A big gulp jumps into my throat.
My pride makes me want to reject her just like she had rejected me. I want to push her away. I want to make her wait. I want to tell her no she can’t have access to me every time she wants it because she doesn’t deserve that.
When the phone rings again, I press Accept.
“Aurora?” I ask.
“Henry, I’m sorry,” she mumbles. Her voice is frantic and out of control.
“What happened? What did he do?”
“Nothing. Nothing happened.”
“I don’t believe you. Did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine,” she says. I hear her take a deep breath and exhale slowly. “I’m sorry that I didn’t call you earlier. I’m sorry that I left things the way that I did.”
“Why did you?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” she says after a long pause. “I was lost and I just got married and I thought that… I don’t know what I thought.”
“What is going on? I thought that you were going to go to your father and tell him that the wedding was off.”
“Yes, that’s what I was going to do but then something came up.”
“What?”
“I can’t talk about this now. Not over the phone. Will you meet me?”
“I don’t know,” I say quietly. “I’m not in New York City and I don’t want to drive two hours just to hold your hand when you have a fight with your husband.”
That’s a cold thing to say, but it’s the truth. She has to hear it.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “Of course, I’m being selfish. I just want you to know that I…love you and that has never changed.”
I shake my head, trying to figure out what to do. I want to see her and I want to talk to her face-to-face about everything that has happened but I don’t want to be the one making the first move.
“I really need to talk to you, Henry. It’s not about us, it’s about everything that is going on. I need your help.”
I let out a sigh.
“I’m going to be in the city tomorrow. I’m working in the office now, two days a week. We can meet for lunch.”
“I’d love that,” she says as her voice cracks.
I see Franklin at work during our weekly meeting. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t feel a pang of guilt over meeting up with his wife. The only reason why I’m here, working in this high-rise is because of him.
He gave me a chance when no one else did and he even wrote me a very generous check to cover all of my mother’s pancreatic cancer procedures.
The insurance was useless when it came to experimental treatments and barely covered the chemotherapy and radiation as it was. Thanks to his thirty-thousand dollars, I was able to prevent her house from going into foreclosure, stay on top of all of the medical bills, and hire a nurse to take care of her when I couldn’t be there.
I suggest that we go to a restaurant but Aurora said that we should meet in the lobby of a three-star hotel that caters to business travelers. I don’t know why I’m here but I grab a seat in the lobby near the window and answer some emails on my phone, waiting for her to arrive.
Aurora walks in dressed in jeans and a form-fitting blue sweater that accentuates her graceful body. She tosses her hair nervously from side to side and it bounces as if she were a model in a shampoo commercial.
I don't think I have ever seen anyone as beautiful as she is right now. She sits down next to me without giving me a hug or even touching my hand. When I reach out to her, she pulls away. She looks around cautiously and whispers, “I can't.”
“How are you?” I ask.
“I'm okay,” she says quietly.
She's lying but it's too early for me to press her. For a second, I just want to stay in the moment. I just want to lose myself in everything that is right between us, rather than dwell on all of the things that are wrong.
Aurora stares into the distance, somewhere behind me, and I look at her face in her hands for signs of pain.
Did he hurt her?
Did he force himself on her?
Has she had sex with him willingly?
I don't know the answers to any of these questions and I will not find them out here.
“I need to talk to you,” she says after a moment. “I got a room. Number 513. I'm going to go upstairs now. You stay here and follow me up in five to ten minutes. Please make sure that no one is following you. We cannot be seen together.”
She gets up before I can nod. She heads to the elevator and disappears behind the stainless doors.
I glance at the television screen in the lobby and stare at the gray-haired anchor talking about the fires in Australia. When a sufficient amount of time has passed, I go upstairs.
7
Henry
I knock on the door of her hotel room and as soon as I walk in, Aurora closes it, nestling herself against my body. She holds me tightly and begins to sob into my shoulder.
“I have missed you so much,” she whispers over and over again.
I drape my arms around her and hold her tightly as wave after wave of tears flows through her. I rub her head slightly, bury my hands in her hair promising that everything will be okay. I make this promise over and over again knowing full well that it may be a lie.
“What happened?” I ask when she finally pulls away from me. “Did he hurt you?”
She shakes her head but refuses to make eye contact.
“What did he do?” I make a tight fist, bracing myself for impact.
I should have fought for her. I should've stopped the wedding.
Have I just stood by as this monster attacked her?
“He… He didn't really do anything,” Aurora says quietly.
She walks away from me and sits down on the edge of the bed. Burying her fingers into the comforter, she finally looks up at me. Her lipstick is smeared and there are track marks of mascara rounding the apple of her cheeks.
“Tell me everything,” I insist. “Don't leave anything out.”
“Only if you promise to not hurt him,” she says after a long pause.
This time both of my hands fold into fists. She glances down and sees the whites of my knuckles. Shaking her head, she glances up at me.
“No,” she says sternly. “Absolutely not.”
“What?” I ask, forcing my fingers to relax.
“You're not going to attack him,” she says.
“I can't make any promises. Tell me what happened.”
“I won't tell you a thing until you make me a promise. I need your help and fighting is not going to solve this problem. It's gonna make you feel better but it's not going to get to the bottom of every terrible thing that is going on.”
She's right, of course, she's right. I take a deep breath and sit down. I turn toward her and take her hand in mine.
“Okay,” I say with resignation in my voice. “I promise I won't do anything but please, tell me what happened.”
As Aurora goes into her story, I let out a small sigh of relief when I learn that Franklin didn't force himself on her. But then she mentions that he had slapped her and rage boils up within me.