Page 53 of King of Justice

“Oh my God!” No longer able to look at his face, I turned around and tugged on the edges of my robe, pulling it tighter around my neck. “I don’t believe this.” Abruptly turning around, I felt my rage regain its momentum. “Who the fuck told you that I owe you an explanation?”

“Last time I saw you, you explained very well that you don’t—”

“Then what’s with you?” I shouted louder.

“I want you!” He replied with just as much power. “I couldn’t get that image of you and him out of my head, and when you left, it got worse—

“Obviously, because you’ve lost your fucking mind!” I poked at my head before shaking it sternly. “Travis, you’ve crossed so many lines I could kill you right now!”

“Oh, look at you on your high fucking horse!” He snorted before his lips snarled with disgust. Pointing a finger at me, he took a step farther. “You… You… you’re nothing like I thought.”

“Why? Because I won’t accept your fucking entitlement and your childish behaviors?”

“Worse!” His jaws clenched. “Tell me, Sophie… what are you getting out of this, huh?”

“What are you talking about?” I hissed.

“Him!” He pointed angrily at the closed door. “How much has the heartless, vicious corporate robot in a suit pulled out of pocket for you to fuck him?” The shock of his accusation left me speechless, so he carried on. “You’re right. I thought I knew who you were, but I don’t. You don’t belong in this community you’ve tried too hard to infiltrate… with your big, innocent eyes and bouncy curls. You’re everything that’s wrong with the women of our generation.”

Finally finding my voice once more, I felt the threat of it shaking but knew I had to say something. Nodding, I replied, “And you’re what’s wrong with every man… ever… so how about you fucking leave and never let me see your fucking face again?” I was surprised at how steady my words came out, given that I was trembling inside.

His hand landed on the doorknob with a thud as he scoffed and nodded. “Gladly. But don’t come running back to me when he dumps you for a new flavor that will match his new yacht.”

“Get out!” I screamed, launching at him and pushing him with both my hands. They hit his shoulders and then his back as he turned around, rushing out of my place. This time, in the dark, I saw an old couple standing across the street, terrified of what they had just witnessed. I muttered from under my breath, “Fuck this, fuck everything,” as I ran back inside, slamming the door behind me.

And then I collapsed to the floor. What Nathan saw was the ugliest scenario any man would have expected. I was kissed by another man and what was worse was that—in the midst of my astonishment—I didn’t push him back or resist. I froze in place and let Travis kiss me right in front of the man, who was just beginning to forgive me for abandoning him.

How was I going to fix it now?

The sound of my weeps was the only thing filling the space between me and nothingness. What had I done to make Travis think that he could do this? Had I given him mixed signals? That couldn’t be; we hadn’t even texted since I’d stormed out of his apartment two weeks ago. Who filled his head with this nonsense? Or was he always like that, and I’d missed it?

About to lose my mind, I went back to the memories of us working together, hanging out with his friends, or grabbing a quick lunch at the center. I tried to rake through every detail with a fine-tooth comb, trying to put my finger on a hint or a sign… anything that indicated his attraction to me. Was I so naïve? Had I misread him?

What did it matter now? And what did he know? Travis was never going to believe me if I’d said that I truly liked Nathan, or that our attraction had nothing to do with his wealth or power.

And then my mind went blank.

I knew I was occupying my thoughts with attempts to analyze Travis’ behavior, because I was too scared to face the real problem; I had probably lost Nathan for good.

Pushing myself up, I looked down at the robe, now open wide and drenched in my tears. I slowly shook my head as I looked around, hoping that perhaps Nathan had left something behind—anything I could use to go back and speak with him. But the man was efficient; it was as though he were never here.

Looking over to the kitchen counter, I saw the lonely tomatoes I had washed. The packet of spaghetti. The pot full of water.

“Yeah,” I bitterly whispered to myself. “It sure looked like a date.”

Feeling drained, I shuffled toward the stairs and went up, all the way to my room where I found my clothes lying in a pool on the floor. The air still smelled of him, and the tears came back, quickly and with vengeance. As I sobbed, I tossed aside the robe and picked up a fresh shirt and a pair of sweatpants. As I put them on, I wondered if my mom would be awake.

Sniffling, I picked up my phone and found a missed call from Silvain. “Too late, bro… too late.”

As I got under the covers, I pulled them over me all the way until my collarbone and launched the video call application on the phone, hitting mom’s name. It rang for a long time before it indicated that she answered, but the screen remained black.

“Chérie?” I heard her whisper with muffled sounds around her. “Papa is sleeping, I’m walking out.” Light came into the screen, and she carefully closed the bedroom door, stepping into the living room with the night light. “Sophie? What’s wrong?”

“Maman,” I moaned from between my weeps. “I think I may be crazy. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Are you in bed? Are you sick?”

I shook my head. “I keep treating him so horribly! He’ll never forgive me. Never.”

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