Page 78 of Beyond our Forever

No matter how many years we have spent together, we lost ourselves in the lack of communication. When our heads get hot, we both seem to speak different languages and we lose ourselves in the translation.

“I need some time,” he sighs, looking everywhere but at me. “I have to know what I want to do, be able to think with a cool head.”

He gets up and that’s when he looks at me, with those dark reddened eyes, full of tears.

“Don’t worry about your brother, he won’t bother you,” he announces. “The tickets for Brianna and the children are ready, in a few days I’ll come for them to take them to Arizona.”

Bruce crosses the few steps that separate us and, taking my face in his hands, gives me a dry, hard, desperate kiss.

He goes to the door, opens it, and then turns to see me.

I can hardly recognize his image, because what seem like rivers come out of my eyes.

We look at each other in silence, an instant, two. And it ends so fast.

His footsteps echo in the silence, ripping me to pieces.

“Goodbye, love,” I say with all the pain in my soul. “Goodbye.”

Chapter 21

Bruce

“You need to take Ilythia to the hospital,” I say to Warren, my idiot brother-in-law, as soon as I’ve finished telling him what happened the last few months.

“What the fuck?”

“Your sister is the most stubborn woman I know, but also the most loyal.” That’s the truth, that’s why we’re in this mess, because she trusted her dear friend. “I suspect they gave her something last night, and we have to make sure she’s okay.”

Warren sighs, before taking a long drink from the beer in his hand and staring at the sun shining on the lake in front of us.

“If that turns out to be true, she will need to order a toxicology test and take it to the police. Why do you believe that?”

Now I need time to take a deep breath. I’m beat, what a day we had.

“Because Emilia has never been her friend. Ilythia insists on believing the opposite and that guy, this Mikel, I have a feeling…”

The idiot’s laughter interrupts me.

What is he laughing at?

“What, now you’re going to say that it is your feminine intuition? Put some lipstick, asshole.”

“How can you be making jokes? Don’t fuck with me, she’s your sister,” I cut him short. “When this is over I will make fun of your small dick and your inability to commit to a woman for more than an hour.”

“I’m committed to one,” he alleges, proudly. “She’s the beauty of the town, she has raven hair and golden eyes, right now she’s waiting for me with a ballerina dress and a tiara. We are going on a date to the movies, she has promised to behave and only ask just for a few sweets.”

“You are…” I almost believed him. This fucker… “Dates with my daughter don’t count.”

“I don’t see why not…” He takes a long drink and turns to face me. “What are you going to do now?”

“I don’t have the slightest idea,” I answer honestly. “First, I need time to clear my head. I also want to give your sister the chance to figure out this shit. She needs to think about she’s expecting of her life. In what she wants for herself and has to decide without me trying to get her back. I just want her to be happy.”

“That speech is very nice, but it sounds like you’re leaving her alone, that you threw in the towel, don’t be an idiot. Go, talk to her, tie her to the bed and make her understand with…”

“I’m not going to discuss my sex life with you, bro, I’m sorry.” My body aches for her, dang, I miss my wife.

“Sometimes it’s what every woman needs,” he adds, as if he knows a lot about it.

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