I sighed, finally able to talk again." I'm so sorry, Rachel. I was nervous, and I didn't know how to process all of it. I was planning on talking to you about this later during the meeting," I explained.
"Right, while two other people are trying to do their project work, listen in? I don't think so" Rachel shook her head disgruntledly.
"Right, I guess that could have been a bad idea," I replied, feeling like an idiot for forgetting how all this might look to Anna and Judy.
"Look, I'm… ok with you being with Ryan….I …" Rachel said and looked away.
I perked up immediately. " Rachel?"
"Look, I might have someone I'm already into, ok? It's just…it's hard. If all goes well, and after I turn 21, if they are still available, we should get divorced. Once we get divorced, AND we are adults, our parents have much less say over our choices. Plus, we would have already fulfilled our filial duty, so it wouldn't matter whether we stayed together. Then finally, maybe I can be with them," Rachel explained, looking at her fingers as she twiddled them.
I reached out this time and grasped her hands, which made her look up to me. " I will try my best to be as supportive a partner as possible till the end. I wish you all the best with this person; I hope they will wait for you." I smiled, feeling sheepish. I never once thought about how Rachel might be feeling or what Rachel might want out of all of this,
I saw the corners of Rachel's eyes crinkle again. " You think they would wait for me?"
"For someone as beautiful as you, how can they not? I might not be able to see your face, but I can see your heart, and you are truly a generous and caring person; I'm sure they see it too," I smiled. There is no one else I'd want to be fake–married to," I said, and Rachel laughed.
"Same, there is no one I would want to be fake married to, either. Come, let's eat the rest of the food before it becomes cold." Rachel grinned and pulled out a collapsible screen.
"Oh! Is this how you eat in public?" I asked as she snapped together the screen and placed it between us, blocking her face from my sight. This was a famous contraption during the height of the pandemic, and people were still expected to use it to go out in public.
"Oh yes, it's much easier than running around to hide behind a vending machine," Rachel said as she pulled off her mask. I was so tempted to look behind the screen, but I respected her privacy, and I had also already pissed her off and betrayed her trust so much I didn't want to do something to make our relationship worse.