Chapter V - My Ex-Fiancee #2

I shake my head. "No... no. He was my ex-fiancee..." I reply.

Once again... Silence.

"Ex-Fiancee..." he repeats under his breath in surprise. I hear a hint of pain in his voice and it sure as hell is affecting me too.

"Yeah..." I begin, letting out a gentle and a quiet sigh. "I should have told you about him earlier but I... I don't like talking about him. I just want to forget that man... he gave me a lot of verbal abuse ever since he proposed to me..." I pause there, diverting my eyes to him. I see that he is listening. "I was hoping that all the verbal abuse was going to stop, but it never did. It only stopped when I ended our relationship. For good.".

He nods at me before raising an eyebrow.

"Why do you still have his clothes if you are trying to forget him?" he asks.

I can't help but let out a chuckle. I sometimes ask myself the same question...

"I kept them in case a moment like this happens. Then again, I'd be lying if I said that was the only reason I keep them. I guess I am waiting for him to come by and pick them up? But if he didn't come for them by now, I doubt he ever will..." I reply. "Either way, I was thinking about giving them up for donation or something along the lines of that...". A sigh signals the end of my sentence.

Even though quietness filled the room, I felt his eyes roam over me and my body as mine laid on the ground.

"Did he ever hit you?..." he asks very softly.

I look up at him in slight surprise, not because of the question, but because of his tone.

I shake my head. "No... no, he didn't...".

I see him nod in an understanding manner.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did it all end?".

"Well... before I begin, I think I should say that it all ended three years ago. But it all ended when I caught him cheating on me on our one year anniversary..." I reply.

"On your One Year Anniversary?". I raise my head to his distraught voice. When my eyes land on his face, I see the way his left brow has risen.

I simply nod. "Yeah... one year of us being a boyfriend and girlfriend...".

"Wow..." he begins. "I-I'm sorry to hear that..." he adds, lowly.

I sheepishly smile at him.

"Ah... at least he is out of my life now. He was a very toxic person..." I reply.

"Yeah..." he agrees.

Seconds pass before he wraps his arm around me, pulling me towards him. Though he is still half-naked, me laying on his bare shoulder made the embrace feel that bit more intimate. It made me feel that bit more... loved?

We spend the next few seconds in silence, sharing and enjoying the peaceful silence that laid amongst us, while I laid my head on him. I'm sure both the embrace and the quietness that filled the air would have lasted longer if it wasn't for Andrea who knocked on the door. The sudden knocking causing me to jump up and unintentionally break our embrace.

*knock, knock*

"You guys okay there... or did I ruin a moment?" I hear Andrea ask.

I chuckle at her words.

"No... everything is fine..." I say, looking at James as he looks back at me. He then smiles, which in turn causes me to break into a smile too.

"Okay..." she replies.

We look at each other for a few more seconds.

"You know, your smile is so fucking beautiful. I wasn't kidding when I said that words can't even describe that smile of yours..." he breaks the silence.

"Just like everything about me, as you said on that letter," I say, smiling at him.

I see him smiling back at me before lowering his eyes down to the floor.

Then he recomposes himself before his eyes land back onto mine.

We gaze at each other until I realise where we are and I break our eye contact.

"I am sorry..." I begin. "I am going to leave you to dress up..." I say, standing up and walking away from him and towards the white door.

"I hope you know that I don't mind your company..." he says. "Frankly, I enjoy it..." he adds moments later. I can hear the smile on his lips.

I halt in my attempt of opening the door.

Behind me, I hear the ruffling of fabric.

"I know..." I reply under my breath, smiling at the white door in front of me before. Just as I was about to exit the room, I stop myself before looking back at James. I see him on his feet as he pulls on the dark denim jeans before buttoning them and zipping up the flier.

'Its why you came back for me...' is what I want to say, but I decided against it. The quiet seemed to fit this moment better.

Then, his eyes move up and meet mine. We end up, as we always do, gazing at each other. We both share and savour the silence that laid amongst us.

I am the first one to break our gaze as I once again realise that he is shirtless.

'He might get sick if he doesn't put on a top...' my mind said.

'Sure... that's just an excuse for you to not end up drooling over his handsome body...' my hear strikes back.

"Anyways, I'll be in the living room, you dress up and... yeah," I say, cutting the tiff between my mind and heart.

I open the door and just as I am about to walk out of my bedroom, his voice stops me.

"I love you..." he says.

"I love you too. To the moon and back," I reply, to which he chuckles at me. When I turn back towards him, I am met by his pleasant gaze, with a smirk on his lips. I smile back.

With that, I face forward before leaving my bedroom, giving him some privacy to get fully dressed.

When I exit my bedroom, my eyes land on Andrea who is looking at me with a raised brow and a smile on her lips.

I close the door fully behind me before making my way to her.

"You were in there for so long..." she says, chuckling just as I sit down beside her.

"But just to make one thing clear, nothing happened between us..." I say.

She leans forward towards the coffee table and fetches her glass of water. I feel my smile drop as I watch her.

"I told him about Igor...". The sound of Andrea choking on her water caught my attention.

"Are you okay?" I ask her, trying not to burst out laughing while at the same time patting her back.

"What did he say?... How did he react?..." she asks, looking at me with a very serious look.

"Well... he said he was sorry when he heard what happened between Igor and me. He then asked me if he ever hit me, to which I said no..." I say. "He was pretty chill about it, if I were to be honest... definitely not the way I expected him to react. In a good way," I add.

Silence descents between both Andrea and me.

"You know... he does seem like a very chill, down to earth dude..." Andrea says. "He's better than Igor, at least...".

I nod to her words.

"He is..." I say, a smile growing on my lips.

"I personally think that he is a keeper...".

I look at her before I feel the ends of my lips lower ever so slightly. "I think so too...".