Chapter 22 I'd been sitting in the living room rubbing my temples when Benjamin returned from the market. "How did it go?" He shut the door behind him. I ran a hand through my hair. "I don't know. It wasn't enough time. I basically threw a bunch of information at her and watched how overwhelmed she got." "Will you see her again?" "She's gonna come back on Monday at the same time." He offered a hopeful smile. "That's good, right?" God love him for trying to remain optimistic when all odds were clearly against me. The idea that Primrose would leave her family for me seemed even more improbable after seeing her face to face. The time we'd spent apart had changed both of us. And while my feelings for her hadn't wavered, I couldn't get a sense of how she felt at this point. She hadn't had enough time to even digest everything I'd unloaded on her. "I don't know," I muttered. "It was surreal seeing her again. The same beautiful Primrose, but at the same time, worlds away." "Well, you'll have another opportunity to connect." I stared into the fireplace. "Maybe this was a mistake." "Don't you think it's a little too soon to throw in the towel?" "I needed her to know the truth. But can I really expect her to leave her family to be with me?" "She has a daughter-and a boyfriend. She's not married." "She's getting married," I countered. "Every decision she made was because she thought you'd abandoned her." "Right. But that doesn't change her current reality. Doesn't matter how she got here." I shook my head. "I didn't come here to fuck things up for her." "I'm sure she understands that." "Seriously, though, what am I hoping to achieve here, Benjamin? Get her to leave him? That's her daughter's father. That's breaking up a family." "You want to go back to California after Monday? Is that what you're saying?" "No." I slowly breathed out, trying to calm myself. "I can't leave until she tells me to. I need to see this through until the day she looks me in the eye and tells me there's no hope." "Okay, so what does seeing this through mean?" "For one, it means figuring out if she's truly happy. And if she is, in her current situation, figuring out a way to accept that there'll never be another chance for her and me." "And if you determine she's not happy?" "Figuring out a way to get her back." His mouth curved into a smile. "Gosh, it was nice to see her." "At least you got a hug." I chuckled. "She wouldn't dare come near me." "That alone tells you that you still have an effect on her." Desperate for reassurance, I hoped he was right. The vibe I'd gotten from her was definitely a cold one. I'd had fantasies for the past five years about the day I might be reunited with Primrose. None of them had included her sitting across from me, seeming scared by every word coming out of my mouth. I'd had recurring dreams about her running toward me in an open field. But the reality was nothing like that. "Hearing myself tell her the full story out loud..." I shook my head. "It all sounded so crazy, like something out of the kind of movies she and I used to watch. It's hard to believe that was actually my life for five years." "Your life? How about my life?" I couldn't help but smile at that. "You're right. Sorry. When my dad hired you, I'm sure you never imagined you'd be my partner in crime for life..." Benjamin punched me in the arm. "We're family. You're stuck with me." "I couldn't have survived without you. You risked your life." "What can I say? I like to live on the edge." He winked. "And you pay well. So there's that." I grinned. "What's the plan for tonight?" I asked as I followed him into the kitchen. "I'm making tostones and arroz con pollo. Although no one makes it like my Puerto Rican grandmother. When I'm stressed, I like to make comfort food." "What are you stressed about?" "I was a bit nervous for you today when I planned dinner. I guess I wondered if things wouldn't go as well as they did." I stepped back in surprise. "You think it went well? I didn't feel like that at all." "She agreed to come back and talk more. I'd say that's as much as you could hope for." "Aside from the fact that she probably thinks I'm a fucking stalker." "Well, aren't you?" He arched his brow. "Keeping tabs on someone over the years just to make sure she's okay is not stalking. Plus, I paid others to do it. So technically, it was only indirect stalking." "I'm just kidding, my friend." Benjamin chuckled. "Can you tell I'm extra fucking sensitive today?" "You have every right to be." I leaned against the counter. "I'd longed for this day and also dreaded it." "Why dread?" he asked. "I worried that I'd look in her eyes and be able to tell she'd fallen out of love with me." "What did you see when you looked into her eyes?" "Nothing but fear." "Hmm..." He scratched his chin. "I would take fear over apathy." He began putting away his groceries. "I think she's afraid of her own reaction to you, perhaps." "I'm not sure, but I won't be able to explore it any more until Monday." Benjamin started singing that old song, "Monday Monday," as he finished putting everything away. Monday couldn't come soon enough. *** The following day, I decided I needed to make myself useful to get my mind off things. So I joined Benjamin on his grocery store run. As we strolled the aisles, I made an announcement. "You made dinner last night. It's my turn tonight." Benjamin stopped the shopping cart. "We could go out, you know." "Are you trying to hint that you're afraid of my cooking?" "You don't have the best track record, Dorian. I think we're going on three times now that we've almost had to call the fire department when you cooked. There was that time you tried to cook for Primrose at the mansion, then breakfast at the apartment in Turkey, and dinner at the rental house in Santorini." "Three seems pretty low in the overall big picture of life." We continued our way through the aisles for a while. Then I stopped short when I noticed a flash of familiar, long brown hair with golden streaks. Primrose had been looking at the ingredients on the back of a box. My chest constricted at the sight of her angelic little daughter sitting in the cart. I'd never seen her face before. With her big, wonder-filled eyes, she looked just like her mom. I'd wanted to turn around and head in the other direction, but Primrose noticed us before I could. She let out an audible gasp. I couldn't avoid her now. My throat felt ready to close. "Hey." "Hi." She looked over her shoulder. "Uh, we were just-" Before I could get another word in, a man appeared by her side. "Did you say we needed almond milk?" he asked her, glancing in my direction. This was my first up-close look at Primrose's man. Casey. He was tall with sandy-colored hair and definitely gave me a run for my money in the looks department. I wished he were a lot less handsome. Then again, why would I have expected someone as gorgeous as Primrose to be with an unattractive guy? "Uh...no. We don't need it," she stammered. "We have a full half-gallon at home that I picked up recently." When he turned to look at me again, I made a split-second decision. "I'm sorry, you said they don't sell wine here?" Her mouth opened and closed before she said, "No. I don't believe they do." "Thank you." Benjamin nodded at them and followed me down the aisle. That was close, but I was pretty sure Casey didn't suspect anything. I couldn't help but look back. Casey wasn't looking at me, and neither was Primrose. But Primrose's sweet little girl had turned around to watch us walk away. She waved at me. I waved back. "Bye," I mouthed with a smile. She smiled back. Then I felt Benjamin's hand on my shoulder. "You okay?" he asked. Letting out a long breath, I nodded. We'd somehow ended up in the meat aisle. No way I could think straight enough to plan a dinner now. "Takeout is sounding better by the minute," I told him. "Good decision." As we left the supermarket, a hopeless feeling developed in my heart after my glimpse into the routine of Primrose's current life-a life I had no real part in anymore. Benjamin and I had a late dinner of Chinese takeout, and after he retreated to his room, I sat alone in the living room, staring into the fire. That beautiful little girl had smiled and waved at me with trusting eyes. Rosie. What a pretty name and perfect for her. Little Primrose. Rosie's innocent acknowledgement made me feel warm inside-and like a piece of shit for deceiving her, too. She'd assumed I was just a friendly stranger, not some man who'd come to town to seize her mother. Not to mention, I'd forced Primrose into lying. If I hadn't freaked out and had just kept my mouth shut, maybe she would've introduced me properly to him. Although, I couldn't imagine what she would've said. I hadn't given her the chance to react, though. My instinct was to protect her. It would always be to protect her, even if I lost out in the end. My phone buzzed, and I was surprised to see a text from her. Primrose: Are you okay? I immediately typed back. Dorian: I'm okay. But I should be asking you that. Primrose: I'm sorry about today. I can imagine it was a shock running into us. I closed my eyes, speechless that she was concerned for me. Dorian: I spoke before you had a chance to. I'm sorry. I should've let you make the call on how to handle it. I just didn't want to get you in trouble. Primrose: You did the right thing. I wouldn't have known how to explain you. And I didn't want to have to lie to Casey. You sort of took that option from me, which was helpful. Dorian: I'm glad you feel that way, because I've been sitting here doubting myself. Did he suspect something? Primrose: Not at all. Dorian: Your daughter's adorable. What a little sweetheart. She looks just like you. Primrose: Yeah. Everyone says that. Dorian: You saved Benjamin from having to eat one of my charred dinners. Primrose: How's that? Dorian: It was my turn to cook. But after we ran into you, I figured it was best if we got out of there before we could cause more trouble. So we got takeout instead. He thanks you for sparing him. Primrose: You're not still trying to cook, are you? I smiled. Dorian: There have been two additional fire alarms after the one I set off trying to cook for you. Primrose: I guess some things don't change. Dorian: Nope. Still burning stuff, despite those lessons we took together. Primrose: I've gotten better at it. I guess that's what happens when you're responsible for keeping another human alive and you don't want her eating crap all the time. Dorian: Makes total sense, yeah. After a few moments, I typed again. Dorian: She turned around and waved at me. Primrose: Rosie? Dorian: Yeah. It was cute. She obviously has no idea what a troublemaker I really am. Primrose: She's very trusting. It's something I have to keep an eye on. Right. Definitely no reason to trust me. Especially since the sole purpose of my being in town is to see if I can steal you away for my own happiness. And fuck everyone else. God, I'm despicable. Primrose: Anyway, I just wanted to check in. I felt bad that I couldn't say hello to you and Benjamin. Dorian: Please don't worry about that. Despite the surprise, it was nice to see you and informally meet your daughter. Your boyfriend, not so much. Dorian: I'll see you Monday? I prayed she still planned to come back. Primrose: Yes. See you then. I let out a sigh of relief and forced myself not to write back. Leave her be. Putting my phone aside, I closed my eyes, hoping the heat from the fire would calm my foolish heart. She'd been thinking about me tonight, though I couldn't let that go to my head. Any false hope at this point could very well wreck me in the end. But the more I tried to think about something neutral, the more my mind kept returning to what happened today and her daughter's angelic face. Rosie, you should've been mine. In a romance-themed observation show, several participants undergo a series of interactions and conflicts filled with love, misunderstandings, and power struggles. In the end, one couple rises to over...