“You can’t tell me anything I don’t already know.”
“I talked to Michał. Please, let me explain. I’ll leave you be after that.”
Despite all the anger and revulsion I had felt after seeing those photos, I decided he deserved an opportunity to tell me his version of events.
“Okay, but not here. Wait a minute.”
I went down to the dance floor and caught Olga, explaining the situation. She wasn’t surprised or angry. She had already managed to find a replacement for me in the form of a charming blond-haired man.
“Go!” she called. “I don’t think I’m coming back tonight, so don’t wait up.”
I went back to Martin and nodded at him, signaling that we could leave now.
When we were outside, he led me to the parking lot and let me in his car.
“You’re not here to party, I assume,” I said, stepping inside the white Jaguar XKR.
“I came here for you,” he replied, and shut the door.
We drove across the city, and I knew where he was taking me.
“You look amazing with that haircut, Laura,” he said quietly, looking at me.
I ignored him. His opinion was of no interest to me. I kept my eyes trained on the vista behind the window.
Martin pressed a button on his garage gate control, and we drove inside. He parked the car, and we took the stairs up. When I stopped by the door to his apartment, I nearly fainted. Even this place, not once seen by the Man in Black, reminded me of Massimo.
“Want something to drink?” Martin asked, going to the fridge.
I sat down on the sofa, feeling uncomfortable. I had a strange feeling that I was acting against the will of Massimo, breaking his ban by seeing Martin. If he saw us together now, he’d kill him.
“I think water will do best now,” Martin decided, handing me a glass. “I’ll tell you everything, and you’ll do whatever you want.”
I settled on the couch and gestured for him to start.
“When you ran away, I realized you were right. I went after you. One of the hotel staff stopped me at the reception, saying there was a serious malfunction of something in our room and that they needed my key to get inside. When we finished checking the alarm, it turned out it was only an error in the system and that everything was fine. I ran outside and looked for you until it got dark. I was sure I’d find you. I thought you hadn’t gone far. That’s why I didn’t go back for my phone immediately. And when I finally got back to call you, there was that letter in my room. All the things you wrote… they were right. I fucked up.” Martin dropped his head and started to play with his fingers. “I ordered drinks to the room and called Michał. I don’t know if it was because of all the worrying, or the hangover from the day before, but I felt drunk after the first one.”
He raised his eyes and looked into mine.
“Believe it or not, I don’t remember anything else. When we got up the next day, Karolina told me what I did. I wanted to throw up.” Martin took a deep breath and dropped his head again. “And when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, reception told us we had to leave the hotel because our credit cards bounced. So we left the island. That whole vacation was cursed. Everything went wrong.”
When he was finished, I hid my face in my hands and sighed. I knew everything he was saying sounded absurd, but with a little intervention on the part of Massimo, it could all have happened. All of a sudden, I wasn’t sure who I was angrier with—the Man in Black for engineering this farce, or Martin for allowing himself to be mixed up in it.
“Does that change anything?” I asked after a while. “That you don’t remember sleeping with that girl? Besides, the truth is that our expectations for our relationship were just too different. You wanted to have your cake and eat it, too, and I’ll always need more attention than you’re willing or able to give me.”
Martin slid off the couch, kneeling in front of me.
“Laura,” he said, taking my hands, “you’re right. You’re absolutely right. But during those weeks I realized how much I loved you. I don’t want to lose you. I’ll do anything to prove to you that I can change.”
I stared at him, dumbfounded, feeling the champagne I had had rising in my throat.
“I don’t feel too good,” I muttered, getting up from the sofa and stumbling toward the bathroom.
I threw up long enough to completely empty my stomach. I was sick of that day and that conversation. I left the bathroom and tried putting on my shoes.
“I’m going home,” I called, pushing my feet into the stilettos.
“Not going to happen. You can’t go like that,” he said, snatching my bag from my hands.
“Martin, please!” I was growing impatient. “I want to go home.”
“All right, but allow me to drive you.” He wouldn’t accept my refusal.
We drove out of the garage and he turned his head to look at me, a silent question in his eyes. Right, he didn’t know my new address.
“Turn left,” I mumbled, waving a hand.
“Then go right and straight ahead.”
Ten minutes later, we arrived.
“Thank you,” I said, grabbing the handle, but the door didn’t budge.
“I’ll walk you to the door. I’d like to be sure you’ve arrived safely.”
We took the elevator up. I really needed to be alone by now.
“It’s here,” I said, pushing the key into the lock. “Thank you for your help. I’ll manage on my own now.”
Martin didn’t want to hear it. As soon as I opened the door, he tried slipping inside with me.
“What the fuck are you doing? Don’t you get it? I don’t want you around anymore!” I growled, stopping at the door. “You said what you wanted. Now leave me alone. Bye.”
I tried closing the door, but Martin’s strong hands stopped me.
“I missed you. Let me in,” he said.
I let the door go, withdrew inside, and switched the light on.
“Martin, goddamn it, I’ll call security!” I yelled.
My ex stood in the door, very still, staring angrily at something behind me. I turned around, and my heart nearly burst. Slowly, calmly, Massimo rose from the couch and started walking to the door.
“I can’t understand a word of what you’re saying, but Laura seems to want you out of here,” he said, stopping a few inches from Martin. “Should I repeat it to you, so that you understand? Maybe you’ll get it in English.”
Martin tensed and, keeping his eyes pinned on the Man in Black, replied in a low growl, “See you around, Laura. Let’s keep in touch.” He turned away and went to the elevator.
As soon as he left, the Man in Black turned around and faced me. I wasn’t sure if this was really happening. Fear and anger struggled for dominance with happiness and relief in my head. He was here, alive and well! For a long while, we stood like that, staring at each other. The tension between us was unbearable.
“Where the fuck have you been!?” I bellowed suddenly, slapping Massimo in the face, hard. “Do you have an idea, you goddamn egomaniac, what I’ve been through? You think I love fainting out of fear every fucking day? How could you leave me like that? Jesus!”