Page 122 of Through You
“You can’t do this. You can’t show up at my house like this. It’s not okay. You need to go.”
He stands up and staggers toward me. “I love you, Claudia,” he says with tears in his eyes.
There’s something about that phrase, and those three words that doesn’t sit well with me.
“No. You’re just obsessed with me because you can’t have me, because I haven’t fallen in love with you like all the other girls you’ve been with. You still don’t know what true love is.”
“And you do?”
I remain silent.
“Are you with someone? Who is it? Is he better than me?”
“Daniell. . .”
“Answer me!” he shouts in my face, and I take a step back.
“Daniel, lower your voice.”
“No, tell me who it is.”
“That’s none of your business.”
“So there is someone.”
I don’t want to tell him anything that may hurt him even more, but my patience is wearing thin. He stretches his hand toward my face, and I take one more step back.
“You’re so beautiful.”
“Daniel, I’ll call you a cab. You can’t drive in this state.”
“Are you worried about me?”
I comb through the pockets of my maid’s outfit, searching for my cell phone. And when I can’t find it, alarm bells go off in my head. I’ve left it in the room.
“Daniel, please tell me you didn’t send any more texts after that last one telling me you were in front of my house.”
He scrunches his eyebrows, as if he’s thinking.
“I sent you one more, and called you after, but you didn’t answer.”
Oh god. I hope it didn’t wake Artemis up.
“Daniel, you have to get out of here. Give me your phone, I’ll call you a cab.” He reluctantly gives me his cell and I call a cab that will be here in ten minutes.
I give Daniel his phone back, and quickly look back at the main door of the house, which remains closed. Good. He hasn’t woken up. If he had, he would have been out that door in a hell of a hurry, exploding with rage after seeing those texts. Daniel takes advantage of my distraction to move closer and grab both of my arms. He’s quite strong for someone who’s this drunk. He leans his face forward in an attempt to kiss me, but I turn my head and push him away.
“You haven’t listened to me at all!” I tell him, boiling with anger. “I don’t want anything to do with you. Nothing. Daniel, please go on with your life and leave me alone.”
“Just one kiss good-bye,” he begs me.
I laugh. “No way. You’ve lost your mind.”
The cab arrives and I help him get in.
“I’ll keep the keys to your car. Tomorrow you can come by and get them. This has to be the last time you do something like this, Daniel. Next time, I’ll call the police.”
He nods before closing the door, and I watch the cab pull away and disappear down the road. I make my way back inside the silence and darkness of the house and head upstairs, relieved that that didn’t end up being as bad as I expected.
