The Sound of Summer

30. I Trust You

"Hello, Dommy," Olivia drawls, her voice an unsettling mix of seductive and uncertain. I instinctively put myself between her and Dom, wrapping my hand around his to remind him that I'm here. He clings on to me tightly, and I can tell his grip is the only thing keeping his shaking hands steady.

Too many thoughts flow through my mind at once. First shock at the ease at which she calls him Dommy, a pet name I've only heard him called by his sister and closest friends. The second, annoyance at the smug way her eyes are creased, the familiarity in them when she looks at Dom. The third is the gut-wrenching realization of just what it is that's happening here, why she always looked at his pictures far longer than was necessary, why she was so eager to meet him.

I think back to the photo on Dom's wall of his arm around her, and now I know why she was so familiar. It's her. Of course, it's fucking her.

At first, I'm shocked, and then I'm filled with anger. How dare she deceive me like that?

"You fucking bitch. You knew who he was this entire time. You knew it was him and you manipulated me into seeing him again." My voice comes out a lot more calmly than I feel, but it seems to unsettle her more. She has the decency to look guilty.

"Please I just need 2 minutes. I know it was manipulative but... there was no other way you were going to talk to me, Dommy" she lifts her arm up to brush his shoulder, but I quickly put myself in front of him before she has the chance to make contact.

"Do not call him that. I'm fucking warning you, Olivia. Get out before things get ugly for you." I feel a protectiveness over him that makes my veins hum with adrenaline. If she keeps pushing, well... I've got a hell of a right jab for her.

"I'll leave," she says, lifting her arms up in surrender, "I just... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, Dominic. I was so stupid back then. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't come here to fuck things up for you I just wanted you to know that there's nothing I regret more than letting you go. I hope you can forgive me." She sounds sincere enough, but I feel Dom's shaking intensify behind me. I don't know how to help him. He stays quiet, but his eyes overflow with emotion, too many to name. We remain quiet for a short while, save for Dominic's increasingly frantic breathing.

"Oliver misses you too," Olivia says after a while, and just like that the floodgates open. I feel something in Dom snap as though it was snapping in me. He pushes me aside lightly and marches towards her.

"Do not fucking talk to me about Oliver!" He says, in a voice so full of rage and hurt I flinch when I hear it. He doesn't sound like himself at all. Olivia flinches and moves back away from him. I try to reach out for him but, he's too far away to notice my hand on his arm. He marches towards her again.
"You didn't let me go, you fucking cheated on me. For years, Olivia! I fucked my entire life up for you. I nearly lost my family because of you. And you have the nerve to look me in the eyes and ask me to forgive you? You haven't changed at all. You're still the same vindictive, self-serving bitch you always were. The only difference is I'm not as stupid as I once was." He yells it, and my heart shatters when his voice cracks at the end of his words. He turns away to hide it, but I see the tears rolling down his cheek. He bats his eyes away fiercely to keep more from falling, but the more he blinks, the more they keep falling.

It turns my anger into rage. I don't know what comes over me but before I know it, my fist makes contact with her nose. She lets out a yelp in response, obviously drawn back by the response. She cries out in pain, taking the hand away from her face to reveal that she's bleeding.