Page 65 of Corrupted Union

He stops but doesn’t turn to face me. “Just trust me, Fran. It’s better this way. At least for a little while.”

“You don’t get to make that decision for me. If you don’t want to be with me, then just tell me that. Don’t put it back on me and act as if I don’t want this when I just told you I did.”

I wait for him to reply. When he does, it crushes me. “I just … can’t.” I watch him walk away.

Numbly, I return to our bedroom and shut the door, wondering what just happened. Leo has been pursuing me ever since I arrived in LA. And when I finally tell him I’m ready to progress things, he backs away. Why the sudden change of heart? What am I missing?

The lingerie suddenly feels suffocating, and I tear it off. In the process, a piece of the fabric rips. The sight of something so pretty being ruined makes hot tears spill down from my eyes. Once they start coming out, I can’t stop them. I throw the lingerie across the room, not wanting to look at it. I put myself out there, and Leo rejected me, and he won’t even explain why.

I thought we were making so much progress with our dates and all the talking. I’ve learned a lot about him, like his dad being abusive, his most embarrassing childhood memories, and even his favorite ones. And now it feels like we just took a massive step back.

I put my normal clothes back on and slip under the covers to cry until I can’t cry anymore.

* * *

The smellof warm coffee fills my nostrils as I enter the cute, little café. Emilia is sitting near the front windows, a cup in her hands. She sets it down when she sees me enter and waves me over. “I ordered you a coffee,” she says, nodding at the other cup on the table. “Mine is just herbal tea. No coffee for me until this little babe pops out.” She nods at her stomach.

“Thanks.” I wrap my hands around the warm mug. Even though it’s LA, it’s still winter, and there’s a slight chill in the air.

“God, those people are crazy.” She points to a man walking past the window, wearing only shorts. His naked torso gleams in the sunlight. The woman next to him is only wearing a bikini. “It’s like they’re on their way to the beach, but the beach is like a thirty-minute drive from here. I’d be shivering.”

“Me, too.”

Emilia smiles warmly at me. “You’ve always been a cool bug, even when we were kids. You’d have to wear the biggest coat, the best-quality boots, hats, gloves, the whole shebang whenever we’d go somewhere in the winter time.”

“Those New York winters were no joke.”

“Remember the time Mia ran outside in nothing but her diaper in the middle of a snowstorm? Mom about had a heart attack.” Emilia laughs at the memory, taking a sip of her tea.

“I don’t remember that,” I muse.

“Maybe you were in your room and didn’t see it,” she says it nonchalantly, but I frown at her words. I’m still upset over Leo rejecting me yesterday, and the reminder that I missed out on family time because I kept to myself hurts even more.

“Maybe.”

“So.” She grabs my hand. “How has it been with Leo? I’ve been worried. You don’t look happy right now.”

“I’m fine.” I pull away from her, but she persists.

“Tell me, Fran. You’re not fine. You don’t look it. What has Leo done now?”

“Nothing,” I snap, making her sit back. “Nothing,” I repeat in a quieter voice. “That’s just it. He hasn’t done anything to me. He … rejected me last night.”

“Rejected you?”

I give her a look, and she nods, understanding. “He didn’t want to be with me. I don’t understand why. He seemed like he wanted to before.”

“That’s strange. Leo is horny for all women.”

“Thanks,” I say dryly. “Then there must be something wrong with me.”

Emilia sighs, scooting her chair in closer to the table. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Fran. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. Did you ask him why he did that?”

“I tried. He just told me that it wouldn’t be fair to me if were … intimate,” I whisper the last word.

The look Emilia makes is almost comical. “Did he? What does that even mean? Do you need me to talk to him?”

That’s the last thing I need—my older sister confronting my husband about why he doesn’t want to sleep with me. “No, I’m good,” I say instead. “But thanks.”

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