Virtue & Vanity (51 page)

I returned his smile, still feeling a bit angry with him because he hadn’t warned me just how nasty ouzo could be. When the food arrived at our table with the promised glass of water, all was forgiven. The meat and vegetable combination, as well as the sauce, was delicious and I really enjoyed the meal. After we finished eating, we praised the food and slowly sipped the wine. Sebastian seemed a bit lost in thought and just when I was preparing to ask him if something was wrong, he reached into his blazer and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.
Probably some work obligations.

I looked at him in confusion. “I thought you had a day off.”

“I do,” he replied in a quiet, hesitant voice. “This has nothing to do with business.”

“What is it then?” I was even more taken aback.

He looked at me with a warm, yet serious expression and it was only adding to my confusion. “It’s just something I would like you to sign.” He pushed the document to my side of the table and I noticed most of its content was hidden under some kind of a foil.

The only visible part was the part that I needed to sign. When I reached to remove the layer of foil that covered the text that revealed the nature of the document he wanted me to sign, he took hold of my hand, preventing me from reading it. My eyes darted towards his and suddenly there was tension between us.

“Why won’t you let me read it?”

We still cautiously held our gaze on each other. “There is no need to read it,” he said self - confidently. “I just want you to sign at the bottom of the page.” He pointed towards the spot where my signature needed to be placed.

Surprised, I drew in a harsh breath, thinking that he must have lost his mind if he expected me to follow his instructions. “Sebastian, I’m sorry but I won’t sign something I haven’t read.” I gave him a challenging look. “I’ve learned that the hard way.”

He sighed and looked at me with so much power, almost like he was silently willing me to do as I was told. “Isabelle, do you trust me?”

“I do,” I said and then stopped in frustration. “I do, but...”

“Yes or no, Isabelle?” He asked in a serious voice and I had no choice but to tell him the truth.

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Then sign the document,” he encouraged me in a light voice that had an undertone of desperation.

He really wanted me to place my signature on that piece of paper.

“I won’t read it.” I noticed a sign of relief in his eyes but he didn’t know I wasn’t going to let it go that easily. “But I want you to tell me what it is,” I demanded.

“It’s just a gift, Isabelle,” he whispered with a sad smile. “Just another birthday gift.”

I don’t know if it was the vulnerability in his eyes, or the sweetness in his smile, but once again I fell under his spell and before I realized what I was doing, my hand was taking hold of that pen and signed the straight line at the bottom of the page.

“Now will you tell me what it is?” I asked when returning the document to him.

He smirked, some of the tension gone from his stare. “You’ll find out soon enough,” he said, adding to the mystery and I wanted to react but he cut me off. “Very soon, love... A lot sooner than you think.”

It was clear that there was no point in insisting on the matter, so I decided to let it go and the moment I did, the light mood magically reappeared at our table. Sebastian paid for the meal, once again praising how tasty everything had been and the waiter seemed to be so happy with the generous tip that he decided to give us a whole bottle of ouzo as a gift on the house. I rolled my eyes when Sebastian rewarded me with one of his childish and teasing glances. Luckily, it was enough to get him to sustain himself from prolonging my embarrassment so he thanked the waiter and we left the restaurant on a happy note.

Once outside, we walked towards the car, still talking about the delicious food and the little incident with
ouzo
. Sebastian was so amused that he just wouldn’t let it go. There was also something that I wasn’t ready to let go but mentioning that document would only ruin the mood so I did my best to hold back the annoying curiosity that consumed me.

At some point, we reached a small square with the fountain in the middle. There were a few people who made a wish before throwing a nickel in the water. I thought it would be fun to try, so I rushed to the fountain and Sebastian followed after me. Small droplets of water that jumped from the fountain sprinkled my face and I sensed he was behind me. When his arms embraced me, I turned my head and my nose touched his chin.

“Got a nickel?”

“What for?” he deliberately teased.

“To make a wish, silly.”

I could tell he was smiling. “I didn’t know you had to pay for wishes.”

“Well, you do. Don’t you want to make one, too?” I slowly turned to face him and I saw that he held that same distant expression like when he asked me to sign that document in the office.

Suddenly, he swallowed; making a visible effort to ignore whatever it was that tortured him. “That depends. Can we use the same nickel?” He tried to joke but I could tell he wasn’t in the mood for fun at the moment.

Neither was I. Still, I decided to play along. “Of course we can’t. That’s not how the wish system works.”

“How does it work then?” His voice was almost brittle.

“Everybody pays for their own wish,” I breathed.

“Well, if that’s the case, I think I have a better idea about the means of payment we should use.” He took hold of my hand. “Close your eyes, Isabelle,” he whispered and I listened to him. “Now make your wish, sweet.” His voice was even softer. “And I’m going to make mine.”

As we both stood there with eyes closed, making a wish at the same time, I wondered about what he wanted because I still wanted the same.
I wished for him to never leave my side
.

Our eyes snapped open at the same time and I looked at him expectantly. “Ready?” he asked for a confirmation and I nodded, suddenly remembering that he mentioned something about using the appropriate means of payment. “I hope it comes true, love,” he said softly and squeezed my hand even tighter.

To my absolute shock, Sebastian took the wedding ring off my finger and before I got a chance to react, he threw it in the fountain together with his own. For a moment, I just stood there with my lips parted, gaping at him in complete confusion.

“Congratulations, Miss Walsh.” He fought to say the words and I still stared at him stupidly, wondering what kind of a mind game he was playing with me this time.

“Sebastian, what have you done? I have absolutely no idea what yo—”

“I’m talking about your birthday present,” he interrupted me and then took a deep breath, finally shedding some light onto the mystery. “Isabelle, I am giving you your freedom. The document I made you sign was the final conclusion of our divorce papers,” he muttered nervously, waiting for my reaction.

I was paralyzed when I heard those words and after the initial shock worked its way out of my system, I started feeling something completely different - boiling anger.

“Isabelle—” he started saying something but I cut him off with a big fat slap on his face.

He covered his hand over his swollen cheek for a moment and then looked at me with a baffled expression on his face. “What was that for?” he asked like he really didn’t understand.

“Are you kidding me?” I raised my voice and started walking away but he followed right after me. I stopped and turned towards him. “Sebastian, stay the hell away from me because I swear right now I could slap the life out of you!”

It was the first time I talked to him like that and I really meant it. I couldn’t believe his audacity. There was so much frustration inside of me at that moment that I felt like I could seriously hurt him. On the other hand, the sudden smile on his face told me he didn’t take my tantrum or my threats seriously at all. He found it rather amusing. But I had no intention of staying for the show. I continued walking away from him as fast as I could.

“Isabelle!” He kept calling my name and he wouldn’t stop following me. “For the love of God, please wait.” He was so strangely calm and it made me more upset.

I ignored him, but he caught up with me and took hold of my elbow, preventing me from getting away. “Sebastian, let go of me!” I demanded, but of course he wouldn’t listen to me.

I remembered the scene with Dianne.
Where is a glass of wine when you need one?

“You stubborn girl!” He said with playfulness, completely oblivious to the anger that seethed in my blood. “Why won’t you let me explain?”

“What is there to explain?” I glared at him with sheer menace. “You’ve just divorced me without even telling me. Without even asking me. On my birthday!” I remembered the Rosemont rule, the contract and Colin Everett’s will. “How... How is that even possible?” I spoke incoherently and he just kept smiling. “What the hell is wrong with you, Sebastian?”

“Isabelle, there is a reason why I’ve done this,” he started cautiously and when he noticed that I didn’t run away from him, he continued. “I just wanted—”

“Roses for the beautiful lady?”

The sound of a gruff voice interrupted him in the very crucial moment he was about to spill the truth and both Sebastian and I turned in the direction the voice came from and we saw an old man with a basket filled with bouquets of red roses.
Talk about wrong timing.

The man waited for our reply and finally both Sebastian and I spoke at the same time. “Yes, of course,” Sebastian said pleasantly while I almost screamed, “Absolutely not!”

The man already held out the roses and stared at us, confused, while Sebastian sighed in apparent frustration.

“Isabelle, don’t be a child. Just take the roses,” he said gently, but I sure as hell wasn’t accepting flowers from him that night.

I glared at him. “I don’t want them. Besides, buying me flowers with thorns might not be the best idea right now if you care about your safety,” I added defiantly.

“You’ve become dangerous,” he teased but I was in no mood for his sweet talk.

“I don’t want the roses!” I repeated.

“How much?” Sebastian ignored my refusal and decided to buy them anyway.

“Oh no, you don’t have to pay. I wanted to give them for free.” The man looked at my hand, looking for a confirmation about the status of our relationship and when he noticed there wasn’t a ring on my finger, he continued. “Your girlfriend is very beautiful,” he told Sebastian and I almost burst into sarcastic laughter but managed to hold it back. “And you seem to need a bit of help right now,” he whispered the words that were meant for Sebastian’s ears only, but I had heard them.

I touched the finger where the ring had been placed only minutes ago and suddenly I felt empty, alone and abandoned. The reality struck in, replacing the anger. I wasn’t Mrs. Everett anymore. I wasn’t his wife.
Isn’t this exactly what you asked him for not that long ago?
The little voice in my head tortured me. “Not now... Not anymore,” I mumbled to myself and started walking.

“Is this some kind of a trick?” Sebastian interrogated the man and gave it up when he noticed I was walking away from him again in resign.

“Here.” He gave him the money and took the bouquet of roses.

The man protested but Sebastian asked him to take the money because he didn’t have the time for discussion. As he ran to catch up to me, I didn’t try to run away from him. I was tired and I just wanted the day to end.

“Isabelle, wait!” he yelled and I stopped.

By the time he reached me, I looked at him miserably, without any anger or resentment.

He gazed at me, still unfazed by the reality. Maybe that was what he wanted all along as well.
Freedom. Freedom from me.
The thought was killing me inside and I swallowed in pain.

“We have to talk. I want you to understand why,” he said calmly and I shook my head.

“Please, just take me home,” I said and then remembered I wasn’t his wife anymore. “Or take me somewhere…” I exhaled and surrendered, falling right into his arms that soothed me with their magical power.

I bet he expected me to cry. I wanted to. But there was no point in crying, was there?

“Everything will be okay.” He kissed the top of my head. “Come, let’s take a walk.” I looked up at him, preparing to decline his offer, but he softly pressed his finger on my lips, silencing me. “Please,” he murmured.

For a short while, we walked in complete silence and the tension was so great that it could have been cut with a knife. Sebastian still carried the bouquet in his hands without making the smallest attempt of giving it to me.
Maybe he was really afraid I would use it as a weapon.
The thought came as a funny distraction and I even smiled for the shortest second but he noticed and it made him look at me with a sense of light relief. Finally, we ended up in a calm street where not so many people walked by and he ushered me towards a small bench.

As we sat down, I felt the weight of the entire world pressing down on me, but he still appeared to be calm. The fact bothered me. It bothered me so much that I felt the sparkle of anger returning to my system. That was the reason why I turned my head away from him when he decided to hand me the roses almost like he was trying to make a peace treaty.