Chapter 30 : Taking a Step Back

**Cat POV "Is this all too much for you, Cat?" Luke asked me. I wouldn't meet his gaze. My mind was far off, thinking of how my best friend had betrayed me again. "Cat, look at me," Luke urged, squeezing my arms. Slowly, I turned my eyes to his. "I'm tired," I admitted. "Please tell me, is all of this too much? Because if it is, just say the word. I can have you on a flight back home in a few minutes. No questions asked," he offered. For a moment, the offer sounded really appealing. I gave Luke a half smile, grateful that he was looking out for me. Then I shook my head. "No. I can't leave the project. Now that I've met the lead architect. I'll be okay as long as I stay away from the main event." "I wish this wasn't happening while we were here. I know it can't be easy," Luke said apologetically. I shrugged indifferently. "You could have told me this was happening before we met at the airport." Luke bowed his head and nodded. "I know. I should have. Or, when I knew about their plans, I should have rescheduled our business trip." "That isn't good enough, Luke," I said, shaking my head. After seeing Barbs hugging Fiona, I finally had to deal with how I felt about being here for Aaron's wedding. I hadn't been thrilled about it in the first place, but I thought I could handle it. Seeing Barbs there to support my cheating former fiance made me feel like I was losing everything all over again. "Trust me, Cat, I get it. This wasn't what I had in mind, either. I'm sure seeing your friends here for the wedding didn't help," he said. I scoffed and pulled away from Luke. "No, it really didn't help!" I snapped. Luke held his hands up in surrender and took a step back. "I couldn't stop them. I didn't want them here, but they insisted on Fiona getting married before she starts showing. They thought the Caribbean would be a romantic place for a destination wedding. Since I'd already planned a trip, they just decided to come along." "Right, and you couldn't stop them," I hissed through clenched teeth. "Maybe I could have. Maybe we could have rescheduled. Do you really want to argue about what we could have or should have done?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. I shook my head again. "No." "Let's get out of here," Luke offered. He pulled out his phone and called a car to pick us up. While we waited, I thought about everything that Luke had said. He was right. I couldn't dwell on the past. That didn't mean I had to be at the resort around the wedding. I didn't want to see what was being planned because I didn't want to be comparing it to what Aaron and I had planned. I didn't want to see my best friend gushing over someone else's wedding, the same someone my fiance cheated on me with. The car arrived, and I silently slid into the back seat. Luke got in with me, but he didn't try to talk to me, which I was grateful for. "My best friend," I muttered when the car pulled away from the curb. "What was that?" Luke asked, leaning closer to me. "I can't believe my best friend came to my ex-fiance's wedding. Am I the crazy one for being upset about this?" I asked, looking at Luke. He pursed his lips and rubbed his hands on his thighs. "I don't think there is any wrong way to feel about this situation. If you are upset over it, then I think that is completely justified." "How is it that Aaron still gets everything? He got the house, he gets the girl, he gets the big wedding and big family, he gets to start a family, and he gets my friends. They didn't even know Aaron before I dated him." Suddenly, every thought I had flooded out uncontrollably. "Maybe they aren't the kind of friends you want if this is the way they treat you. Friends should respect you and your feelings," Luke offered. "Yeah, I guess." I looked out the window and stopped talking about my feelings. Luke was just trying to help, and he was saying the right things, but I wasn't sure I was ready to hear it. I'd been feeling completely alone since I'd walked in on Aaron with Fiona. I felt abandoned by my mother, betrayed by my friends, and freaked out by my boss.... It was too much to think that I was losing my best friend on top of all that. The car pulled up at the villa a few minutes later. We headed back to our cabins. As I was about to go to mine, Luke grabbed my arm. "You shouldn't be alone right now," he said. I swallowed hard. I'd just been thinking about how much I didn't want to be alone. It was like he was reading my mind. "Uh… sure," I said, nodding. I followed Luke into his cabin. As soon as he pushed the door open, the silence was shattered. "Yeah, well, that's not acceptable. I'm going to call your boss, then your boss's boss. If I still don't get the answers I want, I'm going to call my lawyer. How's that?" Johanna barked into her phone. Luke's living room had been transformed. Johanna had pushed the couch back and had a rolling whiteboard brought in. Already, it was covered with little scribbled notes. She had two laptops and a printer set up on the coffee table. Somehow, she was managing to type rapidly on both keyboards -one hand on each laptop- and threaten the person on the phone. "That's what I thought. Thank you. Yes, I'll hold," she said. She set the phone down, putting it on speaker so we could hear the horrible elevator music. "Where the h*ll have you been?" she asked, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. "In a meeting with Albert Williams," Luke said, raising an eyebrow. "I've been trying to get in touch with you. We have a ton of things to finalize before we break ground. Are you even serious about this project?" she chastised. "I'm sorry, Johanna. I had a meeting," he said again. "That's not good enough! We've got deadlines to meet. Let's do it," Johanna insisted, glaring at Luke. "Alright, I'm here. I'm yours. You have my undivided attention," Luke said, grinning. He glanced at me, and I shrugged. "It looks like you've got your hands full," I said. Luke smirked. "I'll catch up with you later." "Sure," I muttered. I left Luke's cabin and went back to my own. Somehow, today, the soft sea breeze and the tropical palms didn't seem as magical to me anymore. I curled up on the couch with a blanket and a book. Reading should have been a good way to keep my mind off of everything, but my thoughts kept wandering back to the hotel. I almost wished I had work to do. As it was, Luke had essentially given me the day off. He clearly had a lot to do with Johanna, and he didn't need my help with that. Unless he called me up with something else, I could just relax. It was the relaxing part that I found so difficult. Every now and then, I heard Johanna's high-pitched voice rise in volume as she hounded Luke about something. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but she sounded really serious and insistent. Last night, Johanna seemed like a fun, friendly person that liked to dance. Today, she was a tenacious terror that was poking Luke like a cattle driver. I actually felt a little sorry for him with how she was all over him. Every time I heard her volume go up, I smiled a little to myself and closed my book so I could try to listen. As hard as I tried to relax, I couldn't. The thought of Barbs at the resort eating lunch with Fiona and Aaron and the rest of Luke's family turned my stomach. I was about to give up on my book and eat myself into oblivion when my phone rang. "Hey you," Jason said when I answered. "Jason, what are you doing? It sounds like you're skydiving," I said, hearing a whoosh of wind in the background. "I got a Jeep from the resort and thought about going on a driving tour of the island. Want to come with?" he asked. "I don't know, Jason. It has been a bit of a rough morning," I admitted, picking at the blanket draped over my knees. Jason chuckled on the line. "What better way to forget and recover than to literally have your breath taken away while I speed you around the island?" I laughed and shook my head. That didn't sound so bad. I'd hardly seen any of the sites, except for the resort and the villa. "Come on, Cat. I even packed a picnic lunch. We'll go nuts," he offered. "Don't you have to work today?" I asked. I curled my knees to my chest and wrapped my free arm around them, wincing as Johanna's voice rose again. It might be a good idea to get away from the crazy woman next door. "Nah. Johanna is a tyrant when it comes to managing the finer details. I'm sure she is giving Luke an earful right now," Jason said, chuckling. I sighed. "Actually, yeah, she is." "I figured. So, when Johanna is on a tear, the best thing to do is get the h*ll out of her way. That's why I got the Jeep," he said. "Fine, fine. I could use a change of scenery," I said. "Great. Head up the boardwalk, and I will meet you at the entrance to the villa," he said. "Let me change real quick. I'm still dressed for my morning meeting," I told him. We hung up, and I ran to the bedroom. Quickly, I threw on something more casual. A pair of cutoff jean shorts and a loose, button-up white shirt with a tank top underneath. I grabbed a pair of sunglasses and headed out the front door. For a moment, I considered letting Luke know where I was going. I knew he had misconceptions about my friendship with Jason. As I walked over to his cabin, I heard Johanna shouting again. I stopped myself from knocking. That would have to wait. Jason honked his horn, and I scurried down the boardwalk to where he was parked. He had a red Jeep with no top. It looked exactly like the kind of Jeep that belonged on a beach. He even had surfboards in the back. "Surfing?" I asked. "If we have time," Jason said. He grinned behind his sunglasses and leaned over, opening the door for me.