A New Vista

Chapter 29

"So that's what you were busy with?" I asked Paul, then I pushed past him. Essie held her head up high as she stood in front of his bedroom door. "You're not done ruining my life, are you?"

"Excuse me, who ruined whose life? You stole him from me!" Essie shouted back. "There I was, with a boyfriend and even chose to go to college with him. And then after he swore he didn't want a serious relationship at all, he somehow found himself with you."

"He wasn't with you!" I protested, I could feel my chest tightening. Why would Paul ever go to her of all people?

"He wasn't with you either!" Essie shouted back. I kept silent after that comment, then looked to Paul who stood behind us.

His eyes were wide, he didn't know what to do. His lips were parted, as if he had a lot to say. But he wasn't man enough to ever say it, not matter how much her tried to act otherwise. When I looked back at Essie, she was laughing at me.

"Face it, sweetie. Paul has always belonged to me. He began with me and he'll end with me." Essie boasted with her hand on her hip.

"He'll come to his senses and leave you. Whether he should be with me or not, you never deserved him." I squinted at her.

"I've always cared about Paul, people like he and I just get along. You're the outcast in this situation." Essie said and I stepped toward her, trying with all my power not to slap her.

"Go ahead, box me, you nitwit. That'll only solidify the fact that you're just a low-class tramp from New York." Essie said as she looked me in the eyes.

I rose my hand and smacked it across her face, smudging her red lipstick. Then we both began throwing hands at each other. Essie obviously didn't know how to fight, I was winning.

"Girls, please, stop!" Paul said as he tried holding my arms. That allowed Essie to throw a slap, tearing the lace on top of my dress with her nails.

"Essie, let her alone!" Paul shouted. I wiggled myself out of the grip of his two hands and began slapping Essie. I got one right on her nose.

"My face is all I have!" Essie shouted as I pulled her hair. "Ow! You brute, let me go!"

"Elizabeth!" Paul shouted as he lunged at me, wrapping his muscular arms around my waist. "I said to stop!"

He lifted me off the ground with my back against his torso and his arms around my waist. I kicked in the air at Essie, causing her to jump back to avoid being knocked out to hell.

I clawed my nails into Paul's forearms as he carried me across the room. He got me into the opposite corner of the room and held me against a wall.

His grip on my two shoulders were tight and his eyes were filled with fury. "Liz, I don't know what's gotten into you but this is the worse possible 'hello' you could've given me."

"You hurt me, Paul. You really did. I never would've thought you would." I cried as continued to press me against that wall.

"I'm sorry." Paul sighed, his grip getting even tighter on me. My cheeks got hot as I had no where to go but be in his restrain. "I'm sorry I didn't write a letter explaining all of this. I know you never liked Essie, I didn't want to upset you."

"Well I'm upset!" I shouted at him with tears rolling down my cheeks. I looked at his face and still loved him, but something in the way he looked at me showed he wasn't reciprocating in the same way.

"You could've called, you know— before showing up at my door?" Paul asked in an aggravated voice.

"So you could hide that whore and pretend everything was fine and dandy beforehand!?" I asked him in a loud voice, looking at Essie who smiled behind Paul's back.

Paul glimpsed over his shoulder, not letting me go for a second. Essie's smile immediately faded into a frown, obviously seeking empathy from Paul.

His blue eyes focused back on me. "Now if you didn't go cat fighting with her, things would've have become so complicated."

"You're mad at me for cat fighting? After all the names she called me? Who are you Paul?" I asked and his face relaxed at my question. He was obviously fed up with me. "Because this is not the Paul I knew!"

"The Paul you knew is gone! The Paul you knew just wanted football, girls and beer. The Paul you knew just took up the theatre as a recreation when nothing else was available to do. He didn't take anything seriously!" Paul angrily shouted in my face.

"But now the theatre is everything to you, you've been on television forsake..." I said quietly as I pouted.

"And you didn't even believe in me when I first started! I told you I wanted to act and you goddamn laughed in my face!" Paul shouted at me. A tear fell from my cheek, I did remember laughing at him once.

"That was before I saw you on stage! That was before I realized you had it in you... it's in your blood, Paul." I pleaded.

"I was shit when you saw me. I didn't know my head from my ass. Don't pretend like you immediately knew after that one play. I wasn't an actor, I'm still not one. But I'm getting there." Paul said in his deep voice.

"See, I always wanted to be an actress. I'm the one who advocated for Paul to get into The Theatre. I always believed with a little work—" Essie went on and on, but Paul cut her off.

"For the love of God, will you please shut the hell up, Essie?" Paul said as he looked over his shoulder.

Then he looked back to me and released me from his grip. I rolled my shoulders to stretch them after finally being free from his large hands.

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry all of this happened. I'm sorry you had to find out about all of this in this way." Paul shrugged in front of me with a hand in his pocket. His eyes were hooded and he said it in a matter-of-fact way.

"Did you tell her about all of it?" Essie asked as she stepped toward me. Paul looked over his shoulder at Essie, his jaw became tense.

"What, that you don't even cut your nails to the point it tore my dress?" I asked her with a risen brow.

She laughed and walked toward us to the point where she stood right next to Paul on his right side. She looped her left arm around Paul's arm.

"That wasn't my nails, you imbecile. It was my ring." She said as I looked at the large diamond ring on her finger. "Paul and I are engaged."