Page 15 of The Emerald Boa's Lover
Now. Looking back? I could have handled this next part better…
Chapter 12
The note.
StillCharlie
“No one else’s?” I walked into the ground floor of his home and stepped out of my shoes first. “Meaning, that I’mallowedto smell ofyou,but no one else?”
“When in our nest.” Dalahan slithered in and huffed with a hiss, his hands resting on his hips and the end of his tail thumped at the ground. Is that like when a human stomps their foot? Are we arguing right now?
“Why?” I challenge him directly. I’m preparing for a fight as I’m not into this possessive bullshit some guys like. I’m no delicate flower and I’m no one’s property. Nor would I treat my boyfriend like either. Not that Dalahan is my boyfriend, but the point is the same.
“Because it’s our nest.” Did he just raise his voice at me?I grin angrily and hold my fists down by my sides. “I don’t want to smell other Ucfeni on you when in our nest. Y-you know how I feel about you. I get that during the day scents will cling to you, but when we are home you shouldn’t—”
“I shouldn’twhat?”I cut him off, but he doesn’t stop. The kettle is about to boil over. I’m getting ready to blow my top.
“—want to upset me…right?” Whatever I was expecting him to say? That wasn’t it. Still, I was tired, cranky, and angry, so I didn’t put the breaks on just yet.
“It’s notmyproblem if you get upset because I smell of other Ucfeni. I don’t belong to you, and you don’t get to order me to bathe like a good pet whenever you want me to. I’m a person, not a pet or a fuck-toy. I don’t belong to you. I’m nevergoingto belong to you. So you can shove this possessive crap where the sun doesn’t shine.” I stormed over to the pulley system and angrily got onto the seat. I was halfway up, fuming internally at the fucking cheek of the guy, when I heard the soft whimper. I paused my ascent and looked down at him.
God, he looked pitiful.
His evergreen tail was coiled tightly around him and even his arms hugged his shoulders. His head was bowed forward and from my vantage point, I could tell he was chewing his scaly lips to try and hide he was crying. Not my problem.I looked up and pulled on the cord to lift myself up another few inches…then paused and looked back down at him. He hadn’t moved. Well, it needed saying. He can’t act like he’s my jealous boyfriend. When is he going to get the message that I’m not interested?I pulled myself the rest of the way to the hygiene level to use the toilet. I fully intended to march right over the pulley system and go directly up to lay on my bed and wriggle about in protest to spite him, when I heard the door downstairs bang. I questioned what I heard at first and lowered down the pulley system to the bottom floor. A quick glance around made it clear to me Dalahan had fled. My eyes landed by chance on a note on the fridge. Oh here we go.
This wasn’t the first time I’d dealt with drama. In my head, I was already thinking of at least four examples of woe-is-me notes from some of my needier boyfriends. Phrases like ‘since I’m no longer wanted here’ or ‘I’m going somewhere where I’ll be appreciated’ popped into my head. There was always the old favourite of ‘screw you asshole, I’m too good for you anyway’. Either way, I expected to read emotional blackmail or abuse, so I hardened myself in preparation for it.
I’m sorry.
Don’t forget your dinner. I made you that noodle thing you like. All you have to do is reheat it. Please don’t forget and fall asleep on your books again. You have plenty of food in for tomorrow.
D.
That was it. “That…bastard.” I gripped my other hand, furious that…the only thing he wrote down was an upfront apology and a reminder to eat? What kind of game is he playing? I took the note with me as I headed back up to the middle tier. I sat on the edge of the bath and pulled the cord to fill it. Because I wanted a bath. Not because of this bloody note, which I read twice more as I waited for my special corner bath to fill up. I read it again once I sat comfortably in the hot water. I braced my elbows on the edge with the note in my right hand. I tried to see the hidden message. The fire and the fight I was used to.
But…there was none. In my mind I recalled the way Dalahan held himself and tried to hide he was crying. He showed no sign of realising I’d seen him. I let my hand and the note hang down over the side of the bath and stared up at the ceiling. The back of my blonde hair darkened with the water and became slick to my neck.
“I don’t want to smell other Ucfeni on you when in our nest. Y-you know how I feel about you. I get that during the day scents will cling to you, but when we are home you shouldn’t—”
“I shouldn’t what?”
“—want to upset me…right?”
I replayed the argument a few times, and then something popped out at me.
“I don’t want to smell other Ucfeni on you when in our nest. Y-you know how I feel about you.”
Again I saw him holding himself and whimpering in silence.
“Y-you know how I feel about you.”
“Fuck.” I pinched the brow of my nose and realised that I’ve been an asshole.
“I get that during the day scents will cling to you, but when we are home you shouldn’t—”
“I shouldn’t what?”
“—want to upset me…right?”
