Nine Times Too Late

Leticia's POV

After every postponed wedding, James usually disappeared for days to stay with Angelina.

I assumed this time would be the same and that I would not see him again before I left.

Unexpectedly, he texted me that night.

Do not take Angie's words to heart. She is kind underneath it all.

I glanced at the message and tossed my phone aside.

It rang again.

James was calling.

"Are you still angry, Leticia?" he asked. His voice sounded rough.

"Do you care?"

The days when a few soft words from him could melt me were gone.

"You are my fiancee. You are the Buono family's daughter. Of course I care."

"If you cared, you would be here with me instead of with Angelina, James." The words came out before I could stop them.

"Leticia..." He said my name gently, the way he used to when he wanted me to forgive him. "This is the last time. I swear. I will make it up to you."

Then he added, "Let us go out tomorrow. Just you and me. I want to spend time with you."

He hung up before I could refuse.

I did not refuse anyway.

It would be the last time I saw him before leaving. I wanted one clean farewell to the past.

The next day, James arrived to pick me up.

When I opened the passenger door, Angelina was already sitting there.

I looked at him. "You said it would be just the two of us."

A flicker of hesitation crossed his face. "Angie has been recovering. She wanted to get some air, so I brought her along."

I waited, thinking Angelina would move.

Instead, James said the words that tightened something inside my chest.

"Would you mind sitting in the back, Leticia? Angie gets carsick. She needs the front seat. You understand, right?"

I said nothing. I got into the back and closed the door.

As the car drove off, I watched them through the rearview mirror. James's hand rested near the center console. Angelina's fingers naturally covered his.

They seemed to forget I was in the car.

At the park, James did not take my hand. He followed Angelina like an attendant.

"This place is beautiful!" Angelina stood in front of a field of flowers and posed. "James, take pictures of me."

He complied with every request, adjusting angles, crouching down, taking shot after shot, then handing her the phone so she could choose the best ones.

Watching them together, I laughed quietly to myself.

I was the fiancee, yet I was the extra.

Only then did James remember me. "Leticia, come take a few pictures too."

Before I could refuse, Angelina called him away.

"James, this one makes me look awful. I want to go deeper into the woods. Come retake it for me!"

James looked at me. For one brief second, he seemed torn.

Then Angelina pulled him away.

"Wait here for me, Leticia. I will be right back."

Ten minutes passed.

Then fifteen.

I walked toward the trees with my heart pounding against my ribs. I told myself I was only checking on them.

Then I heard it.

A low, familiar groan.

I stopped behind a tree.

Angelina was pressed against the trunk, her legs wrapped around James's waist. His face was buried against her neck. His hands gripped her hips with a hunger he had not shown me in months.

I watched them lose themselves in each other.

There was a hollow place in my chest like an open wound. But this time, it did not ache.

It was numb.

I called Lucas.

"Come get me."

In the end, James still managed to destroy everything. The last shred of dignity between us was torn apart in those woods.