“I don’t know what you mean. You were fine last night when I came home and since today morning you’ve been pushing me away, like we’re strangers,” she said, clasping her hands together. She was thankful that the girls were already asleep, because they definitely didn’t need to hear this.
Frank took a few hurried sips of his drink and then smacked his lips, before fixing his eyes on her again.
“We are strangers, Veronica, aren’t we? I mean, how much do we actually know each other?” he said and she shook her head, her nostrils flaring. Why was he tiptoeing around what he had to say? Why wasn’t he just being honest with her?
“Last evening, before I left for the restaurant, you told me that you cared for me deeply. That you wanted nothing more than to be with me. What has changed since then? What makes you think that we don’t even know each other?” she said, aware of the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She was already awash with guilt, full to the brim with the anxious thoughts in her head…with the decision she had to make. Who knew when Calvin might call and demand for her answer? And Frank was only making it worse for her. He was making her feel like she was all alone.
“A lot of things have changed since you went to the restaurant, hasn’t it?” he asked and Veronica watched in silence as he gulped the whole drink down his throat in one go. He slammed the glass down on the bar and proceeded to fold his arms over his chest. His eyes seemed like they were trying to burn a hole right through her head. She had never seen Frank so angry. This was probably what people talked about, when they said that he was a difficult and harsh man to work with.
“What’s changed? You know nothing about what happened at the restaurant. You’re only making assumptions and taking your anger out on me!” Veronica’s voice was raised now, but she couldn’t control herself. Even though the truth was that a lot of things had changed, Frank had no way of knowing that. And she was sure that he hadn’t followed her to the restaurant and seen Calvin proposing.
“You’re right, I have no way of knowing exactly what’s changed. Especially since the first thing you did when you came home was have sex with me,” he said, maintaining his calm deep voice.
“You wanted it too!” Veronica said, aghast.
“You’re right. We both wanted it, but you failed to point out a crucial factor of the night. Which was entirely your responsibility,” he said, keeping his small glimmering dark eyes trained on her. Veronica could hardly look at him any more, without the fear of breaking into a volley of tears.
“What crucial factor? Why don’t you just tell me what’s on your mind?” she said, through gritted teeth now. She could sense that she was beginning to lose her patience.
“I found it, Veronica,” Frank said and drew in a tired deep breath. “The ring. It fell out of your purse in the study, maybe when we were stripping our clothes off each other. I found it when I came back down to turn off the lights after you were already in bed,” he continued.
Veronica could do nothing but stare at him, her mind had stopped functioning.
“It’s a beautiful ring and I suppose congratulations are in order!” he added.
“Frank, I…” Veronica tried to formulate the words but he only waved his hand away like he didn’t want her to bother with an explanation.
“Like I said, Veronica, I respect your decision. You’ve decided to marry him, and that’s fine. What I am concerned with is that you kept it from me and then proceeded to have sex with me, knowing fully well that you now officially belong to another man,” he said and turned away from her with a jerk, to pour himself another drink.
Veronica stepped towards him when his back was turned, in the hopes that she might be able to find the words to explain it to him better. She wanted to get closer to him.
“I wanted to, Frank…I really did,” she muttered and he turned to look at her again.
“But you didn’t, did you?” he said and Veronica noted how completely calm he sounded, despite the anger she could see in his eyes.
“You told me that you didn’t want to hear the details then, not before we made love first,” she argued in a strained voice and Frank sighed and shook his head.
“When your first words weren’t - it’s over between us Frank, I assumed that there was no reason for us to not continue as usual,” he said, his voice rising a little but within seconds he had calmed himself back down. “I had no reason to believe that anything had changed. I asked you to spare me the details of an awkward date with an ex boyfriend, not spare me the most important detail; that you are now engaged to the man I thought you were going to break up with,” he said and with a huff he shook his head, as though there was something funny about that.
Veronica stared at him, her dark eyes widened, her breathing going heavy.
“I’m not engaged to him, Frank,” she said and suddenly the sarcastic smile from his face dropped.
“What was the ring for then? It certainly looks li
ke an engagement ring to me,” he said and took a swig of his drink.
“Yes, Calvin did propose, but you should have asked me first Frank, instead of just assuming things,” Veronica said and now it was her turn to fold her arms over her chest. Frank followed her movements and she noticed the way he gazed for a few moments at her breasts before looking away. Despite the conversation they were having, Veronica was well aware of the existing sexual tension in the room.
“I haven’t given him an answer. He forced me to take the ring with me, to think over my decision. But last night, when we had sex, I wasn’t and am still not engaged,” she said.
A silence hung between them for a few seconds. Frank was breathing hard. She could see how his knuckles had turned white as he gripped the glass tightly in his hand. It was like he didn’t believe a word of what she was saying.
“Frank…” Veronica said, taking a few steps towards him. Thankfully he didn’t move away this time, but neither did he reach for her.
“I didn’t say yes because I’m torn, don’t you see that?” she said and he clenched his jaw.
“But you didn’t say no either,” he said and Veronica could only stare back at him.