wrath of the Sea Queen (263 page)

"
He
i
s right.
  I
prefer to
stay in
side
.  I don't want to go sit in another room full of people with all their chatter
b
uzzing in my ears.  I
would
rather
stay in the
peace and quiet
of the hotel.  I can fix
myself
a sandwich later.  I told Vin he should go.  I didn't want him to stay in on my account, but he wo
n't
do it.
"

"
I know what you said, but you didn't answer my question.  Why?
"
  Salma persisted.

"
Why do I want to stay here
?
"

"
Yes,
that
i
s
precisely
what I want to know
.  Your husband offered to do something nice for you.  This is
the end of your
vacation
.  Here you sit
in a beautiful setting
with
the first
passable
weather
we've
seen
in days
, and your
doting
husband
is
trying to cheer you up
.  I can't ima
gine what reason you
have for turning him down.  I
woul
d like to know.
"
  The way Salma phrased it
immediately
made C
a
eli feel guilty
, as intended
.
  However, C
a
eli still tried to ignore the tactic she
realized
Salma was employing against her.

"
I don't know if I can put it into words, Salma.  It
ha
s been a long week, and I
woul
d
simply
rather not go
out
,
"
C
a
eli attempt
ed
to
cop out on her answer
,
hoping Salma would let the matter drop.

"
Yes, it has been a long week
,
for everyone, including Vin.  Look at it from his perspective.  He spent
the
entire week looking out for you and suffered the same loss
es
you did.  Still, he is making an effort to do something to
salvage your vacation and raise your spirits
.  The least you could do is have a little respect for his effort,
"
Salma pulled out all the stops, playing
her cards on
C
a
eli's guilt and her consideration for Vin's feelings.

Salma
never doubted that
she
c
ould
change C
a
eli's mind
.  C
a
eli would do anything to make Vin happy. 
But, where
as
Vin would never use that
knowledge
to his advantage, Salma
was happy to do
it for him. 
Vin
simply wasn't
us
ing
the proper motivation in his request.  Salma
intended
to remedy that. 
It was obvious to her t
hat C
a
eli was in the beginning of a depressive spiral
,
and
Salma
wanted
to stop it before it could take hold.  The only thing that C
a
eli cared enough about
t
o distract
her
from the events of
th
is
pas
t
week was Vin. 
Therefore,
Salma did
n
o
t feel the least bit guilty for using
C
a
eli’s
feelings for Vin
to
manipulate
her
.

C
a
eli looked over at Sal
ma with shock etched clearly on
her f
ace
.  She
was
not expecting such a harsh criticism, but Salma was right.  Vin had been through as much as she had, and he did
deserve
that courtesy.  In fact,
aside from feeling guilty
for letting Vin down
,
C
a
eli
hadn
'
t
given much
thought
to
how this affected Vin at all
.  S
he
was filled with guilt and sadness
now that it had been
so bluntly
pointed out.  C
a
eli was barely able to contain her tears when she finally answered
with regret
.

"
You're right, Salma.  I
ha
ve been incredibly selfish.  Vin deserves better, but he
i
s determined to stick with me.  The least I can do is have dinner with him.
"

C
a
eli walked out of the lounge without another word or even a glance back at Salma.  Salma heard
the door to her room close and
C
a
eli
did not
return
.  Salma was afraid she might have pushed C
a
eli a bit too hard in order to get the outcome she desired and was still second guessing herself when
Ben phoned
a while later
.

"Yes, she agreed to come, but I think I may have done more harm than good in my persuasion
.
  I might have overestimated how far I could push her emotionally.
"
Salma related what she said to C
a
eli.

"Ouch.  That was a bit rough,
Love
," Ben agreed.

"I know, and I
regretted my choice of words
after I said
them
.  But, trying to take it back would have been
equally
as bad.  I
wi
ll apologize before dinner
,
if she ever comes out of her room."

C
a
eli closed the door behind her and walked over to look out the sliding door.  She could see the dark clouds a short distance
away
,
still
hovering over the small island where her nightmare
had
c
o
me to life.  As she thought about
those events
, the storm clouds stirred and it began to rain.
  C
a
eli shut her eyes and reached out with her gift to connect to the rain. 
The storm
remained
enormous
.  She
ha
d never seen a storm this large before
this week
.  The island was going to get hit hard
no matter what she could do to affect the weather
.  Yet, despite
the storm's
size
, C
a
eli found
it
comforting.  She could easily lose herself in
its
vast churnings
.

Somewhere in the midst of her thoughts, C
a
eli pulled herself away from the sliding door and changed her clothes.  She wanted to wear
an outfit
that Vin would appreciate.  It was an ea
sy choice.  She donned the new
outfit that she bought for this trip.  It would make Vin happy to see it on her, and it would do her good to feel
somewhat
normal again. 
C
a
eli
looked in the mirror and adjusted the skirt correctly.  She considered pulling her hair back to keep it from getting tangled in the wind or clinging to her skin if she went out in the rain.  But, C
a
eli changed her mind and left it down.  Vin liked her hair down. 
Salma's lecture notwithstanding, s
he really wanted
Vin
to be
pleased
.

Once she was dressed, C
a
eli returned to the sliding door.  The storm called out to her
once more
, and she let herself be drawn to it
as time slipped away unnoticed
. 
While
she stood there
wrapped in her gift and her private thoughts
, the television in the room suddenly powered on. 
There was no one else in the room, and she was nowhere near the remote. 
Startled,
C
a
eli turned to look at
the set.