“I can’t let you go knowing that you could be hurt. Are you sure you’re okay?” His words weren’t ones I was expecting, but my heart swelled knowing that he was concerned.
“I’m fine, but thank you for making sure. You don’t have to.”
Furrowed brows stared back at me with confusion. “Why wouldn’t I have to?”
Opening and closing my mouth, I tried to find the words that refused to escape me. I was suddenly afraid to say the wrong thing in front of him.
“I know that your concern is only because I’m your daughter’s friend. As I do appreciate you saving me from that guy… I don’t want you to feel obligated to make sure I’m okay-“
“You’re not an obligation.” His quick response caught me off guard, and as the space closed between us, I found my back against the wall. “I want to make sure you are always okay.”
“Thanks.” There wasn’t much that I could say, but as I looked at him, I could tell he was sincere. “I do appreciate you stepping in to stop him.”
He stepped towards me, wrapping his arms around me, and pulling me to his chest in a hug. I had never been hugged by this man before, but something about the way I felt in his arms just seemed right.
“James-” I whispered softly as he continued to hold me longer than he should have. The sound of his inhaling the scent of my hair was evident as he slowly pulled away and looked at me.
“No woman deserves to be treated the way you were treated, Becca. Like I said, I will always make sure that you are okay. Because you deserve to be treated like a queen. Not like a piece of property.”
His words stunned me, and before I could say anything, he turned with quick movements, clenching and unclenching his fists, and walked down the hallway towards his office.
I wasn’t sure what had just happened, but I was sure of one thing.
James had saved my life in a way.
My eyes stared down the hall long after his office door had closed. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do now, but turning on my feet, I slowly moved towards the stairs just in time to see Tally flirting with some guy.
“Tally,” I said calmly as I tried to hold myself together, “can we talk?”
“Oh, my God!” she exclaimed as she turned to face me. “I was wondering where you were. Did you two hit it off like I had hoped?”
There was a smirk on her face as she winked that made me cringe with anger.
Hit it off? Was she f*cking serious?
“Uh, no. We most definitely didn’t,” I scoffed.
Stunned by my remark, she looked around before her eyes fell once again on the man at her side, “Well, where is he?”
Hatred.
At that moment, there was nothing but pure hatred for her and the way she was acting. This was entirely her fault because she never lets things go or listened when people said no.
Placing my hands on my hips, I shook my head. “Well, considering your father threw him out of the house I would say who knows.”
Her friend seemed confused and quickly pulled his phone out, no doubt to call the piece of shit that had come on to me.
“Becca,” Tally quickly said, stepping closer to me. “What happened? I thought you liked him.”
“Are you f*cking kidding me?” I gasped. “He was a f*cking moron who didn’t take no too well. I can’t believe that you would tell him I wanted him after I told you no.”
Without warning, the guy put his phone away and gestured for the others to go. Tally’s eyes looked around, shocked at what was happening as she ran after them out the front door.
To think that she was more worried about them leaving than what had happened to me…. It was beyond heartbreaking considering I was her friend.
Storming up the stairs, I made my way towards my room, but before I could even close the door, Tally was suddenly right behind me.
“What the f*ck happened? They said you had my father throw him out of the house for no reason whatsoever!” she yelled looking at me as if I was the one who’d lost my mind.
“Seriously?” I replied in disbelief. “Out of all the years you have known me, what part of that makes any sense to you? He f*cking attacked me, Tally. Tried to force himself on me after I told him repeatedly I wasn’t interested.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she sneered at me. “I don’t believe that. He is a super nice guy and comes from a very wealthy family.”
“Is that so?” I laughed. “Why don’t you go ask your dad then because he heard the conversation and can tell you exactly what happened.”
Without warning, Tally marched out of my room, slamming my door behind her. I didn’t care where she was going at that moment. She had made it clear she was going to believe those f*cks over me.
That was a line she shouldn’t have crossed, in my opinion.
The more and more I looked at how our friendship had been going over the years, the more I realized she had changed, and not in a good way.
She was more self-centered, more ridiculous in her entitled opinions.
It was disgusting. But then, we both grew up with very different lifestyles. The only thing I could do was decide to cut my ties with her altogether or simply forgive her and learn to watch myself next time.
A pit of guilt and agony built within my chest as a wave of uneasiness washed over me. I didn’t want to lose her even if she had issues because I knew the kind of person she could be, and this wasn’t it.
Contemplating my choices, I groaned with frustration and walked to my door to go speak to her, but as soon as I opened it, I saw her standing there with tear-filled eyes.
“Becca-” She choked out a sob. “He told me. I’m so sorry for not believing you. I’m so f*cking sorry that I caused that to happen.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.