Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Emilia
“Who’s the sexy Irishman?” Courtney asks after Ciarán and his family leave.
“His name is Ciarán and he scared John off.”
“Wait, that fucking shithead was in here tonight? When? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“He came in maybe twenty minutes before you did. He said he wanted to talk, I told him to leave. Then Ciarán came over and acted like we had a date planned. John still wouldn’t leave. So his grandfather came over, said something to him that I couldn’t hear, and John left.”
“But your Irishman is coming back?” she smiles at me.
“Yes.” I laugh. “Stop looking at me like that.”
“He’s frickin sexy and he likes you. Damn. I want an Irishman of my own. Was that his brother? Maybe he’s single?”
“That was his older brother, Fionn, and I have no idea if he’s single.”
“Well, I didn’t see a ring.” She raises an eyebrow at me.
I shrug my shoulders and laugh more.
“You need an escort home?” Frank asks both of us. “I don’t like how John came in tonight and demanded to talk to you.”
“Mia has a date with a certain Irishman that was here with his family,” Courtney teases.
“I liked them, they all seemed very nice. I approve.”
“You’re both crazy. I need to clean so I can close up.”
I look at the clock and see I have thirty minutes. Just enough time to get everything done. I wonder if Ciarán is really going to come back. When I first met John, it took a while for me to agree to even go out with him. It’s not because I didn’t like him, it just didn’t exactly feel right. Like I knew from the start that something was off. But with Ciarán? As soon as he walked in, I wanted him. And it felt like he wanted me too.
I’ve heard people talk about soulmates and love at first sight. This attraction I feel for Ciarán is like nothing I’ve ever felt for anyone before. I really hope he comes back.
The chime on the door dings and I turn to look. My heart hopes it’s Ciarán. But it’s not. It’s John.
“We’re closed,” Courtney says as she stands up.
“Hey Court. It’s nice to see you.” John smiles at her.
“Don’t call me Court. Only people I like get to call me that. You? You can call me Miss Potter. Where’s your fiancée?”
“Fiancée? I don’t have a fiancée. I’ve been with your sister for the last year,” he says, still smiling.
“Wow. You’re going to keep that up?”
John frowns at Courtney. “Keep what up? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Ciarán appears as Court and John are arguing. He walks right up to me and kisses me on the cheek. Then he turns to glare at John.
“Courtney, this is Ciarán. Ciarán, my sister, Courtney.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Ciarán smiles at my sister.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your new friend?” John asks me as he tries to grab my hand.
“I’m pretty sure we met earlier tonight. And you were asked to stay away from my girl,” Ciarán says to John.
“His girl?” Courtney silently mouths to me.
Shock is probably the right word for what I’m feeling. Maybe he said that just to make John go away?
“Your girl?” John laughs. “Unless you know something I don’t, I’m pretty sure that she’s my girlfriend?—”
“What are you talking about, John? Who’s your girlfriend?” Kali asks as she walks into the restaurant.
The look on John’s face is hilarious. As much as I want to tell Kali what’s been going on, he’s done it for me.
“Kali, I don’t know how much you heard, but I was talking about you.”
I snort.
“But I’m not your girlfriend, I’m your fiancée,” Kali turns and looks at me. “I was coming here to talk to you. I heard something from the ladies that work in the bakery. Have you been seeing John?”
I take a deep breath. “I was. But I had no idea he was with you. And after meeting you the other night, I cut everything off. I’m sorry. If I had known about you, I never would’ve been with him. He played both of us for fools.”
Kali nods. “Thank you for being honest with me. I knew something was going on, but I didn’t know what. This last year, he would come home to see me, but he never let me come back with him. I wasn’t allowed to visit either. I thought maybe he was seeing someone else, but I didn’t want to believe that. We’ve been together since high school. When he said he was moving here to Starlight Bay, I supported him. The plan was for me to join him next year. I wanted to finish school first and it was easier for me to live at home while I did that.”
I feel so bacd for Kali. She’s lost more than me. What John did to me was nothing compared to what he did to her. She had her whole life planned with him. What an asshole. How could he do that to her?
“I’m so sorry. I wish I could go back and change everything,” I say to Kali.
“None of this is your fault. This is all on the asshole who played both of us.”
“Baby, you’ve got this all wrong,” John stutters out.
“Which part? The part where you lied to me? Or are you saying Emilia is lying?”
“All of it. I haven’t been with her, she’s crazy. I was just in here telling her she needs to leave me alone.”
“You’re a fucking asshole. And you need to get out of my restaurant,” I snap at him.
I can take a lot of shit. But to stand here and listen to him imply I’m a stalker and say I’m crazy? That’s more than I can take. And he’s trying to act like Kali is stupid, I don’t like that either. I may not know her well, but she deserves better than him. We both do. I’m just glad I found out sooner than later.
“You can’t talk to me like that. You’re nothing but a lowly waitress in a weird pizza joint.”
Ciarán steps forward and gets in John’s face.
“Walk away. Now. Don’t open your mouth and don’t ever speak to my Emilia again.”
Ciarán
No man should speak to a woman the way John is speaking to Emilia. Especially to my woman. He lied and cheated on both women. And is now he’s blaming Emilia for his shit. Fuck that.
John just looks at all of us and walks out the door.
“Do you need a place to stay?” Emilia asks Kali.
“It’s okay, I can get a room at the hotel. But thank you.”
“You don’t need a hotel, I have an extra room at my place. You shouldn’t be alone.”
“Thank you for not lying to me. I’ve loved that man for so long that I probably would’ve believed him if you had said there was nothing going on.”
“I wish I had known about you from the start. I never would’ve dated him at all.”
“Did you ever go to his apartment?” Kali asks.
“Only a few times. He never really wanted me there. Now I know why. I’m sorry this happened.”
Listening to the two women talk makes me sad. They’ve both been put in this situation because of a choice some asshole made.
“Why don’t we take a walk to John’s place and you can grab your stuff. I’ll go with you,” I say to them.
“You don’t have to do that,” Emilia says.
“I want to. Besides, you owe me a midnight walk.” I wink and take her hand.
We all help Emilia and Frank close up Starlight Pi. Then head out to help Kali get her things from John’s place. It’s nice out tonight, the sky is clear and the stars are bright and twinkling.
“How long are you staying in town?” Emilia asks me.
“We’re supposed to head out in two days. But now I wish we were staying longer.”
“Are you liking Starlight Bay that much?”
“Sure, I like Starlight Bay. But I like you more.”
I can see the pink creeping into her cheeks as she smiles. I love her smile and the way she looks up at me.
“You’re headed to Lake Renegade?” Emilia asks.
“We are. We have family there that we’ve never met in person. Only video.”
“How long are you staying there?”
“We’ll be staying about a month.”
“Will you come back to Starlight Bay before you head home?”
“I would like to if that’s okay with you.”
And there’s that smile again, I love her smile. It takes us about ten minutes to get to John’s apartment. When he answers the door, he tries to refuse to let us in. But in the end, I told him he can either let us in or call the police. Either way works for me. He chose to let us in. I stayed in the living room with him and the girls went with Kali to grab her stuff. I still feel sad for her, he made her believe he was something he wasn’t. And he brought my Emilia into it. I hope karma catches up to him.
It didn’t take Kali very long to pack up, but the look on her face when she was done made me so angry. Angry that John did this to her and to Emilia. And now he’s sitting here like he’s the victim.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay at your place? I really don’t mind staying at a hotel,” Kali says as we make our way to Emilia’s place.
“No way. You said you can’t change your flight unless you pay more. So you’ll stay with us,” Emilia says to Kali.
“I really appreciate this. I don’t know how I’m going to tell my parents. They’ve already put down deposits for the wedding.”
“I think he should have to pay them back,” I say.
All three women turn to look at me.
“This whole thing is his fault. It’s only right that he pay your parents back.”
“Ciarán’s right. If our roles were switched? My dad would make him pay,” Emilia says as Courtney nods.
I take Emilia’s hand as we walk. Internally I’m cheering because she doesn’t pull away. She just smiles and holds my hand. I don’t know how I know, but Emilia is mine. And I need to come back here after we visit Lake Renegade. I don’t want to be away from her at all. But I also need to meet my family. I’ll explain it to her before I leave.