William Jarvis - Sky Valley 02 - Beaches & Coffee (5 page)

"I'll be okay, dad." She said. "You know? Maybe you should send Audrina a letter or something. Ask her how she is."

"I think that will just complicate things. She deserves a life."

She took a deep breath. "As weird as this sounds, I actually miss her." She said. "She's tough but she's really nice."

"Yeah she is." He said. "But well, we really cannot keep her here. " He took a deep breath. "Anyway, are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah, dad. Don't worry. You can go home now."

"Okay." He said and gave her a peck on the forehead. "Call me if anything."

"Yes, dad." Emmy said although she knew that she really would not do it. She always tried to fend for herself but some days, she really didn't know how.

Emmy watched her father walk towards the parking lot. Once again, she was left to her own devices and although it was what she wanted, somehow, she felt like she was just pushing herself too far and she really didn’t know how to feel about that. She took a deep breath and decided to go back inside the coffee shop to see what else could be done but she was surprised when she heard Ruby talking to someone just by the gutter on one side of the shop.

“It’s supposed to be my wedding, okay? I tried what I could.” Ruby said. She was trying to lower down her voice but Emmy was still able to hear what she was saying. “I tried my best. And okay, fine, I faltered but don’t be too hard on me. I can blurt everything out, you know? Yeah, I won’t, okay? But…” She sighed. “Fine. Just give me a few more days, okay? Fine. Bye.” She then ended the call and was about to put the phone back inside her gown when she saw Emmy. “Jesus Christ!” Ruby said and dropped the phone down. She rummaged to get it back right away before Emmy could ever get her hands on it.

“The bride’s feeling like a mess on her wedding day, huh?” Emmy said. “You have a nice way of keeping that phone.”

“It shouldn’t matter to you.”

“Well, I’m your wedding coordinator and you’re still staying in this resort for a couple more days so it kind of matters.”

“Whatever.”

“Who were you talking to?”

“Like I said, it doesn’t matter to you. Leave me alone.” Ruby said. “If I know, you’re just scared because deep down, you know that I’m still important to Daniel.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh, you saw how he came to my defense earlier. You saw how he cared about me.”

“He just did what he had to do.” Emmy said, although to be honest, she felt like she was also just convincing herself. “You know how Daniel is.” She tried not to let Ruby hear that her voice was quivering.

“Yeah?” Ruby raised her eyebrow. “I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.” She said. “You’re scared that he’ll leave you. You’re scared that he’ll come back to me. You’re scared of everything, Emmy, and because of that, you’ll never win.”

“I can’t believe you.” Emmy said. “You sound like a crazy person.”

“Back off.”

“You back off.”

They stared at each other for a while, wanting to tear each other apart. It was a good thing that Daniel and Edward came out and asked them what was happening.

“What’s going on?” Edward asked. “Ruby, are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Ruby said. “We were just talking about something.” She said and smoothed her dress.

“Wow, you have your phone with you?” Edward asked.

“Oh you know me.” She said. “Can’t live without it.” She laughed. “Sorry about that. Let’s go now?”

She then went back inside the coffee shop. Edward was confused but he followed suit.

“Are you okay?” Daniel asked Emmy as the two of them were left outside.

“I’m fine.” Emmy said.

“Em,” Daniel said. “I just didn’t want the commotion to go overboard. I know Ruby. She can be quite crazy. It’s not fair to you.”

“But you remembered a lot about her.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“I don’t really know what to think anymore.” She said. “I’m heading back to the kitchen. There are loads to do. Just…leave me alone.”

She then went inside, once again leaving Daniel by himself under the pale moonlight.

CHAPTER
10
I DON’T THINK SHE LOVES ME

The following day Emmy was eating some banana bread that Rhoda made in the coffee shop. She was also drinking some green tea with orange zest. Daniel wasn’t around because he had to accompany his grandmother, Emmy’s beloved “nana”, to the doctor for her regular check-up.

“Mind if I join you?” Edward asked, holding his own cup of tea.

Emmy looked up from the paper that she was reading and gave Edward a slight smile. In the course of a few days, she has grown to appreciate him because of what he was doing for Ruby. And somehow, Emmy felt like they were going through the same thing: They were both kept in the dark about some of the most important things in life and it wasn’t a really nice feeling.

“Sure.” Emmy replied.

“Thanks.” Edward sat down on the seat across hers. “Ruby went shopping for a while.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t know if I should be telling you this but our honeymoon wasn’t…it wasn’t as perfect as I thought it would be. I mean, it’s not…it’s almost like we didn’t do anything at all and well, that would be fine except for the fact that it felt like…like she was just going through the motions, you know what I mean?” He took a deep breath.

“Maybe, everything’s just overwhelming for her.” Emmy said. “And some of her friends and relatives are here, too…maybe when you get back home, everything will finally be okay.” She sipped some tea. “How did you guys meet anyway? I mean, I’ve been gone for so long as I was in Paris but I don’t remember you from our childhood…”

“I’m from Chicago.” Edward said. “Ruby and I met just two months ago actually. We met at this architectural convention.”

“Wow.” Emmy exclaimed. “That’s…I didn’t expect that.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I know.” He said. “She says she hasn’t dated anyone in years before I came and yeah, we hit it off pretty well but now I’m not so sure anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.” He said. “I feel like there’s something she’s not telling me about and I just could not put my finger on it. Last night, when Daniel did that for her, I felt like he knew her in a way that I couldn’t know her. You know what I’m saying? It’s like…he knew something about her that even I couldn’t know. Somehow, it made me think like they had some past…” He then looked at her and realized that she is Daniel’s current boyfriend. “I’m sorry.” He said.

“It’s okay.”

Edward sighed and went on. “I just feel like…like she’s no longer in love with me and it’s not a very nice thing to think about. I feel like…she didn’t really want to marry me.”

“She married you, Edward.”

“She did.” He said. “But it does not necessarily mean that she’s in love with me. I have to say, for the first time in years, I kind of feel…scared.”

“Well,” Emmy said. “Don’t worry.” She said. “Maybe she’s just having a hard time adjusting with this new life of yours but it’ll get better.”

“No, it’s more than that.” He said. “I think he has some feelings for Daniel.”

“Edward,”

“I’m sorry. I know he’s your boyfriend and you do look great together but I couldn’t help but think that she has strong feelings for him. The way she acts with him is not the way she acts with me and…I don’t know. I’m just scared that I’m right.”

“You should trust Ruby. She’s your wife now.”

“I know, but what if we actually made the wrong decision? What if this isn’t actually how it’s supposed to be?”

“We’ll never really be sure about that.”

He sighed. “It’s just that…she wasn’t really this way before. We got engaged like, two weeks ago, actually. It was all abrupt. One day. She just woke up and said that she wanted us to get married and that she was sure that I was the one but…I don’t know, Em.” He said. “I know it made me happy but now, I feel like, I shouldn’t have pushed through with this right away. A marriage is not a joke.”

“Yeah, it’s not.” She said. “But maybe, she thinks that it’s right.”

“I don’t know if I can believe that. I don’t think you actually believe yourself, either.”

She sighed. “I don’t know what to say.” She said. “But you want to know something?”

“Yeah?”

“I guess, it’s up to you to talk to your wife and tell her what you think. She is your wife, after all. And then maybe, you could sort things out.”

“She doesn’t talk to me like that.” He said. “I want this marriage to work, Emmy. I really want it to. But I have no idea how. There’s that nagging feeling that this was all just a plan. As for what it’s meant for, I really have no idea.”

She sipped some tea. “You know,” she said. “I didn’t really like you in the beginning.” She laughed. “I though you were just this guy who’s so full of himself. But I guess, you are more than that. And…I know it’s hard right now but you’ll get through this, okay? I’ll see what I can do.”

“No, I shouldn’t really put you up to this. This ain’t your job.”

“No, it’s not.” She said. “But I’ll see what I can do.”

CHAPTER
11
DO YOU STILL HAVE FEELINGS FOR HER?

After having breakfast with Edward, Emmy thought that she’d go around the resort first. She walked around the front yard and couldn’t help but be in awe of the many flowers and plants surrounding the area. The resort really had a relaxing atmosphere and she was proud of her dad for putting it up.

As she walked through the cobblestoned path, she noticed that there was a large pair of scissors sticking out of one of the large trash bins. For some reason, this rattled her brain.

Of course, anyone could have placed those scissors there, but the thing was it still held some strands of thread and fabric that Emmy was sure came from the first dress that she made for Ruby. She looked around and when she noticed that no one was looking at her, she took it out and examined it.

Who would ever put the scissors in the bin? Was the person who slashed Ruby’s dress in half in the resort?

These questions formed in Emmy’s head but before she could make sense of any of them, she saw that there was an unknown gray box in the bin. She took it out as well and opened it and was shocked when she saw that there were a bunch of crumpled papers. She opened some of them and was even more surprised when she saw what was written on them.

Be careful Ruby

Be careful, Ruby. I could slash—

Damn it.

Why do I even have to do this?

It was as if the person who wrote it was practicing his lines. Emmy would not forget these lines because these were the things written on the card that was found on Ruby’s slashed dress. But what’s interesting is that it’s as if the person who wrote them also had qualms about what he was doing—like he wanted out of it.

“This is so weird.” Emmy muttered.

Just then, she heard Ruby speak. “Thanks!” Ruby exclaimed. She turned around and saw that Ruby was actually with Daniel.

“Em.” Daniel said, his face flushed. “I’m sorry. Ruby asked if she could get a ride back. I saw her at the grocery—“

“I see.” Emmy said, her voice void of any feelings.

“Don’t be mad at Daniel.” Ruby said. “It’s not his fault that he’s such a nice guy.” Ruby’s face suddenly became red and her voice quivered when she saw what Emmy was holding. “Where—what is that?” She asked.

“Oh, this?” Emmy said. “I found these at the trash bin. It’s weird, though. I mean, I’m pretty sure this fabric came from that first dress that I made for you. And these notes…they contain the same words that were written on the card we found on your dress. Funny thing is, whoever wrote this didn’t seem to like what she was doing. I guess I should call the police—“

“Don’t.” Ruby said. It was obvious that she was scared. “Don’t do that.”

“Why not, Ruby?” Emmy said. “This might help you.”

“I’m over it, okay?” Ruby said. “And…I’m not staying here for long. After a few days, we’ll be gone. I don’t want to be any hassle for you.”

“No, Ruby, I think it would be good.”

“I said no, okay?” Ruby said. “Now, I have to go.”

“Oh yeah, about that…” Emmy said. “You really should see your husband. I think you have something to talk about.”

Ruby took a deep breath. “Thanks again, Daniel.” She said and walked away.

Emmy took a deep breath as she placed the scissors and the pieces of paper inside the box.

“That was weird.” Daniel said.

“Tell me about it.” She said sarcastically.

“What do you mean?”

She placed the box on top of the bin and faced him. “Do you still have feelings for her?”

“What?!” Daniel said, flabbergasted. “Emmy, that’s ridiculous. Why would you even ask me that?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I mean, you still seem to care for her and you couldn’t deny that. And now you were both out and you come back here together. It’s like, wow. It’s not actually that hard to put two and two together, Dan.”

“I just saw her at the grocery. Nana saw her, too. It would be ridiculous not to give her a ride back and to be honest…I guess this whole time together with all of us here is not doing us any good. All of us. It’s so stressful and it’s not normal and—“