“I believe James was thrilled to see me. It’s been much too long since we were close. And I’m excited to change that.”
“Why can’t you just leave him alone?”
“I let him have his fling. I gave him the distance he needed. It’s time for us to work things out.”
“You loathe each other. What on earth are you talking about?”
“Just because he’s not addicted to me doesn’t mean he doesn’t love me. It’s a sickness. If you want what’s best for him, you’ll let him go. I’m the only one who knows what he needs. I can help him.”
“He doesn’t need your help.” I stood up. “And he’s not addicted to me. He loves me.”
“It’s a fine line. And I’m afraid it’s a little blurry for him.”
“All he needs from you is to be left alone. Please, just leave us both alone.”
“I’m trying to help you. I’m giving you the chance to walk away from all of this. You still have your whole life ahead of you. You don’t want to spend time taking care of…”
“He doesn’t need to be taken care of. We’ve been together for two and a half years and I’ve seen nothing. He’s fine. He’s over whatever it is you’re talking about. We’re both fine.”
“He’s not fine. He’s addicted to you.”
“Stop saying that.” I knew she was just trying to make me paranoid. But James was fine. He wasn’t like that anymore.
“You’re rewarding his behavior.”
“Are you so blind that you can’t see the difference? Just because no one has ever loved you doesn’t mean you have to take it out on me.”
“You don’t think James loved me? He really does like to keep you in the dark, doesn’t he? His affection lasted for a few years and then it was gone. The same thing will happen to you.”
“Stop living in the past. It’s pathetic.”
“Stop living in denial.”
“Don’t you ever come near him again, Isabella. Leave us alone.”
“Or what?”
“You don’t want to find out.”
She laughed. “I’m so unbelievably scared.” She smiled at me. “There’s two weeks until your wedding. Which means I have two weeks to make James see the light. It’s plenty of time. I just have to remind him about what he’s missing. I’ll only need a few minutes alone with him. Until he’s screaming my name instead of yours.”
“You bitch.”
She slapped me hard across the face.
I grabbed my cheek. No one had ever slapped me before. I hadn’t been expecting that at all. She was wearing a few rings on her hand and I could feel the small bruises already forming on my face.
She put her hand on her cheek and made a fake shocked look. “Sorry, did I hurt you?” She removed her hand from her own cheek and smiled. “I didn’t think you’d mind. I know how aggressive James can be. I figured you liked to be smacked around.”
“You don’t know him, Isabella. I know you wish you did. I know you’re upset that he left you. But it’s not my fault. Stop blaming me for your shortcomings.”
“My shortcomings? He slept with you while he was still married to me. You’re a slut.”
“Look, you can keep his parents. I know you have them wrapped around your finger. And I want nothing to do with them. But you can’t have him. He’s mine.” I walked past her and out of the room. I looked to the right toward the party. There was still light classical music pouring through the hallway. I turned to the left and walked as quickly as I could away from everyone else.
I pulled out my phone and called James. There was still no answer. I stopped in the middle of the foyer, unsure of where to go. I heard voices outside and the front door started to open. I couldn’t face anyone else right now. I turned and ran up the stairs.
Friday
I felt like I was trespassing as I made my way down the corridor. I just needed to find a bathroom to hide in until James picked up his phone. When I turned the corner, I saw a door with a nameplate on it. Robert. My heart skipped a beat and I looked farther down the hall. A door with James’ name was on the opposite side of the corridor. I looked behind me. It didn’t matter if I was sneaking around. There was never going to be another opportunity to see James’ childhood room.
Before I could change my mind, I walked over to the door and went inside, quickly closing it behind me. Moonlight shown in through the sides of the closed blinds, casting eerie shadows along the floor. I ran my hand along the wall until my fingers found the light, and I quickly switched it on.
Everything in the room was a pale blue. The walls, the carpet in the center of the room, the comforter on the bed. His parent’s must have been thrilled to have a boy. There were a few posters pinned to the walls of who I assumed were old quarterbacks for the Giants. The only one I had ever known of was Eli Manning, and neither poster was of him. Besides for those, there was nothing that seemed very personal in the room. Actually, there wasn’t much in the room at all except for the extensive library along one wall. I walked over to the shelves and let my eyes wander the titles. There were tons of classics that had been on my school reading lists growing up, like Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Huckleberry Finn.
It was almost like he had put them in order of when he had read them. The later shelves seemed to be filled with books from college. Books about website coding, marketing, management, and any kind of business imaginable. I only recognized one title in the marketing section, and I was glad that my education shared at least one similarity with his at Harvard. Unless he had just read Marketing Principles in Foreign Markets on a whim one summer.