Jessica was pacing up and down. Five past eleven. Couldn't he hurry up?
She went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. She was already
nervous, and Dave hadn't even rung the door bell. A few seconds later,
though, he did. Jessica took a deep breath and tried to take her time in
answering the door. After all, she didn't want him to think that she had
been waiting for him. She opened the door, and before she had said
anything he had invited himself in.
'Still in this old place I see. You haven't changed a thing since I was last here.'
He leaned forward to kiss her, but even before his lips touched hers Jessica could feel his hands wandering up the inside of her T-shirt, caressing her bare flesh. She shrunk away as quickly as possible.
'Fancy a drink?' Jessica was silently cursing herself for not dumping Dave earlier on in their relationship. She couldn't believe that she had been going out with such a creep for the last four years.
Dave had turned the radio on, and ironically Enrique Iglesias' 'Escape' was on. He walked over to her, placing his hands once again on her waist, trying to kiss her neck. She shrugged him off.
'What's the matter with you?'
'I…well…no, its nothing. Nothing at all.' Jessica sat on her sofa, contemplating why she didn't just dump him there and then. Damn her good nature. Dave sat down very close to her.
'I was so disappointed when you weren't here for your sixteenth' he wheedled, running a finger up and down her leg. 'so unbelievably disappointed…'
'Why?' she asked, curtly. He looked slightly abashed, and a hint of anger was in his cold grey eyes.
'Do you not remember the promise we made when we first met?'
'We were twelve years old. Of course I don't remember.'
'We both promised that when you turned sixteen we would prove our love for each other. Don't you think that I have been waiting for your birthday to come, to be able to show how special you are to me? And then when you were not here, can you imagine how I felt? I was devastated. But you are here now.'
Jessica's mind was reeling. Not just from the fact that she actually remembered that promise, but also because she knew that Dave had probably planned to leave her the day after her birthday. Why had she been so naïve that she didn't spot it? She would have to rectify this situation as soon as possible.
'Dave, we were only twelve. What did we know of the world at that age?'
'enough to know that we loved each other.'
'No. I did not love you then. In fact' she said, getting up from the sofa and looking Dave in the eye 'I do not love you now, either.'
There was a deadly silence, the tension so thick that you could easily have sliced it with a knife. Dave looked to the floor, dropping Jessica's gaze which he could tell held only the truth.
'What does this mean, Jessica?'
She unfastened the silver chain she always kept about her wrist. 'It means we're over' she dropped the bracelet into his lap. Whatever she had been expecting, the grief that she saw before her was not it. 'Gosh' she thought 'Maybe he did really care about me.'
'You absolute bitch. You have strung me along for these past years, thinking that we were building a stable relationship, and before we even take this relationship to the next level you coldly dump me with no feeling whatsoever. Don't you owe me an explanation?' When he raised his eyes to meet hers, Jessica did not see any grief in them. Not for them, as a couple, anyway. All she saw was a grief for him, a grief that did not involve her, just him and his selfish ways, a grief that plainly said: 'and you didn't even get to sleep with her, which is what you wanted all along.'
'It wasn't working. You can't pretend that it was. I was always away, and well, it cannot go on like that, can it?'
Dave got up and stood uncomfortably close to her.
'No. I helped you grow. I told you all that you know, and how do you repay me? You dump me.' This last statement made Jessica's patience run out.
'Help me grow?' she scoffed 'the only thing you tried to do was make me feel uncomfortable so that you could get your own way. I realise that now, and it is not going to work anymore.'
Dave examined the woman he saw in front of him. This was a completely new Jessica. Where did she get the nerve from to say those last sentences? Who the hell was brainwashing her?
'Oh. I see.' His voice was dangerously calm. You have decided to throw me away because you have found someone else. Who is he?'
Jessica tried to keep her eyes impassive, though she was not a very good liar.
'Just because I have the strength to end this sickening relationship does not automatically mean that I have found someone else.'
'Strength' he reiterated 'trying being strong enough to get out of this.' His lightening-quick hand came up, his fingers clamped around her neck in a vice like grip. 'Do not lie to me, for you know what will happen if you do.' He squeezed her tighter.
Jessica could feel her breath running low. How the hell was she supposed to get out of this one?
'Still in this old place I see. You haven't changed a thing since I was last here.'
He leaned forward to kiss her, but even before his lips touched hers Jessica could feel his hands wandering up the inside of her T-shirt, caressing her bare flesh. She shrunk away as quickly as possible.
'Fancy a drink?' Jessica was silently cursing herself for not dumping Dave earlier on in their relationship. She couldn't believe that she had been going out with such a creep for the last four years.
Dave had turned the radio on, and ironically Enrique Iglesias' 'Escape' was on. He walked over to her, placing his hands once again on her waist, trying to kiss her neck. She shrugged him off.
'What's the matter with you?'
'I…well…no, its nothing. Nothing at all.' Jessica sat on her sofa, contemplating why she didn't just dump him there and then. Damn her good nature. Dave sat down very close to her.
'I was so disappointed when you weren't here for your sixteenth' he wheedled, running a finger up and down her leg. 'so unbelievably disappointed…'
'Why?' she asked, curtly. He looked slightly abashed, and a hint of anger was in his cold grey eyes.
'Do you not remember the promise we made when we first met?'
'We were twelve years old. Of course I don't remember.'
'We both promised that when you turned sixteen we would prove our love for each other. Don't you think that I have been waiting for your birthday to come, to be able to show how special you are to me? And then when you were not here, can you imagine how I felt? I was devastated. But you are here now.'
Jessica's mind was reeling. Not just from the fact that she actually remembered that promise, but also because she knew that Dave had probably planned to leave her the day after her birthday. Why had she been so naïve that she didn't spot it? She would have to rectify this situation as soon as possible.
'Dave, we were only twelve. What did we know of the world at that age?'
'enough to know that we loved each other.'
'No. I did not love you then. In fact' she said, getting up from the sofa and looking Dave in the eye 'I do not love you now, either.'
There was a deadly silence, the tension so thick that you could easily have sliced it with a knife. Dave looked to the floor, dropping Jessica's gaze which he could tell held only the truth.
'What does this mean, Jessica?'
She unfastened the silver chain she always kept about her wrist. 'It means we're over' she dropped the bracelet into his lap. Whatever she had been expecting, the grief that she saw before her was not it. 'Gosh' she thought 'Maybe he did really care about me.'
'You absolute bitch. You have strung me along for these past years, thinking that we were building a stable relationship, and before we even take this relationship to the next level you coldly dump me with no feeling whatsoever. Don't you owe me an explanation?' When he raised his eyes to meet hers, Jessica did not see any grief in them. Not for them, as a couple, anyway. All she saw was a grief for him, a grief that did not involve her, just him and his selfish ways, a grief that plainly said: 'and you didn't even get to sleep with her, which is what you wanted all along.'
'It wasn't working. You can't pretend that it was. I was always away, and well, it cannot go on like that, can it?'
Dave got up and stood uncomfortably close to her.
'No. I helped you grow. I told you all that you know, and how do you repay me? You dump me.' This last statement made Jessica's patience run out.
'Help me grow?' she scoffed 'the only thing you tried to do was make me feel uncomfortable so that you could get your own way. I realise that now, and it is not going to work anymore.'
Dave examined the woman he saw in front of him. This was a completely new Jessica. Where did she get the nerve from to say those last sentences? Who the hell was brainwashing her?
'Oh. I see.' His voice was dangerously calm. You have decided to throw me away because you have found someone else. Who is he?'
Jessica tried to keep her eyes impassive, though she was not a very good liar.
'Just because I have the strength to end this sickening relationship does not automatically mean that I have found someone else.'
'Strength' he reiterated 'trying being strong enough to get out of this.' His lightening-quick hand came up, his fingers clamped around her neck in a vice like grip. 'Do not lie to me, for you know what will happen if you do.' He squeezed her tighter.
Jessica could feel her breath running low. How the hell was she supposed to get out of this one?