Tell Me You Love Me [COMPLETED]

Chapter 9: Welcome to the City of Angels

Friday April 3, 2020

Aesha POV

I don't know what time it is now, I haven't been checking my watch or my phone, I'm just glad to be out of Florida.

Flashback

Friday April 3, 2020 - Tampa, Florida

10:47 AM

"So you're just up and leaving? Just like that?"
"I'll be back Tuesday, I just need some time away."
"Oh, yeah, you need some time away, okay. Well, may I ask how the Hell you're affording to hop on a plane to LA today?"
"Don't worry about me and my money, Rufus."
"Oh, you and your money? The money you get from the store? You know, a good 70 percent of that should be goin' to me, if we're bein' honest."

I stop doing what I'm doing, packing my second luggage bag, and look at him with the "bitch, really?" face.

"That's what we're doin'? Really?" I say and I begin to say something else but I put my hands up as I change my mind on what I want to say.
"You know what, believe whatchu want, I ain't doin' this witchu today, I'm not. So, you're gonna sit there and watch me pack then you're gonna watch me leave and then you're gonna wait for me to come back."
"This is so damn childi—"
"Uh-uh, say what you want, I don't wanna hear it. So, since we're 'being honest', if you got a problem with this, you can kiss my ass, honestly."

With that, I zip up my bags and leave the bedroom to sit on the couch and wait for my Uber.

Present

"Damn Aesh, you just left him like that?" Galina asks me as we talk while the kids play.
"After this month of near Hell with him and then after last night? Hell yeah I left his ass like that. Like, eight years Galina, eight years of this shit with him; I'm over it. It was never this bad but I've never been seen as worthy of being with him by most people, ever. People see me today and they're all like, 'oh, Aesha, you're so pretty, you're so talented', but it wasn't always like that. When Rufus and I first got together, people would really come up and ask me, 'how did you get him?'"
"Oh my God, no."
"Yes. I was always the beast in the equation - his friends didn't think I was good enough, his professors didn't think I was good enough, not even his parents to this day think I'm good enough; I was always bein' told how lucky I was to have a man like Rufus, how lucky I was to have Rufus, that he was the giver and I was the charity. He's done so much for me, yes, but after this month of things just falling apart quicker than they ever have, he can pull his money, take whatever he thinks he deserves from me, I don't care, he can take the whole damn store if he wants it but I can't do this anymore; I'm tired of being 'the lucky one' when, behind closed doors, the perfect angel named Rufus is nothing but a narcissistic, selfish, self-serving, rude, misogynistic wolf in sheep's clothing."

I rub my nose bridge as I try to breathe and calm down, Galina sitting in the seat beside me and gently rubbing my shoulder.

"Oh, Aesha." She says sadly and I just look away and at the clouds outside of the window.

"Y'know, the only reason why I was able to come to this realization myself is because my family were the only ones that ever reminded me of my self-worth, always let me know how special I was and how deserving I was of any good fortune the universe bestowed upon me. They praised me, made me feel good but were always honest when need be, knocked me down a peg when necessary; it's because of them I didn't become fully complacent and subservient to him, though spending eight years ignoring the truth didn't do me any favors either. They're probably why he wanted to move both of us down here, I was open to a long-distance relationship but he was fixated on us being together; he probably knew the more I was around my family the less likely I was to foolishly follow him around waiting to wash his feet at every chance he would give me. He wants a 'yes, sah', yes massah' type bitch but I ain't her and I remember that now; momma ain't raise no servant and she sure as Hell ain't raise no bitch."