Chapter 10
Serena
“Hello?”
“Rena! Girl, where the hell have you been?”
“Jamie! Whose number are you calling from?” I asked.
“Dropped my phone in the toilet. This is my new number. So, what gives? Why haven’t you been coming out lately?”
“I’ve been busy. The school year’s wrapping up and my parents have been asking a lot of extra things from me,” I said.
“Well, you’re ours tonight. Tell your parents you’ve got plans,” she said.
“Whatcha got in mind?” I asked.
“Dancing. Drinks. Guys. The usual.”
“Well, I can do the dancing and the drinks. I’m not sure about the ‘guys’ part,” I said.
“Uh oh. I feel a story coming on,” she said.
“I can tell you about it over drinks. It’s a strange one though, so brace yourself.”
“Oh, I love strange. Strange is my middle name. Pick you up around nine?”
“I’ll see you then.”
I had dinner with my mother and she couldn’t stop talking about Enzo. How handsome he was and how courteous he was and how happy she was that I was finally going out on dinner dates with him. She started discussing wedding plans and colors and dates, but I wasn’t paying attention. The only thing I was zoned in on was how my body reacted when she said his name.
I didn’t like it.
My heart leapt in my chest and my lips tried to smile. It was like my body was betraying what I knew was right. I didn’t need to be falling for someone like him. I didn’t need to be getting myself wrapped up in some fantasy. First impressions were everything, and they were always the truest form of someone. People always put up facades or tried to mimic the other person’s antics to make someone else feel comfortable. That first smile or handshake or hug was the most genuine interaction anyone could get from someone.
And Enzo’s had been less than honorable.
Not that my intentions that night had been any better, but at least I didn’t try to paint myself as something I wasn’t. I was a woman looking for a bit of fun and that’s what I got. Then I got burned when I broke one of my rules. The encounter should’ve either stayed at the club or taken place on neutral ground. I had opened myself up to a possible world of hurt by going back to his place.
Even then, my body had been drawn to him.
Another thing I didn’t like.
I finally got away from the dinner table and went upstairs to get ready. A night out with Jamie would definitely do me some good. And she would have some great advice for how to navigate this situation. Not that she was in an arranged marriage or anything, but she always kept things real. She never sugar-coated anything and if someone was being a wimpy little dick, she told them.
It was why I loved her so much.
“Serena!? You up here?”
“Jamie?” I asked. “You’re early. You’re never early.”
“What? Can’t a girl be ready to spend time with her best friend?” she asked. “How much more time do you need?”
“Um… three minutes? I’m just putting in earrings.”
“Come on. You can do that in the car. I passed the club on the way here and it’s busy tonight. We gotta go, girl!”
Jamie dragged my downstairs and I had just enough time to grab my purse. She threw me into the car before she sped out of the driveway, and I fumbled to put my earrings in. Enzo was already falling to the back of my mind as we raced across town, blasting music through her speakers. We pumped our fists and sang at the top of our lungs, and when we pulled up to the club I saw everyone else standing there.
“Rena!” they all shouted. “About damn time.”
I hugged the necks of my friends before we stood in line. It didn’t take us long to get pushed up to the front, and ten minutes later we were standing at the bar getting drinks. The music was pumping and our hips were swaying, but then there was movement out of the corner of my eye.
Someone that looked familiar.
“So, guess what guys?” Jamie asked.
“What?”
“I think Rena has a guy she’s dating,” she said.
“What!?”
The all started hounding me with questions as my eyes panned over to the man in the corner. Sitting at a table with his back to the wall. Enzo was there. With his tailored suit and his strong frame and his cheeky smile. I felt my heart trying to leap out of my body as a smile crossed my face.
I wanted to introduce him to my friends.
After all, they’d need to get to know him anyway.
“Earth to Rena,” Jamie said. “You there?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry. How would you guys like to meet him? I think he’s here,” I said.
“No shit. Where the hell is he?”
“Is he hot? I bet he’s smoking hot. You always get the hottest guys.”
“Where should we be looking? Is he dancing on the floor?”
My eyes whipped back over to the corner, but the excitement soon fell. I saw a massive smile cross Enzo’s face as he stood, then a woman came bouncing into his arms. She wrapped herself around him and laid her head on his chest, and he held her like that for quite some time. He looked down at her and smiled, his amber eyes crinkled and sparkling.
My stomach well to my toes when the woman went in for another hug.
“Rena? Where is he?” Jamie asked.
“Sorry,” I said breathlessly. “I thought that was him.”
“He really must be something if you’re looking for him in the club,” she said.
I didn’t even know how to respond to her statement.
Enzo turned his gaze to scan the crowd as the woman continued talking to him. And for a moment, I thought his eyes found mine. But I didn’t want him to see me. Not like this.
Not with tears welling in my eyes.
“Rena? You okay?” Jamie asked
“I’m uh… not feeling well,” I said. “I think I’m gonna catch a cab home.”
“Let’s go splash some water in your-”
“I said I’m going home, Jamie.”
I pushed my drink into her hand and made my way for the exit. I felt sick to my stomach. I stumbled out on my heels as tears slipped down my cheeks and the bodyguard came over to ask if I needed anything.
A ride home.
What I needed was a ride home.
He flagged me down a cab and made sure I got in safely. I felt my head spinning as the world began to turn dark. I knew it. I knew a man like Enzo would never change. He was a player the first night I met him, and he would be a player for the rest of his life.
I would be the woman he kept at home for convenience, and the rest of the time he’d spend his nights with women of his choice. Women he wasn’t forced to be with.
Women he’d rather love more than me.
I felt my phone vibrating and I pulled it out of my purse. Of course, it was Enzo. Probably calling to figure if it was me he saw. I ignored the phone call and turned my phone off, not wanting to take any more calls. I didn’t want Jamie or the girls pestering me. I didn’t want to see Enzo’s name pop up anywhere until I had to stare at him on our wedding day. Silent tears slipped down my cheeks as the cab drove me home, the road humming beneath the tires.
I don’t know how I could’ve been so stupid. To think a man like Enzo could change and be a decent man was a concept I’d convinced myself to be true. They didn’t make men like my father anymore. Men who would rather fight endlessly with their wives than consider being unfaithful. Or maybe my father had been unfaithful and my mother was simply forced to live with it.
I didn’t know what to think any longer.
The cab pulled into the driveway of my home and I stepped outside. But I knew if I went inside looking the way I did that my father would poke and prod until I answered. So instead, I walked around to the backyard and found myself sitting on the back porch.
I gazed up at the stars and allowed the tears to freely fall. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I wasn’t supposed to experience this kind of hurt with an arranged marriage. That was the entire point. That was supposed to be the upside to this plan. No pain, no broken hearts, and no crying over stupid men.
I closed my eyes and saw Enzo with that woman again. The way his eyes twinkled and the way his arm gripped her a little too tightly. I saw the second hug the woman went in for. I saw the look in his eyes when he finally found mine. I felt myself growing sick as I replayed the moment in my mind. Over and over and over again as the moonlight drenched me in its pale glow.
But I knew what I had to do. I knew my father would hate it and I knew my mother would be upset with me, but I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t marry a man like Enzo. I couldn’t marry a man that couldn’t abide by the one rule I set forth. Just one. Only one. All I needed from him was for him to stay faithful. That was it.
And since that didn’t seem to be something Enzo could do, there was only one thing I could do.
I had to tell my father the wedding was off.