Eventually she let me go and crawled back on to the bed, motioning for me to join her.
We sat crisscross on the bed in front of one another. For a while, she just stared at me, smiling as if she thought she’d never see me again. And I suppose, she could’ve been right.
“Why did you leave the letter?” There’d been more to it than her just wanting to give me the option. She knew something, something that made her believe that things wouldn’t work out with Brian.
Her smile faded, and I thought her eyes hinted of guilt.
“Why don’t you tell me why you decided to come here first?”
“He cheated and did for most of our relationship, I think. Not that it was all his fault, I knew he was an asshole. He never really tried to hide that fact, but I married him anyway.”
She nodded, knowingly. “Total asshole.”
“Did you know, Bri? That he was cheating?”
“Not until the wedding. I…”
She hesitated and I didn’t blame her for doing so. Who wanted to be the one to tell someone that the night of their wedding, their husband had been screwing another girl?
“It’s fine, Bri. I don’t care anymore. Really.”
“I went in search of a restroom during the reception. With the women’s being cleaned, the janitor directed me to one in a private office down the hallway. I heard him with a woman inside. I should’ve told you, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it that night. That’s why I left the letter. I figured when you found out about him yourself, you would know why I sent it. How long have things been bad?”
I shrugged. The real question was when were they ever not bad? “They always were. I think inside I knew he cheated, but I didn’t find out about it until a few months ago.”
“When did you get the letter?”
“Oh that. Brace yourself, I know you’re going to blow a gasket. Brian gave that to me the day before I came here to Scotland. He’d opened it the week after the wedding. He stayed in your place with her.”
Her eyes tripled in size. “That son of a bitch. Oh, if I was there I would have unleashed a whole barrel of crazy on his sorry ass. I’m so sorry. I didn’t ever think…I wouldn’t have…”
I grabbed her hand. “Of course you didn’t think about that. Why would you? It’s fine, I’m just glad he gave me the letter. I didn’t believe a word inside it of course. I only came to Scotland because I believed you were in some sort of brainwashy cult.”
She laughed and shifted her position on the bed. “What? I told you in Edinburgh. Although, I knew you didn’t believe me.”
“How could I? This is the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced.” My own feet were asleep so I rolled off the side of the bed and moved about the room to stomp the tickle out of them.
“It is crazy, but amazing. I was always meant to be here, I think. What do you think about all of it?”
Many things ran through my mind: the blisters on my toes from uncomfortable shoes that rubbed, the lack of toilet paper, the miserable meals, no hot running water. “I think most of it is completely terrible. Parts of it though,” Baodan crossed my mind, “aren’t so bad.”
“Parts huh?” She looked up at me knowingly. “You obviously didn’t just end up here. Where did you land and who brought you here now?”
*
It wasn’t his intention to listen in on the lassies’ conversation. He’d been on his way to a room to rest and clean up after far too many days out of doors. The sound of his voice being uttered from Mitsy’s lips stopped him cold.
“What do you know about him? Baodan?”
He pressed his back flat against the wall, only leaning his ear toward the doorway so that he could hear Bri’s response.
“I don’t know a lot, only that I like him very much. He’s very close friends with Blaire, and she adores him. He has to be a pretty good guy to remain friends with someone who dumps him days before she’s supposed to marry him.”
He probably imagined it, but Mitsy’s voice when she answered almost sounded jealous. “About that. How did that happen? Baodan told me yesterday that he isn’t capable of loving anymore, whatever the hell that means. Why would he have asked her to marry him? Did they date or something? Do people do that here?”
Bri’s voice was calm, a perfect counter to her fiery friend. With great insight, she seemed to understand his relationship with Blaire better than most.
“I don’t think he ever loved Blaire. I think he enjoyed her friendship and wanted to help her when she was heartbroken and alone.”
“Hmm…that sounds like something the silly fool would do.”
He didn’t know what she meant by that, but she was still clearly upset by what he’d said to her earlier.
“Oh, you’ve got it bad, don’t you?”
Baodan couldn’t repress a grin at Bri’s question. While he didn’t understand the exact meaning of it, he understood the connotation well enough. She asked if Mitsy fancied him.