Escaping to Ireland

Vinessa

Liam pulled away from the curb before I made it to Shawn. He was standing a few feet away from me.

"Hi," he said, looking at Liam's car as it drove away. "Wanda said you should be home any time now." 

"What are you doing here, Shawn?" I asked, not knowing what he was going to say.

"To explain... Everything."

"You cheated on me. It's pretty cut and clean."

Shawn shook his head, his eyes looking like they were going to cry. "I can't believe I came here. This was a mistake," he said, stepping away and walking away.

"Why did you come?"

If he was just going to walk away after a twelve-hour flight, I had no clue what he thought he was doing.

"I didn't cheat on you, Vinessa. I never would cheat on you. I love you; I am one hundred and ten percent in love with you, I always have been. And I know the one hundred and ten percent is such a dumb cliche, but that is how I feel about you. I know what that dumb cliche means because of you."

"Shawn, you don't cheat on people you love." I wasn't shouting at him like I thought I would be when I had this opportunity; I was calm. I wanted this chapter to end in my life. It had only been four short months, but I felt like I was moving on with my life.  He walked back to me, dropping a USB drive in my hand. "Watch this. I'll be out back sitting with Wanda." 

I pushed play and watched it five times. It was a news broadcast that Shawn was on. It was about an affair with one of the senators in Chicago. But as soon as the tape played of the affair footage, the night from Shawn's apartment came flooding back to me. The banging of the bed that I thought was Shawn, the moaning that I thought was the slut of his co-worker. My hands were trembling, but it felt like it was them inside.

Wanda stood when I made my way back to the gazebo. "Why?" I asked him.

"Why What?" Shawn asked; he was sitting down but stood as soon as he saw me.

"Why did you wait till now to come?" At this point, I wanted to scream at him a little bit, but I resisted. "I have been in Ireland for four months, and you couldn't have told me this sooner."

"To be fair, you wouldn't take any of my phone calls, and I was mad at you."

"You were mad at me?" I asked, sitting down, and he followed the same suit.

"Yes, I was disappointed that you thought I could cheat on you. Didn't you know, don't you know how madly in love I am with you?"

I should have been relieved, everything that I thought was true with Shawn was, but I wasn't relieved the cloud that should have been clearing was still there. Since I believe this was the case for the last few months, it was as if I couldn't believe the truth that was in front of me.

"Shawn, I was so mad at you. My dad... It doesn't matter about him, but I was so mad at you thinking this whole time that you were just like him. And I can't just flip that light switch. Plus, I have no clue why you were at your apartment with her. It still doesn't make sense...."

"We were on this huge story of Senator Paulsy having a relationship with Senator Grably, and we didn't want anyone to find out about it until we ran the story. We were using my surround sound at the apartment to hear what they were talking about on the tape; as you could tell, a lot of it was moaning, and well, you got the gist, but it wasn't me cheating on you. I thought you would be ecstatic...."

"I would have been; I would have been ecstatic if you would have told me this the next day or that night. But now I moved back to Ireland, which isn't cheap...."

"If it's about the expenses, Vinessa, I can cover that to have you back in America."

"It's not that simple" I paused, thinking of anything and everything. "I doubt I can get another work visa since I'm back, and... What if I move back and we don't work."

"If it's the work visa you are worried about - we can get married, as long as you come back with me, Vinessa."

But the sad truth was that I wasn't in love with America anymore; I had fallen back in love with Ireland with the rain and the green grass and the food. I fell back in love with where my mother raised me and where she died. I wanted to be able to be laid to rest right next to her. And the sad fact that I wasn't in love with Shawn anymore.

"I can't do this, Shawn...."

He stood up, giving me my space. He slipped a piece of paper in front of me with the information of where he would be staying and that he would be there until Thursday. I didn't know what I would do. Part of me wanted to show Shawn what I loved about Vinessa and show him that my decision wasn't about him but more so about I wanted to raise my family in Ireland, not in the United States.

"You look like crap," Liam said the next day when he picked me up.

"Thank you, that's what every girl wants to hear before she goes to work." He smiled, but he pulled the car over again.

"Why don't you take the day off?" He asked me.

"Why don't you just keep driving to work," I demanded, not looking at him.

"I won't be able to work today with you like this," he said as he started driving again.

"Why is that?" 

"Because it's depressing. And I want to ask you what happened. I'm invested in the story of Vinessa and Shawn. You had me hooked from that first day on the plane."

I blushed, thinking about the baggage claim and when he kissed me. It was hard not to remember it. And even though I hadn't remembered staying at his house that night, everything started to come back to me a few days later; Liam held me all night long because I had asked him too.

"It's just because I'm a good storyteller."

"Yes, you are, but I'm more invested in the story."

He turned the radio up, and I knew it was so he wouldn't have to ask me any more questions.