Page 15 of Words from the Heart
Chapter 12
Delilah was pissed. John stood on the other side of the door, a smug look on his face.
“What in the fuck are you doing here?”
“You thought I’d just mail your stuff? Come on Del’s… we were together too long for me to just send you your things. I wanted to see you. I deserve a chance to talk to you – face to face.” He pushed passed her, “Can’t you give me that?”
Parker stood, anger rolling off him in waves, “Delilah?” he glanced to her.
“John, this is Parker. Parker, this is my cheating ex-fiancé, John. He is under the impression he deserves to see me.”
“Hello,” John stuck his hand out to shake, but Parker just stared at his empty palm and glanced back to Delilah.
“Seriously?”
“I didn’t know he was coming. I asked him to mail some of my things… I guess he took that as ‘come visit’,” she motioned with air quotes.
“Am I interrupting something?” John looked between the two of them, sensing something off.
“No,” “Yes,” they spoke at the same time.
“Parker, can you give us a minute.” Delilah smiled, “It’ll be fine. John won’t be here long.”
“You sure?”
Delilah nodded, watching as Parker headed towards the back deck, “I’ll be just out back if you need something.”
As soon as the backdoor closed, Delilah spun on her feet, glaring at John. “What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing. Here.” She gritted out each word.
John reached out to take Delilah’s hand. She snatched it from him. She stormed passed him, spinning on her heel. “You have some nerve coming here.”
“Delilah, I wanted to see you. I deserve a chance to tell you what happened.”
“Tell me what happened? That’s rich, John. You were fucking another woman in our bed. What do you need to tell me that I didn’t already learn from that?”
“It was a mistake. Can’t you give me another chance?”
Delilah stopped, appraising the man in front of her. She didn’t feel an ounce of love for him, like she’d worried she might if she met him in person. “No… no, I don’t think so.”
“It’s that guy, isn’t it?” He folded his arms across his chest.
“Are you serious right now? No, John, it’s not that guy. And he has a name you know, Parker. His name is Parker.”
“Whatever, Delilah. If it’s not him, then why won’t you give me a chance. We had something good.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. You had something good. I had nothing. I put my career on hold so you could become something great. And the whole time, you were cheating on me.”
“No… It only happened recently. I wasn’t cheating on you long.”
“Wow. John,” Delilah walked towards the door, “You wasted your time coming out here. Now you need to go.” She pulled the door open. “Please leave.”
“You’re making a mistake, Delilah. No one will ever love you. I hope you’re happy being alone. Because that’s how you will be. Alone.” John stormed out the door, Delilah slammed it shut behind him. She covered her face with her hands, anger and sadness washed over her. She hadn’t even heard Parker come inside. It was his arms wrapping around her waist that broke her from her deep thoughts.
“Parker.” She whispered as she turned to face him.
“Delilah, are you ok?” Parker watched as the light he’d seen in her flicker behind her eyes.
“Parker. I need to be alone.” Delilah pulled from his arms. “Please.”
She grabbed the wooden box from the end table and stormed up the stairs, slamming her door. Flopping down on the bed, she pressed her face into her pillow and screamed. John showing up made her mad. It also confused her. She didn’t feel an ounce of love for him, yet – when she looked at Parker, a man she only knew for a month, her heart screamed for him. She drifted off to sleep, tears spilling onto her pillow as she gave into the exhaustion that fought to consume her.
∞ ∞ ∞
Parker pulled the front door closed and headed out. He wanted to talk to Delilah, but knew he needed to give her space. Hell, space is all he’d given her the last two weeks. Telling her that he loved her might have been the stupidest thing he’d ever done. But he did. He loved her. Somewhere over that last few weeks his heart and mind had come to the agreement that she was the one. Now he just needed to get her on board with the idea. He knew she loved him too, she was just afraid to let herself believe it. And then that tool John had shown up. Fuck. It took everything inside of Parker not to pummel his face. A woman like Delilah deserved to be loved and cherished. Not be cheated on and treated like a commodity.
Parker went home and changed, he was due into work in a few hours, but seeing as Delilah shut him out, he decided to go in a little early to get his mind off things. He needed to focus on something else for a while, or he might just explode with the rage building inside him.
