When they had finished their dessert, the waiter came out and cleared the table. Jack watched Irina as she sat staring at her hands in her lap. When the waiter was gone, Jack stood and blew the candles out. "You want to go for a walk?" he asked. She lifted her head to nod and he saw tears streaming down her cheeks. He crossed to her and gently pulled her out of her seat and into his arms. She buried her face in his shoulder.
With one arm around her waist and the other gently rubbing her back, he tried to comfort and calm her. "Irina, listen to me," he said. He stepped back to look into her eyes. "You don't have to tell me anymore of this tonight, especially if it makes you this upset. Let's just go for a walk and get some air, okay?"
"There is one more thing you need to know first. You need to know that there was not one minute, one second of my life with you when I didn't want you to know the truth." She took his hand and grabbed her purse from the table. "Can we go back to the room first? I want to wash my face."
"Sure." They left the dining room and went back to their room. They walked the hallways hand-in-hand.
When they reached their room, Irina went into the bathroom and closed the door. Jack sat on the bed to wait for her.
Irina stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her face was red and streaky from her tears; the mascara she had put on earlier was running. She looked downright awful. She turned the water on and splashed her face. She hadn't wanted to break down and cry, but telling him things which she had kept silent all these years was difficult and emotionally taxing. Dredging up things which she had buried long ago was not something she had been expecting to do that night and she had been unprepared for how she would react. She washed her face, removing all her makeup. She looked in the mirror again; her face was still red and streaky, but it wasn't as bad as before.
She sat down on the edge of the Jacuzzi to catch her breath. Crying wasn't something she did a lot of, but lately it seemed to be occurring more and more. And when she did cry, it took a lot out of her. She thought about how Jack must feel, having her perspective told to him for the first time. Did he realize how much she wanted to live a normal life when she had accepted his proposal? Probably not.
She put a hand in the hot water and began playing around. She sat there for awhile, playing with the water in the Jacuzzi and thinking. She realized Jack would probably come and knock on the door soon if she didn't come out. She took a final look in the mirror and saw that the redness and streaks were disappearing. She let out a sigh and made for the door.
Jack sat on the bed, thinking about what everything she had told him. He knew it had taken a lot out of her to tell him those things. He could see it in her eyes, in the way she spoke. Had she really wanted to tell him the truth all the time they were together? There was no real way to find out if that was true, but he had to believe her. He distinctly remembered the day Laura came over to his apartment, her lip bleeding and bruises beginning to color on her face. She had said she fell down the steps at her apartment, but she had really been beaten for wanting to marry him. How could someone be so cruel?
He looked at his watch and saw that she had been in the bathroom for quite awhile. He walked to the door and was about to knock when it opened. "I knew it," she said, smiling.
"Knew what?" he asked, innocently.
"That you would be knocking on the door if I didn't resurface soon. It's a habit of yours; you always did it when we were married." She stepped around him and into the bedroom.
"Ah, but you forget that we still are married," he said as he took hold of her arm, mindful of the bruises that were already there, and pulled her to him. He wrapped an arm around her, holding her against him. He gave her a light kiss on the lips, then started to do the same to her neck.
"I thought we were going for a walk?" she asked, trying to move toward the door. "I was really looking forward to it."
Jack stopped what he was doing. "Okay, let's go then." He took her hand and they left the room. They made their way through the lobby and out the door.
