"Let me go Adam!", she said as she tried to kick her way out of his tight grip.
Adam held onto her right leg. From his position, he could very well be mistaken for a man desperately pleading for his life or a dog earnestly seeking for its masters' attention.
He didn't want to let go. He never would have thought that a day would come that she would leave him.
He couldn't quite understand how they got to this point. The love of his life was leaving him... And it hurt too much!
She had hurt him. He was still broken by her words earlier that day.
How could she have used something he told her in confidence to mock him. Something so delicate, he didn't share with anyone else.
"They say, don't wash your dirty linen in public". Well... He hadn't done that! She was supposed to be his only family, or so he thought.
He would never understand what it was in humans that caused venom to spill, especially from lips as cute as hers.
"Adam!" She said, ", I can't miss my flight for this. We are done!"
She had a cold look on her face.
"I think it is best if we don't continue communication", she said, "because, what's the point?" She asked.
Adam was broken. Hurt and broken! He should be angry, he should be really mad at her right now.
"Four years! Four years of loving, and being patient and trying to understand and learning to forgive her".
"Four years and she was just going to throw it all away because of some guy she met on tinder"?
But Edna had made up her mind it seemed.
She was done with this! She didn't even pretend to have the look of someone who was sorry it was ending.
She wasn't sorry. She was just done! She was done taking Adams' shit!
To her, he was the over-glorified superstar. She thought him spineless.
Many times in the four years they had been together, she had to speak up for him, stand for him.
If she hadn't, Adam would very well have allowed everybody just walk over him, like the family rug.
He would have been trampled upon like the grass of the field that no one cares how it maintains its green.
Edna understood what was to come. Their relationship for four years had gained the attention of everybody. Seeing as Adam is very popular.
The media have always been in their business. "They were out of the problem", Edna thought.
"The media! Lousy, noisy, nosey people following them everywhere. Always looking for snippets of conversation.
Lurking around and sneaking around them at private dinners, and even in intimate moments.
"Allowing the media into their relationship is one of the things that ruined them". She thought.
But Edna wasn't sorry... If you had asked her four months ago, she might have been sorry, but now? "This Edna? This Edna who had tasted a different set of lips!"
"This Edna who had felt warmth from a different set of arms", this Edna wasn't sorry!
She just wanted out! She was in fact, repulsed by the sight of him.
She was disappointed in herself by how long she allowed this joke of a relationship to drag on.
Their relationship was an utter sham!
She was an alpha female. You see... And Adam could not be said to be one of the very strong men.
He had his looks going for him though, and he had his talent and his acting skills.
His devilishly handsome face graced the front of many movie theatres and billboards all across the country.
That was the rush for Edna,l. That was enough for her. Four months ago, that would have been enough.
But not anymore... Adams fame was no more enough to keep her hooked.
She wanted anymore! She did not want to always be allowed to have her way.
She didn't want to always be right.
She could be a bully most times, but she didn't want to win every fight.
She wanted to have arguments, she wanted to have fights. She wanted a bad boy! And unfortunately, Adam was not one.
**************************************
As Edna walked into the blazing October sun, she turned to look back at the mansion one last time.
She had to admit it. "She would miss this place",
She would miss the space, she would miss the fancy flashy lifestyle that Adams status provided her.
She would miss walking into exotic restaurants and immediately getting recognized.
She would miss not having to book a seat at her favorite restaurant because they always had a reservation for the favorite celebrity couple.
But she would leave regardless... She knew she will be fine.
Raymond didn't have much, but what he had was enough for her.
It was the change she sought for so long. The change she only just realized she needed.
The difference in pace, the rush of not knowing what to expect.
Raymond was a bad boy and that was perfect for Edna.
She never wanted a good boy, in fact, she thought it is a miracle that she and Adam stayed in the relationship for as long as they did.
As she made to enter the car, s she saw a flicker of light flash at her. It was just who she thought it would be!
A reflection that could only be coming from the cameras of one of the paparazzi lurking around.
She guessed he had heard rumors of a looming breakup after the fight that she had with Adam at the governors' birthday party.
It seemed like the whole country was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"And Oh, how it would"! "Oh how it would", she thought.
She had decided that she would grant interviews to her favorite news houses.
Those that portrayed her and Adams relationship in the best light over the years.
She would grant interviews, and then she would be done! Done with sham!! Done with Adam forever!!!
"Ma'am, which way do I go"? The sound of her driver's voice jolted her out of her deep thoughts.
"Take me to the salon, I need a new look". She responded with the sound of enthusiasm in her voice.
"There is no way Edna is going to grant those interviews looking broken and tattered". She thought to herself.
"I would go looking my best"! She said to herself
New hairdo and all... She had her stylist pick out a whole set of dresses for the interviews. One for each, with shoes and bags to match!
*******************************************
"She didn't leave the ring..." Adam thought to himself as he stood in the center of his large exquisitely furnished bedroom.
He gave a bitter laugh. He knew Edna too well...
She would sell that ring before she would part with it.
Through the years of their relationship, Edna would never ever return take it from him no matter how angry she was at him.
She loved flashy things and he didn't mind.
Infact, he liked to give her flashy things. He enjoyed spoiling her with them.
That was one of his love languages; giving. Giving gifts, receiving them too but, Edna only had to want something from him to ever remember to gift him something.
But he did not mind. Adam never minded. He never minded the late nights and the unexplained disappearances for weeks!
He never minded that he had once seen her coming out of a senators' hotel room! y
I mean he did mind, but he forgave her... He loved her after all.
"What was love without forgiveness"? He thought to himself.
The ringtone of Adams' phone distracted him from his reverie
He wasn't in the mood to take calls, but it could be his manager and they were so busy this season that he couldn't afford to miss any piece of work.
He needed to keep himself busy too! So he reached for the phone and answered.
"Margaret, hi", He said in a weak tone.
"Hi Adam", Margaret replied in her usual soft and tender manner.
"Is it true? Are you ok? Do you need anything? I could come over if you want me to?" She reeled the questions out without actually waiting for his response.
Adam smiled and let out a deep sigh over the phone. He wouldn't be surprised if she was already on her way.
"Margaret, she's gone! Edna is gone!! She Left me Maggie", He said.
His voice broke as he spoke those words because he was struggling to hold back the tears that were already leaking their way down his cheeks.
"Oh! Adam, I am so sorry!" She said. She sounded like she wanted to cry also.
"Yeah, I am sorry too". Adam replied.
"Should I cancel your session for this afternoon?" She quickly asked.
"Oh no! I intend to get as busy as possible. I need to keep my head in the game now more than ever".
"Now is not the time to slack off. I will get through this... I will be fine I will get through this Margaret".
"Thank you for everything Maggie". Adam said tenderly.
"You're welcome, Adam. She replied. "Do you need any other thing"?
"No Margaret, thank you, I am fine. He replied.
"What time is my meeting with the house of Lurlour"? He asked her.
"It's 7 p.m". She replied.
"That's OK, I'll be there. Adam said.
"Alright Adam", She said. "See you there".
"Yeah Margaret...bye".
"Bye Adam... Please be safe!" She said. It was obvious she didn't want to end the call at that moment.
Adam dropped the call before she could find another excuse of a question to prolong the phone call.
He rubbed his temple as he fell backward on his chair. He had a headache.
This was too much! This was hard on him. But life had to go and work hard to go on. He couldn't afford to let his team down. He couldn't afford to let fans down.
They were neck-deep in production for a sitcom and everyone had been oohing and aaahing! about how awesome it was. And Adam just couldn't let them down.
Then the thought struck him; "His interview! his 7 p.m. meeting. Questions about Edna were going to come up.
In fact, he knew the questions about Him and Edna would tome up every day until the media got distracted by some other scandalous news.
He would have to call Margaret to arrange for a press statement.
He wondered if Edna would give a press statement herself.
"Should they give a joint press statement"?
He didn't think Edna would like that. She has stated clearly that she wanted nothing to do with him. "No casual chats, no friendship, she needed the air"!She said.
Adam quickly sent a text to Margaret to book a spa session for the next day.
" I need to relax", he said out loud. He needed to pamper himself or allow himself to be pampered.
It had been a while he put himself first.
"If you hadn't been so starved for love and attention as a child, you would not be this needy as an adult"!
Ednas' words came rushing back into his memory.
The very words that broke him, those were the words that hurt him the most.
He couldn't still see the look of disdain etched on her face as she lashed him with those words.
Adam had never really opened up to anyone about his past. Save Edna.
He never told anyone that grew up an orphan.
That Edna would use this sacred information that he entrusted her with as ammunition against him was too much for Adam to bear.
Too much! So much that he broke down in tears. He cried and cried nerve-racking tears.
He didn't think he was needy!
He was just a very tender-hearted person who wanted to love and be loved.
"That was normal, wasn't it"? He thought to himself.