Until she walked through the door earlier thatevening.
"Do you have a thing with ambushing me atthe door?" she asked, barely able to check the contempt in her voice.Walking past him to the kitchen she turned on the water and began rinsing outher container before setting it to dry on the chrome drying rack next to thesink. Maritzia took a deep breath, feeling Victor's indignation behind herhitting her in invisible but unmistakable waves. Turning around to lean backagainst the sink, Maritzia crossed her arms and looked directly at him,motioning between herself and him. "Because this feels like déjà vu fromearlier today."
Victor shook his head, his tousled bed head ofblack wavy hair flopping to one side. "No, this is different," hestressed, motioning one hand to the door. "You left in the middle of thenight. I wake up and find you gone. Just how the hell am I supposed to react? Ihad no idea where you were."
Or who she was with, was what she wanted to add.She saw the way his eyes had scanned her tight-fitting biker shorts and purpletank top with suspicion.
Seeing that she wasn't going to say anything,Victor shifted uncomfortably. Taking a step towards her, he held his hands outto hers, silently asking for hers. Reluctantly she complied, placing her handsinto his.
"Look…I'm sorry about earlier, I'm-"
Looking down at her hands in his, Maritziafrowned at his words and looked up sharply. "What exactly are you sorryabout?" she asked, watching his face contort in confusion while his thumbsthat had been stroking the back of her hands stilled. Pulling her hands back,she clarified. "No, tell me what you're sorry about, exactly. Are yousorry you started an argument much like this one the moment I came home, justbecause of what I posted to Instagram? Or what exactly?"
The argument had been so insane it felt almostsurreal. Hours before, she had sat on her couch and listened as Victorcomplained and blamed her for purposely trying to pitch Cade against him. Thatposting the picture of her and Cade smiling and holding two puppies they hadfound while on a call was somehow telling the world that she didn’t care forhim as much as she cared for Cade.
"I told you earlier," Victor said witha groan as he stepped back to pace agitatedly in front of her. Maritzia knewthat familiar dissatisfied groan. He probably thought she hadn't been listeningto him earlier, something he accused her of often in their arguments. "Ijust don't see why you posted that picture of you and Cade. You know how I feelabout him. Dammit, Maritzia, the last picture you have posted of us is over ayear old."
"Because that's when things were still goodbetween us," she murmured before she could even stop herself.
Looking up from the spot she had been staring aton the floor, Maritzia looked up to see Victor's eyes wide and staring at her.
"What?” he breathed. “What are yousaying?" his voice dropped to a near whisper.
She didn't want to do this yet. Not right now.She had wanted to practice the words to herself and settle into thislife-altering decision a little bit more, but here it was with no warning andspinning away from her. Nevertheless, she had to hold on and maintain thecourse. Life had to be more than just living between clouds of resentment andstorms of anger. Maybe his life wasn’t, but hers sure as hell was.
Steeling herself, she stepped away from thecounter. "I don't think this is working out." She motioned betweenthem. "We're not working out."
"Maritzia." Her name came out in awhoosh of pained breath and it killed her to hear it. "You can't beserious. Baby talk to me. I'm not saying-"
"You're miserable and I'm miserable,Victor," she confessed plainly. "This isn't fair to either ofus."
"No." He shook his head, closing thegap between them. Reaching for her, he cupped her face. "Baby, don't saythat. I love you."
Tears formed in her eyes but didn't fall, thedetermination within her stronger. Pulling away from him she shook her head,determined to make him listen for once. "This can’t be love, not when weboth feel like this day in and out. We want it to be love, but it can’tbe."
Alarmed Victor stepped back and laced his fingersbehind his head. Maritzia could see the panic in his eyes as he looked beyondher, desperately trying to think of something. "No, you're wrong. We canget through this." He gave her a pleading look. "Please baby, justgive us one more chance. Please." Reaching out for her, she allowed him topull her into his arms and this time her resolve broke as she felt the rapidbeat of his heart beneath her hand. "Please, please, please," hebreathed in her ear, "just one more chance. We just need some time alone,just some time away."
She wanted to say it wouldn’t help. This was overand she knew it, and deep down he knew it on some level, too. Hell,nearly everyone knew it. But it was the desperate strength in his arms holdingher tight that made her hold back her words.
"Let's just go away, just the two ofus," he repeated, holding her tighter than he ever had before.
Chapter8
A gentle breeze swept over her shoulders,ruffling her curls around her face before passing over their table of food.Watching the flames of the candles stationed in the middle of their tablegutter and bob, Maritzia looked up to Victor's waiting eyes.
An awkward tension twisted in her gut andMaritzia quickly looked back down at her grilled fish and vegetables, cuttinganother piece with her fork. Situated in the middle of their private terrace,the gauzy white curtains of their open bedroom fluttered in the night air asthe pristine white linen tablecloth fluttered around their legs. The overwaterbungalow Victor had booked was breathtaking. With amenities she had only everseen in a magazine, the bungalow sat high off the crystal clear Caribbean Sea.
"It's so beautiful here isn't it?" Shetried once again to break the mood that settled over him.
Giving her a non-committal noise of agreement,Victor took a bite of his food.
Maritzia wanted to scream or cry, she wasn’tsure, but she settled on taking her own bite of food, not tasting the flavor ofany of it as her thoughts raced. It had only been a few days into the trip andshe knew it wasn't going to work. Maybe it was because she had already come tothe decision in her mind that night in her apartment. Maybe having that frameof mind, that first step to whatever the next chapter was, made it easier tosee Victor's growing agitation and the dissatisfaction in his eyes as everylittle thing seemed to displease him.
When they first got to the airport and realizedthat they had the choice of waiting a few hours for the boat that would takethem to the resort's private island or they could take a small Cessnaimmediately for an additional fee, she could see the frustration in Victor'seyes. He was a man that liked a plan. If things did not go according toexpectation or deviated from the plan, he was unhappy. She knew he did notcount on them starting their romantic trip having to wait a couple of hours fora boat. Knowing this she had offered to pay for the extra Cessna cost—that hadbeen a mistake. She had seen her words, which were only meant as considerationand kindness, float between them skewing and forming into something else untilanger flashed in his eyes. Snappishly he told her not to worry about it andpaid for the private flight himself.
Guilt gnawed at her on the flight. Instead oflooking out the plane's windows at the sparkling Caribbean Sea below, she hadwondered if her offer had made him feel pressured in spending more than what heoriginally intended. She could've waited for the boat. She didn’t mind at all.But maybe her offering to pay made it seem otherwise.
Things didn’t get better from there.
