"This is just perfect," I muttered, lacing my words with quiet sarcasm, and watching as the woman disappeared into the mall to make use of the restroom.
Rowan looked up from his phone and gave me a surprised look.
"Don't tell me you're still worked up over this, Maya."
"Well I can't pretend not to be," I replied, frowning.
He sighed with a small shake of his head. "It's not a big deal, you're taking this too far."
Not a big deal?
So I was expected to act cool after coming out of the mall only to find Camille Duncan with him again? Just last night, he had to go over to see her in the hospital because she said she was having terrible nightmares about her late husband and now, she was in our car after bumping into him.
And to make matters worse, he had agreed, without hesitation I'm sure, to drop her off at her apartment rather than head straight to the Island we had arranged to go to for our anniversary weekend. No one told me Uber didn't exist anymore.
"You know Camille's situation, Maya. She recently lost her husband and he was a good friend of mine," he explained with a calm voice that only made me more irritated. "I was only willing to help. She's been through a lot. I can't just turn my back on her now."
"I'm not asking you to turn your back on anybody. But there should be clear boundaries in your relationship with her. When it comes to her, you dump everything else to help and then completely forget about me, the one who's always left waiting. Always," I responded quietly and leaned my head against the window.
This vacation to the Island was supposed to be his apology for all the dates missed, all the dinner canceled at the last minute, and all the promises broken. And just like other times, something else came up that was more important than our relationship.
"I was just trying to do my duty as his friend," Rowan muttered after a while.
"But this has been going on for three months, Rowan. Three! Don't you think you're doing a little too much?"
He glanced at me, his expression softening for a moment before he stared past me and his features hardened again. He cleared his throat, swallowing whatever words he was about to say. I turned to see that Camille was now walking towards the car and understood his change of reaction.
It still surprised me how she just happened to run into him while I was away shopping at the mall half an hour ago.
"So sorry for keeping you two waiting. Did I waste much time?" Camille asked as she slid into the backseat.
"Not at all," Rowan replied smoothly and looked towards me, as though expecting me to say something as well.
"It's fine. There's no rush," I held back a sigh and passed her a brief smile before resting my head against the window and closing my eyes.
Maybe if I sleep off, the whole thing would be over quickly.
But my quiet time was short-lived. Camille suddenly let out a loud sigh.
"It has been so difficult to live with the reality of this, Ro, I feel so overwhelmed."
My eyes flew open and I blinked, hard.
Ro? She even had a nickname for him?
"The whole house feels so empty and creepy without him. I miss his banter, his jokes. God! I miss his presence! I've felt so lonely with no one to talk to," she whined.
"I'm sorry you've had to go through all that, Camille, but we're here for you now, okay?" Rowan replied in a soothing voice that sounded foreign to me.
"I know you are, and that's why I'm very grateful to you both. I really don't know how I would have coped with this situation all this by myself," Camille continued while I took out my phone from my purse just to occupy myself with something else.
Seeing the time, I pursed my lips and made every effort not to break down in front of them.
There was supposed to be a special fireworks display at the Island in two hours time and I wanted to see it with Rowan, hoping that it would remind him of our honeymoon at Monaco. We had both been emotionally unsure of ourselves then, not really knowing how our contract marriage was going to turn out. We were not a happy couple since we barely even knew each other, but at least we didn't have any issues then. Months later, when his work became more demanding, he chose that over our relationship and I had lived like an afterthought in his life since then.
"That's what friends are for…" Rowan's voice drew me out of my thoughts.
"So many people suddenly turned against me, you know. Lots of his friends stopped coming to visit and even his uncle brought a lawyer to me claiming he had rights to take some of my husband's property. Imagine that!"
"That's terrible," Rowan chimed in.
"I'm just glad he still has good friends like you, Ro. I wish none of this had happened..." Camille's voice cracked at the end and trailed off while Rowan quickly handed her a tissue from his breast pocket.
"It's okay, Camille," he said sympathetically.
"Thank you again, Rowan. I don't know what I'd do without you and your darling wife."
Not knowing what to reply, having exhausted my bank of 'you're welcome' and 'it's fine', I just smiled at her.
The rest of the drive was quiet, apart from a few sighs from Camille and when we finally reached the address she had given, Rowan stopped in front of an arched dark alleyway that looked like it led to hell.
Camille stepped out, and then, to my utter disbelief, bent down to talk to Rowan right in front of me, her cleavage on full display for both of us.
I frowned at the sight because…hell, why not?
"Sorry to bother again but I might need some help with the things I want to move," she said.
"I thought we were just dropping you off here?" I couldn't help the coldness in my tone.
Camille winced, as if she had felt the iciness of my words fan across her face.
"I'm really sorry for asking too much but I just need to move some things down the lobby and then someone would get them from there. Is that too much to ask?"
"It's not," Rowan cut in before I could respond, and before I knew what was happening, he was out of the car and walking over to Camille's side.
"I'm sure it won't take long, Maya," he said and passed the car keys to me.
Camille smiled at him with appreciation.
"This way then," she turned around and I watched, stunned, as they both disappeared through the alley.
Inhaling deeply, I looked around the street in an effort to distract myself from thinking about the both of them.
I raised my wrist to check the time, only to sigh in frustration.
I didn't want us to miss our flight, and I didn't want this trip to end up the same as so many others before.
Sighing, I adjusted the chair so I could lay back while I waited for them and then began to play with the car keys out of boredom.
What was taking so long? I whined inwardly and checked the time again.
Just a minute had passed since they left. Ugh! So why did it feel like a lifetime?
I didn't even know when I fell asleep until I heard the loud ringing of my phone.
The sound jerked me out of my sleep and I looked around, blinking awake.
My phone rang again and I picked it from the floor of the car where it must have fallen when I dozed off.
Rowan's name was flashing across the screen and I answered immediately.
"Why didn't you pick up earlier?" He snapped.
"I don't… I was..."
"There's been a slight delay," Rowan cut in. "Camille and I ran into some old college friends and one of them is hosting his engagement dinner. He's a really good friend of mine, Maya, and I'm really not sure how to combine our trip and this as well."
"Wait, what?" I became fully awake. "Rowan, we can't have dinner with them, you promised we'll make this trip..."
"I remember what I said," he snapped. "But I may not see these people ever again. You know we can still take the trip tomorrow. Not everything had to be about you."
I took in a deep breath and pressed my eyelids close to hold back the tears threatening to roll down.
"Where will the dinner hold?" My voice sounded more like a whisper.
"I'll send you the location," Rowan replied curtly and hung up even before I could think of asking why they didn't come back to the car so we could all go together. I checked our tickets again and realized that right now, our plane would be preparing for take off.
My phone beeped with Rowan's text and, cursing silently, I moved to the driver's side and pushed in the key.
"Just perfect!" I muttered with a bitter smile and started the engine.