Chapter 20
“Norah is here to speak with us,” Thor said politely, his voice even, too careful for my liking.
I tore my gaze away from her and looked at him.
“With us?”
Norah answered, drawing my suspicious gaze. “Actually, I already spoke with Heithor, and I would like to speak with you as well. That’s why I asked to speak to you in his presence, if you don’t mind, of course.”
“I don’t see any subject we need to address, Norah. You and Heithor are, or were, friends, but you and I never were and never will be friends. You don’t like me, and I don’t like you, therefore we have no reason to talk. We don’t even have a topic to start with.”
“Antonella,” Thor reprimanded.
“What? Am I lying?” I protested defiantly, watching his jaw tense. “I have nothing to say to your little friend and ex-girlfriend.”
“Could you listen to her? Could you at least do that?”
“It’s all right, Heithor. Antonella has every right to be uncomfortable with my presence and not want to hear me after everything.
In her position, I would act the same way.
” I nailed my gaze to her, my distrust reaching epic peaks, perplexed, if you asked me.
“Please don’t be angry with her, because I didn’t come here to cause any kind of discomfort between you two.
Far from it. My only intention is to do what I believe is right and thus be able to move forward with dignity, just as I have always tried to do in my life. ”
A low laugh of scorn escaped before I could control it.
“You should try a little harder, huh?”
“I’m a human being prone to mistakes like anyone else.”
“And that means you can make as many mistakes as you want, hiding behind that cliché?”
“No. But that cliché is worth remembering so people remember that they also make mistakes, and, just like them, any other person with the bare minimum of decency also has the right to redeem herself and try to fix things.”
Was that a jab?
I narrowed my eyes, growing angry.
“And you came here to try to redeem yourself with me?”
“I can at least try, can’t I? I’ve been doing things I’m not proud of and that don’t align with who I truly am.
I know it’s hard for you to believe because of the wrong way I behaved toward you.
But the people who know me know I’m not a bad person.
Heithor himself wouldn’t keep me close, or give me a job that requires so much trust and loyalty, if I were an unscrupulous person. ”
“Or maybe he only did that because he knew you were one of the many women who would open their legs for him without thinking twice? Without a drop of self-respect, you’d accept what he wanted to offer, a penis and an orgasm?
” She blinked, adopting a fucking saintly expression.
Thor went rigid beside me. “A convenient arrangement? After all, what could be better than a coworker who’s efficient at the job assigned to her and ready to wet his cock without demanding anything in return? ”
Mariah entered the living room and placed a tray with coffee on the coffee table. I didn’t accept anything. Not even nectar from the gods would have gone down my throat in that moment.
Norah drank from her cup.
“Should I assume you believe he has no scruples, then?” she manipulated, her voice carrying the reproach she wore on her face.
“I didn’t say that!” I defended myself, red with anger.
“Look, Antonella, I wronged both you and Heithor. But him much more, because, above everything else, we were, and are, friends and coworkers. And as I told him shortly before you came down, I would like to preserve our friendship. Not because I want him or am in love with him.”
“You don’t say? And what exactly was all that crying and all those accusations a few days ago?”
“I was very much in love with him once, but I got over that a long time ago. It’s a shame I didn’t realize it sooner.
It would have prevented many mistakes,” she said calmly, with a subtle touch of regret.
“I won’t go into details because I don’t think they belong here.
But God knows I was in love with Heithor for a long time.
I don’t deny it, especially because it isn’t a secret to anyone.
However, I stopped feeling that way about him a long time ago.
Unfortunately, as you well know, we women settle into certain situations that don’t allow us to see clearly, along with being proud and having a foolish fascination with what we can’t have or what isn’t attainable, which turns the object of desire into an almost irresistible challenge… Sorry, Thor.”
“No problem,” he said with a smile in his voice, though I felt him like a cold stone beside me.
She looked at me. “Because of a series of misunderstandings, I couldn’t have reacted differently than I did. I believed I was being cheated on, which has already been properly clarified.”
“Va bene. So you didn’t know how to tell when your passion became a challenge, therefore you pose no threat to me.
Well, that isn’t a secret to anyone. Ma va bene.
I understand. Thank you for the memo. However, you didn’t need to waste your time or make me waste mine to ask my permission for you two to continue being friends.
Thor is big enough to make his own decisions. ”
She didn’t alter her posture or her serene expression.
“I didn’t come to ask your permission, Antonella.
Heithor is an adult and speaks for himself.
However, I wouldn’t feel right knowing that maintaining our friendship would affect you, especially him, when he loves you so much.
Because of that, I decided it’s time to spread my wings at work and step away.
Heithor saved me in many ways, and the last thing I want is to bring him problems that interfere with his happiness.
I thought it was right to have this conversation because I want you to know I have no interest in him and no resentment either.
And besides that, I needed to ask your forgiveness.
I’m sorry for what I did, directly or indirectly. I feel truly ashamed of my actions.”
“It’s all right, Norah. The past is the past. What matters is that everything is clarified and that you’re sorry.
As I told you before Antonella joined us, I appreciate your friendship.
We all make mistakes, but we can always repent and try to make things right.
What you’re doing is dignified, and I truly appreciate it. ”
“Thank you, Heithor… And Antonella, I know it may be a little late to ask your forgiveness, and that maybe today you can’t forgive me.
I don’t blame you. I understand your position perfectly well, but I have to try…
I can’t go on with my life with stains on my conscience.
That isn’t who I am. I know I left you with a bad impression, but I want you to know I don’t hate you or hold any resentment.
We started the wrong way, but I’m willing to start over if you are. ”
“Since you’re being honest, I’ll be honest with you, Norah.
I really can’t forgive you. Not now, and maybe never.
And we can’t start anything over, because I don’t like you, and I have not the slightest interest in maintaining any level of friendship with you, not even in the distant future.
And as for the bad impression, I don’t believe that’s what it was. So don’t put that on me.”
She sighed and smiled weakly under my hard gaze.
“All right, Antonella.”
“Great! We have nothing else to address.”
Heithor ground his teeth beside me.
“You’re being rude, Antonella.”
“Am I?”
“Excuse me, Mr. Castellammare.”
“Yes, Anna?” he said dryly, his gaze locked on me.
“Mr. McField is at the door looking for Miss Carter.”
Thor and I stared at Norah.
“Please, Anna, tell him I’m coming,” she murmured, with a silly smile as she stood.
Thor didn’t give Anna a chance to move.
“Ask Mr. McField to come in, Anna. Who is he, Norah?”
“Someone I met here in L.A.”
“Boyfriend?”
Was that care in his voice?
Norah smiled with poorly disguised shyness. Everything about that woman seemed fake.
“Maybe. It’s still too early for such formality. We’re getting to know each other.”
Was I crazy, or did he not like the news?
A tall, dark-haired man with a pleasant enough appearance entered the living room.
Thor stood, and I imitated him.
“Forgive me for showing up like this without warning, but the meeting with the supplier went faster than I thought it would.”
“Did everything go well?” Norah asked, moving beside him, and he wrapped an arm around her waist. And I could swear I saw Thor narrow his eyes almost imperceptibly.
“Yes. Everything’s fine,” the guy said.
“Jason is a chef. He’s opening a restaurant downtown.
He brought me here because it was on the way to his meeting with one of the suppliers and was going to pick me up on his way back,” she explained, all smiles, then made the introductions with a decency that certainly didn’t suit her.
“Jason, this is Heithor Castellammare, a friend of mine. And the woman beside him is Antonella Vicenti, his woman.”
The man took a confident step forward and extended his hand.
“Pleasure to meet you, Jason McField.”
Thor took his hand.
“The pleasure is mine.”
He gave me a nod.
“They’re pregnant,” Norah said.
“Ah, yes, sweetheart, I can see that. Boy or girl?”
“Boy,” I answered, since Thor seemed to have been abducted.
“Most men’s dream,” Jason joked. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“Well, we’re going,” the cretin said.
“Don’t you want to stay for lunch? It would be a pleasure to have you with us.”
I fought bravely not to let my perplexity show when I heard Thor issue the invitation. At least he had returned to Earth. Hooray!
“Thank you, Mr. Castellammare, but I need to go.”
“Heithor. Call me Heithor.”
The guy nodded with masculine camaraderie.
“Jason,” he offered in return. “I still have a few suppliers to visit before the day is over. We’re close to opening, so I need to get as much done as I can. But if Norah wants to stay, it’s no problem for me.”