Straighten things out

They took her to the dressing room. Marcus, Kara and Lyon watched her closely and when she opened her eyes, she saw David again in front of her. She almost jumped out of her chair. It looked like she was seeing a ghost, but it was an angel.

"Nina?" Are you listening to me? Are you well? Do you want to go to the hospital? She just looked at him, as if she were studying him, her brain didn't process his presence, she couldn't take in that he was there, holding her.

She was thinking that maybe she was dreaming, because she had had so many dreams over the months, screamed his name without him coming to help her, woke up wet with sweat, her body shivering when she realized he was gone, he wasn't there, it was just a dream. These dreams seemed so real, she saw him in front of her, felt his touch, his heat, went into delirium, and when she woke up she cried at having to discover that it was just a dream. She almost went crazy!

And there he was, in the flesh! She looked at people strangely and David took her by her cold hand.

“Nina. I'll take you to the doctor now. She just shook her head that she didn't have to.

"I'll take you to the hotel then." Come with me, please!

Two yellowish brown eyes, wide in a pale face, stared at him unblinkingly. Her brain was short-circuiting again! She couldn't accept that it was himself there, and he couldn't hear the voice of her heart, to know what was going on inside her. He made her crazy with so much passion to the point of making her whole body shudder... He hugged her and she didn't know how to act.

Elena walked into the dressing room and made sure everything was fine. They suspended the shootings. Kara and Lyon asked everyone to leave them alone so they could talk. Nina gets up feeling dizzy, giving signs that she wouldn't hold back her tears, she goes to the bathroom... Nina didn't want to open her eyes. She couldn't look him in the eye. It seemed that in his eyes there was a spell that weakened her. She smelled him and wanted to swallow his nakedness, whisper her love in his ear, tell him how crazy she was in his embrace, but she couldn't form a word that made sense. This feeling dominated her, she couldn't give in...

An internal struggle was being waged, she loved him so much that when she saw him, wearing that black suit, his hair falling in his face, it no longer mattered what he had done! Nothing else mattered. Suddenly the world might even end, while she didn't want to accept that all mistakes could be forgiven, just for loving him. Love is not everything… she thought… “What if it was a betrayal? What if he had killed someone? I would forgive him”?

“Are you feeling okay, Nina?

'Yes, David. I am well. - She replied, returning to the bedroom. “I don't know what happened at the interview. I've been really nervous for days now, and I really didn't expect to see you. I had a really big shock. Sorry for the embarrassment. I shouldn't have come. I almost gave up a thousand times, but I ended up coming, I don't know why. It wasn't me talking, it was nervousness. I wasn't even listening to myself...

- How are you doing now? Talking and walking nonstop because you don't want to talk to me? His voice was calm and passive.

- Exactly. Do not want to talk to you! I don't know what you are doing here. "She screamed crying...

"Do you want me to retire?"

- Now? Do you think you'll solve something by disappearing? The thing is, you shouldn't have come! You can't impose yourself like that in my life. Come and go whenever you want... You're not the one to deal with it! Make me see you after all... after all that's been through, and just evaporate... Who do you think you are?

- What do you want me to do?

— Han!? Nina let out an ironic grunt of indignation. "I want you to explode!"

David locked the dressing room door.

“Niny. I didn't plan on seeing you. I would never have appeared like that, in the middle of your interview. You know me.

- Do I? Do I really know you, David Nichols? How dare you?! She doubted, shaking her head.

“I didn't mean to cause all this fuss. I never wanted any of this from the start. Forgive me for going public and saying everything I said about us.

- My God! Stop playing the poor guy, the good guy, as if you were the exemplary man... the one that God sent to earth as an apology! You don't fool me anymore! Wants to know what? I also did to you what you did to me. Not even knowing if you would agree. Not even knowing how you would feel! Exactly the same! I told everything in this show... everything! I exposed you as I was exposed!

-Do you want to hurt me?" Because of the Google library?

- I want! I want you to pay for having invaded my intimate life! And I can't even that, you know? You can't pay for this crime, since I'm the one who gave you access to everything. It will continue there, landing as a hero!

David was still standing, put both hands in his pants pocket, looked at her curiously... she was out of control, furious, and at the same time all broken inside and out... he stared at her, for a few seconds he wanted to hug her strength until he was fixed her, until she was cured, another few seconds he wanted to spank her, or let her freak out, until there was no more frustration in that body... let her break the tent pole!

“You didn't come on the show to hurt me, you came to defend me before this story got out and people turned against me.

"I won't listen to this." Get out of my way!

Nina grabbed her bag, walked to the door, and realized it was locked.

"Open this door now!" If you don't open it I'll scream...

"Yes, I should open it up, and let you go for good." If that was really what you wanted, but it isn't! You're acting like a fool! You know, if you go, you'll cry all the way, you'll regret it for years, knowing you've had the chance to tell me everything you've rehearsed a thousand times, thinking of me, knowing you could have put all the drops in Yeah!

- There he is. The controlling, manipulative version that even wants to tell me how I feel. I should really scream, cry pulling out my hair, breaking objects in this room, and even slapping you... - Nina said in tears...

"Hey... chi... Come here!" Calm! - He said taking steps towards her.

- Let me go! Don't treat me like I'm your pet!

"I let go." he promised, dropping her wrist, sniffing the top of her head. - I just want to talk. I just want us to be able to turn the page in this book, not leave any doors ajar, no ifs... Let's settle here and now.

- It's no use! What do you think you can do therapy with me? Do you think I'm going to curse you, yell and then go to bed? This is not one of your David Nichols movies!

"So since you're not really going to forgive me, let me do it for me."

“I have nothing to forgive you. I already said we're even. I got revenge. I told the world the truth, that I was never this villain people talk about, that I never planned anything, that I never set up to seduce you. You, however, cannot say the same!

“You just confirmed everything I've already said. Everything you said was true. You're the one who has to forgive me, for being a coward, for not telling you about the photos, about accessing your account. Everything that happened to you these last few months was my fault! I know what you must have been through. I was sorry too.

- Felt? Nina asked in an altered voice.

“Of course I felt it, Nina. I know how hard it is to get involved with me and be chased like that. Why do you think I've been alone all these years? You were right. That's why I didn't want to fall in love, that's why I didn't want to be photographed, that's why I was so paranoid! This has happened before with other people I've dated. I know how much you value living a discreet and normal life. I know how much you don't want to have to deal with any of this. Not even having to bother. Look at me! Do not Cry. But it happened, and you were a warrior. I'm very proud of you. Your conduct was exemplary, it could not have been different from you.

— What exemplary conduct? I was locked up crying for months, I didn't see anyone, I didn't go out on the street, I didn't even have access to the phone or social networks. And when it was inevitable to learn all the facts from the police and lawyers, I really preferred never to have read anything. You betrayed me! she yelled.

“Yes. I did. I've looked at every photo of you, every message, every email, every screenshot, and every video you've taken since the first time you downloaded the files to an online library. I saw every album, even the ones that were made with digital cameras. yelled David, lowering his voice and going on: "I know this is sick, I knew it, but I couldn't stop!" You blocked me, then I found the link, and I fell in love with your anonymous and simple life! Your happiness... every detail of you... was addictive. I couldn't stop falling in love! It was like I had an exclusive life, my own. Only I could watch... Remember what you told me: I knew simplicity and was happy?! That's how I felt.

"You had a thousand chances to tell me!"

- Had! But I didn't have the courage! For much less did you push people away, without giving them a chance to defend themselves! There were no second chances, and I know it! You have no idea how much this tormented me. I wanted to tell all the time, but you...you...were so...so...

- Paranoiac? Extreme? Exaggerated? Radical?

"Yes, you were!" I knew you would turn your back on me without looking back. I wasn't strong enough to confess this madness I did. I was afraid, I was ashamed, I was afraid of how you would react. What would you have done?

The two talked aloud, letting it all out.

"I would have left." I would have screamed, cried, been confused, but at least I would have taken into account the fact that you told the truth yourself, instead of waiting for the police to find out! If the authorities hadn't told me, you never would have!

- I do not think so. As long as I thought there was a possibility of losing you, I would never risk it! And the worst, worst of all, is that I don't regret it! Want to know the worst? I would have done it all over again, just to be with you again, and again! I wouldn't have met you if I hadn't found the photo sharing link... You didn't even give me a chance...

"I can't trust you anymore!"

“I know you can not. But I love you! I love you! I would do a thousand times worse than spying on your flight, your hotel and your parties! Because I loved you even before I met you. I wanted you for me!

“I'm not something you go out there and get for yourself.

- No, you are not! You are my torment! The woman who leaves me devastated, without eating, without sleeping, without thinking straight! You are the woman who makes me do crazy things, who drives me out of my mind! That leaves me vulnerable...

David was holding his head, running his hand through his hair, not knowing what else to say. Nina got up, grabbed her purse and was threatening to walk out of the room, when Dave continued:

- I want you so much! So much so that I can barely breathe! I want you so much that I would be able to kidnap you, to keep you safe, to take care of you against the world, even if it were against your will!

"Do you want me to feel sorry for your suffering?" Everything has to revolve around you, doesn't it? I didn't even have the courage to read or listen to something related to you on the internet. I was a fool! I should have retaliated. I didn't want to confirm that you were hating me too. I would die! But that was before I knew what you were really capable of. If I knew, I wouldn't have been hiding.

— Yes, it would! You don't want war with anyone! Even if I try to find a thousand words to explain to you, you will not understand, you are determined not to understand. I died when you left me! I would never hurt you.

“I…I'm the one who's died a thousand times inside since the day you got on that plane. Every time I heard you on the phone, knowing the time was approaching, I knew you were going to take a piece of me with you. Remember I told you I didn't want to give in, and then fall into depression for allowing myself to get hurt? Remember the dark room I mentioned? That's how I stayed... in a dark room... not seeing anyone, not talking to anyone, I didn't even want to think.

“I'm sorry… You made me feel that way too. I looked for you. I called a thousand times. I went to your door, no luggage, no return ticket, nothing, just my desperation guiding me. I broke all my rules and standards and defended you publicly. And you never came to me... in three months...

“No. I didn't look after you.

“And it wasn't just because of my confession.

"Stop talking as if you've chosen to tell." You didn't confess before the police exposed you! And to answer your question, no, it wasn't just that, but that too. You saw me being massacred, stoned, saw me stripped and cheered…knowing how I would react to it all. And you didn't tell the truth. Let me be accused! Nina concluded, yelling at David. "What kind of love is this?" Don't you see what you've done? Threw me into hellfire! You! Everything that happened to me was thanks to you, and now you want to say some nice words and you think I'm going to fall into your arms?

“I love you Nina.

- And I hate you! Open this door!

David opened it. Nina bolted, tormented by her own decision to leave him at that moment, she was suffocating, there was no one to turn to for help, she felt the ground under her feet. She faced the elevator, which opened instantly with the human heat sensor, turned to the side, holding on to the wall, and sprinted into the emergency exit of the broadcast building. Nina ran and ran up the stairs, trying to reach her sanity, which was about to abandon her at once.

Seconds later David went after her. He had just spoken to his bodyguards on the radio. He looked one way, looked the other, the elevator still waiting. He looked around, and suddenly remembered the fight he'd had with Nina in Rome, where she'd hidden on the roof of the building. Dave climbed the stairs with the speed of thunder.

He sprints open the terrace door and sees her sitting on the concrete. Her head was tucked into her shrunken knees, where she held them in her arms. Dave felt his heart break into a thousand pieces, like shards of glass cutting, he could do something crazy right then and there! Everything was running! He calls her name, but she doesn't react. David walks over to her, bends down and lifts her hard in his arms, carries her to the elevator and down the back of the garage. His bodyguards open the car door, he settles her in the passenger seat, and drives fast.

All the way, sitting in the car, David didn't speak, and she preferred to close her eyes so she wouldn't look at him. Arriving at their hotel, he opened the car door for her, held her hand as she got out of the car, hugged her around her shoulders as they walked to her hotel room. Nina still hadn't said a word. He treated her as he always had, with great tenderness. He opened the bedroom door, and tried to help her. She felt withdrawal symptoms when she felt his touch. What she felt destroyed her convictions, dismantled her reason. He got her drunk just by being next to her. But despite everything when David asked her again if she was okay, she replied quietly:

- Yes I am well. I will be fine. Thanks. You can go now.

- All right. I'll. I'll let Lyon and Kara know you're here.

Nina felt the disappointment echo in those words. He couldn't accept the fact that her feelings felt lukewarm. Nina started to stutter, took a deep breath, restarted the conversation, but she couldn't hide her despair. Next to him she couldn't formulate a sentence that made sense.

“He's leaving! Forever... I'll never see him again!"

She walked in a daze, entered the luxurious bathroom of the hotel suite. She lowered her head, her bag falling to the floor, her arms clasped across the top of the sink. When she lifts her head, she sees him. Dave was standing behind her. She could hear James Bay's Bad song playing in her mind.

Black eyes taking over his blue eyes, his square jaw was about to crack his teeth from the pressure he was putting. David looked into her eyes through the huge mirror above the sink. Nina wore a gold satin dress, yellow almost green. The fabric was so fine, so delicate it had given her away, when he'd noticed her breasts shrink, showing her hardened nipples, forming a high relief at the top of her elegant dress.

David took a step towards her, who felt a shiver taking over her entire body, her skin showed signs of sensitivity, the shiver of hair, the rolling of her eyes, he held her with both hands behind her waist, hands steady , making her hold her breath sharply, as he leans his chin over her right shoulder, eyes closed, seeking mental balance, Nina then lets out a gasping breath, making him open his eyes, he kisses her on the shoulder, on the neck , and turns her at once, violently!

- Not! "Order her."

He doesn't let go. He considers for a second the possibility of taking her kisses by force, but holds back, coming back to himself, he collapses right there in front of her:

He kneels slowly, his face buried in her skin, slipping into her dress, feeling the fabric until his knees meet the floor. His hands holding the middle of his small body, he looks up, the two of them look at each other for a while, Nina realizes he's crying. Your tears run to the side, and don't stop.

In a second she goes from reluctant to fragility. She can't bear to see him like that, on his knees, crying. Nina kneels down to him. Eyes to eyes.

- Forgive me! — some time in silence — There's no way you can forgive the unforgivable. I can't repair what's done. But I need you to forgive me! I need you to believe in my love, Nina. I love you!

- I love you too! - Again a pause - No. There is no forgiveness. But I forgive you anyway, I shouldn't, but it's not in my hands, because my love for you is greater than any mistake you've made. This love I feel for you is bigger than anything, Dave.

She wiped his tears with her fingers, and saw him completely surrendered in her arms, touched her nose to his, rubbing from side to side, which held her tightly, kissing her furiously. The two get up, without much skill, walking without being careful about what they might trip over, and kiss each other wildly. Kisses that hurt her lips, that burned her tongue, that left red marks on the skin of her face, burning.

They looked like two volcanoes erupting. David leads her to the mirror with great precision, lifts her slippery satin dress, touches his stiff member to her buttocks, and takes her with great desperation, sometimes hard, sometimes like a dance of movement in and out, where her knees bend up to the extreme.

"I love you Niny!"

“I love you Rich.

Both said in their animal voices, whispering in accordance with the rhythm of their body movements. When Nina moaned, Dave felt out of control to have her, wanted to sexually rape her, wanted to hold her hands, wanted to make marks sucking her private parts, but contained his impulses, because she was not adept at this type of practice. And everything was fine!

They spent hours possessing each other, and when they ran out of strength, they threw their bodies onto the soft, warm bed that awaited them. After a long period of rest, the two looked at each other lying down, flirting, caressing, looking at each other, with an expression that they didn't believe they would ever be side by side again...

"Are you still mad at me?"

“Sex doesn't solve everything. No love...

- What do I do then? I already apologized. Is there something that will ever be enough to make you forgive me?

“We've already forgiven each other, but we need to give us time. I hurt you a lot on our parting, blocked you out, pushed you away, and acted like a coward. I didn't tell you the truth about your agents. I didn't look after you, not even to talk... We both need to be forgiven.

“I wasn't there, Niny. It wasn't there when it all happened, but I know what you must have felt. I felt the same when I saw what they were doing to you. I went crazy! I could blow up a city to rescue you...

— For God's sake don't talk like that...

"What I mean is, I should have faced them all, kicked the tent's dick, went to get you, I don't know." I just stood there with my arms crossed while you must have gone to hell! I would protect you Nina, against everything and everyone. I would stand against anyone who got in our way. You don't believe me though. I wanted to be there every day to protect you, but you didn't give me a chance!

"You didn't just sit there!" You raised your shining sword and roared like a lion in front of the cameras. You were not silent. Is not true! I am very proud of you too! Unlike me, who suffered in silence, I hid, I missed you so much that I could have died in pain, but all I did was call you once, I heard your voice and I despaired! I hung up.

- I know. I saw the number. There's no way to call me from an unidentified number. I should have called you back...

“I should have told the truth, said I'm sorry for everything I've done to us. For everything I made you promise. For not having believed that we could win the world together!

“It's not our fault, Niny. You were right after all. Look at everything that happened. You already knew that you would go through this if you went any further...

'Still…whatever the photos, what the gossip matters, what about the bigots, none of that matters!' I should have been the love you needed, the kind of love that, if you sold your soul, I'd descend to hell to buy back for you...

"It wasn't your fault alone." I shouldn't have left your house. I should have made plans, convinced you to travel with me, obliged, taken you by force hidden in the suitcase!

"Yes, you should."

— Just don't do it again Niny! Never. You're never going away from me again. I... I've had a miserable existence since the day you left.

“I'll never ask you to go again, I promise. Never again will I go anywhere without you.