If You So Desire (sequel to Turn... and Walk Away)

Chapter 30

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Max's POV

I reversed my car to my original parking spot in my company parking lot and turned off the engine.

I frantically searched for the fucking ringing phone and snatched it out of my brown leather satchel before it could stop ringing.

"Hello," I said after swiping the screen, my  voice barely above a whisper, my heart galloping faster and louder than a horse on a racetrack.

"Are you still at work?" Tul asked.

"Yes but I'm already in my car getting ready to leave," I replied, clutching at my chest because it was starting to tighten with anxiety.

"Are you free to meet me at my mom's house?" he asked.

"Why your mom's house?" I asked.

"That's fine then," I heard him say just before cutting the call.

"Wait!" I screamed into my phone. God fucking dammit!

I quickly went to Recents on the top of my phone screen and tapped on his number.

"Hello," he said, his voice sounding impatient.

"I'll meet you anywhere you want," I quickly said. "I will meet you at your mother's house if that's what you want. Anywhere is fine with me. Is that where you are right now?"

"No," he replied. "I'm also still at work in my car, getting ready to leave."

"Why don't I meet you there then?" I asked. "It would be much quicker that way."

"No," he declined my suggestion. "I'm afraid to be alone with you. You will not think twice about hitting me if there are no witnesses present."

I was too stunned to react immediately to what I just heard from him. So he thinks I'm a violent monster who would not hesitate to kill him if there were no witnesses around?

My chest tightened even more. I could not breathe. I felt like I had just been dealt a blow in my solar plexus.

"I ... I'm sorry if that's how you think of me," I said, trying to keep the hurt from showing through in my voice. "I will head towards your mom's house right now."

He  cut the call first before I could swipe my phone screen.

"Max! What a pleasant surprise!" Tul's mom exclaimed when the housekeeper let me into the living room. "To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"

"I'm here to meet up with Tul," I informed her. "Is he here already?"

"No," Tul's mom replied, sounding very much surprised. "He didn't call to say that he was coming over."

A sudden feeling of foreboding washed over me. Had he changed his mind about meeting up with me?

"Let me text him to confirm that he's coming over," I said, taking my phone from my pocket.

"I'm at your mom's house now. Your mom is here with me. She's waiting for you as well."

When five minutes passed without a response from Tul I thought of calling him but then what if he was driving. I didn't want him to get distracted and crash his car into another motorist.

"Would you like a cold drink?" Tul's mom offered.

She must have seen the agitation on my face.

"Yes, please, thank you," I gratefully accepted her offer. Anything to keep me distracted. My anxiety was slowly driving me crazy.

"Stop pacing the floor,  Max," Tul's mom scolded me. "You're making me nervous."

After I had drunk the last remaining drops of the ice cold apple juice, I set down the empty glass on the kitchen counter and walked outside the house to see if Tul had arrived.

I squinted to see as far as I could down the road but his car was nowhere in sight. 

Once more I took out my phone from my pocket.

My heart sank when after several rings I was directed to his voice mail.

"What's the matter?" Tul's mom asked in alarm when I barged back inside the house and she saw my tear stricken face.

"He has changed his mind!" I sobbed into her shoulder.

"Who has changed his mind?"

I gasped and spun around upon hearing Tul's voice behind me.

"What took you so long to get here???" I demanded angrily.

Then realizing that I should be grateful that he had even agreed to meet up with me, I said in a contrite voice, "I'm sorry, I have no right to ask."

Tul just shook his head. I saw him dig into his pocket and take out the note that I had written to him. He held it out to me.

"Did you mean everything that you said in here?" he asked.

I nodded wordlessly, my tears falling nonstop down my cheeks.

"And are you aware that I never contacted that flight attendant?" he asked.

"No," I replied. "But even if you did, I don't care anymore. I just want you and me together again."

"I never did," Tul said grimly. "But you didn't give me a chance to tell you."

"I know that now and I'm so sorry," I said between sobs. "But I'm not expecting you to forgive me."

"Come here," Tul ordered me.

I suddenly felt shy. I was still clinging to Tul's mom. She pushed me towards her son. 

"Not here, not here," Tul's mom scolded us when she saw us kissing hungrily, my hand bunching her son's firm butt cheeks.

"Let's go home," Tul urged, grabbing my wrist.

"Gladly," I said, my voice quivering in grateful anticipation of a blissful life ahead with the love of my life.

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A/N:  I wish to thank everyone for coming to read this story and especially for voting and sending in your comments. They are very much appreciated because they have been my inspiration to keep this story going till the end. If there's anyone who would like another MaxTul story to be published, just let me know in your comments below and I will do my best to make it happen.