Page 24 of Night and Day
He hadn’t said much the entire time, preferring to supervise to ensure she didn’t take anything that belonged to him. He’d been right to do so, stopping Calvin on his way out the door with a lamp Anton had bought years ago.
“You don’t have to be so cold, Anton,” Melissa said.
“Don’t start,” he bit out.
“All I’m saying is, we didn’t have to end like this.”
Unbelievable. Was she actually acting like she had been the one wronged?
He pushed away from the counter but kept a safe distance so he wouldn’t be tempted to throttle her. “Our relationship absolutely had to end like this, because you made a decision to be with that guy behind my back. You made a decision to get an apartment with him before you told me you were moving on. So excuse me if I’m not more sympathetic.”
“You know why that happened.”
“No, actually I don’t know why.”
“I wasn’t happy!” Melissa yelled.
“Then why didn’t you leave? Why lie and pretend you were going on a trip?”
Melissa took a deep breath and slowed down. “Because, Calvin and I knew after we told you and his girlfriend we were leaving, there’d be a lot of stress and drama. We’d been sneaking around to spend time together—a day here and there. We just wanted a week alone with no pressure.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel sorry for you?”
“I would have never cheated if you’d shown you cared, Anton.”
“Please, enlighten me. How did I not show that I cared? ”
She pointed a finger in his face. “See, that’s your problem right there. You’re arrogant and you don’t like to listen.”
“I told you to enlighten me, but I guess Calvin is a better listener?” Anton asked sarcastically.
“As a matter fact, he is. I tried talking to you. Over and over again. But you wouldn’t listen.”
“Tried talking to me about what?” he asked.
“About me. About you. About us. Why do you live like this, when you can have so much more? You’re well off, you make a lot of money, but you live like someone who works the drive through at McDonald’s.”
He chuckled softly, shaking his head. “So let me get this straight, I should have listened to you and spent more money, is that it? I should have listened to you and moved into a more expensive apartment, which meant that I would be putting away less money for my future. Am I right?”
“Yourfuture. Are you listening to yourself? You weren’t thinking about me or including me in your plans.”
“You wanted me to make plans with you like I was your husband, but we weren’t married. No woman is laying claim to my money until we’re married.”
She glared at him. “It’s not only about the money. I don’t think you were all in, in our relationship.”
“Now that, I have to agree with you. I wasn’t all in, because I wasn’t sure about you.”
“Me?” she screeched.
Calvin entered at that moment. “Everything okay in here?”
Anton wanted to tell him to fuck off. Instead, he said, “Everything is fine.”
“You can take this out for me,” Melissa said, pointing at the large suitcase. Then she pointed to a small box labeled kitchen. “You can take that one out, too.”
Calvin watched them both but said nothing, then picked up the box, holding it between his hip and arm, and grabbed the suitcase.
Anton waited until he’d exited before he spoke again. “Let’s be real, okay? The truth is, you want someone to boss around. You have that, so there’s no need for us to have any more conversations.”
