Translation of Love - By Alice Montalvo-Tribue Page 0,59
me happy. He figured that by putting a ring on my finger, he was buying my silence for a few years,” I say looking down at my hands playing with the hem of my shirt.
He leans over and pulls my chin up until my eyes meet his. “What do you mean by buying your silence?”
I swallow before I start again. “I think he sensed my unhappiness. He could sense that I was starting to believe that our relationship was going nowhere. That he never had any intention of growing up, becoming an actual member of society.” I shrug my shoulders at him and keep talking. “He was afraid to lose his meal ticket. I made his life very cushy. I enabled his bad habits and, by keeping me around, he could go on living his useless life. It was never about love for him it was about security. He put a ring on my finger so that I would stay with him.”
I look in Victor’s eyes and I see something changing in them from sadness to what appears to be anger at what I’ve been through. “So what happened?”
“He proposed, I said yes, and then the minute I started talking about having an actual wedding, he started getting nervous, asking me what my rush was, saying that we had all the time in the world to plan a wedding. He started spending more and more time out of the house until finally, a few weeks later, I got an anonymous tip from a girl saying that he had been spending all of his free time with her. She must have gotten my phone number from his cell phone. She told me where she lived and when I showed up, he was there.”
“He had found a new meal ticket.” I look away from him, turn my gaze toward the window and nod. I’m feeling embarrassed for having been so stupid. “Hey. Ellie look at me.” I do as he asks. “Not all men treat women like that, you know? I’m sorry that you went through that but it’s time for you to let it go. You don’t have to forget but you can’t keep living behind this fortress you’ve built around yourself. You can’t carry all of that. Don’t you see that you’re just letting him win and by letting him win, you’re robbing us of something that has the potential to be fucking amazing.”
“I know you’re right. The whole way back here on the train I was trying to wrap my head around what I did. I thought I lost you and it really hurt,” I admit, choking back tears. “I promise, I’ll do better.”
“That’s all I want.” Victor brings his lips to mine and kisses me gently. I melt into him, feeling nothing but happiness at the fact that I didn’t ruin everything. He looks at me and smiles. “You know I’m staying, right?”
I chuckle. “You better.” I place my forehead on his. The events of the day start to take their toll on my body and all I want to do is sleep. “I’m really exhausted, Baby.”
“Me too. Let’s go to bed.” We go upstairs hand in hand. Quickly, I discard all of my clothes until I’m left wearing only panties. Turning around to face Victor, I grab the hem of his t-shirt and pull it up over his head. I flip it back to the right side and pull it over my head. Victor stares at me, eyes glowing and lets out a laugh. “You really are a nut, ya know that?”
“I know,” I whisper, pulling the sheets down and sliding into bed. Victor takes off his shoes and jeans, leaving only his boxers on and slides in next to me. He throws his arm over my waist and pulls me in closer, linking his legs through mine. “Thank you for coming after me. I was afraid I’d never see you again.” It’s yet another confession I give him to add to the mounting list.
“You’re welcome, Love,” he says, placing a kiss on my forehead, “now go to sleep.”
“Okay.” Snuggling up to him as close as I can, I let the feel of him all around relax me. His soft breathing in my hair and the feather light touch of his fingertips on my back soothe my frayed nerves and guide me to sleep.
His cold green eyes startle me. I wasn’t expecting him, not after how things ended. I thought I’d never see him again. He’s angry,