My stomach hurt. Nervousness bounced inside of it. I didn’t like what had happened yesterday between Gio and me. I didn’t enjoy hearing about the disgusting behavior Ru had begun displaying. Even worse, I wasn’t looking forward to the events of today.
What am I going to do? Are Gio and I still good?
Although we hadn’t yelled or insulted the other, that moment in the hallway wasn’t our best. I understood where he was coming from and loved that he fiercely protected me, but he had to let me handle my life. I’d been on my own for so long. I was used to dealing with things my way.
Did love mean compromising my way of doing things?
Part of me said yes. The most stubborn part said hell no.
Gio made a soft noise, reaching for my hand. He massaged my palm and I pushed my worries aside. No matter what, I had an intense feeling that Gio and I could get over anything. Ru had made a mess of this situation. I didn’t know what he had going on in his head. I figured he might’ve been attracted to me, but not in a narcissistic way. It seemed to me that men are attracted to most women. Put a pair of realistic tits and an ass on a tree and I guarantee the tree would be crowded with ogling men, circling and staring, having their lunches there during their break, and taking pictures.
But it’s bigger with Ru. There’s more going on. Maybe even as bad as Gio is saying it is.
I trusted Gio’s opinion, but I trusted Ru and had known him for a long time on a closer level than Gio did. Additionally, Gio appeared not to be the type of man that shared. But how intense was it? We were still getting to know each other. Could his opinion on Ru all be based on a severely jealous personality, or was he solely looking at a situation that had truly gotten out of control?
My heart told me it had to be the latter. Ru had been making me uncomfortable since he arrived. Even his text messages had rubbed me the wrong way.
And now he’s groping women? How disgusting.
I didn’t want to believe it and hoped he had some rational reason for what had happened. Yet, deep down inside, I knew no rational reason existed.
And if he’s groping them, then who says he won’t do that to you? And what type of man does that?
I sighed. All this time, I’d brushed off the things that Ru had done in his personal life, cheating on his wife and mistreating his mistress. To maintain that situation, he had to be someone else. Neither woman probably knew the real Ru.
Why am I just seeing this?
And now he’d arrived at Gio’s house acting like some love-sick romantic, buying buildings, lying on Gio, and ordering me to talk to him on the phone. Meanwhile, his wife and mistress desperately waited for him back in New York.
So then, what’s really the problem, Ru?
It had to be control. I had to admit that he had full control of me in New York. I’d depended on him to take my career to the next level. I didn’t bother him. I worked, remaining in that apartment and closing myself off to everyone...but him.
When he came to my apartment and brought me flowers and even cleaned...what did that all mean to him?
He must’ve thought he was prepping me to be one of his women. Or was it something else? Surely, he’d been acting like a jealous lover here. And it seemed so absurd to me that I hadn’t allowed myself to think of it.
But with this inappropriate behavior, now, I had to dissect it all.
My mother told me once that negative people will always keep a person back from moving forward. She stressed that the person had to cut the negative people out of their lives immediately. Like it was life or death. It didn’t matter how nice or good they were. It didn’t matter if they were a relative or close friend. Wife or husband. Mother or father. Best friend or co-worker. The negative people had to go because if they remained, they would wrap their negativity around the person’s body like black burning chains. There would be no escape except to cut the bond. Get rid of them. Detoxify. Cleanse. Wash away. Get away. Run away.
Ru must go.
This should’ve been a time of celebration. Hadn’t Ru and I been working toward this goal?
No, because this wasn’t his goal. It was something else. This was my goal, but not his.
Without speaking, Gio rolled toward me, pulling me against his body, his lips finding mine in the dark. The kiss possessed the same longing and intensity it always did. My body relaxed. Gio and I would be fine, and in many ways, that was all that mattered.