Page 36 of Broken Butterfly
“Just friends,” I remind her.
Eduardo suggests I go get changed as an early lunch will be ready soon. I go to my room and take a quick five-minute shower to wash away the chemical smell of the pool from my skin. For clothes, I choose a long-sleeved floral day dress that falls just below my knees. As I’m walking out of my room, I hear Fallon’s voice coming from the bedroom across from mine. I know I shouldn’t eavesdrop, but I quietly tiptoe over to the closed door anyway. I can’t make out much, but I do hear snippets of phrases like “It’s time” and “See you soon.” When I don’t hear anything more, I slip down the hallway and make it to the stairs right before I hear footsteps coming up from behind me.
“Nice dress,” Fallon comments and takes my arm as we descend the stairs. He must have changed before I came in because he’s wearing jeans and a fresh shirt. The urge to ask who he was talking with is dancing on the tip of my tongue, but I let it go and instead say, “Eduardo is nice. He clearly is head over heels for your sister. The age difference is a bit weird, though. I mean, if she’s eighteen now, when did they meet?”
“It was actually an arranged marriage between Tatiána’s mother’s family and Eduardo’s father. Tatiána has known Eduardo her whole life. They got married when she was sixteen.”
I stutter in surprise at both the arranged marriage and her age. “At sixteen?”
I couldn’t imagine getting married that young, but then I remember that Jayson began talking about marriage and children not too long after we started dating. I also remember how I hated that he had planned out our entire lives without giving me much of a choice about it. So much has changed since then and life did not unravel the way I thought it would.
“Where’d you go?” Fallon’s voice intrudes into my heavy thoughts.
“Pardon?”
“You spaced out for a second.”
“Just thinking,” I give him a timid smile.
We walk back out to the pool area. Somehow within the short amount of time of me going inside to change, a dining table and chairs have appeared. They’ve been placed out on the terracotta paver stone patio underneath a very large portable patio gazebo with tied-back curtains. Baskets of fresh flowers in a varied array of oranges and yellows adorn the table and surround the gazebo.
“Looks like we’re right on time.” Fallon places his hand on my lower back and guides me over to where we will be eating lunch. Like a gentleman, he pulls a chair out for me and a perplexed look must be on my face because Tatiána starts laughing.
“Oh, brother, you must not be that romantic if doing the simple courtesy of helping a lady into her chair makes her look, how do you say? Flabbergasted.”
“I make up for my lack of chivalry in other ways.” He winks at her. Now I give a snort of derisive laughter as Fallon takes his seat beside me.
“What? You don’t agree?” He leans forward, grabbing a crystal pitcher, and fills my wine glass, then his. “Should I remind you of New York City, Nordurljosavegur, London, and Paris?”
I concede the truth to Tatiána, “He’s right. Fallon has filled every day of our adventure with more fun and excitement than I could possibly hope for. I’ve had a great trip.”
Servers appear holding tray after tray of platters filled with food that smells delicious and makes my mouth water. I thank my server as he places a plate of herbed crusted chicken and julienned vegetables before me. I nibble on one of the edible flowers Tatiána said she likes to use in the food, and I decide it’s not bad.
“How did you and my brother meet?” Tatiána inquires. She and I haven’t had much of an opportunity to talk one-on-one yet.
“We’ve known each other for quite a while but never really talked much until recently. Fallon and I went to different schools. He actually kind of scared me back in high school,” I admonish, remembering how uneasy I used to be around him.
I wish I could go back and smack Old Elizabeth for being so clueless and timid. She never fully opened her eyes to see what was truly around her. How much living she missed out on because she was afraid and let others make choices for her. Fallon was never the scary, crazy guy she built him up to be in her mind. If she would have taken the time to look closer, she would have seen a lost boy trying his best to survive in a world where his family hurt him on a daily basis and life continuously screwed him over.
“Eduardo scared me as well. I had been aware of him my whole life since our families were close, but I remember the exact day when I really saw him for the first time through the eyes of the young woman I became. It both thrilled me and scared me at how fast I fell in love.”
Tatiána upturns her face and Eduardo presses a kiss to her lips. “Our age difference must be confusing to you,” he adds.
I go with honesty. “Fallon filled me in when we got here, and I did ask him questions. But what I notice most is how in love the two of you are. How Tatiána glows standing next to you, and how you look at her like she’s the most precious thing in the world. When it comes down to it, that’s all that really matters.”
“Tell us more about you, Elizabeth,” Tatiána invites as she offers a roasted grape tomato to Eduardo with her fork. He bites into it and she eats the rest. The way they act with one another reminds of Julien and Elijah. A pang of longing cracks through, causing me to miss my best friend. Julien and Elijah are two more relationships I’ll need to salvage when I get home. It’s just another reminder on how I have fucked everything up so horrendously.
“There’s not much to tell,” I reply with evasion because my life has been a shitty soap opera up to this point. Fallon is silent next to me, but I feel his hand reach over to my leg under the table to let me know he’s there to support me.
“Everyone has a story, Elizabeth. What is yours?”
“Why are you being so fucking nosy?” Fallon snaps at Tatiána.
I see Eduardo tighten up ready to say something. In order to avoid an argument, I blurt out, “I had amnesia.” Both Tatiána and Eduardo’s mouths fall open then shut. “I lost my memory a year and half ago, but everything came back two weeks ago. My life is a bit messed up at the moment. I created a new life for myself, one that I loved, but then my old life came crashing back. Fallon is helping me work through some things. He’s been great. Exactly what I’ve needed.” Fallon’s hand squeezes my thigh.
“I’m sorry that I pried. I meant no offense, Elizabeth.”
“It’s okay. It’s just hard for me to talk about.”
