CHAPTER 81: MY RESPONSIBILITY

I had never been on a cruise before, and under normal circumstances, I was certain that I would feel excited about the opportunity to experience something new and potentially fun. However, standing behind the two of them as we waited to board the cruise only gave me a twisted feeling in the pit of my stomach. There was a big part of me that wished I could just turn and run away, but regardless of what I thought, my legs were rooted to the spot.

"Let’s go to our room first, and then we can go sightseeing on the dock. Are you hungry? Let me know if you’re hungry because the restaurant here serves awesome seafood," Rosabella said before flashing me a warm smile.

"That sounds like a plan," I replied, returning her smile.

Ever since stepping out of the car, I noticed that Raphael had not said a word, and it seemed like his mind was elsewhere.

"Raphael, is everything all right?" Rosabella asked him, echoing what was on my mind.

"It’s nothing," Raphael replied, although it was clear that his attention was still elsewhere.

We were welcomed warmly by the staff and led to our rooms. Rosabella seemed excited but not surprised when we were led to a suite with two bedrooms and a shared living space. Overall, it felt like we were in a luxury hotel, and everything seemed to sparkle beyond my imagination. Once again, I was amazed as if I had just stepped into another world that I was unaccustomed to, and that was not so far from the truth. What was more shocking to me was the fact that our rooms weren’t exactly completely separate in the sense that we still shared a common area, and our bedrooms were practically sharing a wall. As I hesitated about what to do, Rosabella quickly explained our sleeping arrangement.

"This is your room, and Raphael and I will be in the next room. The bedrooms are pretty much the same size, so hopefully, this is fine for you," Rosabella said before showing me a friendly smile.

"Of course, I’m fine with anything," I replied half-honestly.

When I hesitantly agreed to come on the trip, my mind had not thought so far ahead to consider our sleeping arrangement. I told myself that naturally, since the two of them were already engaged, they should be sharing a room. I watched as Rosabella walked around the living room admiring the small decorations here and there with a satisfied smile on her lips before my eyes glanced over to Raphael just to find him typing on his phone as if the entire affair did not concern him at all. It seemed like the two of them were fine with the arrangement, and that made me feel terrible about the heavy feeling that had developed in my chest at the thought of them sharing a bedroom.

"Shall we get changed and head up to the dock? The weather is so fine today, so I’m sure that the view would be breathtakingly beautiful. We can sunbathe, or we can enjoy our time chatting over afternoon tea," Rosabella suggested, and I could tell that she was in a very good mood. Under normal circumstances, I would have thought that her invitation sounded like music to my ears. However, I couldn’t help but notice just how gloomy Raphael looked. If anything, Raphael had a very irritated look on his face. Before I could say anything, Rosabella turned to pay full attention to Raphael.

"There’s a party tonight at the jazz bar, so I was thinking that we should go there together. Some of our old friends will be there too, and they surely want to meet you," Rosabella said before smiling sweetly at Raphael with hope sparkling in her eyes. Even I could tell that her invitation was reserved for Raphael only and did not have any space for me. I tried my best to ignore what was going on, but Raphael seemed to have a different idea.

"I have something that I have to do now. Urgent business. You and Abigail should go together," he replied curtly, and without another word, he headed for the door. I was just as shocked at his blunt response and abrupt exit as Rosabella was as we both stared in the direction where the door had closed behind him. Although we had just arrived on the cruise, Raphael had already abandoned us, and the semi-honeymoon trip on the cruise that Rosabella had planned turned out to be a girl’s outing between her and me. The look of hurt and disappointment on her face as she stared at the closed door made me feel bad for her.

"I’m sure he’ll join us for the party at the jazz bar later. Why don’t we head to the afternoon tea for now?" I suggested after surmising that was probably our best move.

...

The wind blew my hair back over my shoulders, and the sea was a beautiful shade of blue. The tea that was served smelled sweetly of peppermint that complemented the scones and other various assorted cakes so perfectly. Despite the perfect setting, I was struggling to have a great time, and that was probably attributed to the fact that the woman seated opposite me wouldn’t stop looking so agitated. It wasn’t like I didn’t know what she was thinking about or what was making her feel that way, but that didn’t mean that I knew how to calm her down or make her feel any better. On top of that, it was very hard for me to strike up a conversation with Rosabella.

"This tea is very delicious. It smells so nice and so fresh," I commented, trying my best to smile. Rosabella didn’t even look at me or react to my words. Just when I thought that I should completely give up, she suddenly looked straight at me.

"You are going to make sure that Raphael turns up to the party tonight," she told me through gritted teeth.

–To be continued...