Read The Queen and I for Free Online

long this one would last.

Chapter Six: Betrayal
     
    The time away was exactly what Jeffrey needed. It had been years since he had gotten away from the city, and he and Rachel had never been on a vacation together in the five years that they had been a couple; one of the problems of two workaholics seeing each other.
    They could have gone anywhere they wished, but decided on a place where he would not likely be recognized and somewhere where Rachel’s beauty would not draw too much attention, so they decided on the tiny island of Curaçao.
    It was ideal due to the fact that it was not as popular a destination as its sister island, Aruba, and also because it was a Dutch colony, so it was not likely that the cold disposition of the Dutch citizens on vacation would bother anyone other than the servants, whom they treated much in the same way that the apartheid government had operated in South Africa, and with all of the topless sunbathers, Rachel could go unnoticed.
    Jeffrey rented a house for an entire month, and Rachel convinced him that she would have to do some light work while they were on the island so as not to lose out on any scoops regarding what was happening in the Broadway scene. They swam in the azure water, walked along the beach, tasted the local cuisine, and made passionate love almost every night. This was an emotional joining together for the two of them, and it was only confirmed that Jeffrey was hopelessly in love with Rachel, but he was still unsure about her true feelings for him.
    Her heart always was into the lovemaking, and she gave her undivided attention to him when he spoke, but there was something missing when they were alone that left him feeling empty, and he wasn’t quite sure how to label that emotion.
    Jeffrey had never thought that he would want to marry anyone at all, but when he was with Rachel, he felt like he was safe and at home. It was a sensation unlike any other that he had ever experienced with another human being, and he both loved and feared it at the same time. He thought about bringing up the possibility of the two of them marrying while here on the island, but knew that he would be going forward with a very large risk.
    He knew that she loved him and that he was her only romantic interest, but Rachel had a way of flirting with business associates and industry power brokers that sometimes made him uncomfortable. He tried to hide his feelings about this for fear that she would see him as being self-conscious and weak, but he also knew that if he were going to try to move forward with their relationship, he was going to have to lay all of his concerns on the table.
    As he looked across the table at her perfect features and those dazzling sea-green eyes, he could only hope that she would respond the way he hoped before he asked her what he had wanted to since they arrived on the island.
    * * *
     
    Jacob and Mendel got to work almost immediately on rewriting Ghetto Mishegas into Henry’s dream play of Kristallnacht and Noel . Jacob felt no remorse at all for what he was doing, and that surprised him a bit. He and Jeffrey had been through much together, and he considered Jeffrey a friend, but friends do not hold other friends back and stifle their creative dreams the way that Jeffrey had done to Jacob.
    While it was true that Jacob had never actually come to Jeffrey with an idea for a play of his own, it was very true that Jeffrey was self-absorbed with his own work and had Jacob conduct the menial labor that he had been hired for. Not once did Jeffrey ask him if he had any dreams or ideas, not once did he ask him to proofread a passage of a play that he was writing, and never did Jeffrey ever tell Jacob that he was doing a good job.
    What Jacob was doing was payback for his mistreatment over the years, and his former employer would soon realize the dire mistake he had made.
    With Mendel at his side, Jacob was a writing machine, and the rewrite was going as well as any venture Jacob