Juniper stiffens at my change of tone."You don't care about anyone else, do you? There are children working under your husband, children as young as eight being explo-""They need to make a living somehow. Do you hate him for creating employment? What has yours done besides putting him in a hospital? ""Yeah..."I answer with a chuckle."Right? My husband is the worst, but I know he wouldn’t ‘create employment opportunities’ amongst kids who should be in school. I know he wouldn’t exploit them for cheap labour and steal their chances at literacy. There is free public education in Devnia, darling; your argument isn’t fooling anyone.""Do you think I hate your husband? I don’t.”I ask, and answer my own question with a sigh.“Especially since mine shot his dominant hand, so there is no way Benjamin, or whatever his name is, could have laid a hand on you. Even if he is ambidextrous, a woman in true fear would use any opportunity to escape danger. But how would you know? You’ve never bee
"Let's go-"I say as I pull away from Christopher’s warmth."Go? Go where? What kind of answer is that?”“It's ‘an answer’?”I shrug.“That I am asking for too much?"I don't nod to his question or respond verbally; instead, I tug his arm towards the elevator, but he withdraws it."Say it.""I have already said it.”"Say it so that I can understand; ‘say that the father of my child is asking too much when he says he wants me to depend on him’.""Christopher.""Say it!"Why is he angry?I don’t…understand this. Why is he changing things? Why can’t we stop now? I don’t want this; I don’t want to put my heart on the line for someone like him.With a sigh, I turn to face him fully."Tell me, Christopher, when did you last compare me to Blair?”"What?"He frowns."Are you deaf?""Elizabeth."He calls warningly, so I try softening my words.“I’m not as outgoing as her, I’m not as smart as her, I am not even as funny as she is, and yet you had to get rid of the person living in your house th
"I'll take the couch."I say, pointing to the cosy loveseat in his spacious room."You'll sleep on the bed.""Gladly, if you open my room, I'll sleep on the bed, or rather, if you give me an axe-""Elizabeth..."Christopher calls, so I groan and focus on something else to fuss about."I can't sleep without pyjamas, and I want to shower.""Use the clothes from my closet.""I have good ones in my room.""I'm not opening it, so get used to this.""What even is ‘this’?"I ask as I wave my hand around the room."Our new normal"At his casual answer, I rake my hair out of my face, while rushing to the hospital, I lost my hairband somewhere."You really have lost your mind."I mumble to myself, but it seems he hears me."Maybe, but Elizabeth, if you don't choose to rely on me, I'll make you."“Ahaha, you should have been a poet.”I say sarcastically to his words."If all else fails."How does this crazy bastard always have a reply?**My hand holding a towel ruffles my now damp hair as I re-
"Are you dumb or what? Just say you like me, or you like that I remind you of something Blair has."I snap, finally sitting up from his arms.I washed the sea breeze scent off me only to have his gel covering me.I don’t even need his arms around me to feel his presence, his sheets, his gaze, the ticklish way he was brushing my hair, everything screams that I have invaded his territory, and he wouldn’t let me out.Hey…hey…can we stop? Do we have to get closer?"Just let me finish my story, and you'll get it.""Get what?"My heart is pounding; something is telling me that any more of this, and I-"I-...you are confusing me. Anyway, Blair’s-""How am I confusing you?"I ask, wanting to end this conversation in the best and most innocent way I know how: by interrupting."Fucks sake, Elizabeth! What do you want me to say for you to shut up and listen to what I have to say?"He yells, this time sitting up to match my height."I don’t want to hear how much you loved her, okay?""Why?"Why?
“You know, they always say ‘the worst she can say is no’, but then there is that cold answer.”Christopher says with a cold laugh.“What should I do, Elizabeth? I can’t let you go. You have to be mine. You have to fall in love with me and only me.”He says as if speaking to himself.“Wait, love?”“I was going to avoid you after we got back but when I saw you willing to drive alone agitated, I thought… ‘Ah, one of these days, I will lose her like I did Blair’, and that can’t happen, Elizabeth. I don’t want to lose you.”He says and leans back on the bed, joining me on my back. His hand falls on my waist, and he pulls me forcefully into his body.My breasts graze against his chest as his long hand cups the curve of my ass, I can feel his cock on my thighs, but as if I am the only one with perverse thoughts, he continues with his story as if my rejection never happened."Victoria toyed with Blair's emotions so much that she lost her glow. I thought divorce would be a perfect way out, but
"I wanted to see him; I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, so I obviously went to his asshole friends, but apparently, they don’t fuck with poor kids. I found that confusing because there wasn’t anyone poor in the school.”I continue."It took me ages to find his apartment from the teachers. None of them was willing to give it or mention him in front of me, again, Mum’s handiwork, but I didn’t know that at the time. His apartment was small, dark, and dirty, and it smelled. I understood why he didn't want to sleep with me there; I only just set foot and had already seen several cockroaches. He looked broken, defeated and soulless.”As if I could see him right in front of me, I continued narrating the story as the scene played in my mind.**“Why do you look like this?”“How do you want me to look, Lisa? You broke up with me.”I flinch at Todd’s harsh reply.“Human. I want you to look Human; it's not like- we just broke up. That's it.""That's...that's it. God, you are stupid.""I
“Of course, she didn’t; I increased the security in the room after I overheard your conversation.”Christopher says, dismissing my relief as if my concern was not warranted.“You were eavesdropping?”I ask, lowering the newspaper to my lap."Depends. Will I get into trouble if I say yes?"He asks and leans on his dressing table."Depends, is your answer, yes?"I ask, and he smiles.“That’s hot cocoa and scones. Henry is getting a bath, but he should be storming into the room soon. Would you like to shower before we move to the dining room?”“Yes, as my tea cools.”I answer and stand from the bed.Instead of walking to the bathroom, I walk towards Christopher, stand on the tips of my toes and kiss his cheek.He stiffens.I guess there is security in knowing someone likes you, I never would have done this before.“Thank you, Christopher.”I say and leave quickly before he notices my blush or asks an awkward question.**Christopher D’Amico.A smile crept up his face as he watched Elizab
"Shopping?"I ask, to ensure that Christopher and I are on the same page."Yes, Shopping. Let's go."He repeats.Wow, he is actually serious."So, let me get this straight: I'm telling you I don't want my son to kill anyone, and instead of assuring me that that won't happen, you want us to go shopping?""I think you need good clothes so that you would think twice when you want to clean Henry's-""There is no garment in this world more expensive than my child. I would use cashmere to clean his vomit.""You wouldn't have to; this is a fully staffed house."A chuckle escapes me."You'll argue about anything but the main point?""There is no main point."I flinch at his words, which are filled with cruel finality."Yeah? Okay, I understand.”Without another word, I push my half-eaten blueberry pancakes aside and stand from the table."Where are you going?""I have a therapy session, so I'm going to get there early.""It's in three hours?""Very early."I emphasise as I walk away from the