“And you think, I, Caleb will betray you? Wow, just what do you think of me? What I didn’t know you had an accident? How am I supposed to know if you don’t tell me? You were the one that told me from the onset that you don’t like calls, causal calls unless it’s business-related, I added you to a group where some of our close acquaintances are but you left saying you don’t want crowd, if I don’t invite you for a drink you never extend a hand, you talking about betraying as if I have ever done anything to be labeled that, I feel offended right now, you have been the one putting me at arm’s length and I have been the one trying to make this friendship work because I really like you, I take all the shits you throw at me, should we talk about how your wife acted during your wedding? I felt humiliated, now I feel it’s what you told her about me that made her behave the way she did, I am a great friend to have Rafael, and it your fault you lost me,”
He said, Rafael let out a bored sigh, he wished the dude would just leave already, he never asked to be friends with him, never.
“Are you not going to say a word? If I leave here, we are done and I am never going to talk to you again, if this is about my advice that you let Leonard be or if this has been your mindset from day one, either way, you are wrong about me, I took you as a true friend and cared for you, tried my best to understand you and keep up with you even though you always made me feel shitty,”
“Can we save each other this long talk? There is a reason you came here right? Make it known,”
Rafael said, he rather be busy with work than have the fucked up conversation with Caleb.
“No, I didn’t have anything in mind but to come to check on a friend that I haven’t seen in a while, turns out that I didn’t even have a friend here, to begin with, I am out, I hope you have a great life after you succeed in pushing everyone who cares about you away,”
Caleb said and left, Rafael didn’t bother to put what he said to heart, he just didn’t care, Caleb wasn’t his friend and he didn’t need anyone aside from his wife and their coming baby, that’s all he needed.
“Sir, sorry but why was Caleb crying?”
Armani asked as she entered his office, he didn’t expect that, she might have seen him wrong.
“What do you mean he was crying?
“Well, I saw, and I figured you guys must have fought,”
“And that will make a man cry? I told him the truth,”
“What truth, if you don’t mind me asking,”
“That we aren’t friends,”
He responded.
“Okay, no, you are wrong, Caleb is your friend, a good friend at that,”
Armani said, Rafael looked at her like she had lost her mind, why, how did she know that? And why did she think Caleb was a good friend?
“And you know that how?”
“Sir, not to be nosy, but Caleb, even though he acts like a prick a lot is really loyal, especially to you, you don’t see it because you don’t give it that much attention but there are a lot of things that he does and doesn’t do because you guys are friends, I think you should apologize to him,”
Armani said firmly, shocking him.
“And you think I will listen to you? What have you the right to speak to me like you just did? Are you forgetting your place?”
He roared, he wasn’t having these insults from someone he paid, how could she say he wasn’t a good judge of character, that’s very insulting to him.
“I am sorry sir, it wasn’t in my place to say, pardon my ignorance,”
She apologized.
“Good, now I have a few things I will like you to do for me,”
“What’s that sir?”
“So I was thinking of doing something for my wife, she has been sitting home all day only working in her studio and she doesn’t want to leave the house, so I was thinking of taking her somewhere she could receive fresh air without being crowded, and the only place that comes to mind is Bora Bora but I have never been there so I was wondering if you could make reservations for us, we never had our honeymoon because I was busy with Leonard’s case and you ran away, leaving me to do it all by myself.”
“Sure, I can do that, when do you plan on leaving and how long are you staying?”
“Huh, by this weekend and I want us to stay there for at least a week, a week away from Florida,”
“Okay sir, I will make the reservations, and you can leave by Thursday, are you using the private jet or should I book a flight?”
“The jet please, I don’t want people knowing where we are going to, people have been a little too into my business recently and I don’t want it,”
“Are you talking about the hot couple thing? Because that’s good, and I am a fan, I never knew you guys were so compatible, sorry but I once thought you were making a mistake,”
She said, one of the things he liked about Armani was her ability to speak her mind no matter who it was she was addressing, if only Armani knew that the woman he was with wasn’t the same woman she thought it was, he wanted to tell the world already but Nicole had said she wanted Natalie back first and he respected her decision.
“Yeah, and other things, anyway, do you really think I am wrong about Caleb?”
He asked bringing back the Caleb talk, her words have been replaying in his head making him feel shitty, he still didn’t believe he was wrong though.
“Sir, to be honest, yes, I still think you are wrong,”
She answered.
“Excuse me, sir,”
She said and left, he sat quietly in his office going over his conversation with Caleb, after almost thirty minutes and still not seeing how he was wrong, he decided to go home, he needed to be in his wife’s present to wash off any crude thoughts.
“Home calls,”
He said and left the office.