Worth Waiting For

Chapter Nine

Dany took a good look at the man who shattered her heart into a thousand pieces, denying her the dreams she thought he'd shared of having a family and growing old together. She forced her breathing to slow to a calm pace, because initially she'd felt as if she was about to hyperventilate.
He stood there, Dario, imacculate and inviting like a talk glass of chocolate milk. He smiled down at her with teeth whitened so much they sparkled. How could she have ever thought his smarmy grin was attractive?
A quick glance behind him made her realise the young woman....no girl....in the little black dress was with him. She hovered close enough to be within listening distance.
"You look different," he said, studying her face.  "I'm not sure what it is."
"I'm happy," Dany supplied the Information with a toss of her head.
He laughed. The rich baritone of his voice didn't have the effect it used to. "You've gotten a bit cocky too. I like it."
He didn't hide his interest. He let his eyes wander down the length of her body, stopping for a moment at the neckline of her top, not even bothering to hide hus blatant approval of the figure flattering outfit.
Dany tried not to squirm, instead standing up straight. How dare he, after all this time, with his new play thing  standing right behind him within earshot.
He leaned against a shelving unit and shoved one hand into the pocket of his trousers. He looked the epitome of relaxed and confident.  Hus confidence had been one of the things she'd admired about him at first. He acted as if he ruled the world and everyone should just fall asleep in line with his plans.
What she admired about him had also been the problem. She'd fallen in line with his plans. There had always been some reason why they had to postpone starting their future together. First he had to do his MBA. Then he strived for a promotion. Once he got the promotion, he became busy settling into his new post as director, working hard to impress the higher-ups. It was always something. She had been patient and understanding and had wanted him achieve all the success he deserved, because she had Loved him.
In loving husband m and devoting her time to supporting him and his endeavours, she'd lost a part of herself. She had her own career, but her focus had been making sure whenever he was ready to move forward, she was available. Eight years she had spent with him, slowly curling into herself.
Deep dot she'd known the relationship wasn't going anywhere, but she'd been afraid to move on, and who would be crazy enough to walk away from such a catch? She'd already invested so much time. So Instead if giving him an ultimatum or walking away, she had invested more time. In the end, their relationship ended because she was no longer fun.  Because somehow hus nineteen year old lover satisfied something in him she couldn't.
"I heard through the grapevine you're on your way to making partner," he said.
"That's right," Dany tilted up her chin.
"Good for you. You're breaking the glass ceiling and shaking up the good ole boy network. You always did have an amazing drive." He paused dramatically, and she knew his next words would cut her down somehow. "Too bad you didn't put as much effort into our relationship, or we would still be together."
Jerk. "You have that backwards. You're the one eho wasn't giving one hundred percent into our relationship. By the way, how's the kid?"  She paused for dramatic effect too. The sideways smile, slipped from his face.
Take that, Dany thought with grim satisfaction. He straightened to his full height, a tactic to intimidate her and make her feel small.
"She and I are no longer together. She's doing fine though, so is my son."
Dany felt a twinge of pain at the reference of his son. When she'd left him, she hadn't known the gender of his child. She was certain he hadn't either at the time, because it had been too early to tell. Now she had that bit of information, the child became real, and the old wound reopened.
He must have sensed the brake in the armour because he went in for the kill. "Any kids Dany? A man even?"
Hus arrogant tone indicated his confidence she hadn't found anyone to replace him. He had never liked the fact she had broken up with him. He'd actually tried to convince her they could work out the "problem"  of his girlfriend and their child together. How pathetic had she been that he would even suggest such a thing.....to think she would consider staying with him after he had crushed her hopes and humiliated her in such an effective manner. Or was it simple arrogance that made him think that she would remain in a relationship with him?
As if on cue, out if the corner of her eye, she saw Jon round the corner on his way towards them. Their eyes locked and relief flooded her system.
"You find what you were looking for?" He asked, his  worried gaze resting on her face, ignoring the man standing nearby. He must have figured out immediately something was wrong.
"Are you kidding me, Dany?" He stood there staring at Jon with a look of disbelief on his face. "You've upgraded your professional life and downgraded your personal one? You're living la vida loca now?"
Jon finally acknowledged the stranger by turning to face him. They stood toe to toe...Dario was taller than Jon. "And you are.....?"
"The love of her life. Her soulmate. The man she thinks about when she's with you."
"What!" Dany's incredulous stare didn't bother him a bit.
Behind him, the young woman drifted away. If she weren't so caught up in her own drama, she would sympathize the young woman had to hear what she heard. She was probably better off for having heard it.
"You don't have to be ashamed of it, baby. We both know I'm a hard habit to break. The only reason we're not together right now is because I messed up.....but tell the truth. How may times have you thought of a reconciliation? How many times have you picked up the phone to call me but were afraid it was too late?"
Dany's mouth fell open. He actually thought she still wanted to be with him. She stared to shake. "How do you ever manage to carry around an ego that size?"
"Are you going to deny seeing me tonight brings back memories and makes you wish you hadn't left me?"
Dany drew a sharp breath. Jon stepped between them and folded his arms across his chest. In that Instant, with his feet planted firmly on the floor, he became her protector,her shield against the barbs. She could take care of herself, but she couldn't deny it felt good to have him run interference  and show her that level of caring.
"It's time for you to leave," he said, his firm voice brooking no argument. "It seems to me you're the one having a hard time accepting Dany's moved on."
He laughed and peered around Jon to look at her. He gestured with his thumb. "You're man's s thug baby. That's what you're into now?"
"Speak to me, not to her."
"Listen, Ricky Martin, this is none of your business."
"If it concerns Dany, it is my business. And my name us Jon Snow."
They stood there, staring each other down like two gladiators about to square off, neither wanting to be the first to retreat. The cash register peeled open up front. Sensing trouble, an old asian man made a U turn back towards the front door. Dany placed a hand on Jon's arm.
"Let's go."
He didn't budge. It was as if he hadn't even heard her.
"You should listen to her Jon." He said the name as if it soiled his mouth. "Don't let the suit and Bruno Magli shoes fool you. You don't want none of this." That sickening smile returned to his face. Only this time it was topped of with a sneer.
A cold chill settled over Dany. He was nothing like the young man she met more than ten years ago. Ambition, the purest of material things, and the problems brought on by his own lusts had changed him. 
"Tell you what," he said, "I'll leave." As he backed away he lifted his thumb and little finger to his ear and mouthed, "call me."
When he was gone, Jon looked down at her with concern etched in his face. "Are you okay?"
Dany took a deep breath. She wasn't completely, but she would be once she had a chance to recuperate from that brief episode. "Yes, but I want to go home now. Please take me home."
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The cabin of the truck remained silent as a tomb. They weren't talking, and Jon didn't bother to play any music. It would somehow seem out of place. Finally he could remain silent no longer.
"Who was he?" He gathered enough to learn the other man was an ex, but that was all he knew. Had they been engaged? Was he the one who broke her heart and made her stop believing in love?
"No one."
That was obviously not true. Whoever he was, he was important part of her past. He wished he hadn't suppressed the urge to grab the guy and smash his face into the glass door of the refrigerator. It would have given him great pleasure to may the snakeoil-salesman smile disappear from his face.
He hadn't appreciated the living la vida loca comment, but in the scheme of things, it was no big deal. In his life he'd heard much worse.
That's not why he was upset. It's what the jerks appearance had done to Dany. The light was gone from her eyes. He'd robbed the night of happiness, and she retreated back into her shell, scooting way over against the door, staring out the window.
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When they arrived at her house, Dany opened the door as soon as the truck came to a standstill in her driveway.
"Dany, wait!"
She slammed the door. He moved fast, though. He'd already rounded the front of the vehicle and stood blocking her progress to the front door before she could take a step.
""What's going on?"
"Nothing's going on."
She felt deflated, empty. The short ride to her house made her realise she was fooling herself. She wasn't completely over what had happened. While she no longer loved him, she realised she carried around too much baggage to bring into another relationship. She wasn't ready yet to move forward.
"Don't shut me out." He towered over her in the semi darkness. The motion sensor lights on the garage illuminated his back and practically cast his handsome face in shadow.
"I can't do this right now "
"Do what?"
"This." she gestured et her hands pointing between the two of them. "I don't have the energy. I have too much going on in my life to get involved with someone right now."
His mouth tightened. "You were on your way home with me before our stop at the gas station. What changed?"
"What changed? Is finally I had time to think....once I wasn't caught up in the music and....and everything that took place at the club." She didn't want to explain what was wrong, because she barely understood it herself. She only wanted to escape inside the refuge of her house.
"That's not the reason and you know it. There's something else going on."
"There's nothing else going on."
She moved to step around him, but he blocked her path.
"What are you afraid of?"
"I'm not afraid of anything!" She said in exasperation.
"Is that right? Do you even believe in what you are saying? Have you even convinced yourself anything you just said is true?"
"This night is over. I should have never gone out with you in the first place." She was in fighting mode, and he turned out to be the unlucky recipient of her cutting tongue.
"No, the real issue is that I should have never Invited you. You wouldn't know how to have a good time if the Instructions were emailed to you on your computer."
Hus unexpected words hurt. "I know how to have fun."
"No, you don't. You pretend to, so you can convince everyone around you that you have feelings like a normal human being."
Was he trying to upset her? "You are an unfeeling, Inconsiderate..... idiot !" She finished, for a lack of a better word. "I've had a horrible time. I wish I didn't have to see you again!"
She moved to go around him for the second time. He grabbed her arm.
"Take your hand off me!"
"I'm not finished talking to you."
"Well, I'm finished talking to you," Dany huffed. She tried to pull away. "I said take your hand off me."
"Or else what? What will you do?"
"I'll..... I'll scream."
"Do it. Scream. I want to see you scream." He backed her up against the truck and leaned in close.
"Stop it. Can't you see I'm scared?" The shaking started again. She couldn't control it.
"Of what? Of me?"
"No. Of....of everything you represent. I can't do it again. What if there really is such a thing as soulmate? I don't want to waste my time falling for you, caring about you, loving you, and then.....poor! You're gone. And I'm all alone again." An unbearably heavy ache crushed her chest.
"People get hurt all the time Dany," Jon said. "I've been hurt too, but something inside me knows.....I feel.... like it's different this time."
She understood what he meant. She had the same feeling, but she was still terrified. What if she was wrong?
"You don't have to do anything you don't way to," he continued. "We'll go as slow as you want. Okay?"
He placed a tender kiss on her forehead.
"What If we're wrong?" She stared at him wide-eyed. "I loved him so much, and I was wron. We were supposed to get married. I spent eight years of my life with him, trying to be the perfect partner and fiancé. I was supportive and loving. My life revolved around him. He cheated on me and got someone else pregnant. How could I have been so wrong, when I loved him and was so certain that he loved me?"
"There's nothing wrong with giving your all to a relationship," Jon said. "That's the way it should be, and that's what I love about you. It's so obvious you're a passionate person, waiting to get out of that bottle you've locked your true self inside."
"Passion? What ate you talking about, Jon? You hardly know me."
"I know enough to know you're what I want. I like the way you're eyes sparkle when you're happy. I want to be the one to make you smile and bring that sparkle into those beautiful purple eyes. I want to make you laugh. You're Intelligent, generous and loving. I love all those things about you, and I can't way to find out more about who you are."
Dany shook her head. "Stop it. It's too much. You're too much. I can't process this right now. Please understand, you're a wonderful man. You deserve someone who will appreciate you...."
"Dany......"
"Please." She gulped back tears. She had to be strong enough to save the tears until she could be alone. "I know what it's like to waste my time loving someone. I don't want to do that to you. We don't have a future together.
He stiffened. Her words finally through to him. He took the warmth of his body ehei he stepped back.
"I'm sorry." She said softly.
She couldn't look at him. She walked swiftly to the front door. She could almost feel the heat of his hit gaze on her retreating back. At the door, she turned to look over her shoulder. Sure enough, he stood there where she left him, watching her.
She paused for a moment, her heart filled with longing. She wished she cout go back in time to the club and experience the comfort of his strong arms around her. She'd felt so free wrapped in his embrace. She'd opened up herself to him in a way she hadn't to anyone else in a long time.
He deserved someone else. She wasn't whole yet. She didn't know when she would be, but she was not the right person for him at this time.
Dany let herself inside and closed the door.