She nodded and looked away for a moment. "I know... me, too. I was going to keep things completely platonic between us, but you were just... so close... and it's just..."
He waved his hand between them. "No apologies. None. We both were taken up in a weak moment; probably just the situation and our proximity to each other... it was just an oops. We know we need to be careful around each other and just try to build on our friendship and leave this kind of thing... alone,” he said, with a sorrowful tone.
She nodded. "I agree. We have a daughter to raise together and none of us can afford to be confused about what we are doing or how we are doing it. We'll just be more careful in the future. That's all." She managed a small smile at him and he returned it.
"Okay," he replied, watching her and wishing in his core that they hadn't needed to stop.
She turned and pulled his shirt from the sink and let the water drain away, then rinsed it off. He walked into the living room and stood beside Emma's little bed, looking down at her, as Cami walked past him and took his shirt to the bathroom. He heard the blow dryer come on and run for a long while.
He didn't know how they had fallen back into each other's arms the way they had, but he knew for their delicate situation to work, it could not happen again. Cami, running her hair dryer back and forth over his shirt, was thinking precisely the same thing.
She got it mostly dry and brought it out to him. He thanked her and pulled it back on, buttoning it as she turned away from him, and busied herself with Emma's diaper bag.
Roman closed the last button and reached for Cami's shoulder. He turned her and she slowly looked up at him, confusion and a hint of sorrow touching her eyes.
"It's going to be okay. We're just in a strange situation, that's all. We'll work through this, and we'll do it together. No apologies and no worries. We have a beautiful daughter that we created, and we are going to raise her as loving and devoted parents, and as really good friends. We can do that for her and for each other." He smiled at her.
His confidence and kindness unraveled the tangled knot of stress and emotion in her stomach, and she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head on his chest.
"You're right. We can do this. We'll figure it out." She smiled a little again and then let him go. "Thank you so much for all that you've done for us and all that you are doing. It's so appreciated."
Roman nodded and took her hand, walking to the door with her. "It's absolutely my pleasure."
He hugged her tightly again and then with one last longing look in his eyes, he turned and walked out of the door, closing it softly behind him.
He went home and went inside the house, only to walk straight into Agnes who looked at him with hawk eyes from head to toe. "You look like hell. What have you done to your shirt?"
Roman was in no mood for dealing with his mother-in-law. "I spilled something on it earlier and tried to wash it out." He began to walk toward the staircase to go to his room, but she kept talking to him.
"You know, you're a lucky man to have a wife like my daughter in your life to help you out. You certainly couldn't do anything without her. It's a good thing she's such a smart and beautiful woman, or you'd never get a chance to meet anyone like that Senator she brought in for you.
“You're damn lucky to have her. If you were half the man you ought to be, you'd show her some appreciation for everything she does for you." Agnes snapped at him and he stared at her as she turned and headed out of the front door.
"Please don't come back," he whispered to the closed door. He couldn't believe she thought her daughter was the reason that the Senator was even involved with them in the first place. He continued up the stairs to his room, showered, and changed his clothes.
He was sitting outside by the pool later that evening when Denise walked out to talk to him. She sat beside him in a lounge chair and looked at him with consternation.
"I can't get Carmen to call me back. I know it's because you offended her at the party and now I have to work extra hard to get back into her good graces again!" She scowled at him.
He lowered his brow at her. "Why don't you leave her alone and wait for her to call you?" he asked, certain that Carmen would share his thoughts and suggestions.
She shook her head adamantly. "No! I don't want her to think that I don't care if we're friends. She has to know that I mean business and that I'm her best friend."
Roman shook his head and looked away from her.
"I've decided to go another route to get to her, and that's to go through Edward. Maybe he can help her understand that I'm serious about our friendship." She glared a little.
"She ought to consider herself lucky to be friends with me, after all, she was just his nanny; she was just hired help and she was screwing him on the side, so he felt obligated to her and he married her. I can't imagine why; she's not even white like him. Most of the other ladies in society are just nice to her because she's the Senator's wife, but me... I really mean it.
“I'm trying to be friends with her and support her, even though she's just really a nanny and from a lower class of people. You would think she'd be grateful to me for sacrificing myself like that for her, and she would want to spend some time with me. How else is she ever going to shine?"
Roman stared at his wife in disbelief. "You're kidding! You think she's married to the Senator because he felt obligated to her? He loves her! It doesn't matter what color her skin is, Denise, all that matters is that they fell in love!" He felt anger building up inside of him and compounding with every passing moment.
"What are you talking about, saying that she should be lucky to have you as a friend? Wasn't it you who was just saying recently that we needed to be friends with them so other people would look up to us and see how important we are? It sounds to me like you already feel that important and you think she should be looking up to you for social importance!"
Denise scoffed and shook her wild red curls. "That's not what I'm saying at all! You're putting words in my mouth like you always do! By the way, Mother told me how awful you were to her when you came home this afternoon, and you think that you've done all the work bringing the Senator in for business and to buy that stupid boat! How dare you! You know damn good and well that it was me that did all the work with them and brought them in!"
She stood up in a huff and stormed off muttering about how ungrateful he was and how she could do so much better than him any time she wanted to. The door closed behind her and he leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
He was trying to remember why he married her at all, and then visions of her as they had been when they were hot lovers came back to him and he remembered exactly why he had married her. Then he knew that the biggest reason he had married her was no longer a factor, and he searched, without result, for a reason to still be married to her.
The following day he was elbow deep in work at his office when he realized he’d left a flash drive with some files he needed back in his office at the house. He tried to call Denise to ask her to bring it to him but she didn't answer her phone. Though the Senator was their most significant client at that time, he was by no means their only client, and Roman realized he'd have to run and grab the file himself. Just as he was picking up his keys, the phone rang at his desk and he picked it up.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Roman, it's Cami." Her voice came through the line and it felt like a soothing wave of warm sunshine to him. He sat back down and couldn't help the broad smile that spread over his face.
"How are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm good! We both are. Your daughter is playing with some of the new toys you bought her. She loves the giraffe, by the way," Cami said, smiling and thinking how nice it was to pick up the phone and talk to him whenever she wanted.
"Great!" Roman said happily, thinking of Emma smiling and laughing at the little squeaker giraffe he'd gotten for her. "What's going on?" he asked lightly.
"Well, Emma is going to be meeting her new pediatrician here in San Francisco the day after tomorrow and she's also going to get some shots. I thought you might want to come with us." Emma did not like shots, and Cami thought it would help to have Roman there to cheer her up.
Roman jumped at the chance to do his daddy duty. It was a delight and pleasure for him to be able to be involved with her as much as he could. "Yes! Absolutely. Just text me the details and I'll be there. Oh, and please tell Janine so she can put it in my calendar, too."
Cami smiled. "Okay, I will. Thank you, Roman, it means a great deal."
He nodded, thinking of them both with a light and happy heart. "I'm glad to do it. I'll patch you through to Janine." He transferred the call and Janine picked it up. Roman reached for his keys and hurried out to his car.
Thoughts of Cami and Emma filled his heart and made him smile as he drove through the city to his house. He wasn't looking forward to the doctor giving Emma shots, but he knew they were necessary, and he vowed to be there for her anytime she needed him. He couldn't think of many more times a baby needed more comfort than when getting shots.