Chasing His Rejected Wife
Chapter 35 -

"NO!" My voice came out louder than I intended and attracted attention. I flushed and nodded apologetically to the other patrons. I leaned forward my voice a low whisper. "Tell me you're joking?"

She shook her head and stole another glance at the door. "He was furious and hurt; justifiably so and I was so mortified, I just...went and hid in the bathroom until he left. I know I should have apologized straight away, but how does one explain their way out of that kind of mess?"

"Oh honey," I squeezed her hand, offering comfort. "Do you still want to leave? It's fine if you don't want to see him right now."

She considered my offer and shook her head, resolute. "Best get it over with, right? I can't keep running forever, I'll just apologize and move on."

"Okay, but let me know if you feel too uncomfortable with him," I assured her. I paused and hesitantly asked the question foremost in my mind. "So...who's name did you call?"

She rolled her eyes and shrugged. "First, you need to understand that I was pissed drunk and it was 3 a.m."

"Of course." I took a bite of food and nodded.

She paused to take a bite, then mumbled around a mouthful. "It was Kel."

"Wait, weren't you two broken up?" I asked, then snapped my fingers as I remembered something. "That night we got arrested, you said Kel was coming to pick you up, did you guys get back together?"

"Not really," She replied with a grimace and fiddled with her fork. "It's...complicated. We are still broken up. That day he came to get the rest of his stuff still at my place and we had sex because I'm an indecisive bitch who can't make up her mind and stick to it."

She sees my sympathetic expression and sighs. "It's fine, I asked him to leave that night and I thought I was doing fine with being over him, but then the thing with Vince happened."

"Please don't tell me you're still blaming yourself for ending things with Kel?" I raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Anna, listen to me; you loved him and if there's anything I know about love, it's that it's not easy to let go of your feelings no matter how much you try to convince your brain to do the same."

Anna shook her head firmly. "Love? I am not in love with that selfish bastard. He made his choice and I made mine."

I nodded, even though I didn't fully agree, but I knew Anna long enough to know she hated to admit she was just a slave to emotions like the rest of us. 'Logic over feelings' was her motto.

""You know, sometimes I wonder if all this toughness I put on is just a defense mechanism," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper, as if afraid to let her words shatter the illusion she had created.

I leaned back in my chair, allowing the thought to settle in the silence between us. Anna had always been the unyielding rock, the one who never let emotions get the best of her. But beneath that facade, there was vulnerability, a human side that craved connection and understanding.

"Anna," I began gently, "it's okay to let your guard down sometimes. We all have our moments of weakness. It doesn't make you any less strong."

"Yes, well." She glared at me without much heat and stabbed at her noodles with her chopsticks. "Look where that got me. Running scared of Doctor Vincent - freaking - Holt, because I couldn't remember who was fucking me when I was with him."

I let out a wry chuckle at that. A text came in from Vincent, letting me know he was close. I showed Anna the message.

"Last chance to escape," I teased, a mischievous grin playing on my lips. Anna responded with a playful flip of her middle finger, her demeanor quickly returning to its usual self. I chuckled, relieved that she seemed to be in better spirits. "If it's any consolation, Vince isn't the type to hold onto a grudge. He's genuinely easy-going and doesn't take most things to heart. I'm sure he'll accept your apology."

Anna didn't appear entirely convinced. She sighed, her eyes darting around nervously. "Maybe, but I wouldn't bet on it. I bruised his ego pretty badly, and you know how men can be when their egos are wounded."

Just then, I caught sight of Vincent through the café window. He briefly glanced at the stop sign and then down at his phone, likely confirming that he was at the correct location. Satisfied, he pocketed his phone and pushed open the door. He looked impeccable in business casual attire - a khaki blazer over a blue checked shirt paired with navy chinos. A pair of designer shades completed the look, but he removed them as he entered, scanning the room in search of me.

I waved energetically to grab his attention, and he nodded when he spotted me, making his way toward our table. As he approached, he finally noticed Anna's distinctive haircut. His pace slowed, the friendly smile fading, and his expression darkening. There was a momentary pause before he continued, but when he did, all traces of ease had vanished from his face.

I couldn't help but cast a worried glance at Anna, who was holding herself still, but I could see the tension etched at the corners of her mouth and the tight grip she had on her chopsticks. My gaze shifted nervously between the two of them, the tension levels escalating with each step he took.

"Hey, Vince," I greeted him with forced cheerfulness, hoping to cut through the palpable tension. "I hope you didn't have trouble finding this place?"

He replied to me, but his intense gaze remained fixed on Anna, almost as if he was trying to convey something through it. "No trouble at all. I just didn't realize you had company."

Anna slowly set down her chopsticks, squared her shoulders, and turned to face him, a plastic smile masking her true emotions.

"Vincent," she greeted him in a neutral tone, expertly concealing her feelings. "Hello."

"Anna," he responded with the same neutrality, his eyes as sharp as flint. I stared at him, captivated, because I had never seen him so...angry.

"Please, take a seat," I urged, gesturing to the empty chair beside me. "There's more food here than the two of us can possibly finish, so join us."

I signaled to Miko for additional cutlery, and Vincent accepted it, pulled out the offered chair, and sat down after unbuttoning the solitary button on his blazer. He had stopped looking at Anna and was now inspecting the array of dishes before

us.

"You weren't kidding; this is quite the spread," he remarked, accepting the cutlery from Miko.

"Yeah," I chuckled. "The owner of this place just happens to be my next-door neighbor, and he offered us nearly everything on the menu." My eyes darted between Anna and Vincent, hoping that the tension would ease as the meal progressed. It didn't.

I exchanged another quick, hopeful glance with Anna, silently urging her to break the ice. Yet, she remained fixated on her plate, meticulously transferring food from it to her mouth. Vincent, on the other hand, seemed to have shifted his attention away from her after that initial tense moment, now fully engrossed in serving himself from the array of dishes.

"How are you?" Vincent inquired, and I turned my focus back to him. His tone was polite, but there was a hint of concern in his eyes, wearing the look he usually reserved for his patients, assessing their physical condition.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts, recognizing the need to ease the palpable tension in the air.

"I'm doing okay, Vince," I replied with a reassuring smile, trying to convey that I appreciated his concern. I lightly patted my stomach and beamed. "We're doing okay. How's work at the hospital?"

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Vincent nodded, apparently satisfied with my response. "Chaotic as usual," he replied, "Work's been demanding, but it keeps me on my toes."

He noticed shopping bags on the floor then. "How's the new place? Settled in yet?"

"It's still a work in progress, but I should be fully settled down by the weekend."

Worry lines appeared on his forehead. "Don't put too much strain on yourself, Jess. No long hours on your feet and definitely no heavy lifting." "Noted, doc." I smiled.

I noticed Anna finally looking up from her plate, her gaze shifting between Vincent and me. Her gaze steadied on him and I could see she was finally ready to talk.

"I need to use the restroom," I announced and pushed back my chair, intending to give them a moment to themselves. I caught Anna's eye and gave her a smile of encouragement. "Be right back."

Vince didn't look too happy at that and looked like he was going to say something. I pretended not to notice and hurried away, suddenly really needing to pee.

I decided to linger in the restroom a little longer to give those two some time to talk and partly to avoid the awkward tension that had been building at the table.

The thing was, that tension wasn't just due to their fall-out. No, there'd been undercurrents of something else - underneath Vincent's anger and Anna's discomfort was a sexual tension that sparked between them.

Had that been there the whole time and I'd just been oblivious to it until I'd found out they had sex?

It was hard to imagine that Anna and Vince had actually ended up sleeping together, particularly because neither of them had ever displayed the slightest bit of interest in the other before. His name rarely even came up in our conversation, and vice versa, so it was still a bit of a surprise - one I had yet to decide if it was pleasant or not.

The group of highschoolers entered the restroom at that moment, several of them giving me weird looks while lingering in there so I decided it was time to head back. My route took me past a door marked 'private' and just as I walked past, it opened and Kenzo stepped out.