Bradley barely caught her in time. He carried her to the living room sofa and gently lowered her to it. He stared at her for a long time. His hands balled into fists. Her face was flushed and he knew she must have a killer headache. Her eye was swollen and it looked purple. How could his mother do such a thing? He swallowed his anger. He would deal with it when he saw her again.
He looked at the woman who had once been the centre of his world… Nell. It was amazing and a bit frustrating for him to know that even after a decade apart she was still the only woman who could make his heartbeats do a double time and his hands to sweat by just being her.
He tucked a stray lock behind her ear… She was still gorgeous. All that red haid and ivory skin. She was the most beautiful woman he knew. He could’ve loved her forever. Hell he would love her forever. But she had walked out on him without so much as an explaination. So many years had gone by but the pain was still there. He had never understood why she left… but now she was back. He knew what she wanted from him. And he also knew that he wouldn’t give her up without a fight again.
He watched as she stirred slightly. She winced when she opened her eyes and she froze when she saw him.
“Hello Nell. How are you feeling?”
“What are you doing here?” she got up and moved away from him. “What do you want from me?”
He knew his presence had come as a surprise to her. He had expected shock but not the nerves… and definitely not the fear. She stood up, a little too fast and she had to grab the edge of the sofa to steady herself.
“You need to sit down. Maybe I should get you something to drink.”
“I’m fine… just tell me what you want from me.”
She didn’t look quite steady yet… he thought but he didn’t bother mentioning it. Something about the way she was responding to him made him angry but he reigned it in. he had been fantasizing about the day he would see her again for years. But she seemed to be unaffected by him. He also felt a sharp pain in his chest… He wanted to shake her… he wanted her to feel something…. To say something but she just looked at him.
“You came over to my place earlier and I was informed that you got into some kind of argument with my mother…” He said.
“Oh this…” she tried a smile as she touched her eye… “Don’t worry Brad, it’s not the first time its happened.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her to him almost roughly. It knocked the breath out of her. She wanted to say something but the look he had on his face was murderous.
“What do you mean by that? It’s not the first time its happened?”
She wanted to laugh, she wanted to cry, she wanted to scream! But she got angry instead. She pulled her hand out of his grip with so much force that when her hand was free he still had to grab her again to steady her.
“Don’t touch me Brad. My house, my rules. You are trying to tell me that all these years you really believed that I was as clumsy as I seemed to be. Whenever you went out of town you’d come back and find me bruised. Most of it I hid with make up and when you noticed I made up a story about how I fell in the shower or how I hurt myself in the garden… then I’d look at you and hope that maybe one day you’d realise that something was wrong. I’m a terrible liar… but you believed me everytime.”
He looked at her as if he was just seeing her for the first time. She knew he was angry but she just wasn’t sure with who. He made a move towards her then stopped when she stiffened. Then he made a move towards her again. He got so close she could smell his cologne… the same musky scent of mint and sadlewood. Her heart wouldn’t behave so she started counting backwards from a hundred in spanish.
He touched the side of her face that wasn’t bruised then cupped the side that was bruised so tenderly she didn’t even wince. The butterflies in her stomach were having a party she thought. It had been ten years and still…
“Nell… I swear… I never knew. I don’t know what I would have done if I had known. You should have told me. How could I have geussed that my mother was capable of such a thing while she has never laid a had on me?”
“I know you didn’t know. I wouldn’t have stayed that long if I thought you knew that your mother was abusing me and you were not doing anything about it.”
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “You should have told me.”
“She is your mother!” She said turning away from him and wincing when it hurt her head. “She would have denied it. She would have turned you against me. You would have believed her Brad. You love her.”
“I don’t deny I love my mother. But I didn’t marry her damn it! Look at me!” He turned her around so she could face him. “You were my wife Nell! Your place is with me. My mother only lived there with us because I asked you and you said that you were okay with it. Jesus Christ Nell!” this time he turned from her. “If that’s what you thought of me why did you even marry me?”
She was quiet for a while. Her heart was beating so fast and so loudly she was scared he could hear it. What was he saying…?
She cleared her throat. “Look… Brad all this happened a long time ago… we really don’t have to discuss it now. Its over. Our marriage and everything in it is over. I came here and I went over to your place because I came to make everything legal. I want a divorce. The papers we signed last time were fake so I’ve come with new ones for you to sign.”
He looked at her as she spoke but didn’t appear to fazed at all by the news of the fake papers at all. He just looked at her.
She walked over to the sofa where she had dumped her purse and she took out a brown envelop from it. Then she gave it to him. “I’ve already signed them. So all you need to do is sign them as well.”
He took the envelop. “This is ironic… don’t you think once is enough?”
“In front of the state we are stll married.”
“ Marriage is not a piece of paper Nell darling. I married you long before I took you to the altar. A marriage is a union of two hearts, two souls, two bodies before the eyes of God. A real divorce is if that person you are divorcing is no longer part of your heart, soul and body. Papers are just papers.”
“We havent been married for ten years.” She said.
“So why not leave things the way they are…”
“Because I wanna get married!” She blurted
The envelop slipped fom his fingers. The emotions that ran across his face kept changing so fast she didn’t know wat to make out of them. Finally he asked, “you are getting married.” But it was more like a statement.
People;really i would love some feedback,it's really hard to go on without any...wat do you think do you love it or??teams already??team brad ?team CJ? anyone"'
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YOU ARE READING
Then there was love
Romance“Look… Brad all this happened a long time ago. Our marriage and everything in it is over. I came to make everything legal. I want a divorce. The papers we signed last time were fake so I’ve come with new ones for you to sign.” He took the envelop. “...
