Chapter 20
“Oh, this is truly paradise on earth.” Nick walked in from the balcony dressed in white linen pants and brightly colored button-down short-sleeve shirt.
“I know, isn’t this just the best place?” She was laid out on the sofa, reading a novel by Carl Weber, her favorite author, enjoying the villa. “I’ve been to the island before, but this is the best place I’ve stayed. You know, I’m feeling real guilty. I wish you had brought Dee.”
“I know she would have liked this place. But this is about us. Me and you. Friend and friend. Thing one and thing two. Besides, we can come again once you work out your relationship issues.” Nick chuckled. He walked over to the chair across from the colorfully printed sofa she was stretched out on. Reaching to the center table between them, he picked up a glass and poured iced tea into it.
“I don’t have relationship issues.” She stopped reading, and looked at him over the edge of the book cover and over the frame of her glasses. “You are implying that I was in a relationship. I don’t think the stunt I pulled with Victor could ever be considered a relationship.” She sat up slightly, removed her glasses, and put the book to the side. “Isn’t there like a certain time limit that denotes when you can label what you are in as a relationship?”
“I’m sure there is, or maybe there isn’t.” Nick looked confused.
“I thought you had answers to everything,” she joked, and got up off the sofa. Fantasy needed to move around to keep her back in motion.
“How about we take a walk?” Nick noticed that she moved around a little slower than she had earlier.
“Sounds good. Let me change and I’ll be ready. We can probably go grab some dinner while we are out. How about we try the restaurant we walked past a few days ago?” she yelled back to him from the bedroom she was occupying.
As she was dressing, her cell phone beeped, letting her know she had a voice mail. The reception here was up and down. But she wasn’t taking any assignments, and everyone in her family had the number to the villa, so she didn’t feel she needed to keep her phone on her all the time. She ran her fingers through her hair and added a little gloss on her lips. She had fallen in love with the hairstyle Tee had done months ago, and had stuck with it. It was just so easy and carefree. The change she made was the hue of color they had decided on. Tee had decided to make it lighter.
Fantasy removed her phone from the nightstand. She went into her voice mail, but didn’t recognize the incoming number. She put the phone to her ear and listened. It was Victor. His voice sounded really weak, but it was him.
“Fantasy, I know I should have called sooner, but I didn’t know how to fix us again. I can’t stop thinking about you and I just wanted you to know that I love you. A friend once told me that even when she wasn’t reaching out to me, she was still loving me. Fantasy, I’m still loving you.” He hung up.
Fantasy sat down and listened to the message again, closer this time. By the fifth time, she realized that the noise in the background sounded like he was in a hospital. That didn’t make sense to her. He was supposed to be at Andrews, unless he had gone back to Germany. The call made her smile. She didn’t want to get carried away by just a call, but she felt better than she had in eleven weeks, five days, ten hours, and two minutes.
“Oh, Nick. I’m ready for my walk.”
It had taken Kameron a minute to get up the courage to physically go and see Victor. Brittany had actually done the legwork and found out that he was on what they called TDY at Andrews. But, whenever she called to reach him, he was never there. It was like pulling teeth; no one would tell her anything. They had thought about asking Fantasy for the cell number, but didn’t want her to get involved. So they did the next best thing, they called Nick.
They were to meet at Café Taj, an Indian restaurant in Tyson’s Corner. Victor had spent almost all of his evenings and the days that he didn’t have dialysis in that area. It was the place where he and Fantasy had spent the best week of his life. He had even visited the zoo three times. One of those times, he sat next to the same clown and watched him entertain the kids for hours. He visited the same stores, ate at the same places, and did some of the same things, hoping and praying that he would feel close to her; hoping that the hole in his heart would heal just a little. It didn’t, and he was still lonely.
He was trying to do what he could to take care of himself, trying to stay upbeat and positive, and doing all that the doctors were telling him. They continuously told him it was necessary for his health. He was at the point of telling them that it had nothing to do with the illness or lack of rest. He was simply suffering from a broken heart. They were doctors, but maybe they were not trained to recognize matters of the heart.
When Victor heard from Kameron, he was elated. He was as nervous on the phone as he had been that day at the airport. Kameron told him how his mother had shared everything and how she encouraged him to reach out. He never doubted that Fantasy loved both him and Kameron enough to do the right thing. He just wished that he had handled the whole scenario better. He lost her for the second time and he had no one to blame again but himself. He was an expert in breaking the heart of the woman he loved more than life. She had done the right thing all the way around. So, it was time to get to know Kameron.
Victor got out of his car and looked around. Kameron didn’t say what he was driving. He was early, but maybe Kameron was already inside. Victor walked inside the restaurant, and once he looked around and saw that there was no sign of Kameron, he asked to be seated where he could see the door.
Before he could sit down, Kameron walked through the door. He pointed toward Victor and walked in that direction. He extended his hand. “Hello.”
Victor stood up and placed his hand in Kameron’s. “Great to see you again.”
“You too.” He was looking directly at Victor.
Victor was looking directly at Kameron and couldn’t even blink. Before, it was unplanned, and this time it was planned and he felt the same butterflies. “I’m sorry, I can’t help staring at you.” He laughed nervously.
“I don’t know how I missed it at the airport. I felt something when I touched your hand, and I realized instantly that there was something special about you. But I didn’t see me in you until Mom told me.” Kameron opened the menu the server handed him.
Victor followed suit by doing the same. “How did you feel about what Fantasy told you?”
“I love my mom, and I knew how hard it was for her to share with me everything that happened between you two. I admire her because she didn’t have to share. If she never told me about you and she never decided it was time to uncover some painful stuff, I would not have been the wiser and life would have gone on. Mom has a good heart, even at self cost.”
The server returned. “You ready to order?” The lady stood positioned with pen to pad, ready to take their request.
“I’ll have the ginger chicken and vegetable pakoras,” Kameron responded, and handed her the menu.
“I’ll have the same.” Victor decided just to make it simple. He wasn’t trying to show their similarities or anything, but the sooner he ordered, the sooner he could hand his menu to her and she would be on her way, leaving them alone.
“I know that you know a lot about me, but I don’t feel like I know anything about you except what everyone else knows. So, I’m all ears if that’s what you want to talk about, and if it’s not I will listen to whatever you have to say.”
Kameron smiled. “First off, you can call me Kam. Everyone in my family does and I happen to like the nickname.”
“Okay, Kam it is then.”
“We should just let things flow. If you want to ask me something in particular, shoot. I’m easy to get along with. But I don’t want this to be formal. I believe we have a long time to get to know each other. Now, I realize that a lot of time has been lost, but it is what it is. My belief is that we make the best of it.”
“I’m with you there,” Victor said. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t I clear the air on one major issue that affects both of us?” He took a sip of the Masala tea that had been brought out a few minutes earlier.
“What’s that?” Kam took a sip of his and leaned forward on his elbows to listen to him.
“I love your mother. I’ve loved her for a lifetime. Losing her and making the crazy decision to marry Sonya was the biggest mistake of my life. From day one all your mother did was love me. She was aware that I had a girlfriend, and, because I was going through some drama, she provided a shoulder. She never had a hidden agenda, she never talked bad about Sonya, she just extended her friendship. Not many women can do that. It was so easy to fall in love with her. To know that I had another chance to do the right thing and messed it up is tearing me apart. She deserves so much and it seems in one way or the other all I do is bring her drama and heartache.” Victor felt himself tear up. He didn’t mind being emotional, but he wasn’t ready to be all emotional in front of his son. He wanted to come across as a little hard with just a touch of sensitivity.
Kam was looking at Victor and he blinked a few times. Is this brother tearing up? he thought. “It’s my job to protect her. That’s what I’ve always done and that’s what I will always do. Even if it means protecting her from you. We can have a relationship. I’m cool with that. But if you being in my mom’s life is not good, I’m not having it.” Kam paused.
Victor looked stunned. He shouldn’t have been; this guy was going to school to be a lawyer, all the more reason why he should be direct and forceful with an edge. On top of that, he was their son and both of them were direct and no nonsense. He was proud, even though he was getting put in his place by his son. “I’m not—”
“Please, let me finish. I believe you love my mom; there’s no denying that from all she has shared, and I know that she is madly in love with you. The two of you are miserable without each other. You need to go after your woman. You let her get away one time for twenty-one years. I don’t think you got another twenty-one in you. But if I were you, I wouldn’t let another day pass by without letting her know.”
“You are right. I’m going to Charlotte.” Victor wiped the tears away. He couldn’t believe that his son had just straightened him out. He was wise beyond his years.
“You’ve got to go a little farther than Charlotte. Mom’s in Jamaica with Nick. She needed some post-surgery R and R. Not to mention she’s trying to mend her heart.”
“Oh, God, is she okay?” Fantasy had not mentioned anything previously. So he was trying to figure out if something new had occurred or if there had been an accident.
“She had back surgery.” Kam thanked the server who placed his food in front of him. “And, please, man up. All this crying just doesn’t work for my image. If you’re going to hang with me and I’m going to be introducing you to people as my dad, you may need to keep it together.” Kam started laughing. He hoped that Victor could stand jokes, because that was part of his personality.
He was touched again by what Kam had said. “I’ll do my best. You are your mom’s son.” And already he could see himself in the young man that sat across from him, assertive and totally in control. Not quite as emotional, but Kameron was a part of him.
“So, what’s it going to be?” Kam had started eating.
“Can you get away for a few days?” Victor looked at Kam.
“Possibly. What’s up?” He didn’t understand.
“We are going to Jamaica,” Victor said.
Kam slapped him five. “My old dude.”