Turning his back on her and facing Aria, he took her hand and said, “Aria, give me a few minutes, please. Let me speak to her and see her out so you and I can talk.”
Bella reached for Alex from behind, running her hand seductively over his arm, causing him to jerk away.
“Alex, I flew from Paris just to see you. Your friend will understand.”
That was all Aria could take. She was about to burst into tears and wouldn’t let that happen in front of them.
“I need to go,” Aria said as she pulled her hand from his, grabbing her purse from the table and storming past the fashionably dressed woman with a sideways glance.
“Excuse me, please,” Aria said, crossing the metal gangplank Bella was standing on.
Emotions surged through her as she sprinted toward the parking lot, her chest aching from holding back the tears on the verge of spilling over.
She looked back once and saw when Alex shook his head at Bella as he brushed past her, giving chase. The gravel crunching loudly as her feet pounded across the lot, she heard his bellows.
“Aria, please! Please wait!”
She couldn't believe her luck. The taxi she assumed Bella had arrived in was still waiting in the marina parking lot, smoke coming from its exhaust as it satparked but running.
Jumping in the backseat, she begged with a shaky voice, “Please, hurry. I need to get out of here.”
“But the lady told me to wait for her in case her boyfriend wasn't on the boat,” said the confused driver, who looked at her, apparently realizing she wasn’t his last fare.
How could I have been so stupid?
“Her boyfriend is there and she's staying. Please. Drive,” she barely croaked out as white-hot anger replaced the threatening tears.
Seeing her distress, he pulled away just as Alex got to the taxi.
Aria was afraid Alex would show up at her house, so she gave the driver Corinna's address instead, texting her to let her know she was on her way.
Her hands rung violently in her lap, her body vibrating with warring emotions. She rolled down the window a crack when she smelled the lingering scent of expensive perfume, no doubt left from Bella.
She watched through the window, the coastline disappearing as the city's lights came into view. Corinna lived in the neighboring town, but the drive was still less than an hour. More than enough time to receive countless phone calls from Alex, all of which she sent to voice mail.
She couldn’t believe that he would deceive her so badly. She didn’t want to believe it, but there was no way she was going to stand there on that boat a minute longer.
When she arrived, Corinna was waiting for her at the front door, a thick cardigan over her shoulders, her face frantic. Paying the taxi, Aria shuffled to her friend, her body exhausted from what had just happened, and fell into her arms.
“Come inside, love. Tell me what happened. Your text scared me.”
Once inside, Aria fell onto the sofa, her eyes unfocused, her breath heavy. Corinna grabbed a bottle of water and sat next to her, rubbing her back. She turned off the TV and threw the remote in a basket nearby.
“Was it Alex? You were going out tonight, right?”
Huffing, she opened the bottle and took a long draw of the water.
“Yes, we were on his family’s boat, yacht, whatever. It was perfect, Corinna. Seriously. Something out of a romance novel. Twinkling lights everywhere, soft music playing.”
Shaking her head, she continued, “I told him things, said things that I was feeling. Opened up to him. I had hope for the first time since losing Nicholas.The first time,and this is what happens!”
“What did he do?” she asked, concern coloring her face.
“I don’t even know how to answer that question. We were dancing and he was holding mesotight. And I was there, in it, I was so ready. Something changed tonight. Maybe it was just me, but there was a deeper connection. It felt so real. We both felt it.”
Aria’s bottom lip started to tremble. She felt like a vault was about to burst open inside her. Feelings she shared with no one started to tumble out.
“What is it, honey? You’re scaring me,” Corinna asked, her eyes frantic.
