Page 47 of Atlas
“Atlas, I’m not mad at you. You have no reason to be sorry.”
“You shouldn’t have been treated that way by them. And then I left you.” He goes to look away, but I force him to look back.
“You know what your mother said was a lie, right?” I watch as he flinches as he continues to avoid eye contact. “Atlas! Look at me.”
His eyes meet mine, and I waste no time in pulling him to me, hugging him tightly. His body melts against mine, and I need to lean against the car to keep my balance.
“I’m so sorry.” He whispers into my neck. “You didn’t deserve that. You deserve so much better.”
“Well,” I pull his head up and kiss the tip of his nose, earning a small chuckle. “I guess both our in-laws suck.”
Atlas lets out a pained laugh before bending down and kissing my forehead. “You are, without a doubt, the greatest human I’ve ever met.”
I blush as I hug him tightly. We stay like that for a moment longer before Atlas ushers me to the passenger seat.
When Atlas offered to drive,I assumed he would be taking us to the bar where he left his motorcycle. I assumed incorrectly. Atlas parks my car in front of my doctor's office before turning off the ignition.
“I really didn’t mean for you to waste your time here.” I mostly mutter to myself as we walk into the building.
Atlas shrugs nonchalantly as he follows me into the office and takes a seat while I check in. I smile at the receptionist as I give her my information, as well as my new insurance cards withLauren Hartprinted on them. It’s weird, sometimes I forget that he and I are legally married. I mean, we had our first date two days ago.
“Mrs. Hart,” the older woman says loudly to get my attention. “Your copay is fifty dollars.”
“Oh! Right, here you are.” I smile softly as I hand her my card. She swipes the card, and the machine makes a funny noise.
“Ma’am, this card was declined.” My stomach drops.Declined?I knew I was getting close on my savings, but I thought I had–
My insulin…
I feel my shoulders slump as I remember that my insulin supply is larger this month because it’s the holidays and theywere insuring I wouldn’t have any issues. I forgot about the payment, shit.
“Problem?” I jump at Atlas’ smooth voice behind me. I watch as he smiles at the older woman. “I’m her husband. What’s up, Princess?”
“Oh!”Shit, I can’t let him know.“I think my new card is messed up.”
Atlas nods and hands the woman his card before kissing my temple. His card goes through and we both go and sit back down.
“Sorry,” I wince, feeling uncomfortable.
“It’s alright. Though I wonder what’s wrong with your card.” I shrug and look away as I pray that the nurse calls me soon. I didn’t want to discuss money with Atlas. Though it’s now official, I have to get a new job quickly. I cannot believe I allowed myself to drain my account that far, I guess part of me thought that I would get my old job back or Atlas would’ve moved on, and I would be in my parents’ good graces again. Well, as good as I’ve ever been, anyway. Thankfully, I don’t have to sit in the uncomfortable silence for long, the nurse walks out and calls my name. I smile and tell Atlas I’ll be back soon.
“I can’t believe you.”Atlas snaps as he shuts the driver's door and starts the ignition. Apparently, while I was in my appointment and Atlas sat in the waiting room, he decided to do some online banking and found that the checks he had been writing me for his parts of the bills were never cashed.
“Atlas, I have my reasons.” I groan, while laying my head back on the seat. “You’ve already given me enough with the health insurance. I don’t need more money on top of it.”
“It’s rent!” He snaps in frustration. “I was giving you money for my rent and bills. No wonder your card didn’t work, you have no fucking money!”
“It’s fine! You weren’t supposed to be paying rent, anyway!” I snap back defensively.
“The fuck I wasn’t! When I said I needed a place to stay, that didn’t mean a free place! Jesus Christ, Ren! All the food and bills, you’ve just been paying on your own!”
I sigh loudly, “Atlas, I’m going to find a job and start work. I think the restaurant down from Hel’s is hiring.” I jerk forward as Atlas slams on the brake at the stoplight.
“Restaurant? You’re a fucking lawyer. Why would you work at a restaurant?” I notice he has done a u-turn and is now parking again at the doctor’s office. He’s angry and needs to move, that is obvious. He slams the car into park and gets out of the car.
I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose before following suit and walking around to meet him. “Because I can’t work for another competing law office for twelve months. It’s in the contract I signed when I got the promotion. Once the year is up I am free to do what I want, but until then I have to find other work. Besides, I’ve been a waitress before, I can do it again. Oh, this reminds me, you’re going to Sunday’s birthday tomorrow night, right?”
Atlas wasn’t taking the subject change. His green eyes glare down at me and I feel equal parts intimidated and turned on. “Cash those checks,” He says in a deep, gravelly voice that causes every drop of my stubborn feminism to evaporate. Without realizing it, I run my tongue over my lips and I watch as his eyes laser focus on my tongue. I hear his heavy exhale as I slide mytongue back into my mouth. I watch his nostrils flare as he looks around before he opens the back door of my Rav4 and slides in.
