Bruno
I can't get a single word out! What is this woman doing to me?
God, I have it bad.
"Well, are you going to say something?" Lina asks, pulling me from my daze.
I open my mouth to talk but words have completely deserted me.
I clear my throat, stalling. What was I going to say again?
I clutch my head with my free hand in concentration.
"How-how are you?"I ask, at a loss for any other words.
"What do you think?" she retorts angrily.
Okay, dumb fucking question. This whole uprooting of her life business must be stressful as fuck.
" So, I take it that you've broken up with him," I say refusing to say the fucker's name. The question is needless since I already know the answer. I saw Moretti walk out of her house in a mood and knew that things were going my way. I'd breathed a sigh of relief-it had been a trying task knowing that he was in the same room as Lina and not being able to do anything about it. But more importantly, he was out of our lives for good without me having to kill him.
I hope for his sake that he and I never cross paths because I can't guarantee his safety if we do. I won't tolerate his proximity to Lina again.
"You didn't give me much of a choice, did you?" she says bitterly, breaking me from my reverie.
A large part of me is beyond pissed that she's so upset about leaving Moretti but then I console myself by remembering that she didn't put up much of a fight when I asked her to leave him. Which tells me that she wasn't that into him. Thank fuck.
"Don't sound so angry, precious, Just be happy that I didn't step in."
That keeps her quiet. I begin to wonder if I'm overdoing it with the threats.
"Don't think you can threaten me into doing what you want."
It's been working great so far, I think, but I keep that to myself.
"I don't want to threaten you, precious, but you're being so difficult," I tell her.
"You're the one who shows up out of nowhere making unreasonable demands and I'm the one being difficult? You've got to be kidding me."
"Give it up precious. It seems like you need to get one thing clear in that beautiful head of yours. You belong with me and we will soon live together. Nothing you say or do will change that. I am done living without you."
"You're crazy," she announces in an irritated voice.
I shrug," If wanting to be with someone with every fiber of your being is crazy then yes, I am crazy."
Lina is rendered speechless for the second time since the beginning of our conversation. I wonder what she's thinking.
"Are you having me spied on?"She asks after clearing her throat.
"Of course not, I'm doing it myself."
That steals a shocked and angry gasp from her." Limits! You lunatic."
"I don't have any," I tell her truthfully.
" Wait, why am I even surprised? You threatened to kill an innocent human being. This must be nothing for you," she says after a moment.
Great, now she thinks that I have the morals of a rat.
I.do.not.
And I'd usually kill the first person to accuse me of being so. No one says that shit to me and lives. Except for her, she owns my heart. And let's be honest, I deserved that.
Raking a hand through my still-damp hair, I sigh and say, "Can I hope that you're packing a suitcase like a normal scared woman?"
For some reason, maybe it's the sudden lightness of tone in my voice but a sudden burst of laughter comes out of her. I hear her cover her mouth, trying to stop it but it's too late. I heard it loud and clear. It takes me back to us before shit hit the fan. And it also solves the mystery that's been in my mind for years—the source of the beautiful sounds in my dreams.
Humor still there in her voice, she says, "No, I'm not. And...and I won't."
Do I also hear tears in her voice?
I wonder if she's thinking about us too.
I look past my window to see the part of the sun setting behind Lina's house, the vibrant orange dazzling against the light blue sky.
Lina doesn't yet understand who she's dealing with.
Keeping the phone real close to my ear I quietly say, "Precious, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, It's your choice. I don't really care which as they both end with you in my apartment in a week."
"Bruno, please, "She begs, using my name for the first time since this conversation started. It almost makes me want to give her anything she wants. Almost.
"The hard way it is then, "I say tonelessly
"Do you hear yourself, this whole thing is nuts!" she starts to yell.
"The sanity of the plan doesn't matter precious, the point is that I can do it,"
"Four more days, precious," I tell her,'' And stop ignoring my calls," I add, finally remembering what I called to complain about in the first place.
I hang up without another word.
I watch her house for a long time, hoping to God that my speech was making Lina reconsider her thoughts.
I'd just hate to go toe to toe with her.
*******************************************
Lina
The phone beeps once in my ear after he finishes hanging up on me.
I slowly remove it from my ear, getting angrier with each passing second.
He annoys me with his continuous calling and dares to hang up on me?
The fucking bastard.
And to think I'd been having the perfect evening, seated on my reading nook with an interesting book in my hands. One might wonder why I'm not panicking like I've been doing for the last few days instead.
Yesterday, after I'd cleared my mind and thought about this disaster situation, it suddenly occurred to me how impossible it was for life as I knew it to be over in one week because of one man. I mean I had a whole life-house, parents, friends, and a flourishing career, It couldn't just be altered in a few days without my say-so, right? The thought itself was ridiculous, I'd told myself.
For the first time, I'd stopped feeling the threat of Bruno hanging over me. In hindsight, I think it was because I hadn't had any communication from him in hours so I'd relaxed a bit, deluding myself that he had no power over me. I'd refuse his offer and it would be the end of that because he couldn't make me do anything.
I couldn't have been more delusional.
The moment I heard my phone ring, all that confidence left my body. My hands shook as I picked up the call.
The man had been calm and cool the whole time but he'd still intimidated the shit out of me. I'd barely worked up the courage to say no and when I did, he totally just brushed it off, like my refusal mattered very little in this situation-he'd still be able have his way.
Some women would've been flattered by this, being desired so much that a man is willing to do anything, but I for one feel fear as I'd never known. I don't know what this man is capable of and I don't want to find out. I may have been acquainted with this him once but I don't know him, maybe I never did.
Firmly shutting the business thriller novel by John Harman, I drop it into my lap. It now occurs to me that I'd wasted time pretending that the problem did not exist when I should have been trying to find a way out of it.
A dozen plans swirl around in my mind as I quietly panic.
I may not be able to stand up to him but I can run from him.
Because I won't sit around, twiddling my thumbs, and wait for a man whose sanity remains questionable to come and take me away.