“I don’t want to hear it,” I snapped back in reply. I didn’t bother waiting for her to respond and turned around and began to walk away.
“At least let me tell you the reason behind my actions,” Rita begged from behind me.
I stopped walking away and breathed in deeply before turning around and crossing my arms over my chest. “Go.”
The look of surprise on her face showed me how much she was not expecting me to turn around, but she spoke up anyway. “My husband… he… He gambles a lot. We fell into debt just two weeks before I met you for the first time. I was desperate… I didn’t know what to do. Somehow, David found out about our debt and offered me the money if I did what I was told. I didn’t think he’d go to that much extremes, Emily, please believe me. I never wanted to hurt you.”
“Why didn’t you just ask Adrian if you were so desperate for money? You know he would’ve given it to you in a heartbeat; especially if I helped with asking him.” My tone came out bitter; not willing to be sympathetic towards her just yet.
She hesitated before responding. “I… I didn’t want to ask that much off of you… or him… please you have to understand-”
I shook my head, cutting her off. “I’m sorry. You have to understand that what you did is so low in my eyes that it’s unforgiveable. You know how much David frightened me. You saw how he kept me prisoner in a hotel room and even hurt me and tried to push for sex-”
“I didn’t know he would-”
Angry tears began to spring up into my eyes. “Yes, you did! And the worst part was you still didn’t think to tell us! You let us believe that Anna was the guilty one and that you were just as angered and uncomfortable at the mention of him just as much as I was!”
“Emily, I didn’t-”
“I think you should go,” I interrupted her, my face falling straight as my voice turned cold. “Go before Adrian sees you here. I may be kind enough to hear you out Rita, but he will turn you straight in without a second of hesitation.”
I watched as her own eyes started to gloss over with tears, before she swallowed and nodded briefly. Not saying anything else, she re-adjusted her handbag on her shoulder and turned around and walked away.
Once she was out of sight, I let out a breath I didn’t realise I had been holding in and wiped away my own tears, before turning around and running straight into a solid figure with a familiar smell of cologne. Adrian’s arms automatically wrapped themselves around my waist and pulled me into a hug as he looked down at me with a concerned expression. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“I… Rita just came here and apologised…” I whispered, not trusting my voice to reach its full extent just yet.
I felt Adrian’s chest vibrate as a low growl emanated from his throat. “What the fuck did you just say?”
I opened my mouth to re-state what I said before Adrian glared down at me angrily, cutting me off. “I know what you said. What nerve does that backstabbing bitch have to even bother showing her face near my property?” He scowled angrily.
I sighed before placing my hands on his shoulders. “Adrian. Forget it. She’s gone now, and I didn’t accept her apology anyway.”
“I’m not forgetting what that bitch did to us. I shouldn’t have listened to you and reported her to the police when David Walter’s trial was still on-going.” He glared, clenching his jaw from anger.
“Adrian. Let’s go to lunch. We’re meant to be forgetting anything related to stress. Drop it.” I ordered sternly, looking up at him with my fiercest look.
I watched as his eyes scanned my expression briefly, before I felt him physically un-tense and let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine. Let’s go.” He grumbled, reaching into his pocket and unlocking the car.
***
“Where is my lovely soon-to-be fiancé?”
“We’ve just finished filming the new real estate advertisement. They’re going to send you the final edit by this afternoon. It’s actually really funny. Where are you?”
“I’m on the way to the office, make sure you’re up there by then. Preferably naked.” A mental image of Adrian smirking instantly popped into my mind, and I shook my head with a smile.
“That’s all that’s on your mind. It’s crazy. Don’t you ever get sick of it?”