17. seventeen
seventeen
LYSANDRA
The chatter at White Waves began to fade as the clock struck eight in the evening.
I believed I was one of the few people left in the coffee shop.
I preferred how calm it had become here.
The noisy teenagers had left, and there hadn’t been an obnoxious cackle vibrating through my ears and into my brain.
I continued to type on my laptop, taking advantage of the short-lived inspiration that surged through me to write. There was a jingle coming from the front entrance. When I shifted my eyes toward the emerging figure, I spotted his ginger hair first.
“Hi, baby.” I grinned as he leaned down and gave me a peck on the lips.
He groaned as he found a seat in front of me. “How’s it going today?”
“It’s great. I just finished three chapters for my new book and—”
As I had begun my speech about my story, Aldair cut me off. “In all honesty, today hasn’t been the best day for me. I’m sorry, love, but I don’t think I want to hear about fictional characters right now. Perhaps tomorrow?”
“Uh,” I uttered.
I should be used to it by now. He always had a negative experience at work that hindered his ability to listen to the events that occurred in mine.
“There is this scandal going on at work because of Seline and Julian’s clandestine meetings occurring at the hospital, and the fact that they were caught by one of the patients. Hector called me into his office and claimed that I was covering for them, when in reality…”
And just like that, his voice began to fade in my mind. Scandals, cheating, gossip. I wasn’t interested in any of that. As much as I cared for Aldair, I could never force myself to listen to the updates that he gave me. Truthfully, I couldn’t care less.
“Lysandra!” he snapped.
I turned my focus back on him, a brow quirked up. “Yes?”
“Don’t you think that’s unfair?” he questioned, his face filled with frustration and anger. Not toward me, but toward the supposed injustice that he was going through at work.
“Can you repeat that last part?”
“Hector said that I was also at fault for Seline and Julian’s behavior because I knew what they were doing, and I decided to keep silent about it. He said it was a lie by omission, and now I’m at risk of losing my job. It’s totally unfair!”
I sighed, my eyes quickly scanning the area where we were sitting. Thankfully, there hadn’t been any nearby interlopers who might have heard his blaring confession. His fingertips were white as he curled them on the edge of the table, and his nostrils flared.
I lowered my laptop, closing it and setting it into my brown leather purse. I didn’t want to stay for another one of his monologues about his coworker’s childish schemes.
“I think I should go,” I said, standing from my chair.
A hard hand wrapped around my wrist. “I need you to stay with me right now. It’s the least you could do after you continue to refuse to talk about wedding. Or did you think I wouldn’t notice? It’s like you don’t even want to get married.”
I furrowed my brow. This wasn’t the first time he held on to me too tightly, and I was starting to despise it. Not once had he laid his hands on me, but it was moments like these that proved to me that he was capable of it. Reminding me of my stepfather.
It made me question what would have happened to me if I had never left his clutches. What would have become of me had I not escaped from California?
Gosh, even thinking of his name made me nauseous.
“I have to go. I’m sorry,” I said.
My response was docile and calm. But that wasn’t the emotion I felt; I had a deep and powerful rage.
How I wished I could smash his face in as Aldair scowled at me.
If he so much as tightened his grasp around my wrist, I would send his chair flying across the café.
But I didn’t want to defile such a sacred space.
I also didn’t wish to disturb the other customers in the coffee shop.
Everything that I had built with this man would be for nothing.
All of the time that I had spent with him would only be in vain.
I believed that was why I held onto him for so long.
I couldn’t make a life with the person I wanted since I was seventeen.
I tried to force chemistry with someone who seemed to fit my ideals.
Oh, how wrong I had been in thinking that about Aldair.
I realized, as I pushed away from him, that I had an important choice to make.