Beyond the Frame Chapter 15

“You work at the Savon!” Christine said, her excitement tangible, as she studied Victoria with wide eyes. “Wow, can I visit you during lunch? You can treat me.”

“Christine,” Waceke said, her tone chastising, her expression enough to let Victoria know that she was embarrassed with Christine’s blatant request.

“I don’t mind,” Victoria said honestly. “Call me the day before you visit, though. In case I’m out and about, it happens sometimes.”

“How long have you worked there?” Njoki asked, busy at the cooking range.

She was making masala tea. Waceke insisted Njoki’s masala tea was the best in the county.

“Three years or so,” Victoria said. “My starting months are a blur. The job was hard to get used to those days.”

“I know what that feels like,” Waceke agreed with a nod. “I’m working at a bank, and even now I still feel like I’m working hard to catch up. I’m hoping it gets easier soon.”

“If you have a good boss, it gets easier,” Victoria said, shuddering at the thought of Ronald.

She hoped Waceke had a better boss than she did.

“She’s a woman,” Waceke said, with a slight frown. “There are good days and bad ones.”

“I feel you,” Victoria said with a small laugh.

They sat in a spacious kitchen, at a kitchen table with five chairs set around it. Gorgeous kitchen cabinets hung on the walls, the counters made of white marble, and the kitchen range boasted a hood to vent scents and any smoke. It was a beautiful professional kitchen.

Victoria imagined the kitchen table was the perfect spot to sit and have a talk while having meals or prepping them. It was also the perfect spot to answer questions about the head of the household, she thought with amusement.

“How do you know Eric?” Mimo asked, choosing to sit next to Victoria on her right. Mimo moved her chair closer and eyed Victoria with interest. “Where did you meet him?”

“At the hotel, actually,” Victoria replied, keeping it honest. “We met while planning Beth’s wedding. He came along with his camera and would not stop taking pictures.”

They all laughed, their expressions knowing. Victoria relaxed in their presence. She enjoyed talking to Eric’s sisters. Njoki finished making the masala tea, and it really was the best Victoria had ever tasted.

When Eric finally came into the kitchen, Victoria was comfortably laughing with his sisters, which had him stopping at the entrance.

“Are you hungry?” Waceke asked when she noticed him. “We made eggs, fried the sausages you kept in the fridge, and Mimo made pancakes. Come eat.”

Eric entered the kitchen, found a plate, and filled it with food. He got a cup of masala tea and went around the kitchen table, choosing to sit next to Victoria. He pulled a chair, pushing it between Mimo and Victoria by force. His sisters watched his every move. Their gazes made Victoria nervous, but Eric ignored them, instead getting comfortable.

Victoria continued answering Mimo’s questions about the chefs at the hotel. She was glad when the sisters stopped watching Eric and continued the conversation like normal. Under the table, Eric took Victoria’s right hand with his left and squeezed it tight. She returned the squeeze feeling as though they had passed a hurdle.

“You got a pass,” Eric told Victoria when his sisters left, and he received a text message.

She was washing the mugs they had used at the kitchen sink. She turned to see the screen when Eric held up his phone for her to see.

“Don’t mess it up,” Victoria read with a chuckle. “Wow, how many have you introduced them to?”

“You’re the first,” Eric said, placing his phone on the kitchen counter.

Victoria stared at him in shock. When she moved again, it was to wipe her hands on the hand cloth and then hang it neatly on the line at the sink.

She leaned on the sink counter.

“Are you telling me your sisters have never met any of your other girlfriends?” Victoria asked.

“Yes,” Eric said, a smile curving his lips. He honestly loved shocking Victoria. Her eyes went wide, and the expression on her face was worth a thousand smiles. “You’re the first one I’ve introduced to them.”

“What does that mean?” Victoria asked, her voice soft.

Eric closed the space between them and wrapped her in his arms. She trembled slightly before she pressed her face into his chest. He held her tight and rocked her from side to side.

“It means I’m serious about you, Victoria Waina,” Eric said.

She wrapped her arms around him.

“I shouldn’t fall for your words, Eric. You’re making it hard on a girl,” Victoria said, with a small chuckle. “I’m going to give in now. Don’t think I’m easy.”

Eric chuckled, breathing in the scent of her mint perfume. She always smelled so good.

“Never,” Eric promised, pressing a kiss on her shoulder.

Victoria leaned back to meet his gaze. She cupped his face and leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss him. He held her more securely. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he lifted her and placed her on the kitchen table. Running his hands up her bare arms, Victoria leaned into him and gasped when he bit her bottom lip, then soothed it with a little lick. Breaking their kiss, he met her gaze.

“Do you trust me, Victoria?” Eric asked.

She held his gaze for a minute and then looked down to where she sat. He waited for her, not moving even when her fingers played with the edge of his t-shirt. Then she nodded, and he cupped her face, tilting her head to look at him.

“Say it,” Eric teased. “How will I know you mean it, if you don’t say it?”

She smiled and reached up to poke his right cheek with a slender finger.

“I trust you, Eric.”

He leaned in and kissed her then, getting lost in all that was Victoria. When she clung to him, he wished she would stay with him forever. When they came together, he hoped she would become his home.

Victoria slept over at Eric’s house, with him, wrapped in his arms. He made her feel special and wanted. It felt new and incredibly important. She shifted under their sheets to watch Eric sleep, and it occurred to her that she did not remember staying like this with Ronald.

Ronald always left her alone or made an excuse to get her back home after they were together. Every time she thought about him, she felt embarrassed for her past self. The woman who settled for the little she got from Ronald. She was gone now.

Eric shifted and opened his eyes, rolling to his side to face her.

She clutched the sheets, unsure what to say, and he grinned.

She hid her face with the sheet.

“Do you have to look at me like that?”

“How am I looking at you?” Eric asked, moving closer, trying to get the sheet away from her.

“Like you’re surprised or something,” Victoria said.

“It’s not every day I wake up to a beautiful woman in my bed,” Eric said, finally managing to get the sheets away from her. “Are you being shy right now?”

“No,” she said, pressing her face into the pillow.

“You are,” Eric chuckled, reaching for her.

He tickled her sides, and she burst out laughing. He kept at it, and she had no choice but to give up the safety of her pillow. She tried to roll away from him, but he would not let her, holding her against him.

“I like this, waking up to you,” Eric said, when they settled, her back to his chest, his arms wrapped around her tight. “I love this very much, Victoria.”

Victoria closed her eyes. She loved it too and hoped she could hold on to Eric.

They spent a lazy morning in bed, having breakfast and reading magazines from a pile she found on Eric’s dresser. When it was almost eleven, Victoria dressed in Eric’s t-shirt and her jeans. She went to the kitchen to check the fridge, thinking of lunch. The fridge was empty, all they had were the vegetables brought by Eric’s sisters. She looked up when she saw Eric walk into the kitchen in only his sweatpants.

“Your fridge is empty. Let’s go shopping,” she suggested, watching Eric pour water from a jug into a glass and drink it slowly.

“Will you stay here for lunch with me, or will you make me drive you to your house?” Eric asked.

Victoria closed the fridge and leaned on it.

“Are you asking me if I’m staying here with you tonight, too?” Victoria asked.

“It would be nice,” Eric said, holding on to the glass of water. “I don’t mind driving you to work tomorrow.”

Victoria studied him for a moment.

“The morning commute from here to the hotel takes forever,” Victoria said, her tone teasing.

“Thank God we have a car,” Eric said, lifting his right brow at her. “Come on, baby, stay with me.”

Victoria pushed off the fridge and grabbed two eco-bags hanging on the side of a cupboard.

“We should go before everyone comes out of church, and the supermarket lines get impossible,” Victoria said, heading out of the kitchen.

Eric hurried after her.

“Is that a yes?” Eric asked.

Victoria found her purse in the living room and got her wallet. She waved it at him.

“I might need to grab a few things from my apartment,” she said, picking up his car keys and dangling them. “Go find a shirt, babe.”

Eric laughed and hurried to his bedroom.

Bliss grew from a series of mundane moments after that Sunday. Victoria found she loved every minute of those mundane moments with Eric. She enjoyed shopping in the supermarket with Eric, because he found something funny to say about everything he came across on the shelves. He found something to photograph in between it all, using a small camera or his phone. She was finding his picture-taking habit endearing the more she spent time with him.

When they weren’t shopping, they were in search of flowers for his garden, and vegetables for the patch behind the house.

She laughed when he dragged her to buy furniture for his living room. He hated buying new furniture, so they ended up chasing antique furniture shows across the city, even into nearby counties. So far, they had found one couch, an outdoor table, and a dresser for the spare bedroom.

She could not get over the fact that he loved cooking. He made dinner more nights than she dared count. Eric also hated washing dishes, so she argued with him often over cleaning up the mess he made in the kitchen. His assignments to take photographs across the country continued. She missed him when he was gone, but loved it most when he came back. He always found a trinket to bring back to her.

Victoria picked up the soapstone penholder she got from Eric’s trip to Machakos. She had a growing collection of items brought by Eric. With each one, he asked when she would agree to go touring with him.

Victoria touched her lips, wondering why she did not say yes. Laziness, fear… procrastination, all three.

“Knock, knock,” Grace said, knocking on her desk.

Victoria placed the blue penholder on her desk and looked up to find Grace standing in front of her desk.

“What were you thinking about?” Grace asked. “You didn’t hear me knock on the door. You were just staring at the penholder and smiling. What’s up?”

Victoria sat back in her chair, suddenly feeling free for the first time in a long time. She loved her job, and outside of it, Eric made her live until she looked forward to each hour of the day.

“I’m happy,” Victoria said, smiling at Grace. “I feel happy, Grace.”

Grace stared at her in silence for a full minute, then placed the folders she held on Victoria’s desk. She clapped, shook her booty, and whistled.

“Yay!” Grace said, snapping her fingers in celebration.

Victoria laughed and shook her head.

“I guess I deserved the hype.”

“And more,” Grace said, settling in the chair opposite Victoria. “I’m happy that you’re happy, Vicky. It’s been a few years.”

“Stop exaggerating, Grace,” Victoria said.

“Happiness does not come easily, Vicky. You should know this truth better than me,” Grace said.

“I do,” Victoria said.

She really did know. Her breakup with Ronald was overdue. With him, she lived a mockery of what life should be. She moved from one place to the next on auto mode.

“Well, I came in to report two things. One is to tell you that our calendar is booked until the end of January. Our overall sales head should be ecstatic about this news.”

Victoria took the folders with the list of booked events. It was good news as the stress of having to fill the hotel for the holidays weighed on her and all the staff in her team. Full booking meant all they needed to concentrate on was refining the guest experience at the hotel.

“This is the best news for a Monday afternoon,” Victoria said. “What’s the other thing?”

“HR asked me to drop this off for you,” Grace said, giving Victoria a form. “It looks like you have three months of vacation piled up. You can take December off with no trouble. I’m so jealous. Will you just take the time off already?”

Victoria stared at the number of days she had available for leave. She wanted to take them and take on Eric’s challenge to go on a road trip with him. When she first met Eric, such an idea would never have occurred to her.

Now, she stared at the penholder from Machakos, and the beaded coaster from the road to Samburu, and suddenly she wanted to bring something back, too.

She wanted to discover what a road trip looked like; having Eric along would add to the fun. Where would they end up? What would they do? Would they argue or have fun?

She wanted to discover it all.

“I’ll take the time off,” Victoria said, surprising Grace.

She got up from her chair, picked up her phone, and the leave form. It was better to take it to the human resources office in person, so she could get her days off officially cleared.

It would make for a fantastic surprise for Eric.

Victoria grinned at the thought of driving out of Nairobi for the month.

“Don’t forget I’m having a small get-together at my house this coming weekend,” Grace said as they left her office. “You remember, right? Will you bring Eric along?”

“How can I forget? You keep reminding me every hour. I’ll have to see if Eric is back from his trip to Lake Victoria,” Victoria said. “Besides, your little party already has the rest of us. There is my brother, Olive, your husband, and his workmates. How many more do you need?”

“I want to go down in our history,” Grace said when they reached her shared office.

Victoria stopped, raising a brow at Grace.

“I was the first to host the forever couple that is Victoria-Eric,” Grace said. “We should find a nickname for you two.”

“Don’t you dare,” Victoria said, panicked at the idea of Grace making that nickname famous at the hotel.

“Hm…,” Grace made a show of thinking. “Toric? VicEric? Veric? Erictoria?”

“Oh my god, I’m so running away from you,” Victoria said, hurrying away, headed to the human resources office.

Although she could not stop smiling.

“Erictoria is not so bad,” Victoria murmured under her breath as she entered the HR offices minutes later.

It took her thirty minutes to clear her holiday. Since she could not leave work without making solid plans for her responsibilities, her days off leaked into part of January. She would return to work in mid-January.

Thanking the cheerful woman in HR who helped her with her dates, Victoria returned to her office, full of excitement.

In a week, she would be work-free for five whole weeks.

An hour later, she made her way out of the hotel, choosing to use the main entrance. She parked her car in the front parking lot today. Dangling her keys, she walked down the stairs on the first floor and paused when she thought she saw Beth.

Moving around a pillar, she smiled because it seemed Beth had returned from her honeymoon. She looked beautiful in a long, dark weave and a pale gold dress that complemented her brown skin. Beth sipped coffee and placed her cup on the table, her smile wide. Victoria could certainly see why Eric liked her.

Victoria cleared the pillar and froze when she saw Eric sitting opposite Beth. His gaze on Beth had her feet stuck in one place. Victoria could see that Eric still cared for Beth; it was all so clear on his face. A solid mass of fear settled in the depths of her stomach.

When did he get back? Why had he not called her?

Afraid of her overimaginative mind, Victoria turned around and ran out of the hotel, her heart pounding hard. She did not stop until she was inside her car, staring at the Savon Hotel entrance, fighting off panic. She had trusted Eric with herself, taken a chance, and now… a soft sob escaped her lips.

“Did you have fun?” Eric asked Beth, keeping an eye out the restaurant window.

He wanted to surprise Victoria with his early return. He had missed her so much; he was starting to rethink his time away.

Victoria’s job was here in Nairobi, so maybe it was time for him to figure out how to make Nairobi work for him too.

“We had a lot of fun,” Beth said, watching him. “We came back because Taylor’s company has opened a new shop in Nakuru. He has two years to make the new branch work. So, we’re going to be living in Nakuru for a while. I’m now planning our move to Nakuru. Will you visit us in Nakuru?”

“Of course,” Eric said.

Beth nodded and sipped her tea.

“I’ll come to take pictures of my nephew or niece,” Eric teased her.

Beth touched her stomach, smiled beautifully, and nodded with excitement.

“I’d love that very much, Eric. We have missed you so much. You keep traveling, so we haven’t seen much of you. I’m hoping you will stop disappearing on us so much. You’re still our dear friend. Taylor misses you. He’s always talking about how you two used to hang out. It will be nice if he’s not reminiscing all the time.”

Eric stared at the camera on his lap. In his haste to distance himself from Beth and Taylor, he had let his best friend down.

He and Taylor did have awesome times together. Most of those happy memories happened during college, and two or three years after graduation. The past three years were bereft of memories.

Eric’s fault, really; he spent too much time away from Nairobi.

Now Taylor was moving to Nakuru.

“I’m sorry for being away so much,” Eric said, feeling strong enough to say it for the first time in a long time.

A steadying calm flooded him, settling his doubts concerning Beth. His heart no longer ached with loss, as it once did when he looked at her. Now, affection replaced the ache. The kind that reminded him of what he felt for his sisters.

Eric smiled, relieved.

“I needed the distance for a time,” Eric continued, noting Beth’s intent gaze, as she tried to understand his decision to stay away. “That’s all I can say in explanation for my time away. I didn’t mean to let you and Taylor down. I’ll do better about keeping our friendship from now on.”

Beth nodded, folding her hands on her lap, her eyes filled with excitement.

“We’re not leaving for Nakuru until next week,” Beth said. “Will you come over to our house this weekend? We can do nyama choma and have our friends from the neighborhood over. Taylor hopes you make it. Promise you’ll come.”

Eric agreed with a nod, and then a thought filled him.

“Can I bring someone along?” Eric asked, glancing out the window, keeping an eye out for Victoria.

“Of course,” Beth said, with a grin. “Is it Vicky?”

“Why did you guess that?” Eric asked, dragging his gaze from the elegant hallways of the Savon Hotel to look at Beth.

“You two made a perfect pair at the wedding. She kept looking at you, too. I thought something was growing,” Beth said, sipping her coffee again, with a small smile.

“There is,” he confirmed.

Beth placed her coffee cup on the table with a little bang, letting out a squeal of excitement.

“I’m dating Victoria,” Eric said, loving her enthusiasm. “She is my girlfriend.”

“That’s so awesome, Eric,” Beth said, leaning over to squeeze his hand on the table.

Eric glanced out the window and saw Victoria.

Victoria turned away from him, from them, hurrying to the stairs that led down to the lobby and out of the hotel.

Eric picked up his camera and got his wallet, his movements jerky and impatient. He slipped money into the leather folder for the coffee and stood, making Beth frown.

“I have to go. I’ll call you about the weekend,” Eric said, leaning to brush a kiss on Beth’s forehead. “You look fabulous as always. Say hi to Taylor. See you, Beth.”

“Eric?” Beth called after him, but he was already running out of the restaurant.

Getting his phone, Eric speed-dialed Victoria’s number as he ran after her. His call rang unanswered twice. He stood in the front parking lot, checking the cars, seeking out Victoria’s navy-blue Jeep. He dialed again, and she answered her phone on the third ring.

“What?” she asked.

“Where are you?” Eric asked, hating her closed-off tone.

“On the way home,” she said, her voice sounded full of tears and anger.

“Don’t lie to me,” Eric said. “I know you’re parked in this parking lot. Talk to me, Victoria. I know you saw us.”

“I’m going home,” Victoria said, sounding defeated.

“Don’t hang up,” Eric started to say, but she ended the call, and he cursed under his breath.

Eric dialed her number again and jogged around the parking lot.

Victoria liked to park in the middle of the parking lot. She liked walking, thinking the extra distance to the door would add steps on the step-counter app she used to track her daily count. He discovered her secret by mistake, and it had tickled him to death when she tried to hide her phone from him.

He felt frantic as he searched for Victoria’s navy-blue Jeep. His heartbeat went into overdrive when he saw her car heading to the parking lot exit.

He broke into a run, reaching the Jeep when Victoria stopped because of the cars ahead of her. Victoria’s car was an older model, and she had yet to install automatic locks. One of these days, he was going to take her Jeep to the garage himself. For now, he was glad he had not done it yet.

Eric grabbed the passenger door handle and opened it, hoping she had forgotten to lock it. It opened, and he breathed in relief as he jumped into the passenger seat.

“What the hell, Eric!” was Victoria’s greeting when she saw him. “You could get hurt jumping into people’s cars without warning.”

“You need to remember how to lock your doors,” Eric reminded her, as he slammed the passenger door closed. “I don’t know how many times I have to remind you. What’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me?” Victoria asked, gripping the steering wheel with both hands. “What’s wrong—?”

She broke off with a scoff.

“What’s wrong with me?” she asked after a minute had passed. “I’m not the one flirting with a married woman. Get out of my car.”

“I was not flirting,” Eric said, shifting in his seat so that he could look at her. “I wasn’t, Victoria. I was listening—”

“While smiling and making eyes at her,” Victoria said, cutting in, anger lacing her voice. “You’re obsessed with her. I can’t believe I forgot. I’m so stupid. I’m so stupid, Eric. I thought…”

She trailed off when a horn blasted behind her. They were holding up traffic, so Victoria started to press her foot on the gas pedal.

Eric gripped her left hand on the steering wheel.

“Pull over to the side,” Eric said.

“No,” Victoria said, her voice shaking. “I’m heading home. You get off and run back to your dear Beth.”

“Pull over, Victoria,” Eric ordered, raising his voice because he was afraid she would drive angrily and get into an accident. “Now!”

Victoria cursed under her breath, only to sit up straight when a guard knocked on her window. The maniac waiting behind them leaned on his horn again, and Victoria sighed. She pulled the Jeep into an open parking spot to her right.

She shifted to park, and Eric got out of the car. He walked around to the driver’s side and opened her door. Refusing to have her come out too, he pushed until she shifted into the passenger side, complaining through the process. She cursed at him until her seatbelt was on.

Eric ignored her tirade and leaned over her to lock her door. He then settled in the driver’s seat and closed and locked his door. Taking his camera strap from his shoulder, he placed the bag on her lap, which shut her up. He almost smiled when she scowled at his camera bag, but held it steady.

“You’re upset and can’t think straight right now. You won’t listen to anything I say. So, I’ll take you home,” Eric said, into the ensuing silence. “We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

“What if I don’t want to talk about it?” Victoria asked.

“That’s fine too,” Eric said, smiling at her.

She was fuming, her eyes red from recent tears. Tears he had caused in some way. He felt guilty that he had made her cry.

“You sit in the passenger seat and think about what we should do, and I’ll take you home.”

Victoria stared at him for a minute, and then she shifted the camera bag on her lap so that it was more stable. She folded her arms against her chest and looked out her window.

Eric inched back into the small line of cars leaving the parking lot. He drove to Hurlingham, the silence killing him, as he stole a glance at Victoria. She stared out the window, unwilling to look at him. It felt like a day later, though it was only an hour, when he pulled into her apartment’s parking lot. He parked her car in her usual spot and turned off the engine.

They sat in silence for another minute before Eric spoke.

“I came to the hotel to surprise you,” Eric said, fiddling with the car key. “I missed you on this trip to Lake Victoria, and I wanted to see you first. I thought we would head to my house on Ndwaru Road, make supper, and spend time together.”

Victoria unclipped her seatbelt, keeping her silence.

“Beth called, saying she was at her husband’s office. She wanted to talk and tell me they came back from their honeymoon,” Eric continued. “I decided to meet her at the hotel so that you and I won’t miss each other. I’m sorry. I should have sent you a message.”

“Eric,” Victoria said, her voice unusually serious.

“Yes?” Eric looked up from the keys he was playing with to find her watching him.

“I want to ask you if you still love her, but I’m not ready for your answer,” Victoria said.

She took in a shaky breath, adjusting the camera bag on her lap. Then, she held his gaze and gave him her thoughts.

“I’ve had to live through a man cheating on me with another woman. Someone who is still my co-worker, and it has been exhausting,” Victoria said. “You know every step of that experience. I have hidden nothing from you.”

“True,” Eric said.

“As for us,” Victoria continued. “I don’t have the right to be upset with you, because I knew how you felt about Beth from the start. So, I think this is as far as we can get.”

“That’s not fair,” Eric said, his heart clenching with anger and hurt at her dismissive tone.

He hated the fact that Victoria never once gave him the benefit of the doubt. She was always on the defensive, protecting herself from him, from their relationship.

Eric wanted to shake her. He quelled the urge and clutched the steering wheel instead.

“You’re making a decision for me without all the facts.”

“True,” Victoria said, nodding. “But, I’m deciding for myself. Watching you with Beth today scared me. I was jealous and afraid that I was once again on the outside of a relationship I thought was real. I need us to stop and take a break. We feel like a dream. Something I’ve thought up that should be perfect, like the pictures you take, but it’s not real, is it?”

Eric closed his eyes because she was right.

Victoria’s idea of them was from the movies. In her world, he only looked at her, loved her, and no one else.

Life was not so black and white. Humans did not live in a vacuum in terms of love and relationships.

Beth remained his first love. His feelings for her had changed, but he would always care for her. He wanted to protect his friendship with Taylor and Beth. They were important to him, like family. He meant to keep the promise he made to Beth.

Victoria would need to make her peace with that if they were to be together.

“You’re right,” Eric said, looking at Victoria. “Not about me loving Beth and cheating on you. That’s not real, because I would never inflict on you this type of scar.”

Eric broke off, afraid that if he kept talking, he might shout at her. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly. When he spoke again, he sounded calm and sure.

“You’re the one I want, Victoria. The one I chose to show my home and to meet my family. The one I introduced to my sisters. I’ve given you my trust. I hoped you would do the same for me. Lastly, I should remind you that Beth is my best friend’s wife.”

“I know that,” Victoria said, looking away from him.

She clutched his camera bag tight, and for a moment, he thought she might say more, but she did not.

“Beth asked to meet me today to tell me that they are moving to Nakuru,” Eric said. “She also wanted to tell me Taylor has missed me. Frankly, I’ve missed hanging out with him, too. I want to get back our friendship because they are family to me. Having you gave me the chance to get them back as friends. So, I’m asking you to be okay with me holding on to my longtime friends. I need you to be okay with us having Beth in our lives, if we go further?”

Victoria dropped her gaze to the camera bag she held. Her fingers squeezed the bag again, and then she shook her head.

Eric sighed, feeling betrayed.

“Then, you’re right. Let’s take a break,” Eric said, pulling out the keys from the Jeep’s ignition. He held them out to Victoria, who took them in silence. “I agree that no relationship is picture perfect because that’s not real life, babe. We are human, so it can never be perfect.”

“I never expected us to be perfect,” Victoria said.

“You did, though,” Eric said, his words filling the following silence in the car.

Victoria studied him a moment, then clutched her car keys.

Eric thought he caught the sheen of tears in her eyes, but she turned away from him too fast.

“Beth is my past love, and for the record, she has never chosen me; it was always Taylor for her,” Eric said. “I have never made a move toward her. I have told you this before, but you don’t seem to believe me. Do you really think I would hurt my friends and you by pushing myself on Beth? We’ve been together for just over two months. Do I seem like that kind of person to you? Even as we’re taking a break, please think about us, Victoria. I want you in my life, don’t let a misunderstanding end us.”

Eric took the camera bag from her lap and got out of the car. He slammed the driver’s door closed and walked to the gate, a dark cloud rising over his head.

How dare she not give him a chance!

It stung him to have her give up on him the moment she saw him with Beth at the restaurant. Right when he thought they were making progress.

Tired, Victoria walked up the stairs to her apartment, the image of Eric and Beth sitting at the table filling her head.

Beth smiling wide at Eric, and Eric returned her smile; the expressions on their faces filled Victoria with unimaginable jealousy. Her heart turned green with envy. It made her sick to the stomach.

She was jealous of how happy Eric looked staring at his first love. Beth might be married, but love did not stop. Victoria understood that much. He might never stop loving Beth, and Victoria certainly didn’t expect him to stop.

Liar!

She stopped at her door, staring at the tips of her black heels.

You do want him to stop loving Beth. You want him all to yourself.

She reminded her spinning heart that she had known the consequences of falling in with Eric. At the very least, with Eric, she knew the truth, unlike the disaster her life had become with Ronald.

Still… the feel of Eric’s hands on her lingered, her skin tingling at the memory. Her heart bounced with joy when he kissed her. Eric made her feel alive, and unique… loved.

She wanted Eric’s love to be hers and hers alone.

It felt like she might lose her mind if she had to share him with anyone. He never said he loved her in the car, only that he didn’t want to lose Taylor and Beth.

“They are family to me.”

She scoffed and stared at the keys in her hand.

A teardrop on her thumb had her blinking hard. She reached up with her free hand to touch her cheek. She came away with tears and took in a deep, shaky breath.

How foolish of her to hope he would declare he loved her. It was lucky she did not tell Eric about the love she was harboring for him.

Otherwise, it would have hurt more.

Victoria breathed in, wiping away her tears. She jammed the key into the lock and opened her door. She entered her apartment, dropping her handbag on the floor at the entrance after she closed the door.

She entered her kitchen, went straight to the fridge, and got a tub of mint chocolate ice cream. She found a spoon from the drawer, leaned on the counter, and took a bite of ice cream. Closing her eyes, she let the cold treat melt in her mouth. Removing her heels, she stood in the kitchen eating ice cream, keeping her mind carefully blank.

****