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| NEVER AGAIN BY TIMA |
CHAPTER 11 |
NEVER AGAIN
chapter 11:
[Tea arrives home exhausted. Her exhaustion is only partially because of the time on the clock that makes her groan as she looks at the numbers and mentally calculates how few hours she has until she's due in court. Much of her exhaustion is of the emotional variety. Every time she encounters Todd her emotions are so overwhelmed she feels she needs a vacation, especially from him.
After briefly looking through the small pile of mail on the desk near the front door, she kicks off her shoes, turns off the lamp Kip had left on for her, and reclines on the sofa.
She closes her eyes and does her best to clear her mind of anything related to her ex-husband. She rubs her forehead, frustrated that Todd has a way of invading her space even when he's far away from her.
Tea is unaware as she's joined in the darkness of her living room, until a sudden sound causes her to panic and hope at the same time.
Her hopes are dashed as she opens her eyes and realizes it's Kip who has descended the staircase to join her and not her ex-husband. Tea closes her eyes again, disappointed in herself for actually wishing that Todd had followed her and broken into her home.]
Kip: Did you have a difficult day at the office?
Tea: You could say that.
Kip: What happened?
Tea: Nothing, really. It was just a long, tedious day.
Kip: Nothing interesting happened?
Tea: Not really.
Kip: Something interesting happened to me.
[Tea sits up and reaches toward a table next to the sofa. She turns on a small lamp, illuminating the room enough for her to notice the displeased expression on her boyfriend's face.]
Tea: What's wrong? You look upset.
Kip: I am upset. I had a pizza delivered. It didn't come with extra cheese like I ordered. You know how that upsets me. Or, maybe it's finding out that my girlfriend cheated on me with her ex-husband that has me so upset tonight.
[Tea is stunned into silence, uncertain how to respond.]
Kip: At least you're not insulting my intelligence by denying you cheated on me tonight.
Tea: I didn't cheat on you.
Kip: I spoke too soon.
Tea: Nothing happened with Todd tonight. I don't know why you would even think something had.
Kip: When my girlfriend's ex-husband calls late at night, breathless, and tells me that he just finished having sex with her and that she'll be arriving soon to pack her belongings because she's leaving me to go back to him...
Tea: Kip...
Kip: Wait! It gets even better. When that man then goes into a detailed description, and believe me I do mean detailed, of how he spent hours having sex in several locations, not to mention several positions, throughout her office, even knowing the precise time I called and interrupted their fun, I tend to think that something happened. I'm new to being cheated on, is this the part where you try to convince me that what he vividly described wasn't sex at all, but was really just a long, innocent, boring game of Scrabble?
Tea: I didn't have sex with Todd tonight. He was lying.
Kip: Why would he lie about that?
Tea: Because he's Todd Manning. His mind doesn't work like anyone else's. He has his own rules. One of his rules is that I must go with him whenever he demands. If I don't, there are consequences.
Kip: So, you did see him tonight?
Tea: He showed up at my office. We talked, we had dinner together...
Kip: Is that all?
Tea: We did kiss. It was only one kiss. It was a mistake that never should have happened. I am sorry about that. I never should have kissed him.
Kip: You kissed him?
Tea: I've explained to you in the past the kind of hold he's had over me.
Kip: You said resisting him was futile.
Tea: I did resist this time. I refused to go with him.
Kip: Because of what we have?
Tea: I still have to finish working on my closing arguments. Could we postpone this discussion until after I finish in court tomorrow?
Kip: Are we through?
Tea: I hope not.
Kip: Really? Now that you have us both in your life, both wanting to be with you, how do you feel?
Tea: Todd doesn't want to be with me, not really. He just hates being alone. He also hates being rejected, which is why he lied to you. If I don't choose to give up my life for him willingly, he'll arrange for me to lose everything that matters to me anyway.
Kip: How could you love that kind of man?
Tea: Don't ask me to explain it. I've never really been able to explain it in the past, especially to myself.
Kip: I don't know why you would want to be with him after everything he did to you, but if you do...
Tea: I told Todd I wasn't giving up my life for him this time. I meant that.
Kip: I love you, you know that, but I don't know if I want to spend the rest of my life waiting for you to get over that guy.
Tea: Believe me, the stunt he just pulled went a long way in accomplishing that.
Kip: What does this mean for us?
Tea: I don't know. I'll understand if you want to remove yourself from this situation.
Kip: Is that what you want? Do you want to be free so you can continue this bizarre courting ritual with your ex-husband?
Tea: I don't know what I want. That's the most honest answer I can give you.
Kip: It's not the one I was hoping for.
Tea: I know. I'm sorry. I knew from past experience that I shouldn't have allowed our relationship to progress the way it has. Every time I find a relationship that seems promising, Todd shows up and everything falls apart.
Kip: It was just a kiss. I can get over that. This only has to fall apart if you want it to. It's your choice, Tea.
Tea: A man giving me a choice about my life. How novel!
Kip: We're not all like Todd Manning.
Tea: I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for you.
Kip: I don't want to pressure you. Go upstairs, finish your work, and get some sleep. I'll sleep down here. I don't work tonight so we can talk all night about everything.
Tea: You're a sweet man.
Kip: I hope you'll keep that in mind while you're making your decision.
Tea: I won't go back to Todd. That decision has already been made.
Kip: I don't want to lose you, but I don't want you to stay because you feel obligated, either. If being with your ex-husband is really what you want...
Tea: It isn't. Trust me, after this, I want to spend about as much time with that man as I did after I got off that damn island.
Kip: I remember those first few nights when you got back. I learned a lot of Spanish profanity.
Tea: I learned that there was one person who genuinely cared about me. That certainly wasn't Todd.
Kip: You look exhausted. Go upstairs and try to sleep.
Tea: I need to finish my closing arguments.
Kip: I know you, you'll re-write what you've already written and then hours from now you'll decide to go with what you already have. Save yourself the time and choose sleep.
Tea: Are you sure you want to sleep down here? You don't have to.
Kip: I need some time to think. So do you.
Tea: I won't go back to Todd.
Kip: That doesn't necessary mean you want to stay with me.
Tea: I would never purposely hurt you. I hope you know that.
Kip: Maybe we moved too fast with this part of our relationship. After you came back, I was so relieved you were okay I didn't want to take this slow. And, you were so hurt by what you had been through, you were looking for someone to hold on to. Maybe we need to step back and decide if this is right for both of us, and if it is, begin again, this time taking it slowly.
Tea: I tried slow with Todd. It was beyond slow. We were married for almost a year before we shared our first kiss.
Kip: Maybe not that slow.
Tea: Sometimes I wish I could go back all those years and turn him down when he proposed that stupid business arrangement marriage. My life would have been so different.
Kip: You would have missed the good times with him.
Tea: What good times?
Kip: There must have been some or you wouldn't love him so much.
Tea: Loved! Past tense!
Kip: He still has an effect on you.
Tea: A negative one. I'm through with Todd Manning forever.
to be continued...
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2003 COPYRIGHT BY TIMA
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