“What are you thinking about?” Thomas asks from the chair across hers, a glass of scotch in his hand.
“Nothing.”
“Are you thinking about him?” he asks before taking a sip of his drink. Melina doesn’t need him to say the name to figure out who the “him” is.
“No,” she says, wondering why he’s asking.
“You should learn to do a better job at lying.”
“I’m sorry,” she says, hoping he doesn’t make a big deal out of it.
“How did you guys meet?” Did he just ask her that? “Tell me,” he says, taking a sip of his drink. “I want to know everything since we are going back to where it all started. You guys were high school sweethearts, right?” he leans back in his seat, eager to hear what she has to say.
“Yes,” Melina doesn’t like that he’s curious about how she and James met. Anything she says could set him off, and she doesn’t have much room to hide on the plane.
“Fell in love when you were both 16 and married right after high school. Correct?”
“Yes,” If he knows, why is he asking?
“Wow, that was what six years together?”
“Yes.”
“I’m guessing he whored you around in those six years,.” Thomas tightens his grip on his drink. Melina feels a bullet pierce her heart. It hurts to hear Thomas call her a whore.
“No.”
“No!” he exclaims, pretending to be surprised.
“We started conning people when we turned 19,” Melina explained. Then he started to use his fist to express himself more.
“Nice,” he says, throwing the rest of his drink back and replacing the glass in its holder. He locks his gaze on Melina, starring at her intensely. “During that time, did you fall in love with any of the men you were whored to.”
“Yes.” Melina replies, holding his stare.
“How many?” he asks, pulling his hand into a tight fist. Melina bets the if the glass was still in his hand, it would have shattered to pieces right now, with how white his knuckles are.
“Only one.”
“Only one,” he says, feigning a laugh. “Let me guess, James.”
“No, I didn’t con him.”
“Then who?”
“You.” Thomas freezes in his seat. She could tell he was not expecting her to say that.
“You loved me,” he laughs drily.
“Yes, I did.” Tears sting the back of her eyes. She could tell this conversation was killing Thomas. She was perplexed as to why he had decided to discuss it at all.
“You have a funny way of expressing it, Melina.”
“I know,” she admits, sniffing and blinking her eyes to push her tears back.
“Do you know you were the first woman I fell in love with?”
The tears escape her eyes. She couldn’t believe what he said. She starts to wonder how many glasses he’s had since they took off because Thomas would never pour out his heart like this.
He goes on, “Being from a mafia family made me distrustful of people, so I hardly ever dated.” “Until you, I only fucked women and never gave them my heart.” Melina could tell he was in pain by the tone of his voice. She was unaware of any of these.
“I’m sorry.” More tears stream down her cheeks. She can’t imagine the pain he must have felt when she betrayed him. He must think the first woman he gave his heart to never loved him back.
“There was just something about you that drew this ice-cold heart of mine to you. What the fuck it was? I don’t know.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Melina responds, meaning every word; she’s speechless. Everything he says catches her off guard.
“Don’t fucking say anything; what is done is done,” he says as he gets out of his seat. “Mafia men like me aren’t even supposed to know what that word means or how it feels,” he says as he walks away.
Hearing him say that, Melina’s heart tightens in her chest. She understands that if Thomas never falls in love again, it will be her fault. Tears stream down her cheeks like a waterfall. She never meant to do this to him. She feels so horrible right now.
Melina cries herself to sleep that night. Her heart is bleeding from what she did to Thomas.