Fatal Wounds

29

Valentina

Theo responded to every single one of my messages in the span of a minute. He said he's missed me too, a tremendous amount and he'll be over for dinner. He said his day was fucked up and he'll tell me all about it when he gets here.

I was freaking starving when I got home. My client decided to take his sweet sweet time negotiating the purchase of his new house and I didn't have time for lunch.

I decided to finally shred that rotisserie chicken I had bought the other day and make some flautas. I had a new pack of tortillas just sitting in my pantry and a perfectly good chicken in my fridge so I'm finally putting them to good use.

I had the hottest shower just now to relieve all the stiffness in my shoulders, now I'm just frying the flautas waiting for Theo to arrive.

I had already cut the lettuce and broke up the queso fresco. I even made us a salsa and got the sour cream out. I was too lazy to make fresh juice so I'm settling for water. Theo usually drinks what I do but there is a few drinks in the fridge if he wants.

Just as I finish frying the last of the flautas Theo knocks on my door. I make sure to turn off the stove and go open up for him.

"Amor." He smiles when he sees me. He looks miserable which makes me frown. "Here, for you."

I gently take the flowers. He makes sure to get me new ones when the older ones begin to shrivel. I think it's an absolutely sweet gesture which I love. It's always the same bouquet which has grown to be my favorite. "Thank you, my love. They're beautiful."

"You're beautiful." He mumbles.

I laugh and pull him inside. I place the flowers in the vase making sure to pour in the tiny packet of flower food before moving them to the table.

I wrap my arms around his torso, and he moves his face into my neck. "You alright?" My hands snake under his shirt and rest against his warm skin.

"No." His mumble sounds sad. "I missed you so much." His lips press against my fluttering pulse. "And that little fucker Ryan pissed me off."

"What'd he d- Theo!" My hands clasp around his that has cracked skin on his knuckles. His two middle knuckles are busted and the others are red. "What on Earth did you do?"

"It wasn't me." He frowns. "It was him."

"He bruised your knuckles?" I frown, skeptically.

"No." He shakes his head, "he made me punch him."

"What?" My brows scrunch. How on Earth? I hold his hand in mine, clasping my hands around his trying to protect it from any other harm.

"He said some messed up stuff about you." He shakes his head angrily. "And I had to listen. When the meeting was over he tried to keep going. I couldn't listen to him talk about you like that." His free hand comes up to cup my face, "it physically hurt me to listen."

"What'd he say?"

Theo's lips tighten. "I really don't want to repeat it but... he said that he never touched you in any inappropriate way. That he would never touch you and if he were to touch your arms or back that it would never be inappropriate. He said if you claimed he touched you then you're a liar and- and that it would've been inappropriate 'if he grabbed you by the-' and that sentence I sure as hell did not let him finish."

An ugly feeling clouds my chest. My skin feels clammy and I try pulling away from Theo. He doesn't let me and holds me close and tight. "Don't listen to that. He's a disgusting person who feels better about himself by putting others down. He feels better knowing he has the power over others. But he doesn't have power over you. Okay? You're the only one who can possess such thing."