The Storm In Their Hearts - Aching Hearts Series #3

One way only

CHAPTER 37 - ONE WAY ONLY

REBECCA'S POV

Thanksgiving has always been a weird feast for me. I've never had anything to be thankful for, aside from, I'm still alive, they stopped in time. Weirder is, I can barely recall celebrating it. We probably never did, Tom had always so much work to do, and me too, when I started, I worked, the family had a dinner with some friends every year, but of course, we were never invited.

So Thanksgiving for me isn't very familiar for a thing. I guess it's a good thing we wouldn't celebrate it this time either. Byron is going to spend it with his family, Al is still in Italy, and while his mom insisted, he refused to come back, said he wanted to be Italian this year, so no Thanksgiving, as for Will ... he was invited to spend it with the Waynes, as usual, but, always as usual, he refused, saying it was a family thing, and he didn't want to intrude, so ... that leaves the two of us at home all alone for an entire extended weekend, from Thursday to Sunday.

It would have been awesome, hadn't ... some things happened. Like ... him tenderly and romantically declaring all his love for me and asking for a chance to be loved, and me ... me glacially rejecting him. 

Yes, you read it right. I rejected Will. When he asked me to choose, I did, but not as he'd have wanted me to. Maybe I wasn't that glacial when I told him, with tears staining my cheeks it was a little hard to be glacial, but neither was I as open to changing my mind as he'd have wished.

He barely let me say the word, I'd have tried to explain, but he escaped, as if I were on fire. We haven't spoken since. 

It's been three months, and we haven't been saying a single word to each other, well, he hasn't, I try saying good morning or hi, to the very least, but he's back to the chilly jerkface he was with me in the beginning. Maya says it's a defense strategy, I say I know, but I can't deny it does hurt nevertheless.

Speaking of Maya, I'd have wished she would regain some common sense and take advantage of the break to change her mind, but no, that stubborn fool married her savage beast nevertheless. 

I see very little of her now that she's married, both because Byron doesn't want her home, and because her jackass of a husband doesn't want her to frequent me, says I'm a bad influence on her, so we secretly communicate via texts she always dutifully deletes before Josh reads them.

She says it's everything fine, I think she's hiding something, and the sole fact that I cannot come to see light bothers me to no end, because what if he's hurting her? What if he's doing something to her? Keeping her relegated at home, without a chance to go out?

Every time I propose we might go get a drink, she refuses, saying she has this or that to do, till she just flat out pointed out that Josh doesn't want her to hang out with me. I said, who is he to command you? She left me speechless with a very simple 'he's my husband'.

Can you believe it? I know there are women that once married simply submit to their husbands, some willingly, most forcedly, but never had I thought the day would come when I would see Maya Thompson (sadly, Levinson now, but I'll never call her with his last name) do that. I would have thought she'd give hell to her husband if he only tried to command her, instead ... she agrees and obeys like a scared puppy. That's what worries me the most.

Byron says I'm overreacting. I think he's as much worried as I, but he won't tell, because he gotta play the cranky part this time. They had a huge fight, Byron and Maya, that weekend they remained here alone, they fought, very badly. And the result was that, the first thing Byron told me as soon as I'd stepped foot inside the apartment was "see her how much you like, but do me a favor, do not have Maya over, never again".