Jesse was on the couch, playing on the console again and he looked up at her with a bored expression in his eyes.
“How’d what go?” he asked and Belle felt her heart sinking. She walked up towards him and softened her voice. It had obviously not gone well.
“The job interview,” she said, trying to sound as neutral as possible. Jesse paused the game, placed the control on his lap and looked up at her like he detested her for asking him that question.
“How do you think it went?” he asked and Belle shrugged and looked away from him. Of all the times he had been in a bad mood, this had to be the worst.
“You said you were excited about it and they pay well, so I don’t know…” she said and met his gaze again. Jesse rolled his eyes and looked away from her, as though she had said something offensive.
“They don’t want to hire me, alright?” he said and stood up from the couch. Belle followed him into the kitchen area.
“Why not? What happened?” she asked and Jesse ignored her. He went over to
the mini fridge and extracted a can of beer for himself. Belle looked at the beer in his hand quizzically. What was he turning into?
“Nothing happened. I went for the interview. They interviewed me and said that they don’t want to hire me,” he said and walked past her again towards the couch. Belle whipped around to follow him back to the couch. She had her doubts about whether he did actually go to the interview.
“What questions did they ask?” she asked, folding her arms over her breasts.
“General questions. Why are you grilling me?” he said, spreading his arms wide. Belle stared at him and realized that her nostrils were flared. She was losing her patience with him.
“What questions exactly, Jesse? I want to know what we can do to improve your interview skills,” she said, tightening her grip on her arms. Jesse was breathing hard and suddenly he dropped his arms and walked over towards Belle.
He placed his can of beer on the floor beside her and then his hands on her arms.
“Don’t worry about it, babe. I’ll find something else,” he said with a smile and leaned towards her. Belle didn’t move. She was fuming. She was doubly sure now that he hadn’t even gone for the interview. Why was he jeopardizing his career? Why did he assume that she could just provide for them both on her internship money? She didn’t even have the money to buy a coffee on her way to work. She was broke and miserable and feeling unloved and he just didn’t care.
Without saying anything, Jesse leaned towards her and tried to kiss her lips. Belle moved her face away. She felt nothing when he was close. No spark. No electricity. No attraction. And it was beginning to scare her.
“Hey,” Jesse whispered, a smile forming on his face. He kissed her cheek and then Belle sensed his hand reaching for her breasts.
Belle moved away from him with a jerk.
“What’s wrong babe? Isn’t this what you want?” Jesse asked and stepped towards her again. Belle froze as she stared at him. Jesse was beginning to disgust her. She felt like she was cheating on Devon now. Even though she was never going to see him again.
Jesse stroked her cheeks with his hands and kissed her forehead. Then the bridge of her nose and finally her lips. The kiss did nothing for her, except make her hate him a little more.
“Are you worried that I don’t know what I’m doing? Don’t worry babe, I’ve slept with girls before,” he said, looking at her with enthusiastic eyes.
Belle pushed him away and glared at him.
“You said you wanted to wait!” she screeched, now losing all control. Jesse looked surprised as he looked at her, trying to develop a look of innocence on his face.
“Yeah. I wanted to wait with you, babe. I think all those girls I slept with are sluts. I don’t want you to become like one of them,” he said and Belle’s mouth fell open.
“So why do you want to do it now?” she asked and Jesse took in a deep breath, like he was trying to explain something to a little child.
“Because I love you, babe. Because I want to do this with you. Because I know we’ll be together forever,” he replied and Belle could do nothing but stare at him in shock. Hearing those words coming from him made her sick to her stomach. She wanted to throw something at him. Punch the wall if she had to. Scream and make a run for it. Instead, she was frozen to the spot and felt like she couldn’t move a muscle. The guy she thought would make the perfect boyfriend in college had turned out to be her worst nightmare and she wasn’t sure how long she could go on like this.
Devon
Devon was at his office, working late again and the next time he raised his head to look at the time, it was already nine. He pushed his file away and shut down his computer and took in a deep breath. The lunch with Alisha had affected him in a big way.
It had been a week since he last saw Belle, and now he was beginning to recognize the heartache and loneliness settling in again. He didn’t want to arouse suspicion and hence hadn’t asked Susan or Jasmine how she was doing. He could only hope that she was happy at the Brooklyn office and that her life with her boyfriend was going well. He only wanted the best for her. He didn’t want to disrupt her peace of mind.
Alisha was probably right, he figured, to assume that he was capable of actual feelings. Even though he didn’t want to discuss those feelings with anybody else, he knew that they existed. Belle had stirred them in him and he felt protective and possessive towards her. Which was why it was wise to send her away before anything else happened.
The soft ping of the elevator outside snapped him out of his thoughts. His heart began to race because he couldn’t help but wonder if it was Belle again. A far fetched daydream, but he couldn’t help his mind from wandering.