He looks down at me, his eyes filled with emotions I can’t quite label. “I'm not trying to control you. I am trying to make things right. To fix what I’ve broken. Operation Good as New 3.0.”
My stomach flips at his words. “I don't believe you. I can't believe you.”
Victor raises his hands to say something else, but I can't let him. I'm so confused and angry and unsure of what my future holds. I just want to focus on the things I can control, at least a little. Like, ordering an Uber to get me out of here.
I raise my phone to do just that, but he places a hand over it before I can. And when I peer up to see why, he quickly signs, “I have already arranged another car for you.”
As if on cue, a dark vehicle pulls up in front of us. A black Suburban with fleet plates.
I look at it, then back to Victor in utter shock.
“I’m no longer the insensitive husband you knew for ten years,” he says in answer to all my unspoken questions. “I understand that you are upset. I also understand that it's going to take you a while to learn to trust me. So I will not force you to spend time with me when you so obviously don’t want to do that. You’ve fulfilled the terms of our second date. This car will take you back to New Jersey.”
My heart trembles, and so does my throat. There’s so much I want to say. But when I try to speak, no words come out.
Meanwhile, Victor opens the new car’s door and waits patiently for me to accept his latest gift.
Unable to think of what else to do, I start to climb into the car, but I stop inside the door to say, “Okay, no more surprises. Can you just tell me where we're going on our third date?”
I say this to take back some control, but his answer comes as a complete shock. “Our third date is your choice.”
“What?” I ask him, not understanding.
“You said I never give you choices. So I want to give you one. Our third date can be whatever you want it to be. Just let me know, and I'll make it happen.” With those words, he gives me a slight head bow, solemn and respectful. “Now, please get into the car. I don’t want you to arrive in New Jersey too late.”
Okay, no more comebacks. I wordlessly take a seat as instructed.
He closes me into the car. Then signs on the other side of the window, “See you next Friday.”
12
VICTOR
The little boy awoke to a strange light above him, bright and glaring. After so long, living in a dark room with his mama, it hurt his eyes.
“Mama—” he started to call out, only to immediately stop. The light wasn’t the only thing that hurt.
His mouth…it was on fire. Yet it also felt weirdly dry, as if someone had stuffed it with cotton. How was that possible? For cotton to burn inside of your mouth?
Despite the pain, he tried to call out for his mother again. “Mah…mah…mah…”
Even greater pain burst inside his mouth, and his voice sounded…strange. What was happening? Why did everything hurt so bad? He wanted his mother. He wanted his mother!
Victor wakes with a start. For real this time. Then he inwardly curses.
Another suppressed memory. Bubbling to the surface. It felt so real, down to the pain in his mouth.
It isn’t fair. He knows it isn’t fair. But a wave of irrational anger crashes through him at Dawn. The dreams didn’t start until she left. And he has a bad feeling that her return is the only thing that can fix them.
He thinks back to their last conversation when she accused him of trying to control her with his gift. The thing is, she guessed right about his ultimate motive. He wanted a way to continue on in her life no matter what she decided at the end of date three. He also wanted to earn her gratitude and make up for their anniversary.
The purchase of Yinz Entertainment seemed to check all those boxes until he had to negotiate away his ownership and future laundering rights to confuse her and divert her suspicion. This past week, he even had papers, divesting him of all interest and control of the company drawn up and sent to her lawyer along with a transfer of ownership.
If only she knew how much control she currently holds over him. He stares at the ring on his left hand. For nearly a decade, he only wore it one day a year. But now he can’t bring himself to take it off.
His heart…his sanity…his ability to sleep…. Everything hinges on the third date he gave her control of as a last-minute tactic. She could destroy him, and she doesn’t even know it.