“I knew who you were,” I point out, for good measure. “And now that I know you, I can tell how hard you worked to get where you are today. So fuck them if they think you don’t deserve this time to get yourself together. It’s not like....you fucking got yourself kidnapped on purpose. What right does your manager have to guilt you and con you into doing something that you’re not comfortable with? He should have changed the subject when you told him you weren’t going to do it.” I pause, and wait for him to answer. But...I don’t think he can. His bottom lip is trembling, and his eyes are still closed. He’s about two seconds away from losing it...
And I’m infuriated.
“Where’s the damn phone,” I grunt. “I think I need to call that man and remind him that you were kidnapped less than a fucking year ago. Christ, I mean, what the fuck does he expect you to do right now?”
Again, he doesn’t answer. But he does open his eyes, and it relieves me just a little bit. I”m so mad right now, I know I’m not in any condition to hug him or hold him. I just want to strangle that manager of his, and call Lynn and tell her all about this...that it’s not right. And while Justin may put up with it, I’m certainty not going to stand by and watch him do it.
“Melanie,” he speaks up finally, his voice cracking a little bit. “It’s really not that big of a deal.” He smiles a little and reaches across to give my arm a light rub. “You shouldn’t let it get to you.”
“But it does!,” I yell, my eyes widening. “Damn it, it’s like everybody treats you like a child, and when they don’t, when they treat you like an adult, they treat you like everything is perfectly fine and you shouldn’t have issues going out and doing the things you did before. It’s ridiculous. It’s like...everybody has made decisions for you this past year and it’s time for you to start living your life the way you want and not because its part of a regime or schedule or whatever.”
I didn’t even realize I’d gotten up and started to pace while making my speech. I know I’m getting worked up. I know I’m allowing my emotions to escalate to places they shouldn’t. And I also know that I’m letting Justin see past my barriers...past my strong points, right into my heart. I need to stop. I need to be that professional girl right now, but I just can’t do it. What happened to him today is just....too much. I can’t allow the people in his life turn his progress back around. I’ll have failed in my duty, and Justin....
If Justin spirals any further downward, he’ll never be able to make it back.
I think a lot of this is reminding me of my mother...and about what happened to me after I was raped...after I got out of the mental hospital and gotten some help from Susan. I’d come home a few months later, ready to just...start fresh. For the first time in my life I wanted to get to know my mother better. I wanted us to form a closer relationship because I had realized she was the only family I really had, and it wasn’t right that we barely spoke. But my mom...she was just too busy to take the time to get to know me better. She was still traveling, still working, and she told me that I needed to get a job so I’d be able to keep myself ‘focused’.
And I got a job, I did what she wanted, and I know she was glad I did it. But I knew she just wanted me to push the rape as far away from my mind as possible. She never talked about it with me, and she was so careful about what she said or did around me...like I was so fragile...fragile like a piece of glass. That way, she was still able to tell people that her daughter was a nurses aid and keep her precious image in check. I haven’t spoken to my mother since she got me the interview with Lynn, and I don’t plan on doing it anytime soon. I’d never want her to meet Justin either. Something just tells me that she’d make me look pathetic in comparison to herself.
Justin gets treated almost the same way I did by the people in his life and I think it’s the main reason why I’m getting so worked up. I look at him again, and this time...he’s chuckling to himself. I give him an awkward look, not understanding how he can find humor in this conversation. “I think you should quit,” I mutter. “Then we’ll see how important you are to them, when they aren’t making any more money off of you.”
He shrugs. “I think you have a fan.”
I groan. The fact that he’s avoided everything I’ve just said is really annoying, but I try not to be angry at him. I focus instead, on the dog that he’s referring to. It’s the girl. I can tell because she has a white spot on her nose. She follows me as I pace back across the deck, and I guess I just didn’t notice before...but I’m sure she’s been doing this the entire time I’ve been rambling on and on. I manage to smile a little and pick her up. She licks my face and I pat her gently on the head as I hold her close to my chest. “I”m sorry I got carried away.” I shake my head. “It’s just been a stressful past couple of days.”
He nods, and picks up the other dog who’d been chewing on a table leg behind him. “I feel you.” He glances at the floor quickly before meeting my gaze again. “So...did you want to come to Tennessee with me?”
Wait...what? I just ranted for a half hour about Justin’s issues, and what does he do? Does he thank me? Does he ask me for more advice? No...no now he expects me to get on a plane with him and meet his damn family and friends. I can’t just do that. Doesn’t he realize that? I mean, he knows that I have issues too. “I...”
But he doesn’t let me refuse him. “Well I figured my mom was going to ask you anyway...”
“Um, and I figured you would have waited for a better opportunity to ask me Justin. Damn.” I roll my eyes. “I thought...we would have focused on what happened last night first, if anything.”
He just shrugs. “I can’t explain what happened last night, Mel. It just happened.”
“It shouldn’t happen again,” I say, firmly.
“I guess not.”
“I mean I guess...I guess I could sleep on your couch,” I say, fumbling with my words. “Just you know, not with you..... on it..... or anything.” I can feel my face turning red, and I know we’ve gotten way off base with our discussion. What I should really do is tell him we need to bring the dogs inside, make him some dinner and go hide in my house for the rest of the night. But when I look at him again, and see the mischievous glint in his normally gloomy looking eyes, I just... I can’t do anything.
I can barely breathe.
“I think you needed last night,” he tells me.
“Excuse me?” I scoff.
“I’m serious.” He takes few steps towards me, dog still in his arms. He won’t stop looking into my eyes either, and I’m starting to wonder if he’s doing it on purpose. If...he’s doing it to get his way. He could be. No, he must be. And I know I can’t give in. I won’t...
But damn it, why do his eyes have to be so...nice?
“I think...,” he continues, when I don’t move from my position in front of him. “...you keep so much inside of you, that you just....sometimes you need somebody to be the one to take it all away.”
I’ve never heard such a caring tone come out of him before, and it’s almost scary. I guess it’s just hard to see Justin becoming little bit stronger, and trying to give me advice. It’s like he’s from another planet right now. And I wish I could keep him here for just a little while longer. I know I’d feel so safe with him...in his arms, asleep. But of course I’ll get scared now...of course I’ll make up an excuse to avoid him at all costs. “I...I think we need to go inside and make dinner, and stop talking about five different things at once, Justin.”
“You’re the one who keeps changing the subject,” he says, coldly.
“My stomach is growling.”
I’m a bad liar.
He’s quiet now, and it doesn’t change as I follow him into the house. Fuck, I know I’m letting him down...and avoiding things. But damn it, I’m scared right now. Scared of him, scared of myself...scared of what I might do or he might do. I’m scared to listen to myself, to let myself trust him...to go to Tennessee with him and see what his life is really all about. I just, I couldn’t deal with the consequences if something were to go wrong. It’s now that I wish he knew everything....
But I just don’t have the strength to tell him what happened to me.
“I’ll just have a sandwich in my room, Mel.”
“Damn it, Justin.” I put down the dog, and slap my hands against my thighs. I didn’t mean to make him want to run away. I just...I don’t know what to do or what to say right now.
“You’re tired anyway,” he tells me. “Don’t worry about it okay? We can talk tomorrow.”
“I told you that I was hungry!,” I say defensively. “How can that make you want to eat upstairs?”
He pets the dog in his arms a couple of times and lets it down on the floor. It runs to the other one and starts sniff her, and in my mind, it’s sniffing for imperfections. Kind of like Justin did, during his first week with me.
“You haven’t answered my question,” he says, hands on his hips like I’m the one who’s being impossible...not him. “And you’ve avoided a pretty important topic, Mel.”
I wonder if his friends used to let him turn shit around onth em this easily. Maybe thats why he does it, because he’s so used to getting away with it. Up until now I thought I’d sort of cured him from acting that way. But now I know, he’s just really good at keeping it all inside. The truth is, I don’t know what Justin is capable of...not at all, and until I do I really need to be on my guard. Because I know he could hurt me...badly. I hate to think this way too. But I dont think I have another option right now. “There’s been like twenty questions, Justin,” I point out. “Clearly, I’m flustered.”
He points an accusing finger at me, but doesn’t come any closer to where I’m standing. “You know what the main points are. But whatever Mel, you know? I mean, I’m used to you being all secretive and shit too.”
He shakes his head and walks away from me, into the adjoining room. I’m left standing there, the dogs playing at my feet, feeling like the worst person in the world. Fuck, but I shouldn’t feel this way. Justin is being a baby, plain and simple. He’s not getting his way so automatically I should feel like a piece of shit, that’s his logic. I realize now, that this night is just going to get worse if we keep on going. Maybe I should have just let him go upstairs and eat alone. But I know that’s unhealthy, and I wouldn’t have been doing my job if I’d agreed to let him do that. Despite all of this arguing, I know I still have to make him some dinner. I cant allow him to fall asleep on an empty stomach. Lynn would just kill me. I sigh loudly. I realy need to stop letting him get to me like this. There just isn’t a reason for it.
He’s just a guy. I can work through this. A five year barrier between myself and the male sex shouldn’t be interfering with my career like it has been. I just need to stop.
Right.
I force myself to go into the living room now, so I can ask him what I should make for dinner. But I can’t get a word out when I see him rummaging through the bags of things that I brought home from the mall. I mean, some stuff is for him and that’s fine. But I dont want him to go through my stuff. I don’t know what I’d do if he saw my underthings...and I did buy some today. “The silver bags are mine,” I tell him, as I approach the coffee table. “Don’t go through them.”
He continues the rummage through the bags, not looking up at me. “Why not?”
I feel my face turn a light shade of red. “Because there might be private things in them.”
He laughs at me and I feel like a stupid little girl. “Yeah right.” He picks up one of my bags and starts to open it. “Hmm...”
“No Justin, seriously! Stop!” I reach out and try to grab the bag away from him, but he lifts it up high over his head where I can’t possibly reach it and laughs at me some more.
“Come on.” He smirks and rolls his eyes. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen. Some white undies....”
I glare at him hatefully, and I feel the tears building up behind my eyelids. I don’t understand. Why is he acting like a fucking bully? Doesn’t he know? Doesn’t he realize how much stuff like this gets to me? Fuck, maybe he does. Maybe he knows me better than I think.
And he’s using it all to make himself feel better, and more powerful.
“Stop it Justin! Right now!” I lunge at him again, but I’m too late. He’s pulled something out of the bag now, and a simple glance tells me that he’s gone too far. It’s one of my bras. White with a little bit of lace. I buy the ultra cheap one’s at Macy’s because they seem to wear better, especially when I find myself cleaning Justin’s house or doing his fucking laundry. Normally I dont even think about the things, but right now...I wish it didn’t look like a junior high school girl’s first ‘lady bra’, as my grandmother used to call it.
“This is so innocent, Mel,” he snickers.
This time, I’m able to snatch it away from him, and I give him a hard shove to get my point across. I throw the bra back into the bag, and snatch everything that’s mine off of the coffee table angrily. “You’re such and asshole!,” I scream at him.
He raises his arms at his sides, like he doesn’t know why I’m so mad. “What?”
He’s like a sad little boy that needs to be put in the corner. But since Justin is much too old for that, the best I can do is shoot him dirty looks and give him an attitude. “I told you not to go through my bags,” I say, darkly.
He just shrugs, and goes back to looking through the stuff his mommy bought for him. “So?”
I can’t believe he’s acting like this right now. “I don’t snoop around your house, Justin.”
He doesn’t look up at me. “Why should I care what you do, Mel? I know what I don’t want you to see and I keep it where you can’t get to it. Having your stuff out in the open like this was stupid. If you didn’t want me to see it, you should have put it away as soon as you got home.”
‘I was trying to talk you out of your fucking mood!” I shake my head roughly, not believing that he’s acting like I don’t have feelings....like I don’t even matter that much to him after everything I’ve done for him. I’m fucking fed up right now. If he gets like this over a phone call, I dont even know what he’d be like if something more drastic were to happen. And I can’t deal with that. I can’t be his punching bag. So I won’t be. “You’re a disrespectful prick,” I say softly, fighting hard to keep my tears back.
“This is my house,” he says, harshly.
I’ve had it. I throw the bags in my arms at him, not caring about anything he sees now. “Fine. Look through all my shit. Since you seem to get some sick pleasure from seeing my underwear.”
“I’m a guy,” he says, in a cocky tone.
“Oh...so that’s all you care about? Fucking, women’s underwear? What in the world have I ever done to make you think I would have anything of interest to you in that aspect?” I cross my arms defensively. Honestly, the more I talk the more terrified I’m becoming of this whole situation. It’s the first time Justin has brought up any kind of sexual scenario in front of me. It was like the subject had never existed in his mind up until now. But I should know better I guess. Justin is a guy, as he said, and I know he must think of sex sometimes. He just hasn’t seemed...sexual up until this point, that’s all.
And I for one, have been perfectly fine with that.
“I was just curious, damn,” he laughs a little. “I don’t know why you get so worked up over this stuff.”
“I’m a private person,” I mumble, stupidly.
“Whatever.” He rubs his hands over his head. “It’s just sex.”
He says it so nonchalantly that it almost seems forced. And the look on his face right now is telling me that he really is uncomfortable, that he’s dug himself into a hole that he can’t get out of, and he doesn’t know what to do...so he’s decided to act like a cocky asshole to cover it up instead. “Who the fuck said anything about sex?” I breathe out, heavily, and don’t take my gaze off of him.
“I...I just...”
He looks at the floor and I know it’s coming out now....he’s realizing how fucking stupid he’s acting and how I must feel. But it’s too late for him to do anything about it. I’m pissed, and I just need to get away from him all together. I go back and snatch up the bags I threw at him. “It’s innocent underwear as you said. Prudish to you I’m sure. It’s a fucking bra, Justin, not a damn leather outfit. You’re sick.” I turn and start away from him, but stop in my tracks when he shouts back at me.
“You can’t take a fucking joke! That’s your issue, Melanie! I’m not sick.”
I turn around to face him again. “And clearly you don’t take no for an answer.”
The gloom takes over his expression again. I think he knows he’s losing now, he’s not going to get his way, and he’s not happy about it. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
His tone is dark and a little scary, but I refuse to let him know how uneasy its making me. “I told you not to look through my bags, and you did it anyway. That was a blatant disregard of respect for me, my stuff and my privacy.” I roll my eyes. “But I know, it’s probably my fault for not putting them away in the first place, like you said. So lets just blame it on me. I’ll make you a damn sandwich and we can go our separate ways, all right?”
The thing thats really pissing me off right now, is he’s still digging through the bags while I’m talking. It’s telling me that while he’s upset, he doesn’t really care what I have to say. I know why he’s all alone now. And I dont blame Trace...or whoever else, for allowing him to wallow in his fucking misery.
“Well don’t forget this.” He pulls out the dress that Lynn basically forced me to buy, and tosses it at me. “And this time, it was in my stuff. So fuck you.”
I stare at it, all crumpled on the ground. I have to admit, it is a really pretty thing, that would look great on anybody else except me. I cringe a little, knowing how much Lynn spent on it, and how badly she probably wants to see me in it someday soon. “Your mom made me buy it,” I say, quietly.
“Well,” he says, the smirk back on his face. “You shouldn’t waste my moms money like that.”
I feel cheap. Like he thinks I’m some kind of freeloading hussie that forced his mom to buy that dress for me. My emotions have officially hit rock bottom now, and I don’t really care if he knows it or not. I stare at the dress for a few more minutes before I’m finally able to look at him again. “Fend for your fucking self, Justin.” I turn on my heel and start to walk away quickly. I hear him yell “fine!” but I dont turn back to see what’s become of him. I walk fast, hard, my breathing rapid, the tears freely flowing down my face now. I get inside my sanctuary, pressing the door closed with my back, and slide down onto the floor. I’m just hysterical. I feel so fucking lame. I thought I was being a friend to him, a good one....somebody that would be there for him because he had nobody else.
I thought he was starting to care about me.
But he’s just like any other guy, and I know that I have to stop trusting him. I fell asleep with him on the couch but it shouldn’t have meant anything to me. I shouldn’t have walked around the mall today daydreaming about him and I playing with his puppies and having stupid fights about responsibility and the like. He’s just another guy...that will hurt me no matter how much I do for him. If only he knew how badly that whole underwear thing really hurt me....if only he knew how hard it is for me to cope with sexual jokes like that.
If only he knew how horrible I feel when people look at me and think I’m a prude when they really have no idea what I’ve been through.
It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve thought about packing my bags and leaving. I realize this is job is starting to take its toll...it’s too much pressure, too many feelings that will never be able to work themselves out. I should probably just call Susan, stay at the home until I can find a better place to work. Sure, my mom will be mad, think I’m a failure...
But really, what else is new when it comes to my mother?
I feel something furry brush against my leg, and I know it’s just Morgan who’s come to greet me and meow for food. Lynn knows about her, because I said I couldn’t take the job unless I was able to have her with me, and she didn’t mind at all. “Just as long as you change the litter box’, was all she had said. I scratch her behind the ears and push myself up from the floor, lifting her into my arms. She nuzzles her head into my neck, and its weird...but sometimes I think she knows when I’m most upset. That’s the thing I love about her. She’s clean, she doesn’t scratch me, and she comforts me when I’m sad. It’s better than a messy, naughty puppy...
Justin and his dogs are a perfect match.
Morgan and I curl up on the couch together, and she lets me cry on her a little bit. I think things will be okay for the night. I can fall asleep knowing that I’m safe inside the house, away from Justin, and Morgan is beside me. I start to smile again, but it’s very short lived. A knock comes to the door, and Morgan meows loudly in fright and jumps off of me, managing to scratch my arm as she does so. “Shit.....” I look down at my arm, and sure enough there is a trickle of blood oozing from the scratch. I make my way over to the door angrily, knowing its Justin and that my arm is now bleeding because of him. I swing open the door, and he’s just standing there, hands shoved in his pockets looking like he’s just been crying himself.
“What,” I grunt.
He looks at the ground. “I’m an idiot.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Can...I come in?”
I close the door a little bit, so he can’t get past me. “No.”
“I’m scared, Mel,” he whispers.
I have no sympathy for him. He just acted like a grade A prick, and there’s no reason why I should give him the satisfaction of telling him ‘its okay’ and giving him a pat on the back. “My cat just scratched me,” I say angrily. “So I have to clean the cut, okay?”’
He sniffles a little bit. “Cat?”
Morgan slides in between the door and my leg now, and after taking one look at Justin she claws the air with her paw and hisses at him loudly. She’s never been a sociable animal. She was even like this with Lynn the first time around, until I swatted her nose and told her to stop. But I wont do that now. Justin deserves to bear witness to the wrath of Morgan the cat. “She doesn’t like strangers.”
“How come you never told me about the cat?,” he asks.
I turn slightly, ready to walk away and leave him standing outside like a moron. “It’s my house,” I say, sarcastically and walk back into the house.
“Actually, it’s my house.”
He’s followed me, but I dont say anything. I just start to wash my arm in the kitchen sink and hope that he’ll pathetically apologize and go back to his house when I ignore everything he has to say.
“I dont know why I act like that,” he tells me after a few minutes.
“Yeah,” I say, as I shut off the water. “You really hurt my feelings though.”
He shrugs and backs up against the wall. “I told you Madison was right about me.”
I take a cloth and hold it against the cut on my arm. “How is that an excuse? I know thats not who you are. That’s who you try to be when...god...you know, I dont even knows anymore. Maybe I’m completely wrong about everything when it comes to you Justin. Maybe I just dont know you like I thought I did.”
“Maybe last night scared me too, Mel,” he confesses. “And I just didnt think about it, until Johnny called and set me off.”
All right, I’m sure he was scared, and confused about what happened last night...just as much as I was. But I didn’t treat him like he just treated me. I could have, but I’m just not that person anymore. I went through it though. I had to be taught to control my temper and my urges to make people feel bad. I’m a better person because of it. But if I know what it’s like not to be able to control my feelings, why am I so angry at Justin? I guess I just...lose sight of the person I used to be sometimes.
“Look, we’re friends right?,” I say, a little uneasily. “That doesn’t mean we’re perfect or that we don’t say the wrong things sometimes, but you can’t just take everything out on me. I understand that you dont want to talk about everything with me, I’m a private person too. But, damn it Justin, I’m not the perfect person everybody thinks I am, you know?” I sigh and lean against the counter, knowing that I’m probably going to start crying all over again, but not really caring either. “Your mom thinks I’m some kind of miracle worker, and that scares me. I’m just a girl, who stays here and helps you with whatever you need. I don’t put up with your bad attitude because somebody has to take the firmer hand here. I used to be able to tolerate times like this a lot more...but today....you really set me off today.”
He’s quiet for awhile, and I know what he did and said to me back at the house is finally seeping in. He knows he’s wrong and yeah that should make me feel good, but it doesn’t. It just makes me feel worse for him, because I know he tries, and his emotions seem to backfire on him like a faulty shot gun.
“I don’t want to be like that,” he whispers. “It’s just that there’s so much I have to think about right now, and I can’t handle that sometimes. You...you shouldn’t have to put up with this, Mel.” Now he looks at me, his steel blue eyes glossed over with fresh tears. “I’m sorry okay?,” he chokes out.
“The thing you don’t get is, I’m not going to bail on you like everybody else. I may want to. I may tell myself I’m going to pack a bag and leave. But then I think about you, and what you really need to do to get better and I know that I shouldn’t just leave you alone like that,” I tell him. “I probably care too much.”
“Sometimes, like tonight...I say those things because I know you won’t leave.” He won’t look at me as he says it to me. “I know that I can just say whatever, and you’ll still be here the next day.”
“That’s a shitty way to think of me, Justin.”
“Yeah,” he nods. “I know it is.”
“I’m not a punching bag.”
He looks at me now.
“And you were probably right, you know? Your mom did waste her money on that dress. I’d never wear it anyway, so when she comes back tomorrow I’ll just tell her to return it.” I shake my head regretfully. What he said to me about that dress still hurts me, but I know he’s right. I’d never wear it, and if I did...I’d look out of place. It was a waste, I dont know what I was thinking about, letting Lynn buy it for me anyway.
“No, Mel. God, don’t listen to me okay?” He comes closer to me, but I back away and he frowns a little. “I’m an asshole. You’d...you know, you’d look nice in the dress.”
“Just stop it,” I groan.
He looks at the floor. “I mean it.”
I dont know what to make of his attitude about this subject, and I’m too scared to ask, so I’ll just back away from it while I have the chance to. “I don’t even have a place I could wear it. I felt slutty when I tried it on.”
“Dont’ say that,” he says gruffly. “You’re not a slut.”
“Whatever,” I say, not caring what he says. “I still dont’ have a place to wear it.”
He’s quiet for a minute. Then he looks at me again, seemingly debating with himself for a while before actually saying what’s on his mind. “You can wear it when we go to Tennessee,” he blurts out, and stares at me with a pleading expression on his face.
Great. I should have known this was his plan all along. Knowing Justin, even if I say no he’s not going to drop the subject anytime soon. Still, I know I can’t go back home with him. He needs time with his family by himself, without me, and I for one am not ready to sit in a house where I dont know anyone, for an entire week. “I’m not going with you to Tennessee, Justin.”
He sends me a blank stare. “Why?”
“Because...i have a life outside of this job.” Okay thats pretty much a lie but I have to come of up with something to tell him, right? “And what would I do there anyway? I don’t know anybody...I’d just be sitting alone by myself half the time. No, I can’t come,” I repeat. “I have friends I can visit while you’re away.”
“Mel, come on. You know I’d introduce you around. I wouldn’t let you be alone the whole time,” he defends. “If you can’t understand why I need you there, maybe you don’t know me like I thought you did.”
I cross my arms stubbornly across my chest. “If you can’t understand that I need my space, and that I know you don’t really need me there....you just want somebody there to baby you, then you don’t know me at all either.”
It’s quiet for awhile, both of us just standing in my kitchen. Justin leaning against one wall, looking like he’d rather be drowning himself, and me standing against the counter still holding the cut on my arm with the dishcloth. It’s stupid and pointless and we should both just try to move on with the evening. But of course I know that’s not going to happen. It never does.
“I’m not going to win,” he finally says, sighing in defeat.
“Not tonight.”
He shrugs and turns away from me. “Night then.”
I should let him walk away, and go run a bath for myself and melt away all of this stress and fatigue in the warm water. But I know I wouldn’t be able to do it, knowing that he went home upset. “Justin...”
He turns back to me. “Yeah.”
“I hate this.”
He nods a little. “Me too.”
“Look,” I sigh. God, I really don’t want to give in or give him false hopes. But I feel bad about what’s been going on with him lately, from his mother right on down the line. And the truth is, I wouldn’t mind going home with him. I know I won’t be doing anything while he’s gone. That whole thing about me having friends was a big line of bullshit. I guess I’m just scared of getting any closer to Justin and his family than I am already. “I’ll...think about Tennessee, okay? But that means you have to play your part too. What happened tonight....it can’t happen anymore.”
He smiles just a little bit. “So if I’m less of an asshole you’ll come?”
“Well that might help,” I chuckle. “But I can’t say right now that I’ll come with you for any reason. I just have to make a decision on my own.”
“I guess that’s fair,” he agrees.
“Tomorrow is another day though,” I remind him. “So go get some rest, all right?” I turn on my heel, thinking I’m home free. But my shoulders sag in defeat when I hear him say my name again. “Justin, I’m so tired. Honestly....tomorrow is another day.”
“But the dogs are crying,” he whines. “That’s part of the reason I came over here in the first place. I can’t get them to stop.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “I told you this was going to happen. Did you feed them?”
He hangs his head low. “I tried to.”
I groan. I guess that bath is sort of out of the question now. I dont know why I care. Honestly, it makes no sense. But here I am, giving into him and helping him out when he should be taking care of the problem himself. I groan a little bit. “I guess I’ll pack an overnight bag then.”
And he smiles at me, genuinely this time. “Thanks, Melanie.”
Story Tags: justinandtrace
