Chapter 2 A Called Off Wedding.

Keith looked up at the sky as the dark clouds take over the sky. He could hear the clouds rumbling while his phone keeps buzzing in the back before it went to voicemail once again. He has been receiving calls after calls and messages after messages from his family and friends, but he was in the Bahamas for a reason – he didn't want to talk to or face them. He sighed and rested his forehead against the cold glass of the sliding door. The whooping wind made the windows shudder. He closed his eyes and listened to the rain gushing on the ocean and the pool outside.

He could hear the usual calm and gentle waves crashing on the rocks just before the resort. It was a storm, but it looked like nothing compared to what he felt inside. The storm inside him was drowning him down and he wasn't sure what to do.

The continuous buzzing of his phone was making him anxious so he got up and picked up his phone to see his mother calling him. He ignored it until it ended. His mother didn't leave a voice message this time – she must have done it several times already. He wasn't surprised to see seventy-six voice messages and one hundred and sixty text messages in less than twenty-four hours. He knew this was coming for him. He sat on the couch and played one of his mother's voice mail, "Keith, what are you doing? Where are you? You can't leave just like that. Tomorrow is your wedding. Your dad is getting anxious, please answer." The voicemail ended.

He played another from his best friend, "Dude, your parents called me six times already asking for you. Where are you?" He asked. Keith mashed his lips and decided to grab a drink before the messages get real messy. He took a beer bottle from the fridge as he played one from his father, "Son, where are you? Your mother is so worried. Just let us know you are okay, alright?" He said. He sighed and sat on the couch as he swills down almost half of the bottle in a go as he played some of his parents and friend's worried messages – asking him where he was.

He also saw few messages from Mr. and Mrs. Baden, Rachel's parents. "How could you?" Mr. Baden's voice wobbled as he spoke, "How could you leave my daughter like this? Is this a joke to you? I am telling you this, Keith. I hope you wish for me to never find you because if I do – I will kill you." The voicemail ended. He saw that coming. He knew Mr. Baden would react like that. He was a father after all – Keith doesn't blame him. He blew his cheeks out and played one of the voicemails from Mrs. Baden, "Keith, please tell me you are joking. Please tell me it is a prank. You can't leave my daughter like this – you love her." Mr. Baden pleaded.

He did – he still does. Keith met Rachel in university where they both studied law. Rachel was the prettiest girl in his class. He never thought a girl like her would ever like her – he didn't have a good experience with a beautiful popular girl back in school, but to his surprise, she came to ask him out. And since then they were together. After six blissful years he finally decided to ask her to marry him and when she said yes – he couldn't contain his happiness. He still remembered how many times she asked him if he was joking when he popped up the question. Keith chuckled at the memory – but his smile turned into a frown. Everything was okay until he fled to the Bahamas yesterday – just a day before their wedding. Today was the day he was supposed to wed the love of his life – instead, he fled from New York and came where they were supposed to come for their honeymoon – how pathetic is he?

The voice messages were enough he didn't need to see the messages – he knows they would be the same. He tossed his phone on the couch and lean back before he blew his cheeks out, "What am I going to do now?" He mumbled to himself. He rubbed his eyes rested his forehead on his forehead – he didn't get any sleep since yesterday so when he thought he would doze off – the landline rang. He hunched and looked at it for few seconds – battling if he should pick it up or not before he decided to do it. He answered it, "Yes?"

"Mr. Clifford, I am Ché. Uh – I wanted to tell you that the three couples that were supposed to come today have canceled. There isn't anyone in the resort other than you, sir." The resort manager spoke in his thick accent said. Keith completely forgot that Ché was here. Keith owns this honeymoon resort in partnership. He was supposed to spend a couple of days here before Rachel and he was supposed to head to Europe. There were supposed to be four couples in the resort but with his wedding off and the bad weather, there was no one to stay with except for him and the staff. "Yeah right, the weather must have been the issue." He reckoned as he scratched his head, "Ché, I think you and the rest of the staff should return to your homes. I have seen the forecast the weather is going to get worse in the next twenty-four hours." Keith suggested.

"What about you, Mr. Clifford?" Ché asked. Keith sighed, "Well, I will have to wait for the weather to get better before I return home. Don't worry about me. I will be alright. If I will need something – I will call and ask you." Keith replied. "Alright, Mr. Clifford – be careful," Ché replied before they both hung up the phone.

Keith pushed his messy hair back with both his hands and leaned back to the couch. He doesn't how he is going to face everyone when he gets back to New York. He was so tired to think about how he is going to face everybody – maybe he will tell them the truth. He is not sure how his parents will take it, but they will have to deal with it. He already had a migraine – he didn't want to make it worse. Maybe he needs to sleep. He needs to rest his mind before he could think of a solution. He decided to sleep when the landline rang – thinking it must be Ché calling to tell him that he and the staff are going home. He picked the phone up, "Yes, Ché – you can leave and please inform me when you get home safely. The weather is horrible out there." He mumbled with his eyes closed.

There was complete silence on the line before he heard a very familiar sigh that made him open his eyes and hunch, "Hi, Keith." He heard Rachel whispering from the other side. He was surprised to find out it was her calling – he thought nobody would be able to track him down. The silence stretched to a few seconds before Rachel continued, "I knew you would be there in the Bahamas. Everyone is very worried about you here." She spoke softly. Keith gulped down the lump in his throat – he doesn't know what to say. "Please, speak to me, Keith," Rachel added gently.

Keith sighed and placed his hand on his forehead, "What can I say?" He replied. He heard her sniff before she spoke, "I am a very bad person, aren't I?" He heard her voice wobbling. Keith felt like his throat was blocked by the lump so he gulps and mashed his lips together as his eyes burned, but he didn't say a word. He let Rachel speak, "Keith, I don't know how to say this to you – I feel awful saying this, but I will say it anyway. Thank you." She whispered. Keith pressed his lips together. "I asked for too much from you, but you didn't even think twice before you took all the blame on you for me," She spoke. Keith could hold it and let a teardrop from his eye as he kept his head bowed.

"I loved you, Keith – I did, but for the past few years you have been so busy and –" She continued but Keith didn't want to hear it so he stopped her, "I don't want to hear it, Rachel." He replied. "You wanted me to call off the wedding – I did. I hope you are happy now." He uttered. Rachel was silent for a few seconds before she sniffed, "I am so sorry, Keith. I hurt you so much, but still, you took all the blame on your shoulders and made yourself the bad person for me." She said. Keith sniggered, "That's because I still love you. But, I am trying to not love you anymore, but it isn't as easy for me as it might have been for you." Keith replied.

Just a couple of days ago, Keith thought he was marrying the love of his life. He thought he was going to settle down with the woman he so deeply loved and have his own family. Everything was okay until Rachel asked him to see her in private. He thought she wanted to talk something about the wedding – maybe there was a problem with her dress or with the venue or maybe the menu. But it was something that knocked him off his feet. She didn't want to marry him anymore – she had someone else she loved. She couldn't tell him before because she wasn't sure if the guy loved him back, but now that he had confessed his love to her – she couldn't marry Keith and tie him into a loveless marriage. It was high school all over again for Keith. She said she never cheated on him – if she never cheated why was she calling off the wedding? When did the cheat start to define just as a sexual activity?

On top of it, she was scared to call off the wedding because of her strict father, so she asked Keith to call it off, and as stupid as he is he agreed to do it. Maybe because the tears in her eyes as she pleaded with him to call off the wedding got him. He loved him – he couldn't say no to her. He couldn't see her hurt. He is a fool. "I am not in any mood to talk to anyone, Rachel. Go back to pretending that you are so hurt by me dumping you. Have a great life, bye." He didn't wait for her to say anything and hung up the phone. He was too emotionally drained to talk to her more.

Just when he hung up he could feel shaking. He looked at his hands to see if he was – maybe it was because he hadn't eaten anything since yesterday or maybe he had too many beers. But when the furniture around him started to shake as well he realized it was an earthquake. So, he did what first came to his mind. He grabbed his phone and rushed out to the pool area from the back door of his room. There he stood under the pouring rain as he felt the earthquake shakes the ground. It was so bad that the water in the swimming pool swung.

He panicked as he was concerned about the people working in the resort. He hopes they were out in the open. He turned around to look at the ocean and it scared him. It was getting darker due to the thick grey clouds and earthquake made his concern about the tsunami – although the locals told him before he and his partners built the resort that they never encountered tsunami here –he was still scared as the shaking was pretty hard. After a few seconds, the shaking stopped. The voices of things knocking together stopped – all he could hear was rain.

He was worried about his staff so as the earthquake stopped – Keith ran towards the front of the resort to see all the staff members standing out in the open sky in complete horror. He sighed in peace when he saw them, "Oh, Mr. Clifford – you are okay. I went to knock on your door but you wouldn't answer." Ché said as soon as he saw me. I nodded my head, "Yeah, I went out as soon as the shaking started. Are you all okay?" He asked all of them. He was replied with head nodded and soft mumbled 'yeses'. "We all were just leaving when it started," Ché told me. Keith nodded, "You people should get home. I believe one of the tour buses is in the parking lot. If you people know how to drive – please take that bus." He said to them. Ché smiled, "Thank you, Mr. Clifford – you are so kind. We were just wondering how we will get home in such rain. Gale knows how to drive. He used to drive school buses." Ché replied. "Yes, please take it and be careful," Keith replied to them.

While he was talking to his staff and making sure they all get on the bus his phone buzzed a couple of times on his hand. Someone was calling him again, but he ignored it and after his staff members left – he walked back to the room while the phone kept buzzing. He tsk and looks at the screen to see an unknown number. He wasn't sure if it was someone he doesn't know or if it was his family trying to reach him from a different number. He knows he can't run forever so he answered.

"Hello," he said and waited for someone to say something – after a pause the other person spoke, "You didn't do the right thing, Keith." Skylar, Rachel's younger sister spoke from the other end. Keith knitted his eyebrows together, "Skylar?" he asked. "Yes Skylar," She answered back. Keith wasn't in the mood to explain why he left her sister so he spoke, "Look, I can't talk to you right now. I know what I did, but I just couldn't marry her. I am sorry I hurt your sister and your family." He replied to her.

Skylar chuckled dryly, "You don't have to lie to me, Keith. I know everything. I know that Rachel is the one that broke off the wedding – not you." She answered him. Keith was silent – he didn't know Rachel had told anyone about the truth. He honestly thought she wouldn't say a word and tell him all the burden of blame get on him. He sighed and pushed his wet hair back, "How do you know?" He asked her. "I know that because my sister is a bitch, who had an affair with a nineteen-year-old behind both of our backs." She spat.

Keith was baffled, "What?" He asked.

"The guy she left you for was my boyfriend, Keith. She didn't just steal my boyfriend but my childhood friend. She had an affair with a nineteen-year-old teen." Skylar told him – knocking him senseless.