Page 83 of With Love

Adrienne

I walk away from both of them, not knowing what to think, and run upstairs to my room. Pacing, I try to think of what to do. Do I believe Marshall? I want to, so bad. I wish I could rewind back to 2 hours ago when I was in his arms on the dance floor, not a care in the world and no weight on my shoulders.

I sit down on my sofa just as the two of them come crashing through the doors.

“Adrienne?” They both shout at the same time. Marshall pushes Owen out of the way and walks toward me.

“Lucy didn’t answer. I will keep trying her, but I need you to believe me. I need you to trust me. This isn’t true. Nothing has ever happened between Lucy and me. I swear on our future together.”

He drops down to his knees in front of me and wraps his arms around my legs. I am still wearing the dress from earlier and as exciting as showing off some skin to Marshall was then, I hate it now. I feel like I’m on show. I push him back, off of me, and I stand up. Walking into the closet, I close the door behind me and change into leggings and an oversized t-shirt. I need comfort right now and I’m not going to get it from either of the two men in the other room.

“Adrienne,” Marshall knocks on the closet door.

When I open it, he is right there in front of me. The man that I fell in love with so many years ago. There are tears in his beautiful emerald eyes. The eyes that I’ve dreamt about for years. The eyes of my angel. The eyes of the man who shattered my heart. He holds his hand out, stopping me from walking further and asks “Can we please talk, in private, for a minute?”

I look from his hand on my stomach to his eyes and shoot daggers at him. He removes his hand quickly and begs again to speak with me.

I look over at Owen and nod my head, letting him know that it’s okay to leave us alone. Marshall walks over to the sofa, while Owen walks out the door. When the door shuts behind him, I look at Marshall. He looks so battered and defeated. Tears flood my eyes before pouring over onto my cheeks rapidly. I want to go to him. I want him to wrap me in his arms and never let me go. But I can’t. I refuse to allow myself to be misused, mistreated, and misled.

“Adrienne, I have no idea what Lucy is doing or why she wrote that letter. You have to believe me. Think about everything that we’ve done and experienced since you got here. Shit, think about everything that happened this weekend.

“You’re right when you said that Lucy and I would talk without you being there but it was about your progress and your care. If you felt this way, God I wish you would have said something sooner! I could have explained it to you.

“And the only time I can remember exchanging a glance with her was when that fucking snake woke up in rehab. I didn’t want you to go see him. I didn’t want you anywhere near him. He’s a danger to you. She sensed it and said something that bought me a longer window of time without you having to see him. If you want to be mad at me about something, be mad at me about that!”

I stand there, trying to consider what he just said, but I can’t focus.

“Do you honestly think that I would have done this to you? I’ve stopped at nothing to try and find you and bring you back to me. I need you to dig down deep inside. Do you honestly believe that this is true? That I would do something like this to you? You are my soulmate. There is no one else for me and you know that there is no one else for you. I am so in love with you. Please, please believe me. God damn it, believe me!”

His shouting makes me flinch. I haven’t flinched in his presence in weeks.

“I’m sorry,” he says, tears glistening in his eyes. He stands up and walks over to me. I stand there looking at him. Thoughts are racing around in my head. Wanting to say something, but I can’t find words. He moves in closer and places his hands on either side of my head.

“Please?” He whispers, kissing my forehead.

I don’t respond.

“Please?” He whimpers, kissing my nose.

My heart is breaking.

“Please?” He moans, kissing my cheek.

My resolve is cracking.

“Please?” He places his lips on mine and begs, pleads, with each motion that he makes. He implores me to believe him.

Before I know it, I begin to move my lips against his. With his hands on my cheeks, he rubs his thumbs over my skin. I run my hands up his arms, his skin burning under my touch. This feels so right, this is how it should be.

Or so it once was.

Placing my hands on his chest I push him backward gently, breaking our kiss.

“I can’t do this. I can’t take any more pain. My heart can’t handle it and my soul is only hanging on by a thread. I need to get out of here. I can’t think straight and I need to be alone. I’m the only one I can trust not to lie to me.”

“Adrienne, I promised you that I would never force you to stay. But I also promised you that I would always be honest with you. I am being honest with you now and I am begging you not to leave.

“I promised that I would go to the end of the earth to find you; I did that. To bring you back home to me; I did that. It’s up to you if you want to leave, but just know that we aren’t finished yet. Our story hasn’t come to an end. I’m never giving up on us.”

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