, I decide to do the same, feeling bitter about the couple and their lovely date while I have to sit here and wonder why Dan isn’t answering me. As annoyed as I am, Roxanne must be feeling even worse, sitting on this secret of hers. Add that onto the fact that her fiancé has been gone all day, and I bet she’s feeling especially jilted.
It’s not that I don’t believe that they were out sailing, but it seems so odd for Andries to plan an entire day away from his fiancée. I was under the impression that he wanted to spend every moment with Roxie while we were here.
