Pelican Island - December 5th, 1995 - 7:15 pm

 

She was late.

           Yannick sat alone at the table for two, dismayed she hadn’t even called. It wasn't like her, but she hadn't quite been herself this past week. To perk things up, he suggested they dine where they first met, but she seemed aloof. Perhaps it was a bad idea. This place held too many bittersweet memories for them.         

            A balmy breeze from the trade winds rolled off the beach and wafted through the rustic Coconut Shell Restaurant and Bar. It, along with the dimmed lights and soft reggae music, seduced patrons into keeping their conversations at a low murmur.

            "I can't believe I'm bumping into you. You've been scarce."

            The voice came from behind him, and Yannick held his breath as soon as he heard it. Could it be? He hoped not. When he turned to look, he was disappointed.

            "Xavier? What are you doing here?"

            "Is that how you greet an old friend?"

            Rising, Yannick forced a smile to his face and stretched to embrace the other man, but Xavier moved away and sat in the empty chair. Yannick raised a brow at the slight, but he held his composure and sat as well. "I'm waiting for someone," he said.

            "At our old haunt?”

            Xavier's tone seemed illusory, but then Yannick thought himself paranoid for thinking that. Still, observing him in the dimness - the blankness in his dead stare - Yannick felt his paranoia settle into a certainty that his initial impulse was correct. It was too much, so he glanced away.

            "Who are you waiting for?" 

            "No one you know, ” Yannick said, his gaze still averted.

            "Do you believe in Karma, Yan?"

            "Karma? Not so much, but Kama Sutra...hell yea." He threw his head back and laughed, hoping his joke would lift the mood, but his chuckle wavered when Xavier didn't join in with a snicker of his own. Yannick's eyes wandered over to him and their gazes locked, drying his residual laughter. He slouched into his chair. "You still haven't quite said why you're here."

            "I still love her." 

            "Can't help. I didn't stay in touch with her after you left."

            "Liar."

            The chatter at the nearby table dipped, and the clinking of cutlery against glass ceased.

            "Can you keep your voice down?"

            "My family's yacht has been in the harbour for two weeks. After all these years, I finally mustered up the strength to come back to the island and right the biggest mistake of my life. I figured if she didn't want to talk to me she'd at least tell me where you were, since I spent five years trying to stay in touch with you, yet I got no response when I reached out. You can imagine my shock to learn that not only could she find you but the two of you are married."

            "You spoke to Wendy? 

            "She didn't tell you?

            "Last week?" 

            "Apparently you're not the only one who keeps secrets."

            "How? You don't even know where we live."

            "I guess it's hard to hide on a small island. Avoidance doesn't work quite as well as when one party is overseas."

            "Did you tell her...”?

            "That I still love her or that you plotted and schemed to break us up? No, on both accounts. I only connected the dots after she and I spoke. You planned this all along. That night, the pictures. They were all lies weren't they?"

            "Perhaps."

            "Fraud. You manipulated us both so we wouldn't trace it back to you. To think I didn't believe her then."

            "Well, it doesn't matter now. She's my wife," Yannick said with the lack of remorse he felt. He expected Xavier to cringe, but the Xavier looking back at him seemed different to the younger man he remembered.

            "Your marriage is based on schemes, and you know what they say about Karma..."

            "It's a son-of-a-bitch."

             For a moment, no one said anything, but then Xavier broke the silence.

            "I'm going to get her back," he said. Then he rose and left.