HIDDEN UNDER THE SUN?

"What kind of bridesmaid doesn't appear at the bride's fitting?" Nicole grumbled as the ladies sat in the private room at the couture boutique awaiting the arrival of their dresses.

"She apologized and said she had to be at the meeting. You do know that she's originally here because of her seminar right?" Nancy said as she sipped the wine they had been served. Even though she wasn't happy that Martha didn't come, all she could do was try to understand her.

"I just hope she doesn't claim to have a meeting on your wedding day." Nicole said with a shrug and Mara eyed her.

"Nicole? Don't start." Mara said sternly and Nicole looked away, making Lucy giggle.

"I wish you were at the party yesterday Mara, Evelyn and Nicole almost made headlines." Lucy said as she smiled.

"And I was so glad I wasn't there! I just don't get it, Nicole, why do you have to always be so violent?" Mara scolded immediately to change the topic from Martha who she knew Nicole was set on slaughtering with her tongue.

"I am violent? Have you seen Evelyn? She slapped Martha for running into her! She insulted Nancy and Richmond. I know I am not a huge fan of Martha but what was I supposed to do? Fold my hands and watch the show like the others?" Nicole asked heatedly

"No, you could have just walked away. Everyone knows Evelyn is trouble. Who knows what she might be planning? What if she does something to hurt your business? You can't afford to have any scandal or problems with your business right now. Why didn't you think about that?" Mara asked Nicole suddenly.

"Evelyn would do something bad to me?" Nicole scoffed at the idea, "I would love to see her try. You know me, Mara, no one can outplay me. If she tries to play dirty with me? I would smear her and her father's company with all the dirt in the world." Nicole threatened eye flashing before sipping her own champagne. While Lucy and Nancy burst into laughter.

"Why are you guys laughing? Nicole is going to get us all in trouble one of these days with this vicious character of hers." Mara said and Nancy raised a finger in protest as she tried to calm herself down.

"I like her viciousness, that's why I became friends with her in the first place." Nancy said giving Mara a teasing smile while Mara and Nicole rolled their eyes.

"Nick also loves it, so why complain? By the way, I know you love it too." Lucy said as she poked Mara before bursting into laughter with Nancy again while Mara and Nicole eyed them.

"You girls are drunk!" Mara said suddenly.

"Yes, they are! They certainly are." Nicole said nodding in agreement with Mara.

"The dresses are here!" a short lady announced as she walked into the private room.

The girls squealed in excitement as they set aside their glasses and argument, standing up as a group of ladies walked in carrying dressed-up mannequins. The ladies gasped at the designs of their dresses, especially the wedding dress.

Its upper part was made out of a rich chiffon material that was overlaid with thousands of shiny beads. The waist of the dress was held in place with an expensive lace material that traveled in a distinct way down the huge skirt of the dress. It was just amazing to gaze upon.

The bridesmaid gowns were made of a golden silk material that matches Nancy's sandy blond. It had no facing and hugged the whole frame of the mannequin, it was certain that it would bring out the perfect silhouette of whoever wore it. The ladies beamed with pride as they admired it.

"But you are one person short!" The short lady said again.

"Oh, she can't make it. You know, work." Mara said immediately and the lady smiled nodding in understanding.

"I can't wait to try on my gown!" Nancy screamed as she ran to the gown in front of her.

........................................

Richmond walked into Rosa's diner after looking around to ensure no one had been following him. He sighted Martha who was sitting with her back facing to him. He walked to her conveniently, ignorant of Ramon who also walked in just behind him and sat in at a table directly opposite them.

"Hey," Richmond said with a smile as he looked at Martha.

Martha stared at him expressionless, "You are finally here, great. I am leaving." she said immediately and stood up to leave.

The surprised Richmond immediately held her arms to stop her, "Martha I'm sorry, I was stuck in traffic."

"Well, you should have added that time to your plans, instead you made me waste my precious time here waiting for you! Aren't even sorry for me? I have waited for you for so long. I have always been the one waiting for you and now I still am the one waiting for you. I am done." Martha said

"I am sorry Martha. I swear I have my reasons. Why don't you listen to my reasons first and you would know I didn't make you wait intentionally." Richmond pleaded, but Martha didn't bulge. She didn't leave either, she just stood there and looked away.

"I would never make you wait for me anymore Martha." Richmond said again and this caught her attention as she turned to him,

"Promise?" she asked.

"I promise."

Martha looked away grudgingly before seating down in the chair. Richmond smiled a little and sat in front of her.

"You look beautiful." he said.

"Aren't I always?" Martha said as she suppressed a smile that was about to blossom on her lips even though her lips slightly curled upward.

"You have always been beautiful my love." Richmond said as he took her hand and kissed her knuckle. This time Martha smiled not at his actions but at his words.

Suddenly she remembered something and the smile disappeared.

"Why did you choose her?" she asked.

"I....I didn't have a choice." Richmond said sadly as he shook his head.

"Tell me what you mean by that Rich. Tell me what you mean."

"You remember how I disappeared two weeks before prom?" Richmond said sadly as he looked down at the hands they were holding.

"Yeah, Nancy said you went on a trip with your dad to see your mom or something." Martha said quickly as she recalled the memory. She had lost contact with Richmond those two weeks, even though she had a secret affair with him while he was dating Nancy, at that point his number never went through so she had no choice but to ask Nancy while pretending to be just curious.

When Nancy told her, she had been mad at Richmond for not telling her and she was determined to settle it with him when he got back but when he got back, it was the week of prom and he broke up with her. A day after their break up, she got a letter of admission to a university in France which she never applied for.

"It was a lie." Richmond said.

"What? What do you mean it was a lie?" Martha asked with surprise. If even Nancy didn't know where he really was, then where was he really?

"I was at the hospital."

"What?"

"Mr. Bloom found out about us. You and I, he.... he had his goons beat me and my dad up, we were at the hospital." Richmond explained solemnly while looking at the surprised Martha straight in the eye.

"I...I don't understand, how did he find out about us, he didn't even know about you and Nancy until Uni. Why would he beat you up because of me?" Martha asked confused.

"Nancy told you that?" Richmond asked and Martha immediately nodded.

Richmond then shook his head lowering his eyes sadly, "That's not true... he..... he knew about me and Nancy, and about you. He had us beaten up, I was at the hospital those two weeks Martha." he looked up at her again, "He threatened me. He threatened to kill you and my father if I ever met with you again, he promised to find us if we ever reported to the police. I couldn't let him hurt you. I couldn't. I had to do the best thing for both of us. I had to let you go. I had to protect you." Richmond said as he kissed the knuckles of the shocked Martha.

"I regret it every day, letting you go, I regret it every day. I have to stay in this forced relationship with Nancy and I don't have a choice. Every day I thought of you Martha. Every day I remember what we had, I wish things were different, but if I had to choose between protecting you and staying in this relationship again, I would choose to stay." Richmond said solemnly and tears fell from Martha's eyes and she shook her head speechless.

What she was hearing was far from all the things she had expected to hear. She knew she was wrong in the past, having an affair with Richmond who was dating her best friend but this? How could they do this? How could they beat Richmond up and threaten him with her life.

"Did she know?" Martha asked suddenly then looked up at Richmond. "Does Nancy know of this? Does she know about us? Does she know the true colors of her pretentious father?"

"I....I don't know. She never acted like she knew. I mean, I never even gave her a chance to, I never provoked her. If I did only God knows what she or her father would have done. At first, I was glad that you left, but the moment you left, she began to search for you thoroughly." Martha looked at Richmond, she knew Nancy would look for her, but now that she heard this truth, she could only imagine how seriously they must have searched for her.

"When she found you she stopped searching, she didn't reach out to you or say anything. They just watched you from afar." Richmond said to Martha's dismay.

"Nancy knew I was in France?"

Richmond nodded, "A long time ago,"

Martha gasped. "That bitch. She's supposed to be my friend. How could she? How could she."

"She knew I never loved her from the start Martha, but she wouldn't let me go because she was scared I would come to you. She didn't want us to be together." Richmond said exposing more secrets that made Martha cry.

Martha shook her head as more tears fell from her eyes, the information was too much to bear. "I have to go." she said suddenly.

Richmond held her hands again. "Martha, please. I don't want to lose you again."

"What do you want me to do? They are the richest people in Hillwood. They have the whole town fooled that they are innocent. My friendship with Nancy was nothing but a charade, we can't win. If we get back together, they would hurt us. Your father, my mom. You! I can't. I can't! I am going back to France." Martha declared amidst tears.

"No! Please!" Richmond stood up and pulled her into an embrace. "Don't leave me, Martha. I can't.... I can't lose you again. Please....I have a plan."

Martha pulled away and looked into his eyes which were filled with unshed tears, "You do?"

"I have a plan set for after the wedding. I am going to expose them and with the help of the people, we can win this fight. I just need you by my side when I fight Martha, I don't want to fight alone anymore." Richmond said as he raised his hand and caressed her face before wiping her tears with the pad of his thumb.

Martha shook her head, "I don't think I can watch you marry her. Not now, not after this."

"I have to let them think they won Martha. We have to let them think it played out as they wanted. Let's be together again. Just like we did in high school. When we were happy and no one knew about us."

Martha smiled a little and nodded. "Then I would stay by your side forever Richmond." Martha said as a tear fell from her eyes. Richmond slowly kissed the fallen tears away, kissed her lips gently before pulling her into an embrace right there in the diner, without shame or fear of getting caught after all he was far away from the eyes of the people he feared but unknown to him, a camera clicked away, taking in all their intimate moments while the stories he told were being recorded in a parking lot not far from the diner.