I walk to the back room, the master bedroom, and peek through the cracked door. The moaning is coming from them; Franklin is on top of her. I can't see her face, but it doesn't sound like she's protesting.
I clear my throat and he turns to look at me. I expect him to be surprised and to pull away but he doesn't. Instead, he winks at me and keeps going.
“Oh, no, who is that?” the woman asks, trying to get him to stop.
“Don't worry about her. That's just my wife,” he says and thrusts into her.
This time I don't bother making a scene. I just go to my bedroom, close the door, and lock it.
I change out of my sweaty clothes and jump into the shower, letting the hot scalding water rush over my naked body.
I stand here for a long time hoping that the heat will wash away some of what I've seen, but the visual is as strong as ever when I towel myself off.
An hour later, there's a knock on my door. I don't answer.
He knocks harder.
“Come on, Aurora, let me in.”
“Go away,” I say without looking up from my computer.
“Open the door. Now.”
He knocks so loud that the door sounds like it's going to come off the hinges.
“I'm not kidding,” he says and I force myself out of the bed.
I've been sitting in my best approximation to a yoga position and my legs have fallen asleep so it takes me a few steps to walk normally.
“I'm sorry you had to see that,” he says.
“Me, too,” I say through the crack in the door.
Franklin pushes it open and walks in. He sits down and pats the seat next to him. Instead, I pull the chair from the desk and position myself across from him.
“Come on, this is what you're going to be like?”
“I don't know what you want me to say,” I say. “Do you want me to applaud you?”
“Listen, we already had this conversation. You made it perfectly clear that you didn't want to be touched and I have made it perfectly clear that until that happens, I'm gonna do what I wanna do.”
“So, you'll stop cheating on me if I have sex with you?” I ask. “Is that what you're saying?”
“Well, you clearly have no interest in having sex with me. Why can't I be with someone else?”
I don't really have an answer to this.
What I really want to ask him is about the underage waitress who rushed out of our apartment with tears in her eyes.
What I really want to know is why did she look so scared?
What the hell did he do to frighten her?
But I keep my mouth shut. For now.
If I were to bring it up, he would probably deny it and that would be the end of it.
No, I need to find out more about her first.
“Listen, I don't know why you're getting so withdrawn,” Franklin says. “I have tried to make a move on you. I have tried to take you out on a romantic date. I have tried to woo you, but you are rejecting all of my advances. I have needs and I have a lot of shit going on with this buyout so I need to let off some steam. I'm sure you can understand that.”
“I feel like we've had this conversation already,” I say. “Can you please leave?”
“Yes, we've talked about this a number of times but nothing is resolved. What do you want, Aurora? Do you want me to be faithful to you even though we don't have anything between us? What exactly am I going to be faithful to?”
I don't have an answer to that. The only thing I know is that I can't stand sitting across from him and him peering into my eyes.
I stand up, wrap my arms around my shoulders, and walk toward the window.
I stare at the skylight and wonder what all of those people below us are doing, thinking, and experiencing. Perhaps, if I try hard enough, I can transport myself to another world and not be here anymore.
Unfortunately, I'm not so lucky.
Franklin takes a few steps closer to me and touches my shoulder.
I flinch but he just pulls me closer to him. He pushes my hair off my neck and places his lips to my skin.
Shivers run down my spine but not the good kind. My heart starts to pound out of my chest and it's so loud that I can barely think.
I shake my head no and try to pull away from him but his grasp is firm and strong. “No,” I whisper just as he puts his mouth over mine to shut me up.
“No,” I say again, pulling away.
“Well, now, baby. Just let go. Trust me, I'll take you to the moon.”
“No.” I shove him away from me. “Don't you get that? I don't want you.”
Instead of replying, he raises his hand and slaps me across the face.
I grab onto my burning cheek and glare at him.
“I'm so, so sorry,” he says quickly under his breath.
He pulls me closer to him and apologizes over and over again. I shake my head trying to push him away but not so hard that he would slap me again. The violence came out of nowhere and the tenderness that followed confuses me.
“Aurora, I'm sorry. I have no idea what happened.”
I don’t respond.
“I just got so…angry,“ he continues. “But that was way out of line. That was so fucked up. Please, please forgive me.”
When I don't say anything, he continues to hold me as tight as possible.
His whole body is shaking as he repeats himself over and over again. It takes me a few moments to realize that the only way I can make him go away is to accept his apology.
“It's okay,” I say quietly.
“Really?” he asks, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
I nod and he kisses me on the forehead.
“I just need to be alone now, okay?”
“No, you can't,” he says. “You can't leave me like this. I feel like such an asshole.”
Well, you are, I say silently to myself.
I force a smile and repeat my request. After a few moments, he finally caves.
“I have some work to do anyway,” he says, walking out of the room. In the doorway, he stops and turns to face me. “But we're okay now, right?”
I nod, averting my eyes.
“Yes, sure,” I whisper to get him to leave.
When the door closes and he disappears down the hallway, I pick up my phone and dial Henry's number.
6
Henry
I haven’t talked to her since the wedding. I’ve tried calling and texting but I haven’t heard anything back. At first, I held a grudge. I was angry at her for not telling me what’s going on and for leaving me hanging. I was angry with her for going through with the wedding. But then something occurred to me. Maybe Aurora only did it because she had no other choice.
That’s when I decided that I would answer her calls no matter what. I wouldn’t play the cat and mouse game. If she ever called, texted, or contacted me in any other way, I would be there. I would put away my pride and I would be there for her.
Why?
That’s what people who love each other do.
Let’s just say that it’s easier to make this promise than to keep it. It has been weeks since I have heard from her after I had left her about a hundred voice mails and texts.
Then one night, one lonely Wednesday night, suddenly, I see her name on my screen.