I belonged to another man. I was in the home of another man. I was in the bedroom of another man. And yet, there I was, my lips pressed to someone else.
Will had spent the entire week after his return showering me in gifts, attention, and just absolute love. I had spent the entire time in complete bliss; he catered to my every want and need. To me he seemed sincere, but Ari wasn't convinced. She hadn't said so, but I could see it in her eyes any time I came home with a new bag.
"Another gift?" She'd ask me, her tone crass. And each time, I'd tell her every detail of how he treated me to a new romantic adventure. First it was the candles and roses, then it was a midnight picnic, then a carriage ride through the city lit with Christmas lights, and so much more.
I couldn't quite grasp why Ari seemed so skeptical; after all, Will had changed his ways. He'd only gotten that angry once, and he promised he'd never hurt me again. His showering me with love only proved that he truly meant it. Still, I decided to arrange a time to sit down with her again, since I had been so busy for the past week.
After asking Will to let her off for lunch, Ari and I got in the back seat of the car that awaited us outside. Will's personal driver was always respectful, and quickly put up the partition for our privacy. I turned to Ari, who, since my telling her she was off, had given me the silent treatment. She sat with her legs crossed, her hands in her lap as she looked out of the window. Her face was turned away from me, and all I could see of her was her long hair cascading down her shoulders; half of it pulled up high.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Why aren't you talking to me?" I asked, my voice quiet. She turned only her head toward me, the rest of her body stiff. Her eyes met mine at first, before they fell down to the sparkling diamond bracelet on my left wrist. She looked back out of the window then, and I swear I saw her roll her eyes as she spoke.
"Is there something you'd like me to say?" Her voice was a whisper, but her tone was dismissive. She seemed to have preferred to be anywhere but with me, and I simply could not understand why.
"What's going on, Ari? Just a week ago we were having so much fun, bonding over drinks. And what, now you hate me? What did I do?" I was tired of looking at the back of her head, and thankfully she turned around again. This time, however, her eyes sparkled with fresh tears.
"You couldn't possibly think I hate you, Demi," she whispered, both of her lips disappearing as she tucked them into her mouth.
I was surprised that she was on the brink of tears; I was sure she was mad at me, but her face said otherwise.
"Then what is it?" I asked carefully. I didn't want to seem accusatory any longer, as I could see that hurt her. In one swift motion, Ari took my left hand in hers and lifted it to my eyeline.
"This," she began, referring to my bracelet, "is not love, Demi. You're falling for his stupid little games like a child!" She tossed my hand away and scoffed. "But you're not gonna listen to me anyway, because that's what you do."
"Excuse me?" I said, defensive. I had never seen this side of her, and frankly, I didn't like it.
"Don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about," she said, her eyes tightly secured to mine. "Will is buying your forgiveness."
"No he is not!" I responded. "He loves me. What is so wrong with that?"
"Have you even talked to him about what happened, Dem? Have you asked him at all WHY he hit you? Or did he just come at you with some flimsy apology masked by a so-called romantic gesture? Hell, did he even say that he was actually sorry?"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I was enraged, my face turning a bright red in fury. Nevertheless, I was silenced. I didn't want to validate the accuracy of Ari's words, because I wanted so badly to believe that whatever idea she had put together in her head wasn't true. I wanted to believe that Will was a different man, and that he had just had a bad day. I wanted to believe that Ari was over-analyzing, or that she was jealous.
But something in me found truth in her words. And that something is what kept me quiet.
"Demi," she said, picking up on my every emotion. "I don't want to tell you how to live your life, or who you should be with. But if I know anything at all, I know when a man is lying to get what he wants." I felt the car pull to a stop as we had arrived to our destination. But my eyes were locked angrily on Ari's as she continued her speech.
"You're selling yourself short. That man is taking advantage of you, Dem, and he is going to hit you again, whether you think he's 'changed' or not. So stop being so fucking naive, grow the hell up, and find someone that doesn't have to buy your love because they're too weak to apologize."
I was shaking. My fury ran through my every vein. I couldn't quite place my anger, but Ari was definitely the trigger.
"Get out." I said, glaring at her.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Her frustrated expression changed entirely, and quickly became confused.
"What?" She asked, taken aback.
I gritted my teeth, tears spilling from my eyes.
"Get the hell out of the car. Now." Ari's eyes widened in shock, but then she squinted at me, and briefly held my gaze.
"Fine." With that, she grabbed the bag that was at her feet, opened the car door and climbed out, slamming the door behind her.
"Travis," I said after lowering the partition so that he could hear me. "Take me back home."
