Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Okay, that might be pushing it, but I do like him. He’s a lot of fun. Behind one of the doors, we discovered a game room, which included a ping-pong table and an air hockey table as well. It did take us a little time to figure out how to get the air hockey table loaded up.
We have spent quite a few afternoons before dinner, just playing games, which was a lot of fun. I didn’t realize how much fun it would be hanging out with Victor. After dinner, we would sit, pick a new movie, watch it, and then go to bed. For the past week, this had been our life, and I liked it. It felt good.
I cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Victor was an early riser, so I set the alarm beside my bed, so I was always up, ready to make coffee. He didn’t like doing any kind of kitchen work, apart from washing the dishes. He was more than happy to do those, and of course I helped him when I could. I loved doing dishes with him, and I realized how silly that made me.
It would seem I liked spending time with Victor, especially when he wasn’t being a pain in the ass or a bully, or shouting at me. Everything else, I was quite happy with.
By the eighth day, I had just finished breakfast, putting the last fried egg onto Victor’s plate. Picking up both plates, I carried them through to the table, then I stood and looked around. Victor had come out, and then the cell phone he’d been given had rung.
He still hadn’t returned, and I spotted him out at the main front of the house, overlooking the ocean.
Heading out, I couldn’t help but smile, as everything felt good and I was so happy.
But then, I heard him.
“Look, I’m doing exactly what you asked me. I’m making her fall for me, okay? I’m going to make this marriage work, and then I’ll knock her up.”
And those feelings I had been having for the past few minutes faded. They shattered. I should have known.
“Breakfast is ready,” I said.
I wasn’t going to pretend I hadn’t heard him.
“Fuck.”
I didn’t stick around to listen to his bullshit. Entering the house, I was not going to trash the food, but I was not going to force my company on a man who clearly didn’t want it.
Grabbing my plate, I stepped into the kitchen, slid my ass onto one of the stools, and then sat down. Picking up my fork, I dived into the food, not really tasting the saltiness of the bacon, nor the freshness of the eggs. I wanted to eat so I could get the hell out of there.
“Freya,” Victor said.
I ignored him.
I ate my breakfast, and it was hard to be rude to someone. I didn’t like it when people were rude, it tended to piss me off.
“Damn it, Freya, you weren’t meant to hear that.”
“Clearly,” I said. I wanted to cringe, because that was me paying attention to him and contributing to a conversation, and that pissed me off. The best way to deal with this kind of situation was to ignore him. That is what I needed to do. Ignore him.
“It’s not what I meant.”
I dropped my fork onto my plate. “Not what you meant? So you’re not under some kind of order to make this fucking marriage work?” I asked. Then, I hated myself because it had made me cuss out loud. I had not cussed in a long time.
I shook my head. “You know what, Victor. I don’t need your pity. I don’t want your company. Not if you have to be ordered to do it. We’re married, but you know what, we don’t have to act like it.”
And with that, I got to my feet and stormed out of the house. I had no idea where I was going. All I knew was I didn’t want to be near him.
I get it. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea. I’m not anyone’s anything. I didn’t even think Victor was falling for me or anything like that. I thought we were getting along, and that we might even become friends. But that was also a lie.
Neither of us would become anything. We were done. Our marriage was a farce, an arrangement. There was never going to be even a mutual understanding. I could live with that.
I kept storming away, only my name was being called, and I ignored him. I didn’t need him to force himself to spend time with me. I was not that desperate.
I wanted to scream. That feeling took me by surprise. Why was it so hard to like me? What was it about me that repulsed everyone? Why ... what did I do wrong?
Even as I hated myself for doing this, I stopped stomping and looked straight ahead, only it was all blurry. Tears filled my eyes, and I swiped at them, trying to clear my vision, but nothing would help. I couldn’t stop the tears. I don’t know why I was crying. Over the years, I had cried enough tears. Sinking onto the sand, I just give up.