Page 69 of A Taste of Paradise

Naomi could barely bring herself to speak as, back in the hotel room, she stood over Greg. He was exactly as she’d left him earlier, hunched over the bureau and punching away at his laptop. He barely even acknowledged her return.

While he had no idea of the turmoil going through her mind, he was about to find out.

‘Greg,’ she began, as she tried her best to keep her composure. It had only been minutes since she’d left her sisters back on the beach and it was taking all of her strength to remain calm. She had to know the full story – the truth – and that could only come from him. Until she heard the words come from his mouth, none of this was real.

‘Yes, babe?’

‘Greg, look at me,’ she demanded hotly.

‘Just a sec. I really need to finish this spreadsheet,’ he stated, raising a finger, which really annoyed her. He wanted her to wait, to give him a moment, but she’d already given him far more than that. Naomi had given him five whole years. And she wasn’t prepared to give him any more. Not without answers.

‘Are you ever going to marry me?’ she blurted out unceremoniously, uncertain herself where that had come from.

Immediately Greg’s typing fingers froze in place. ‘What?’

‘You heard me. Are we ever going to get married? I’m forty years old this week. All my friends are married, some even more than once. They all have families and children and a home. You’ve known for a long time that I also want children and a family and a home. So for someone who loves plans so much, Greg, I need to know if you ever plan on marrying me.’

‘Ah Naomi, where is this coming from?’ he replied, finally closing the laptop on the table in front of him. Then he stood to face her, his expression remarkably calm and unaffected. ‘We already have a home.’

How could he be so composed? she wondered as she looked on the face that she’d spent the past five years of her life loving and believing that she was loved back equally?

Now Naomi wasn’t sure of anything. Did he have another home, another wife, even a child, somewhere else? It was almost too much to comprehend.

‘That’s not an answer,’ she countered but his response or demeanour weren’t making her feel any better. ‘Do you ever plan on marrying me?’

He sighed. ‘Eventually.’

‘Eventually? What the hell does that mean exactly?’ she urged, stunned by his lacklustre response.

‘I mean, if it’s that important to you. I’m not entirely sure we’re ready yet.’

Naomi laughed in disbelief. ‘Not ready? Five years together and you don’t think we’re ready. So what precisely is missing, Greg? What are we waiting for? Because I feel I’m not quite getting the full picture here.’ She glared at him. ‘Or should I say, I know I’m not.’

‘Babe,’ Greg started, stepping towards her and attempting to embrace her. Naomi promptly stepped back.

‘Don’t “babe” me, just tell me!’ she demanded, refusing to be swayed by his charm as she had been so many times before. She didn’t want excuses or reasons to be fobbed off. She didn’t want to be distracted. She wanted the truth and she wasn’t going to stop until she got it.

‘Hell, Naomi, what do you want me to say? You know this kind of stuff isn’t as important to men as it is to women.’

The reply was like a slap to the face. What did she want him to say?

‘I want the truth, Greg. Do you think you can give me that much at least? I know there’s something else at play here. And I want to know what it is.’

His expression shifted a little as she said this and, seemingly having thought about it, he gave another word-weary sigh. ‘Do you think you can handle it?’ His gaze was fixed on hers and so blank that it gave Naomi pause.

Was she prepared to hear him say the words out loud, even if she thought she already knew what he was about to say? One half of her did, but the other knew that the moment the truth left his mouth, her world and everything she thought she was so sure of would surely vanish in an instant.

Yet there was no other option.

Naomi lifted her chin, and she looked Greg squarely in the eye. ‘I need to know. Tell me.’

He seemed resigned as he asked her to take a seat on the bed. He pulled up a nearby wicker peacock chair and sat in it across from her and she couldn’t help but think that he looked completely out of place amid the flamboyance of it, a bit small and pathetic even.

Lowering herself onto the plush duvet, Naomi waited for him to continue, inwardly still questioning whether knowing the truth would make anything better after all. She didn’t blame her sisters for arguing about it, she was in two minds enough herself.

‘For years I’ve listened to you talk about all this stuff you visualised for our future together. I cared about you, so I let you dream but those dreams were never mine, Naomi. I never wanted the kids and dogs and that whole house in the country thing you always talked about.’ He paused, and she sat stunned as he studied her expression.

‘As you know, I’ve always had a plan, since long before you, and a clear vision of how I’d like my life to be. When we met, and especially after moving in together, I thought you were perfect. Except for one thing: your fixation with having a family and all that domestic stuff.’ He shook his head. ‘We have an amazing life, Naomi; enough money to do whatever we want, travel when we want – like here – and a great apartment in the city back home. We can buy whatever and do whatever we want on a whim without hesitation or working ourselves to the bone to pay back stuff on credit. I truly can’t understand why you would want to throw a hand grenade into the mix.’