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“You’re lying, El.”
She stiffens but gives me an answer. “I ghosted him, okay? I was really young and nervous, and since it was just a summer crush, it was way easier just to ghost him and be done with it.”
“If it was a simple summer crush there wouldn’t be a frame of the two of you hanging in your study. You still had feelings for that guy when you started college, didn’t you?” I know she’s bullshitting me, and the fear that there is some unfinished love story between Elise and Johan is growing bigger and bigger inside of me. They would be the perfect fit for one another, wouldn’t they?
“It was just a good memory from camp,” she insists, turning up the heat on the amount of attention she’s heaping on me. I feel her lips graze the shell of my ear and suppress a shiver. “He means nothing to me now.”
I have to get some space between her and me, or I’m going to be too distracted by her delicious weight in my lap and her lips on my neck. I take her by the shoulders and push her back a few inches, searching her face for subterfuge.
“Elise, is he the reason why you can’t say…” I hesitate, the idea almost too painful to speak. “Is he the reason you can’t say those three words?”
It takes her a second to figure out what I’m referencing, and once she does, her eyes go wide as saucers. “No! No… of course not. I just can’t say that to someone so easily…” she trails off, her features betraying her just as fast.
“Did you tell Johan you loved him?” I press, and now Elise puts her hands on my wrists and tries to extricate herself from me. I hold her in place, though, desperate to know the answer. “Tell me.”
“Why are you so fixated on this?” she huffs. “When you told me, you said you didn’t mind if I wasn’t ready to say it back. Now you’re acting like it’s a huge deal!”
I remove her carefully from my lap until she’s the only one sitting in the chair and I’m heading for the door. I can hear my pulse pounding in my ears, my blood pressure rising.
“I was fifteen, okay!?” Elise blurts out from behind me, and I freeze. “I was young and stupid. I didn't know anything about love.”
What she has just said is all I need to hear. Johan had gotten those three precious words from her, but I’m not worthy of them apparently. I pivot to face her, my heart stuck in my throat. “So let me get this straight… you meet a guy at summer camp and two months later you said you loved him? But after everything we’ve been through you can't figure out whether you love me or not?” The laugh that makes its way out of my mouth is bitter. “Maybe you still love him deep inside.”
All I can hear in the study now is the sound of Elise’s choked-up breathing, and as the seconds stretch out and she doesn’t answer me, my stomach sinks. She’s made it very, very clear where we stand.
“Figure your shit out, El,” I bite out, fleeing before I fold and ask her why she doesn’t love me.
Not knowing where else to go, I make my way back towards the group on the terrace as if on autopilot, figuring that I could at least get a drink and distract myself with some of the other guests. Unfortunately, as soon as I turn the corner and emerge into the outdoors, the first thing I see is Andries and Johan. The other man has his massive arm draped around my best friend’s shoulder while Andries shows him something on his phone. Photos from the engagement party, no doubt. Another thing I had put together for Andries without wanting anything in return. Now he’s out here with the closest thing I have to an enemy, laughing it up. All at once, I wonder if I’ve lost both Elise and Andries in one fell swoop, and the prospect is almost too much to swallow.
I turn on my heel, trying to decide where else I can find a moment alone without having Johan shoved in my face, eventually deciding on the villa gardens on the West side of the property. Compared to the terrace with its pool, hot tub, lounge chairs, dining table, and an unbeatable view, the garden is humble, but it’s a perfect place for me to hide while I gather my thoughts.
Tropical flowers in shades of orange, yellow, and red gill the little hidden paradise, all pulled together by a fountain featuring a beautiful concrete woman pouring water from a pot, making it cascade down to the bottom of the fountain. There is a small stone bench under a draping palm tree, and I take a seat, content to smell the sweet floral scents and listen to the water flowing over the marble and stone fountain. I heave a sigh of relief, reveling in the quietness of the place.
Of course, my solitude is short-lived. Roxanne appears, her blonde, short hair is wet and slicked back and she is wearing a sheer amethyst tunic over her bathing suit. Silently she moves to sit next to me. I scoot over to allow her the room, figuring there is no reason to even try to get rid of her.
“Rough day?” she starts, hands folded in her lap as she looks ahead.
“That’s an understatement,” I grumble, crossing mine over my chest. “Listen, it’s not too late to call off the wedding. Marrying into that family is a mistake, I’m sure of it now.”
Roxanne’s laugh is musical. “A little late for me, I think. Plus, something makes me think you wouldn’t turn down a marriage proposal from a certain Van den Bosch daughter, either.”
“I’ll make sure to remember you saying this when we both attend her and Johan’s wedding.” I change positions, folding my hands behind my head, and look to the sky at the white clouds crawling along so slowly that they appear almost still.
“I didn’t know you were as dramatic as your best friend,” she quips. “Do you want to talk about it, though? The Johan thing?”
I shrug one shoulder. “What’s there to talk about? Elise’s royal ex is here and making eyes at her. That doesn’t bode well for me.”
“I take it that Andries knows everything about you and Elise, then,” she offers, her eyes studying my face for an answer.
“If he knew, I know he told you too, so you don’t have to pretend you’re still in the dark, Roxie.”
She nudges me with her shoulder, sliding me a glance. “I wasn’t going to. So, why don’t you fill me in on the rest so I know exactly what we’re working with here?”
I look over at the small woman that has turned my best friend’s life upside down. “I told Elise I love her.”
Roxanne’s eyes go wide and she blinks a few times. “Wow. That’s… wow. Do you really love her?”
I nod. “Yeah. But it’s become this whole charade because I swore an oath to Andries years ago that I would never have anything to do with her. Now here I am, head over heels for her, while my best friend is inviting her ex over to try and sabotage things.”
