There had been something infinitely soothing about watching the fish swim through the water around her, and Roxanna lost herself in that feeling of floating along with them, wishing that she could actually be in that water, that she could be a fish who had no worries in the world. The day had passed by so quickly, and it wasn't until one of the workers had gently touched her arm that she realized the place had closed five minutes beforehand.
A deep sigh had slipped from her throat as she nodded, and she managed to hail a cab, asking him to take her to Tasty Asian Restaurant. He quickly got her there, taking much less than the fifteen minutes her phone has suggested would be the drive time, and she made certain to tip him well for the kindness. Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside the restaurant, smiling with relief when she saw how quiet it was, since she really wanted to be left alone.
It didn't take her long to get seated, and she was able to decide quickly, putting her complete order in with the server when he came by. Pulling her phone out of her purse for the first time that day, she found that she had missed five calls from Henrik, one from Serena, and one from Lofty. "When it rains, it pours," she said with a mirthless laugh as she then scrolled through the countless text and email notifications. Shaking her head a little, Roxanna opened her text messages and quickly replied to Lofty, sending her best wishes for his day.
So, it appears that a few gentle nudges were all it took for them to reach out. But you can't just shut Henrik out when things get hard. Again, probably unwanted advice, but I did that to Bernie, and it nearly destroyed us. Don't make the same mistakes I did, please. Not when you two can be so happy.
Serena's words cut to the core, because they were true, and she knew that she was shutting Henrik out by avoiding his calls, now that he was actually reaching out to her. I was a little too raw with him today, Serena. I don't want to drag him into my depression, I don't want him to feel like he has to save me. I just need to gather my strength for him. I'm sorry.
Roxanna sent the text before she could second guess herself and then read the chain of text messages that Henrik had sent her. All of them were conciliatory and kind and she felt her heart break a little as she began to understand how he was already taking on her sorrows. Surreptitiously swiping away a tear, she tapped out a reply to him, trying to come up with the right words to say to him, but feeling like she was completely incoherent. Her appetite had started to wane by this point, but she forced herself to eat, not wanting to waste anything.
By the time she was finished, the rain of the day had mostly stopped, though she did use the umbrella on her short walk back to her hotel. The clerk glanced up at her, giving her a warm smile as Roxanna handed over the umbrella. "Did you enjoy the aquarium?" she asked, and Roxanna nodded.
"It was nice to spend a day surrounded by water. I'm sorry that this is getting back to you so late. I didn't realise how late it had gotten."
"It's easy to lose track of time in there, and yet always feel like you haven't seen everything. Purchasing the yearly membership was the best investment I ever made. Have a nice evening, Doctor MacMillan."
She nodded once more before heading to her room, locking the deadbolt behind her as she kicked off her shoes and started to pull off her clothes. A small laugh left her lips when she saw that the cleaner had folded her pyjamas and left them on the end of her bed, which made it so much easier to get ready for sleep. Tugging the soft pants on, she rubbed her hands up and down her thighs before slipping into the tank top and taking a seat on the bed.
Pulling out her phone, she plugged it into the charger and scrolled through her new notifications. Lofty had sent his thanks, along with a picture of him and Dom, which made her smile. Serena, on the other hand, had chosen to be a little salty, sending her just four words: You are a numpty. To her disappointment, there wasn't anything new from Henrik, though she did note that he hadn't read her text yet, either, which was more comforting than she had thought it might be. And despite doing nothing the whole day, she found herself exhausted, so she pulled back the sheets on the bed and crawled in, setting the phone aside after setting her alarm and letting her head hit the pillow, asleep almost before she knew it.
"Did he lead you in, Roxanna?" Turning her head, she gasped to see David standing in front of her, a bandage wound around his head. "Did he fool you that much?"
"Who are you talking about?" In the back of her mind, she knew that she was dreaming, but she couldn't seem to quite wake up. Seeing David, though, made her not want to wake up, since this was the only place that she could interact with him. "David? Who fooled me?"
"I did." She gasped and whirled around, finding John looming over her. She shrank back towards David in fear, wanting to be comforted by him. "I led you around by your stupid, foolish, heart, and you never saw how I was playing you. For someone so incredibly intelligent, you are most easily led astray." John reached out to touch her, and she stumbled back again, tripping over her feet and falling to the ground. Even that was not enough to wake her up, and she started crying as John advanced on her, causing her to scoot backwards until she hit a wall, and Roxanna instinctively curled into a tight ball as she screwed her eyes closed, trying to think of any way to wake herself. "Rox, you need to look at me."
His voice was low and sibilant, sinking into her brain, and she shook her head as she dug her fingers into her shins. "I won't. You're not real."
"Are you certain about that, Rox? I know so much about you, and I can tell you that he always wanted you, despite what I told you. But then you had to go and fuck everything up, and try to separate us again. Didn't you know that you'd always lose?" She felt a rough hand close around her upper arm, and that startled her into looking up into a face that was not John's.
"Henrik?" she questioned, feeling her face fall a little, trying to find an escape from her current nightmare. "What?"
"You need to let go, Roxanna. Keeping your heart in the past is only hurting you and me. There's no future for us. And I think you know that." Still, her dream vision of Henrik bent to kiss her, and she let her eyes slip closed as she tried to savor a moment that would never come in real life. The feel of his lips against her changed in a moment, and she blinked her eyes open to see that she was now kissing John. Tearing her mouth away, she heaved a little as a cruel smirk twisted his beautiful features. "Let him go," the dream wraith said as bile rose in her throat. "He never really loved you."
"No!" she screamed, finally able to open her eyes in the waking world as she sat up in bed, sucking in deep breathfuls of air as her heart raced painfully in her chest. Fumbling for her phone, she unlocked it and hurriedly pressed on Henrik's name, not even remembering to check the time before she did so.
"Roxanna? Is everything okay?"
She felt every muscle in her body relax at the sound of his voice, still thick with sleep, and promptly burst into tears. "No. I just had the worst nightmare, and I, I, I need you here. Please."
"And where is here, Roxanna?"
"The Majestic in Chicago." Those were the only words she was able to get out before her tears choked out her voice.
"I will see you as soon as possible, Roxanna. Hold on to that until I'm there." She couldn't answer him, but let out what she hoped sounded like an affirmative whimper before she ended the call and curled up into a tight ball, still sobbing, unable to fall asleep, her mind still racing from her nightmare.
