Chapter 5
Durbbie:
"Can you get
that?" Melissa asked sleepily from her position on the couch. I nodded,
got off the couch, and looked out the peephole to see who was at the door.
"I don't believe this," I muttered.
"Who is it?"
"Be ready to be surprised…" I said grabbing hold of the doorknob.
"You realize what time it is, right?" I asked to an intruding Brian.
He was trying to look over my shoulder and inside. "Is Melissa there?"
"What's it to you?" I questioned as I stepped into the hallway and
closed the door in back of me to protect Melissa. If she didn't want to talk
to him, then she wouldn't be in sight when I re-opened the door.
Shock was written all over his face at the coldness in my tone. "I wanted
to talk to her."
"You know, we all want a lot of things. Most of the time we can't get what
we want."
I had strategically positioned myself in front of the door with my hands on
the doorknob. Brian made a move to get in, but I stopped him as he had a grip
on my wrist.
"You know it's one more move until I can sue you for assault, harassment
and breaking and entering, right?" I questioned with a knowing look on
my face. I learned something from the trials with Scott. Brian immediately backed
off. "Thought so. You don't mind causing all the trouble in the world as
long as you don't lose your precious money."
"Spare me Durbbie," Brian said through clenched teeth. "Let me
in."
"Haven't you done enough damage already?" Oh G-d, this was turning
into a reenactment of a Scott and Durbbie argument…
Melissa:
I
sat in shock as I listened to the argument happening outside the door. Durbbie
was giving him what for with the threat of a lawsuit. I was actually surprised
in how she was handling the situation. The whole thing reminded me of how Scott
had treated Durbbie.
I remember the days when Durbbie would come home and sit there and cry. Then
there were the bruises. I can't tell you how much I wanted to kick the crap
out of Scott for treating her like he did. True, Durbbie could be difficult
to deal with, but nobody, not even Durbbie in her worst mood, deserved to be
smacked around the way she was. And she couldn't even see it…
My thoughts were interrupted by angry voices coming from the hallway.
"Why won't you go away? She doesn't want to talk to you!" I heard
Durbbie say.
"Why won't you let Melissa decide for herself!?"
"Forget it," Durbbie said almost calmly which meant she was just about
to boil over. That was a dangerous thing. "I'm going inside my own apartment
and I'm going to wait 2 minutes. If I come out here and you're still where I
can see you, I will have you arrested. End of story." And with that, Durbbie
entered the apartment and slammed the door behind her.
Brian:
I
knocked on the door. "I just want to talk to Melissa."
"Go screw yourself!"
I tried again. "How about Melissa comes out and tells me herself."
There was silence on the other end. Slowly, the door opened and Melissa emerged.
"What do you want?" she asked in a stony voice.
"To talk to you," I tried to reason.
"Then talk."
I sighed. "About what happened the last time we saw each other."
"The kiss."
"Yeah that…" I muttered.
"What about it?" Melissa asked
"I just…I'm…I didn't mean for you to find out about Leighanne
like that," I stammered.
"Well, what do you want me to do about it?"
"I wanted to let you know that I…I liked it."
"You what?" Melissa said in disbelief.
"And I was wondering if you'd be willing to try it again. Leighanne doesn't
have to know," I said.
"Wait a second," Melissa said still trying to recover. "You want
to have an affair with me behind your wife's back? You've got some nerve…"
"It wouldn't be the first time," I said pouring on the lust in my
voice.
"Somehow I believe you on that one…"
I lifted her chin and looked right into her eyes. Who said being good looking
never got you anywhere? Our eyes locked and I saw her defense weaken. I was
winning. I smirked. "There's a good girl. Let's go someplace private,"
I said with a suggestive smile.
Durbbie:
"You asshole!"
I stormed as I opened the door. "How dare you!"
Melissa looked at me, relieved, and somewhat scared by what Brian was doing
to her and by the tone of my voice.
"Durbbie…uh…it's not what it looks like…" Brian stammered.
"And next you're going to tell me that it's not like it sounded either,"
I countered. "I heard every word you were saying to her. I knew you were
low Littrell, but this is going to new levels." I looked to Melissa who
had turned pale. I took her by the arm and hid her behind me in case things
got even more out of line.
"You know, Durbbie, you're pretty sexy when you're all fired up,"
Brian said using the same tone as he did with Melissa.
"Don't you even start with me," I said as I smacked his hand away
from my face. "We're not playing this game again."
"What do you say you, me, and your buddy all go over to the hotel room
I have around the corner…"
"Save it," I said cutting him off. "You make me sick," I
hissed.
"All this tension. You need a release."
"Just be thankful I haven't released it on your face. Wouldn't it be a
shame if that pretty face of yours got messed up?" I said with sarcasm
dripping out of my mouth.
"I'm just saying that it's a shame that you sexy women are living here
all alone. Don't you ever get…kinky?"
"Not with a piece of crap like you!" I said as I opened the apartment
door, got Melissa inside, and slammed it behind me. I let out a breath and I
leaned my back against it. "You OK?" I asked Melissa who was very
pale and very shaken by this entire thing. She merely nodded.
"I…I don't know what would have…" she started before I cut
her off and motioned for her to be quiet.
I looked out the peephole, and lo and behold, there was Brian waiting for us
to come out. I motioned for Melissa to stay quiet and pointed to the door. She
nodded to say she understood. I was a little bit more than livid at what had
gone on, but suppressed the anger for another few minutes until I made sure
he was gone.
"He's gone," I said quietly. "You sure you're OK?" I asked
again. I was used to this behavior from men, but Melissa, on the other hand
wasn't. I knew she was traumatized by it.
"I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there…"
Melissa said.
I pulled her in for a hug. "I knew he was up to no good."
Later That Night
Melissa:
I
was having trouble sleeping. I tried reading, but it didn't work. I wanted to
do work on the spread, but I remembered that I had been working on Brian's pictures
when he came around. I shuddered at the memory. So there I was, lying in bed
when I heard a soft whimper. I crinkled my nose out of confusion and listened
intently for any other sounds Durbbie could be making. Sure enough, a few minutes
later, Durbbie was fully immersed in a terrible nightmare.
"Scott no! What are you doing here?" Durbbie cried into her pillow.
"Go away."
"Durbbie?" I asked quietly, hoping that maybe she'd be somewhat conscious
and wake up. It didn't work. Durbbie became more and more disturbed by this
nightmare that I finally got up the courage to wake her up. "Durbbie, wake
up. Wake up Durbs," I said gently while shaking her slightly.
"Make him go away," Durbbie cried. "Make them both go away…"
"Durbbie, it's me. Nobody's here. Nobody's going to hurt you," I reassured
more both of our benefits. I needed the reassurance myself to tell you the truth.
I was NOT looking forward to work tomorrow.
"Melissa?" Durbbie questioned bringing me back to reality.
"I'm right here," I said taking a seat on the bed to let her know
I was there. I turned on the light above my bed so we could both be sure that
we were safe. The security I had felt when I left the house the previous morning
was gone. Left instead was a feeling of distrust and more or less fright of
anyone who came to the door or even walked by.
Durbbie sat up and sighed. "You want to tell me what that one was about?"
I questioned lightly.
She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands to further wake herself up.
I could tell from the blotches that she had been crying in her sleep for a while.
"That was frightening," Durbbie said in almost disbelief.
"Another Scott situation?"
Durbbie nodded. "And Brian was with him." The two of us exchanged
nervous glances. "I don't think I'm going to sleep any time soon."
"I guess I'm with you then."
"No really," Durbbie said. "I don't want you to lose sleep over
this. Sorry for waking you up." There was an awkward silence. "I'm
going to make myself some soup. You want any?" I shook my head. "Go
back to sleep Meliss. I'll be watching TV."
"Are you coming back?"
"I'm not sure. Probably not. I think I'd feel better sleeping by the door
tonight."
I nodded. "OK then. I'll be here."
"And I'll be in the other room. If you want to talk or anything, just come
on over. I'm here for you."
"Thanks," I said with a smile of relief. "And thanks again for
earlier."
"No problem," Durbbie said with a sad smile that tried to let me believe
that this was no problem. "That's what I'm here for."
"No…really Durbs. I'm not sure what would have happened if you hadn't
stepped in."
"Don't worry about it. I'm used to those situations, remember?"
"Yeah, but thanks," I repeated. Durbbie looked away. "Really
Durbs. Thank you."
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