A Reunion to Remember

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Ronnie made it back to her room. She slammed the door and slid down against it into a seated position. She was beside herself. She wanted Josh more than she'd ever wanted any guy, but she had to figure out why.  

She wanted to make sure, if even for only her own sake, that she wasn't simply lusting after Josh. It had been at least a year since she'd dated anyone. Maybe she was just lonely. She wanted to talk with her closest friend, Bella, about this, but she was back home. Confiding in Kara, Kristy, or Maggie could be tricky.  

She didn't want to consider the other possibility. The reason why she'd avoided him in the first place and put all of her focus onto Austin. She couldn't be in love with him, especially now.  

It was true that she had always felt an instant attraction toward guys who found her attractive. She didn't know if it was some underlying self-esteem issue or not, but it could make things tricky. Knowing that Josh had a thing for her back then might have been the only reason she felt like she loved him. It was too long ago to tell. 

If Josh wasn't getting married, she would have dated him and taken the time to figure it out. As it was, she didn't want to lead him on, only to realize she didn't love him. Who am I kidding, anyway, she thought. I might just be a means of "cold feet sex," if that was even a thing. 

She heard the door to her cabin opening. She quickly gathered up her things and locked herself in the bathroom. She wanted to take a shower before dinner, plus it made a good cover. She could wash the tear stains off of her face, and her friends would never be the wiser. 

As she emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later, she saw Kristy and Kara watching TV. Kristy noticed that the bathroom was open, and left to take a shower. 

"How was 'special time' with Joshua?" Kara asked with a smirk on her face. 

"A complete disaster," was all Ronnie offered. 

"Did he expect much from you? You look frazzled." 

"He was a gentleman, but we ran out of things to talk about," Ronnie lied. 

"So Mia is still the love of his life?" she questioned. 

"Why wouldn't she be?" Ronnie said without enthusiasm.  

"My thoughts exactly," Kara confirmed. 

Ronnie was slightly offended. Why did Kara just assume that Josh loved Mia more than her? Maybe because he's marrying her, a little voice in Ronnie's head shouted. He couldn't even ask you out all those years ago, it continued. She realized how ridiculous she was being. Of course he loved Mia more. Thinking about the events from earlier that day put some doubt in her mind, though. 

"Is she over intelligent and thinks she has to try some new age approach to her engagement? Or is she stupid and thinks that her life should be some kind of reality show?" Kara asked. 

"I'm pretty sure she's smart. Josh was never attracted to dumb girls," Ronnie contributed. 

Kristy emerged from the bathroom then, combing her hair. "Did Maggie come back yet?" she asked them. 

"Nope, she said she'd meet up with us for dinner," Kara explained. She looked towards Ronnie and said, "While you were off with Casanova, Maggie left us to talk to her choir friends."  

Ronnie smiled. Maggie was always trying to be a social butterfly. She just hoped Maggie wasn't discussing the Josh situation with anyone. 

A little while later. the women were walking into the dining area. Ronnie saw Josh and Mia talking to Jemma and Karen, but none of them seemed to notice Ronnie. She breathed a sigh of relief as they sat down. She could pretend to be interested in the tablecloth, the wallpaper, or anything else on the opposite side of the room from him.  

Maggie sauntered over to her seat and sat down. "Hello, girls," she said. "I was just talking to Amber Brinker about your secret romance with Josh. She said she always felt that you two were hiding something." 

Ugh, Ronnie thought. "Maggie! You were supposed to stay quiet about the whole thing. We never really went out, remember?" 

"Sorry," Maggie pouted, "it just sort of slipped out." 

Ronnie just hoped the rumor didn't spread too far. She hating lying in the first place, and this cruise had done a great job of giving her plenty of reasons to lie.  

"Did you convince him to stay with Mia?" Maggie asked. 

"Yes, okay? I'm so freaking annoying that I sent him running away from me and into her arms. That's what you want to hear, right?" Ronnie blurted.  

She was losing it. Maggie didn't deserve that response. "I'm sorry, " she apologized. "I'm a little tense today. I've been feeling like an adulterer since breakfast." 

Her friends laughed, since they knew she wasn't that kind of person. If they only knew how close I came today, Ronnie thought.