Chapter 25 Cursum Perficio #3
I stilled. The moment stretched to the score of my thudding heart in my ears, but then she looked back to the Daltons and seamlessly picked up the thread.
“You know, Vrubel’s mural… also known as the Bruderkuss.
I sat and watched him paint it for hours.
He was so intense, so lost in his work, like all that mattered was that wall, that kiss. ”
A burst of laughter tore from my throat. Everyone turned to look at me, but it was Francesca’s glare I met — a silent reprimand.
“Sorry,” I muttered, once again fixing my eyes on the intricate pattern of the plates.
Jeremy cleared his throat. “It’s ghastly, all that graffiti, but I couldn’t tear her away.”
“It’s what helped me to decide.” Francesca paused, fanning her fingers at her temples, and everyone leaned in for the dramatic reveal. “I’m going to get into art, albeit curation rather than creation. Just being in the midst of all that creative energy really inspired me.”
Jane squealed and Jasper clapped.
For the first time, I saw Francesca’s eyes shining with genuine excitement, and everything clicked into place.
It’s the lifestyle she’s in love with, not Jeremy.
He couldn’t see it; none of them could see it, but it fitted with the theory I’d aired to Jeremy before they’d left. Francesca is a chameleon.
Our eyes locked again and her lips twitched with a grin. Jeremy squeezed her hand, pulling her attention back to him. She gave him a barely perceptible nod, and he cleared his throat.
“Francesca and I actually have some other news.”
“Oh?” Jane’s eyes doubled in size.
“We’re engaged,” he blurted.
The words knocked the air out of me.
Francesca lifted her eyes to me. I put down my fork and glared at her, but she simply smiled.
Jane clutched a hand to her chest. “I wondered. Didn’t I say, Jasper?” Jane looked to her husband, who was patting his son on the back. “But there isn’t a ring, so…”
“Ah, yes! Of course I proposed with a ring, but Francesca didn’t like the one I’d chosen, so we’re going to pick something out together.”
Jane released a merry laugh and reached across to touch Francesca’s arm. “You know what you’re doing, don’t you?”
“I’ll be wearing it for a long time, so it’s best we get it right.”
Jasper chuckled. “Not a shotgun wedding, then?”
“God, no!” Francesca’s lip curled.
Disappointment registered on Jane’s face.
“No, one thing at a time,” said Jeremy. “We don’t intend to wed until I’m qualified, and the practice is up and running.”
“Sounds sensible.” Jasper nodded and knocked back his wine. “Perhaps some bubbles to celebrate?”
I tuned out as the conversation continued, seething my way through the sweet course with my thoughts on a loop — Jeremy had bound himself to Francesca, and in a sadistic flourish, she’d bound me to both of them.
I need you to understand that I have your interests at heart too, she’d said.
But I couldn’t fathom how any of this was in my interest.
When it was an acceptable time to leave, I thanked the Daltons for the meal and, with a tight-lipped smile, congratulated Francesca and Jeremy on their engagement.
Jeremy jumped up and pulled me into a tight hug. “It’s all falling into place, Trusty! You’re happy for us, right?”
I looked at Francesca over his shoulder, and she stared back, unblinking.
“Yeah, delighted,” I said flatly.
Once again I found myself sobbing into my pillow over Francesca, the pain in my chest returning like an unwelcome guest. I cried until I felt raw and hollow, then surrendered to sleep — deep enough to forget for a while, heavy enough to ache beneath its weight.
I woke to the sound of the front door closing, and the rumble of the Defender starting as Dad left for work, without me — thank goodness.
A fresh wave of anguish crashed into me, and I pulled my duvet back over my head, burying myself in darkness.
The world outside felt too bright, too loud, too full of reminders.
But then came the creak of my door and the whisper of a voice — small, gentle, and unmistakably hers.
“Catherine, are you awake?”
I froze, as if holding my breath and pretending to be asleep might make her leave, but the weight of her shifted onto the bed. She pressed a hand onto my shoulder and held it there for a long moment.
“I know you’re angry with me,” she eventually said.
I surprised myself by throwing back the duvet and whipping around to face her. “Angry? You have no idea how I feel.”
The muscle in Francesca’s jaw pulsed, and she drew a breath through her nose. “Okay then, why don’t you tell me? Get it off your chest.”
“You slept with my best friend and acted like it was me who’d behaved unreasonably. You cheated on me, Francesca. You cheated on us both!”
She clasped her hands in her lap and nodded.
“Then, you disappeared for two years. Two years! And you have the audacity to show up here telling me how much you’ve missed me, saying you have my interests at heart, when all along you’re engaged to Jeremy. What is wrong with you?”
Francesca tilted her head as if pondering the question. “I meant what I said, Catherine. I missed you. Being away from you for so long was difficult.”
I growled in frustration. “Don’t piss in my ear and tell me it’s raining, Francesca. From the sound of it, you were having the time of your life. Excuse me if I find your professed pining a little hard to reconcile with the facts.”
“You really don’t get it, do you?” Francesca frowned and shook her head, her perfectly coiffed hair bouncing with each movement.
A brittle laugh escaped her lips. “I’m prepared to sacrifice certain things for a better life.
It’s been hard work getting to this point, but I’ve set myself up for the future.
And you might be a little more grateful that I managed to do the same for you. ”
“What do you mean, grateful? You’ve meddled in my life. I never asked you to do that. What if that isn’t what I wanted?”
She shrugged. “You know how hard it is for women to make it in this world. You’d be silly not to take a leg up. It isn’t like the Daltons can’t afford it.”
“You’re unbelievable.” I pinched the bridge of my nose and sucked in a deep breath, trying to regain some semblance of composure. “So, you’re marrying Jeremy for his money, and you think that’ll make you happy?”
“Yes, to a degree it will. But I very much plan to enjoy a life beyond what Jeremy has to offer. It’s a means to an end.”
“You don’t love him, do you?”
“Don’t give me that look. You’re being awfully na?ve, Catherine.”
In front of me sat what I could have, but it wasn’t what I wanted, or what was good for me. Maybe the walls I’d built were stronger than I’d thought after all, although I wished I could tell that to the fat tears rolling down my cheeks.
During my battle of head and heart, my voice escaped as a pathetic squeak. “Please leave.”
Francesca released a nasal laugh. “Alright, have it your way. When you’ve stopped sulking enough to know what’s good for you, come find me. But I won’t wait around forever.”
“Francesca?” I called to her turned back. She spun around, eyebrows raised. “I want my bunny slippers back.”
A smirk tugged at her lips. Then, without a word, she left.