A Prior Engagement (23 page)

They both took turns getting dressed in the bathroom. Evie had decided to wear his T-shirt since hers felt dirty from traveling the day before.

It was drizzling once again as they walked hand-in-hand to the coffee shop. Evie took a deep breath, relishing the feel, as she looked up at the overcast sky. “I love the rain.” William always found these little comments surprising, but liking how much she appreciated such simple pleasures.

They walked into Bean There at seven-fifteen in the morning. The professional crowd was getting their caffeine fix, but William and Evie didn’t mind the wait.

Tracy smiled at William just as he smiled at Evie, leaning on the counter. “Good morning.” Tracy glanced at their joined hands then between the two of them. “You’re meeting here early.”

“It’s a great morning,” Evie replied, unable to remove the delirious, happy grin from her face.

William chuckled, feeling as happy as Evie. They were a couple and he loved that he didn’t have to hide the fact. “We came together.”

“Oh. Um, all right. Coffee?” Tracy asked.

Evie looked at Tracy surprised by her tone. She seemed shaken, as if they had said something to offend her. She went ahead and ordered to steer into a safer topic. “I’ll have a mocha latte with skim milk.”

William added his order. “Double espresso black with two blueberry muffins.” Being gentle, he took Evie’s fingers pulling her to him and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll get this.” Evie nodded and walked over to their favorite table.

As Tracy set the blueberry muffins next to the freshly made coffees, she leaned across the counter. “You two, huh?”

He smiled, the spark in his eyes acknowledging the answer before he responded. “Yes.”

Tracy could see it written all over his face. He was in love. Keeping her voice low, she looked over his shoulder at Evie then back to him. “But then why does she still wear the ring?”

Thrown by the question, he became curious. “What do you mean?”

Tracy’s expression quirked, and she explained without hesitation. “Her engagement ring? She’s not wearing the ring today, so I assume she’s not engaged anymore.”

He looked at her before glancing over his shoulder confused by what Tracy was talking about, more importantly, what she was inferring.

When he turned back, Tracy gave a sympathetic smile, and started to cover for her slip. “I just figured you wouldn’t be with her if she was still engaged. I mean, I don’t know you well, but you never seemed like the affair type of guy.”

He felt relief when it dawned on him which ring Tracy was referring to. The large fashion ring was justified in his mind. He chuckled then explained, “It’s an heirloom, I think. It’s only a ring she wears sometimes when she dresses up.”

Tracy lowered her voice to a whisper so only he could hear. “That’s an engagement ring, William. Do you really not know?”

By the size and color of the ring, he never questioned it. He’d even joked about it. Because she wore it on her left ring finger didn’t mean it
had
to be an engagement ring, did it? He felt sick to his stomach, the relief he was feeling seconds earlier dissipated. William set the money down on the counter wanting to end this conversation. He grabbed the coffees and muffins then walked over and set them down on their table.

Evie took a quick sip as William remained standing, staring at her. “What is it?” she asked, feeling the change in the atmosphere between them.

He grabbed her by the left hand, feeling the small indentation on her ring finger with his thumb. “Get your stuff.” She was confused, but did as he requested. She was used to taking orders, even if it was now from William. He pulled her by the hand and back outside to the cloudy day. Evie stumbled to keep up, purse in hand, knowing something had happened to upset him. He stopped at the farthest table from the door away from the windows of the shop. “Are you engaged?”

Evie’s world shifted as the first piece of her happiness crumbled around her. The question felt like an unexpected slap across the face. Her stomach knotted and she stuttered trying to come to terms that they were about to have a huge fight, a fight that had the possibility of ending their relationship. “I . . . I . . . uh—”

“It’s a simple yes or no kind of answer here, Evie, but I’m taking by that response, it’s a yes.” He dropped her hand like he had touched fire and ran his fingers through his hair out of frustration and anger. “How can you be here with me this morning, be with me last night if you’re marrying someone else?”

She put her hands on his chest, but he backed away not wanting her touch, needing space between them. “I, yes, I am technically engaged, but I don’t want to be. My heart isn’t his—”

“Technically? That’s a romantic way to describe your engagement and a very loose interpretation of the word ‘engaged.’ ”

When he started to walk away, she rushed behind him, pleading, “Yes, maybe. Okay, yes. It’s a loose interpretation within the truth.” She took a breath, choking up as tears filled her eyes. “William, please listen to me. It was a commitment I made a long time ago. I don’t love him. I don’t! I want to end it, but it’s complicated. It’s an obligation that seems—”

“Wow! Unbelievable!” William shook his head and stopped to stare at the person in front of him, now unfamiliar to what he knew of her even a mere ten minutes earlier. Everything he thought he knew about her was wrong and distorted and his heart ached feeling played. He looked her straight in the eyes. “An obligation? It’s obvious to me now that we are two very different people. I would hate for my fiancée to ever consider me an obligation or an unwanted commitment.” He started walking again, but stopped. With his back to her, he said, “To be clear, I don’t want to see you anymore.” With that painful declaration, he started to leave.

The rain picked up, coming down harder than before and soaking her hair and clothes. It didn’t matter though. Nothing mattered, but William. She rushed behind him, trying to explain, but careful not to touch him. She couldn’t handle him pulling away again. “Yes, an obligation, William. In my world, I was committed to him by the time I was ten. The ring came at seventeen.”

He stopped, but still refused to face her. He adjusted the backpack on his shoulders and listened because although his heart was breaking, he hoped she would have a justifiable reason for lying about this, for cheating on him and her fiancé. Evie’s words were fumbling from her mouth, desperate to salvage their relationship. “It’s a social hierarchy. Our families agreed upon our bond before I had a say in the matter.”

Fuming, William spun on his heels and looked at her. She stood, drenched like him, but beautiful and pained, and crying, still wearing his T-shirt. “That’s ridiculous! You have a say in the matter—”

“You’re right. At seventeen, I was in love and accepted the ring, and made the commitment to marry him, but I was tricked. I was foolish and young, too young, to make such life-altering decisions.”

His pain and anger were battling inside his head. William couldn’t look at her any longer. He wanted to, but if he did, he knew he’d go to her, comfort her, and protect her. Right now, he needed clarity and he couldn’t find it being this close, and took a step back, away from her. “I was falling in love with you,” he confessed, his words barely heard above the passing traffic and over the pouring rain. “I had already fallen.”

“I’ve fallen in love with you, too. You’re everything I want—kind and generous, patient, and supportive. Please, I’m asking you to understand, to liste—”

“I can’t be with you!” He dug deep within and found the strength to look up. “I’m the one who was tricked here, lied to. You aren’t a woman I can want or have, so this discussion is over.” William shoved his hands into his pockets and left her standing a block away from Bean There in the rain.

Evie’s mind went blank except for one thought.
I hate the rain.
She remained standing there watching him walk away from her in the opposite direction. He never looked back, not even a glance, with his head dropped down and his shoulders slumped forward.

By the time William arrived home, he wanted to punch something. He felt deceived, hurt, and didn’t understand how to deal with these emotions. Hiding a detail that major from him was lying and he hated when people lied. He didn’t care about the daily little fibs everyone told to make their lives easier. Those don’t matter, but he hated the big ones and this was a doozie. He took a hot shower, hoping this mess and the pain would wash away with the dirty rain. It didn’t. It lingered around him, on him, consuming him until he broke down, slamming his fists against the shower wall until he cried out in anger, frustration, and loss.

Evie approached her building with caution. In her current state of mind, she detested this place. It represented everything she hated in life. She didn’t want to be here. She wanted to be at William’s where she felt safe and cared for and loved. But this place also represented everything she had tried to hold onto by doing what was considered the right thing. She loved her family, so she made her way to the doors to confront her turmoil.

Walter opened the door, allowing her entrance. “Morning.”

His greeting was somber and she wondered if he had just had his heart ripped out, too.

He could tell something was wrong, very wrong. She looked a mess to him and it wasn’t because of the odd outfit or because she was soaking wet. Something in her face, her eyes, told him that she was in pain.

“Morning, Walter.”

But before she reached the elevators, he called to her. “Evie?”

Evie was numbing with every step she took, but stopped upon hearing her name. She turned around, trying to smile though she didn’t know if she succeeded or not. “Yes, Walter?”

“Mr. Whitney is waiting for you upstairs.”

Those seven words made her heart stop then drop into the pit of her stomach, and she gulped. She turned back around and pushed the button calling the lift to the first floor.

“He’s very upset,” he said. “He arrived late last night. He’s been waiting for you.”

“I’m sure he has.” This was not good, but facing Tom couldn’t be worse than losing William.

He walked closer. “I don’t think you should go up there. I think you should go to a friend’s place, go get coffee, go to the park, go anywhere, but up there.”

“Walter, one thing I’ve learned is it doesn’t get better with time. It will be worse tomorrow if I don’t face him now.”

Walter followed her, putting his hand on her forearm right before she stepped onto the elevator. His words were rushed, but sincere. “If you need anything, anything at all, please call me.”

She nodded, not knowing what truly awaited her upstairs.

Walter remained standing there, distressed by her false bravery. She smiled at him in fake reassurance, hating for people to worry over her, just as the doors closed.

Walter never did understand how rich people turned a blind eye to the atrocities of their own behavior. She now knew he would be there if she needed help, so he went back to his desk, sat down, and worried in silence.

Chapter 20

Walter hadn’t had any assurances regarding Evie for four days when she appeared, walking off the elevator and out the front door with the slightest of greeting in the form of a nod. And though he was finally seeing her in the flesh, that she was alive and safe, he realized when she nodded, that the corner of her mouth was a little swollen and bruised. Her large, dark sunglasses didn’t reveal her thoughts, but as she crossed in front of him exiting through the door he held open for her, he saw the discoloration circling the outside of her eye. He turned his gaze to his shoes out of respect, and she left without a word spoken between them.

During the past four days, William had become an utter mess. He couldn’t get the girl with ink obsessions who wore a bird flying free necklace off his mind. Besides spending three nights in a row at his local bar bumming drinks from friends to numb his thoughts, he went to class and turned in their report on Friday despite Evie’s absence. And since he wasn’t sleeping much at night, he spent a lot of the day catching up on it. When he wasn’t trying to sleep away the pain, he was working long hours, picking up shifts, and pushing his physical limits on his bike, being reckless from lack of care.

Almost a week later, he was leaving the student lounge in the literature building when a small girl interrupted his slow downfall. “Hi, you’re William, right? Can I talk to you?”