Savage Love

Forever yours,

James

At least her fingertips trembled as she plucked a black velvet box from its container. She opened it steadily, trying to convince herself that the present she thought was in here wasn't actually in here. But it was. It was a beautiful diamond necklace. One she had been gazing at through a window for months. The beautiful aquamarine teardrop gem was strong on a string that housed beautiful white and yellow diamonds. It was subtle. Small. Delicate, like the small chain the gem hung from. And it was every bit as beautiful as it was the day she saw it in the window.

Kallie couldn't put it down. James had always been charming, but he never went to great lengths to spend a lot of money on her. Every once in a while, he surprised her with something that reminded her of his money. But most of what he spent was to impress other people. They would go out to eat at fancy restaurants with some of his friends, and he would pick up the entire bill. He would pay for people's medical bills and wait for the praise that would come his way. At least, that was how she saw it whenever she got angry with him. Outside of a pair of small diamond earrings, the only piece of expensive jewelry James ever purchased for her was Kallie’s engagement ring.

And yet, she was looking at a necklace she had been staring at for months. The only piece of jewelry that had ever caught her eye in a store. She was holding it in her hands, and it was from the man she had almost married.

More proof of their history.

More proof that he paid attention more than he let on.

Kallie drew in a deep breath as her mind began to swirl. The ball was currently in her court and she didn't know how she felt about that. She was slowly eliminating Ash from her memory so she could get back to work. Get back to her life. Get back to moving forward. And then she was slapped with a gift that should have made her happy. That should have made her eyes glisten with tears. That should have made her feel thankful.

If James knew she wanted this necklace so badly, why wait until he is so royally screwed to get it for her?

“I can’t accept this,” Kallie said over the phone.

“It’s yours. I know you’ve been staring at it. Kallie, that necklace has you written all over it,” James said.

“I’m not accepting this gift. I’m taking it back to the store.”

“Then if you won’t accept the gift, Kal-Bear, have dinner with me. You can return it to me in person and not have to go through the hassle of crossing town to walk into the store.”

“James, come on.”

“What? You want to return the gift, and that’s fine. I have the receipt. Just meet me for dinner and you can hand it over,” he said.

“I know what you’re trying to do. I know how you’ve played this out,” Kallie said.

“Dinner. That’s it. You can even leave before you order, if that’s what you wish. You can put the gift down, turn around, and walk out. And I won’t stop you.”

“You won’t stop me.”

“Nope. I’ll let you walk away if that’s what you wish,” he said.

Kallie sat there, debating on his words. Was he telling the truth? Would it be that easy?

Had it ever been that easy?

“Okay,” she said reluctantly. “But only to return the gift.”

“I’ll text you the details. I can’t wait to see you.”

“That makes one of us.”

Kallie hung up the phone before James could get another word in edgewise. She was not looking forward to seeing him. She knew what he was doing. It was sneaky. She hoped that if she called him, she would find an innocence behind the gift. A little gesture of hope to show that he really was sorry for what happened on their wedding day. But it was only in an attempt to wrangle her into dinner, and she knew that.

So why did she agree to meet him for dinner?

Kallie’s eyes panned over to the stack of business cards on her desk. “An organized life is a happy life.” That was the motto of her small business. She wondered where she went wrong. She wondered when everything had toppled in on itself and become so chaotic. Her eyes fell back to her lap and she took in the beautiful necklace. What had briefly been a symbol of hope and a reminder of a future she had with a fiancé had quickly turned into a physical symbol of his ability to manipulate her. She closed the velvet box and tossed it back into the package, sighing as she did so.