Cate Goes to Boris

At first, Boris was tempted not to pick up the phone when he saw that it was Cate. Grimacing, he grabbed the receiver. “Yes?”

“Hi, Boris. It’s Cate. I’m downstairs in the lobby. I really need to see you.”

He sighed. “I’ll be down shortly.” He hung up before she could say anything else and got up from his desk. Damn her. What could she possibly want with him now? He was getting tired of her and her family. Why couldn’t they all just leave him alone? He pulled on his jacket and stalked out of the office.

She was waiting in the sitting area when he went into the lobby. She watched him as he approached her. “Hello, Boris,” she said when he reached her. “You’re looking well.”

“What do you want, Cate?”

“Didn’t you get my message?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Why didn’t you call me back?”

“I saw no reason to. We have nothing more to say to each other.”

“When you didn’t return my call, I decided that I would come and see you in person. I wanted to apologize for my Aunt. She mentioned that she saw you at Clos Maggiore and what transpired.”

“She was under the impression that you broke off the engagement because I was cheating on you. Did you set the record straight?”

“Yes, I did. I told her that you weren’t to blame for what happened and I told her why I broke off the engagement. Now, she wants nothing to do with me.”

“So, you came to apologize for your Aunt’s rudeness and you have. What else is left for us to say to each other?”

“I also wanted to apologize for not being honest with you, Boris. When I realized that I didn’t feel the same way about you, I should have told you.”

“Yes, you should have been honest with me. I have always been honest with you.”

“I know.”

“There is something I would like to clear up.

“Yes?”

“While we were together, was there someone else?”

Color flooded her cheeks. “I had a feeling that you were going to ask me that. You told your parents that you believed that there was another reason why I broke off our engagement–that there was another man. When my mother called yours, the matter came up and your mother told mine what you suspected and when my mother called me and asked me about it, I had to admit that I was involved with another man but I made it clear to her that he wasn’t the reason for the broken engagement.”

“So, there was another man.”

“Yes, but our affair was over before I broke off the engagement.”

“Affair?”

“He’s married.”

“So, you were having an affair with a married man while you were engaged to me?”

“Yes.”

“Who ended the affair?”

“He did. He wanted to make a go of his marriage.”

“And if he didn’t end the affair, what then? Would you and he still be seeing each other?”

“Yes.”

“While engaged to me?”

“No. I would have ended our engagement.”

“I had a nagging suspicion for sometime, but I pushed it aside because I didn’t want to believe that you were being unfaithful to me. Of course, that was when I believed that you felt the same way about me but it turned out that I was wrong on both counts.”

“I’m so sorry, Boris. I never meant to fall in love with another man–especially not a married one but it happened. And he didn’t mean to fall in love with me but he did. The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt his wife and the last thing I wanted to do was to hurt you.”

“Not wanting to hurt his wife or me didn’t stop you two from having the affair and if he hadn’t decided to end it, it would still be going on. You know something, Cate, I’m very thankful that it’s over between us. I was blind and deceived but my eyes are wide open now. As it turned out, you’re not the sort of woman I would want to marry. I’m thankful that you broke off our engagement. It hurt like hell at first but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I’ve moved on with my life.”

“You mean with the girl my Aunt and Uncle saw you having dinner with?”

“Yes. She’s everything you’re not.”

Cate flushed. “I deserve that.”

“I didn’t say it to be cruel. It’s the truth.”

“Well, I hope that this new relationship works out for you, Boris. You deserve to be happy. I’m sorry for the way things turned out between us. When you and I were together, I was happy and I really believed that I loved you.”

“It was all an illusion,” he replied. “And now we are both living in reality. You and I were not meant to be together and I’m fine with that.”

“I wish you all the happiness in the world, Boris.”

“Thank you. I hope you find your own happiness.”

Without Derrick, there is no happiness for me, she thought. “Goodbye, Boris.”

“Goodbye, Cate.” He turned and walked away.

Cate watched him go. It was obvious that he was over her. She was happy that he had moved on. If only she could get over Derrick as well. In her heart, they would be twin flames forever. Blinking back the tears, she turned and headed towards the revolving doors. She stepped out into the bright sunshine after donning her sunglasses.

Posted for February 2021 Writing Prompts – #6 – Twin flames forever