Chapter 4 The Reunion

• YENEFER
• After saying goodbye to Franco and Sophia at Rainbow Dream, Franco's mother, Alice, called me. She told me that she and Franco's grandmother, Christine, would come to visit us. It had been a long time since I last saw them. I was so excited about Alice's call that I practically shouted my gratitude over the phone. I couldn't wait to see both of them, especially Grandma Christine. I had missed her and her delicious apple pies.
• They had always been very kind to me and made me feel like family. If they found out that Franco and I were planning to divorce, it would break their hearts. So Franco and I did our best to act like a normal loving married couple until Alice and Christine decided to go home.
• It just wasn't the right time to tell them. We also had to be very careful because Christine was unusually perceptive. She could sense lies and deception from a mile away, like a shark smelling a drop of blood in the water.
• I wasn't expecting Franco at home, but as soon as I saw him, I acted like a loving wife towards him. Honestly, I thought I deserved an Oscar for my performance.
• Thinking about how Grandma Christine scolded Franco before as if he were a mischievous and restless child, I had to hold back my laughter.
• "What's so funny?" Franco asked intrigued.
• "What? Nothing," I murmured. I needed to find a place in the house to be alone for a while. Since Franco and I talked about divorce, it had been a bit difficult for me to stay in the same room as him.
• "Where are you going?" he inquired.
• "To the kitchen."
• "Can you prepare a bath for me, please?" Franco ordered with a cold face.
• "Okay."
• I turned on my heels and went up to the bathroom. I looked at the huge double white porcelain bathtub and realized that I had never used it. Suddenly, I was imagining Franco bathing in it.
• It took me three heartbeats before my imagination blew the scene of Franco in the bathtub out of proportion and made me stumble.
• "What the hell, Yenefer? Stop thinking inappropriately about your husband!"
• I shook my head and turned on the faucet. After adjusting the water temperature, I waited for the bathtub to fill up. I sat on the edge of the bathtub and thought about tomorrow night's dinner. Should I go with Franco? If I were honest, going with Franco to the party would make me a little uncomfortable, but I hadn't seen or talked to his family in a long time. I would really love to see Alice and Grandma Christine again, as well as Lawrence. I have known them since I was a child, and I truly consider them my family.
• While I was immersed in my daydream, the bathroom door suddenly opened. Instinctively, I turned around to look, but I couldn't maintain my balance. The next thing I knew, I was falling into the bathtub. Fortunately, the bathtub was almost full. It was so big that it felt like I had fallen into a pool.
• Terrified that I was going to fall, I instinctively thrashed around. Then, I remembered that I was in a bathtub and stopped.
• Suddenly, the bathroom fell into an unsettling silence, except for the sound of water running from the faucet.
• "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry," I quickly got out of the bathtub, splashing water everywhere as I did.
• "Why are you apologizing?" Franco furrowed his brow and looked at me.
• I was soaked, and all I could see was my bra peeking through my white shirt and my skirt clinging to my legs. Even though I was fully dressed, I felt as if I were naked. I tried to wring out some water from my shirt, but it felt like I was twisting the neck of my dignity.
• "Why did I have to sit on the edge of the bathtub? I could have stayed there while waiting for it to fill up."
• "I'll change the water." I quickly closed the faucet and opened the bathtub drain.
• "No, it's fine. Go change," Franco coughed, threw me his bath towel, and turned around.
• I wrapped the towel around my body and hurried to my room to change into clean, dry clothes. After putting on fresh clothes, I grabbed another bath towel for Franco to use and returned to the bathroom.
• I found Franco standing there half-naked. From where I stood, I could only see one side of his body. He wasn't overly muscular, but he was tense and lean. He looked like a well-chiseled statue of a Roman male deity, and he took my breath away. I wanted to turn around and leave, but my eyes seemed to have a mind of their own. I couldn't help but stare at him. His sideways view allowed me a glimpse of half of his eight-pack abs and his Adonis belt that extended into his pants.
• I swallowed hard as my cheeks started to heat up. Franco was about to take off his pants, but he suddenly stopped and turned to look at me.
• Then, he started walking towards me, giving me a full view of his beautiful torso. My eyes were drawn to the scar on his chest. I looked at it carefully.
• Since when did he have that scar?
• "Can I have my towel, please?"
• I had no idea how long I had been staring. If it weren't for Franco's question, I wouldn't have snapped out of my fixation on his scar.
• "Oh. Yes. I'm sorry," I murmured, lowering my head and handing him the towel with both hands.
• After a rustling sound, the towel was replaced by a pair of pants and a shirt.
• After that, I rushed out of the bathroom and threw his clothes into the washing machine.
• Before long, Franco's phone started ringing again, and Sophia's name appeared on the screen.
• The sudden pang of pain startled me so much that I found myself clutching the sheets. I sat on the bed, thinking about how my own husband never truly belonged to me.
• After a while, Franco came out of the bathroom in a bathrobe. He was drying his hair with a towel.
• Damn, he looked so sexy. But I forced myself to look away.
• "Sophia called you a moment ago," I said.
• He just nodded and quickly took his phone. He looked at me and then went to the balcony to call Sophia. I could hear part of their conversation from where I was sitting.
• "Okay. Now don't cry. Drink some water first. I'll call Jenny and ask her to come to your house. You need to rest enough. I mocked. Sophia's performance would be unbearable even in a movie. I didn't understand why she had to torment everyone in real life too, especially Franco.
• After hanging up with Sophia, Franco came back in, walked to the wardrobe, and put on a charcoal black suit. At this point, I was no longer in the mood to look at him. The more I saw him, the more anguish I had to endure.
• "I'm going out. Don't wait up for me. Call me if there's anything urgent," Franco said to me as if he were reading from a manual.
• "You've had a few drinks. Don't drive. Even though it broke my heart to think that he was running away with Sophia, I still cared about his safety. I didn't want him to get hurt."
• Franco seemed stunned.
• "I'll call the driver."
• Then, he made a phone call. Not long after, a car arrived at the villa.
• FRANCO
• I got into the car and was about to go to Sophia's house, but the disappointment in Yenefer's eyes bothered me a lot. Suddenly, I felt restless, and after a few moments, I finally told my driver, Burton, my destination.
• "The Mint Bar, please," I said.
• I had already asked Jenny, Sophia's doctor, to go check on Sophia. Sophia would be fine if I didn't show up at her house tonight.
• "Yes, Mr. River."
• When I entered the bar, everything was still the same. The neon lights kept flickering, the music kept playing, and the crowd seemed to have not diminished since I was here before.
• "Franco! There you are! I knew you'd come back!" Spencer approached and playfully punched me in the chest.
• "Fuck off!"
• David served me a glass of whiskey. I drank it all in one gulp.
• "Wow, calm down there, Mr. River. What's going on? You look upset. Oh, I know. Let me tell you why you're upset, Franco. It's because you're too greedy. You want too much all at once. Let me tell you something: you can't have two women at the same time. Just surrender, man."
• "Will you shut up for once, Spencer?" David intervened and pushed Spencer away.
• He handed me a pool cue.
• "Let's play. It'll distract you from things."
• "Sure. Why not?" I took the cue and David started setting up the pool table.
• He let me break. Seeing the billiard balls rolling on the table calmed me for a second.
• "But seriously, Franco, would you mind if someone else pursued Yenefer? After you two are officially divorced, of course."
• Upon hearing this, I approached Spencer with the cue in my hand.
• "No, no, you misunderstand. I'm not talking about me. Yenefer is like a sister to me. I just think it's only fair that she also has someone special in her life, you know? You and Sophia have been living like an old married couple since Yenefer left three years ago. Don't you think it's time for Yen to get back into the dating scene? After all, she's single and ready to mingle now. She deserves to be happy too."
• I threw a ball near the side pocket, but it didn't go in.
• "Sophia and I are not an old married couple."
• "Do you mean to say that you have been sleeping with her regularly for the past three years?
• Sophia had always had poor health. Every time I was with her, we did everything except for being intimate. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't subject her to such strenuous activity in her condition.
• "Oh my. Friend, don't tell me you haven't gotten her." Spencer shook his head.
• Before I could reply, my phone rang again. It was Sophia. I declined the call and turned off my phone.
• But upon further thought, Yenefer was alone at the villa. If something happened to her and my phone was off, she wouldn't be able to reach me. I turned my phone back on.
• "What's going on? Was that Sophia? Why didn't you answer?" Spencer asked, confused.
• "It's none of your business, Spencer."
• "Franco, you can't waver between two women like this. It's unfair to both of them. Since you want to divorce Yen, you should treat Sophia well."
• Somehow, the words "divorce Yenefer" sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me.
• "Yenefer and I haven't gone through the divorce proceedings yet. We're still married."