Chapter 54 Confession
The alarm blared loudly and Cara opened her eyes with a tired groan. Stretching her hand to the table, she turned off the alarm clock and sat up.
Looking around, she realized she was the only one in the room. 'What? Did he have a change of mind after thinking it through the night?' She asked herself.
She hurried out of bed without changing out of her pajamas. "Rom-- Romeo! Romeo!" She screamed his name as she ran down the hall.
Arriving at the bar, she was standing in her pajamas with all eyes on her. Romeo was on his feet as if he had heard her voice and was hurrying to join her.
"Cara, hey, are you okay? Did something happen? Is there a leak in your room?" He hurried to meet her as he asked, a worried expression playing on his face.
She didn't know how to reply, at least not with everyone staring at her like that.
Romeo shook her shoulders gently. "Hey, you okay? You look frightened."
"Please tell me the captain died." Andrew said and everyone was looking at him now. The bartender included.
"Andrew, what the fck man?" Jastrow asked him with a deep frown.
"No no no, don't get me wrong, I don't actually want the captain dead but like for her to run in her pajamas down the hallway while screaming Romeo's name then it has to mean we are all in trouble." He turned to look at Cara. "Right?"
She flashed him an awkward smile. "So... The captain's fine and uhm... There isn't a leak or at least none that I know of. I just... I needed to talk to Romeo... Urgently."
Andrew sighed and shook his head. "Armani, your woman is weird. Pretty but weird."
"Woman?" Cara looked confusedly at Romeo. "Am I your... Woman?"
"Oh shit, Armani just got rejected." Andrew remarked. "Guess she wants to fck and be friends."
"I didn't say that!" She responded sharply. She turned to look at Romeo. "I just didn't-- I mean I--"
"Hey, he's messing with you." Romeo said with a smile. "Come on." He put his arm around her shoulder and led her out of the bar.
She felt her cheeks redden, his woman? How was he so cool walking so close to her with his arm around her. Was that what casual would be for them from now on?
She wished she could run away and jump into the water as she remembered how she had desperately and shamelessly asked him to sleep with her the night before, not remembering that she was on her period.
But did it matter when she couldn't have a child?
That thought alone killed all happiness inside her. What would his parents think when he brought home a struggling woman who couldn't give them at least one grandchild?
She promised to double her efforts and broke very rich, at least then that would be one problem solved.
Romeo pushed open the door to the room and led her inside. Only after entering did she realize that she wasn't inside her bedroom.
"Wait where...?" She muttered but swallowed the rest of her question. Where else would they be except for his room? Thankfully, he hadn't heard her question.
He took off his jacket and sat on his sofa. He tapped on the seat next to him and nudged his head, telling her to come over.
She smiled and walked over to him. Taking a seat next to him, he put his arm around her shoulder and laid her head on his chest.
"Oh right!" He exclaimed. "Do you want to tell me what was so important that you screamed my name like you thought I was dead or something?"
She raised her head from his chest and sat to face him. Clearing her throat, she blinked. "Okay so don't laugh or say anything funny."
"Now I want to laugh." His lips curved into a smile, his dimples sinking into his cheek.
"I'm serious." She pouted.
"Okay," he cleared his throat loudly. "Let's hear it."
"Okay," she responded with a sigh. "So I thought maybe you had... I don't know... Decided overnight that we were a mistake and you left."
"Left where? I swam back home?" His thick brow arched.
"Romeo..."
"Okay, okay, serious. I'm serious."
She let out another sigh. "To be honest... Three years ago when we cut ties, I didn't want to but... I mean I have liked you longer than you think! All those while we were friends, I secretly liked and admired you but I went to visit you one day-- I think Thanksgiving-- and I..."
She stopped and looked into his eyes as if she was hesitant to say what she wanted to say.
"You what?" Romeo asked. He was never one to let go of something once you had started it with him. Especially conversations.
She placed her hand on his thigh. "I overheard your parents talk about me... They didn't like it that you hung out with a poor girl like me and I... I got so hurt that I didn't know what to do."
Romeo was no longer smiling. It was almost as if the man who had been teasing her a while ago had walked out of the room.
He looked apologetically at her, his emerald eyes flickering with pain and sympathy. "Cara I'm..." He bit down on his lower lip. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know. I was such a fool."
"No, it's not your fault, I mean it wasn't your fault. They were right, I was poor. I'm not a billionaire or anything." Tears pricked at her eyes.
"Cara, you're..." He scoffed a laugh. Taking her hands in his, he squeezed them gently. "You're amazing! You really are and I don't think I deserve you. Honestly. I'm just... I've been terrible..."
"No no no," she cupped his face in her small hands as she climbed onto his lap. "Romeo you weren't. You have been the best person to me, the best I could ask for. The people I thought would stay by me forever left me but you-- you stayed! You stayed... And I love you."
He looked into her eyes wordlessly. Sadness gathered and filled his sharp piercing gaze. Guilt overwhelmed him. How could he have been avoiding his feelings for her just because of her wealth status? He was no different from his parents.
"I'm sorry..." His voice was a soft whisper.
She shook her head, blinking back her own tears. It hurt her so much to see as little as a droplet of tears on his face.
Leaning in closer to him, she kissed his tear away and his eyes fell close. He let out a gentle sigh like a heavy weight was left off of his chest.
Opening his eyes again, his hand that was already around Cara's waist tightened, pulling her closer to himself.
Her lips pressed against his softly...