The Harbour...Chapter 19: Baggage
It’s a good thing Carolyn was sitting down because for sure her legs would have given out under her. The room spun.
“What did you say...?” She asked breathlessly.
“Oh, didn’t your new fiance tell you he had a lover?” Kyle asked. “They’re business partners, and they’ve been sleeping together for years.”
Carolyn’s head was swimming.
Kyle continued. “What? Did you think he was saving himself for you all these years?”
She could hear the sneer in his voice.
“Go to hell, Kyle,” she spat.
She dropped the phone into the cradle, and bent her head to her chest, taking deep breaths to calm herself.
Carolyn massaged her forehead, her mind racing.
She knew Marco and Nina knew each other. She had seen them at a restaurant together a few months ago. Nina was definitely flirting with him, but he seemed more distracted by Carolyn. Every time she glanced over at them, he was looking straight at her.
Carolyn felt sick. After what felt like an eternity her head stopped spinning.
She took a deep breath and reached for the phone. With trembling fingers she dialed Cassie’s number again.
“Hiya Sugar...”
“He has a lover, Cas,” Carolyn whispered, descending into tears.
In between the sobs she told Cassie what Kyle had said.
“Lina! Lina!” Cassie said loudly. “Listen to me!” She said, trying to get Carolyn to calm down.
Carolyn, took a deep, ragged breath, and wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
“Carolyn! So what if he had a lover? Did you think he was celibate?”
“N...n...noooo...” she whimpered, leaning forward in the chair.
“Right! We know he has relationships, and apparently one of them was Nina Caliente. So what?”
“Cassie, I’m not going through this with another man again. I am not going through this!”
She reached for a tissue from the box on the desk, and wiped roughly at her runny nose.
“You’re going to marry him. Nina’s over.”
“Is she? You think I don’t know that she and Kyle were lovers when we were in high school? And they’re still friends. Probably still lovers! That woman does not let her men go!” She blew her nose.
“You’re comparing Kyle to Marco? Come ooooon Carolyn! Marco?” She asked incredulously.
Carolyn blew her nose.
“Remember back in college you asked if I was interested in Marco,” Cassie continued. “And I told you he was too nice.”
Carolyn cleared her throat. “You told me you preferred bad boys,” she whispered.
“Yeah. I’m still working on getting over that,” Cassie said. Carolyn could hear the smile in her friends voice, and her heart warmed.
“Oh, Cassie,” she sighed. “I just can’t...can’t deal with this whole other woman thing anymore.”
“You don’t have to. It’s Marco!”
“But if he only left me for three hours this morning, that means he contacted her right away! Maybe even saw her! That means they’re really close!”
“That means, as soon as you two got together, he told her Lina! Is that what a man does who intends to keep a woman on the side? He told her he’s getting married! Gawd, some married men don’t even tell other women they’re married!”
Carolyn felt the tension ease in her stomach a bit. “But he hasn’t told me about her,” she sniffled.
“Look Sweetie, I don’t blame you for having trust issues. I totally understand. Kyle was your first boyfriend, and the man you spent most of the past twenty five years with. Believe me, I get it! But this is Marco. We’ve been friends for years, and we lived together in college, I see how he is with women. Do you know what he told me and Andre once?”
“What?” Carolyn asked softly.
“He told us, that when he broke up with that Solveig girl in high school, she was really hurt and he felt really bad, so he decided until he was with the woman he knew he wanted to marry, he would never let himself get close enough to a girl to hurt her.”
“But he’s had relationships.”
“Of course he has! For starters he is the most breathtaking creature!” Cassie exclaimed.
“Yes, he is,” Carolyn said. She couldn’t help smiling at Cassie’s enthusiasm.
“And he’s funny, and kind, and thoughtful, and generous to a fault...and funny. Did I mention funny?”
“Yes,” Carolyn giggled.
“And maaaaan, can he ever wear a pair of jeans! Woo whee! And those eyes!”
“Um...Cas,’ is this supposed to be making me feel better?” Carolyn asked giggling. She was actually feeling better even though her stomach was still knotty.
“Sorry. I got carried away. Anywho...so women LOVE him! I mean, he is fiiiiiiiine! Oooops! Sorry!”
They both giggled.
“Anyways,” Cassie continued. “He makes friends with them, and then they slide into this fun, laid back kinda relationship.
It’s like he makes a conscious effort to keep it light and casual, and then he somehow manages to get out of it just around the time when the woman is probably likely to start asking, ‘Where’s this going?’”
“So you’re saying he’s a player?” Carolyn asked frowning.
“Noooooo. Players give you all kindsa lines and lyrics, and make all kindsa promises. Marco doesn’t lead them on.”
“So how do I know, that I’m not just...”
Cassie cut her off. “He asked you to marry him. Remember?”
Carolyn smiled crookedly and wiped at her nose again.
“But he still didn’t tell me about Nina.”
“Did you tell him about Sam?”
“The girls kinda did, but that was just a few dates.”
“Didn’t you sleep with him?”
“No.”
“Really? Wow.”
“I was tempted. He’s an attractive man, but I knew he had this whole unrequited thing from our brief fling in high school, and I just figured it would just get really complicated.”
“Still, you didn’t tell him about Sam, and whoever else you’ve dated in the past few months.”
“I wasn’t sleeping with any of them!”
“Still. You didn’t tell him. Has he asked if you were seeing anyone?”
“No.”
“Did you ask him?”
“No.”
“So cut him some slack. It’s not even been twenty four hours, and you’ve spent all but three or four of those apart, during which time, it seems he immediately informed Ms. Thang that he was now spoken for!”
Carolyn smiled.
“I love you Cas.”
“I love you too honey! Now, with all that said, you’re not going to leave this conversation un-had a moment longer.”
“I’m not?”
“Nope. You guys wasted too many years, not talking about your feelings.”
Carolyn nodded to the empty room as she massaged her forehead with her free hand.
“Where is he now?”
“Home I guess, he had some stuff to do on a project, and I had to call Mel and stuff...”
Her stomach flipped over.
“Oh gawd, Cas, maybe he’s with her!”
“Oh dear Lord, do not do this to yourself Carolyn! He is going to be your husband. If you would let him sleep over at your house, he would have moved in by now! Give the guy some credit! Now this is not a conversation for the phone. You get in your car, and you go over there, and you ask him what the situation is with Nina. Don’t be accusatory. Just ask.”
“I don’t have the strength to do this with a man again.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! This is not ‘a’ man, this is ‘the’ man! You know that Carolyn Madeline Garcia! Now go splash some water on that pretty face of yours, put on a little lips gloss, flavoured if you have it, and go prove to your man how much you want him!”
Carolyn inhaled deeply.
“Okay?” Cassie asked.
“Okay.”
“And wear a skirt.”
“What did you say...?” She asked breathlessly.
“Oh, didn’t your new fiance tell you he had a lover?” Kyle asked. “They’re business partners, and they’ve been sleeping together for years.”
Carolyn’s head was swimming.
Kyle continued. “What? Did you think he was saving himself for you all these years?”
She could hear the sneer in his voice.
“Go to hell, Kyle,” she spat.
She dropped the phone into the cradle, and bent her head to her chest, taking deep breaths to calm herself.
Carolyn massaged her forehead, her mind racing.
She knew Marco and Nina knew each other. She had seen them at a restaurant together a few months ago. Nina was definitely flirting with him, but he seemed more distracted by Carolyn. Every time she glanced over at them, he was looking straight at her.
Carolyn felt sick. After what felt like an eternity her head stopped spinning.
She took a deep breath and reached for the phone. With trembling fingers she dialed Cassie’s number again.
“Hiya Sugar...”
“He has a lover, Cas,” Carolyn whispered, descending into tears.
In between the sobs she told Cassie what Kyle had said.
“Lina! Lina!” Cassie said loudly. “Listen to me!” She said, trying to get Carolyn to calm down.
Carolyn, took a deep, ragged breath, and wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
“Carolyn! So what if he had a lover? Did you think he was celibate?”
“N...n...noooo...” she whimpered, leaning forward in the chair.
“Right! We know he has relationships, and apparently one of them was Nina Caliente. So what?”
“Cassie, I’m not going through this with another man again. I am not going through this!”
She reached for a tissue from the box on the desk, and wiped roughly at her runny nose.
“You’re going to marry him. Nina’s over.”
“Is she? You think I don’t know that she and Kyle were lovers when we were in high school? And they’re still friends. Probably still lovers! That woman does not let her men go!” She blew her nose.
“You’re comparing Kyle to Marco? Come ooooon Carolyn! Marco?” She asked incredulously.
Carolyn blew her nose.
“Remember back in college you asked if I was interested in Marco,” Cassie continued. “And I told you he was too nice.”
Carolyn cleared her throat. “You told me you preferred bad boys,” she whispered.
“Yeah. I’m still working on getting over that,” Cassie said. Carolyn could hear the smile in her friends voice, and her heart warmed.
“Oh, Cassie,” she sighed. “I just can’t...can’t deal with this whole other woman thing anymore.”
“You don’t have to. It’s Marco!”
“But if he only left me for three hours this morning, that means he contacted her right away! Maybe even saw her! That means they’re really close!”
“That means, as soon as you two got together, he told her Lina! Is that what a man does who intends to keep a woman on the side? He told her he’s getting married! Gawd, some married men don’t even tell other women they’re married!”
Carolyn felt the tension ease in her stomach a bit. “But he hasn’t told me about her,” she sniffled.
“Look Sweetie, I don’t blame you for having trust issues. I totally understand. Kyle was your first boyfriend, and the man you spent most of the past twenty five years with. Believe me, I get it! But this is Marco. We’ve been friends for years, and we lived together in college, I see how he is with women. Do you know what he told me and Andre once?”
“What?” Carolyn asked softly.
“He told us, that when he broke up with that Solveig girl in high school, she was really hurt and he felt really bad, so he decided until he was with the woman he knew he wanted to marry, he would never let himself get close enough to a girl to hurt her.”
“But he’s had relationships.”
“Of course he has! For starters he is the most breathtaking creature!” Cassie exclaimed.
“Yes, he is,” Carolyn said. She couldn’t help smiling at Cassie’s enthusiasm.
“And he’s funny, and kind, and thoughtful, and generous to a fault...and funny. Did I mention funny?”
“Yes,” Carolyn giggled.
“And maaaaan, can he ever wear a pair of jeans! Woo whee! And those eyes!”
“Um...Cas,’ is this supposed to be making me feel better?” Carolyn asked giggling. She was actually feeling better even though her stomach was still knotty.
“Sorry. I got carried away. Anywho...so women LOVE him! I mean, he is fiiiiiiiine! Oooops! Sorry!”
They both giggled.
“Anyways,” Cassie continued. “He makes friends with them, and then they slide into this fun, laid back kinda relationship.
It’s like he makes a conscious effort to keep it light and casual, and then he somehow manages to get out of it just around the time when the woman is probably likely to start asking, ‘Where’s this going?’”
“So you’re saying he’s a player?” Carolyn asked frowning.
“Noooooo. Players give you all kindsa lines and lyrics, and make all kindsa promises. Marco doesn’t lead them on.”
“So how do I know, that I’m not just...”
Cassie cut her off. “He asked you to marry him. Remember?”
Carolyn smiled crookedly and wiped at her nose again.
“But he still didn’t tell me about Nina.”
“Did you tell him about Sam?”
“The girls kinda did, but that was just a few dates.”
“Didn’t you sleep with him?”
“No.”
“Really? Wow.”
“I was tempted. He’s an attractive man, but I knew he had this whole unrequited thing from our brief fling in high school, and I just figured it would just get really complicated.”
“Still, you didn’t tell him about Sam, and whoever else you’ve dated in the past few months.”
“I wasn’t sleeping with any of them!”
“Still. You didn’t tell him. Has he asked if you were seeing anyone?”
“No.”
“Did you ask him?”
“No.”
“So cut him some slack. It’s not even been twenty four hours, and you’ve spent all but three or four of those apart, during which time, it seems he immediately informed Ms. Thang that he was now spoken for!”
Carolyn smiled.
“I love you Cas.”
“I love you too honey! Now, with all that said, you’re not going to leave this conversation un-had a moment longer.”
“I’m not?”
“Nope. You guys wasted too many years, not talking about your feelings.”
Carolyn nodded to the empty room as she massaged her forehead with her free hand.
“Where is he now?”
“Home I guess, he had some stuff to do on a project, and I had to call Mel and stuff...”
Her stomach flipped over.
“Oh gawd, Cas, maybe he’s with her!”
“Oh dear Lord, do not do this to yourself Carolyn! He is going to be your husband. If you would let him sleep over at your house, he would have moved in by now! Give the guy some credit! Now this is not a conversation for the phone. You get in your car, and you go over there, and you ask him what the situation is with Nina. Don’t be accusatory. Just ask.”
“I don’t have the strength to do this with a man again.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! This is not ‘a’ man, this is ‘the’ man! You know that Carolyn Madeline Garcia! Now go splash some water on that pretty face of yours, put on a little lips gloss, flavoured if you have it, and go prove to your man how much you want him!”
Carolyn inhaled deeply.
“Okay?” Cassie asked.
“Okay.”
“And wear a skirt.”