I take a deep breath, ready to tell her that I’m through with her, that she can’t stay here, when I hear a loud pounding at my door.
I hold up a finger and then walk to the door in just my briefs, not caring who is on the other side. I throw the door open, and before I can register who is standing there, a fist flies at my face and hits me square in the nose. My body jolts backward with the hit, and I put my hands up to my nose as another hit rains down on my face, followed by another. My nose is pouring blood now, and I’m sure it’s broken. My eyesight is blurry, but I think I make Wade out through the haze. Or, at least, my prior experiences with ex-fiancés verify that he is most likely on the other end of the fist that keeps coming at my face.
“Wade, stop!” Danielle screams, running to my aide.
I hear Wade breathing heavily.
“I’m done. I’m done with both of you. You’re a rotten scumbag who deserves to be locked up in prison. And you’re a lying, cheating slut. I’m done with both of you.”
The blurriness finally leaves my eyes long enough for me to see Wade stumbling out of my room, clearly drunk. It’s a wonder he was even able to aim for my face. The door slams shut, and then I see Danielle standing naked in front of me.
“I’m sorry about Wade. He’s just upset that I broke off the wedding, that I no longer love him. He’ll get over it.”
I walk into the bathroom without saying a word and see that I was right about my nose. It’s most definitely broken as blood pours down my face. I grab one of the towels and hold it up to my nose to try and stop the bleeding, but I know it is going to take a while to stop.
“Here,” Danielle says, holding up a bag of ice.
I take the bag from her and hold it up to my face.
“It stings,” I say, wanting to pull it away from my face.
She laughs. “It will help with the swelling and stop the bleeding.”
I keep it on my face and walk back to the bedroom. Danielle follows me.
“I think you should go,” I say.
“What? Why?”
“I don’t want to worry about Wade coming back and beating me up.”
“He won’t.”
“And I don’t think you and I are going to work out. You’re not worth my trouble.”
Danielle’s jaw drops. “I broke up with Wade for you though. I called off my wedding tomorrow for you. I want to be with you. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“You made a mistake then. You should have stayed with Wade, or you should find someone else. I’m not the man for you, Danielle.”
“He’s not going to take me back now,” she says, her voice shaking.
I smirk. “No, I don’t think he will take you back.”
“You fucking bastard! You asshole!” Danielle shouts, raising her hand to no doubt slap or punch me.
At least, this time, I’m ready for the attack. I grab her wrist midair, stopping her from hitting me.
“You are an evil, vile person,” she says through tears.
I nod. “I am.”
She jerks her hand out of my grasp. “Why would you do this?”
I open my mouth to speak, and she holds a hand up to stop me.
“Never mind. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to spend another second listening to this crap.” She grabs her crumpled dress from the floor and quickly puts it back on, not bothering with her underwear. She cries the whole time.
Occasionally, the women recover after this. They are able to convince their fiancés to take them back. But I don’t think Danielle will. And I’m not sure she is strong enough to fully recover from it either.