In this sequel to The Experiment (yes, it would help to read Book 1 first for this to make more sense) our favorite lovebirds move to New York to begin a new life and start their journey as a real married couple.
They say love prevails, but can the...
RJ walked into their bedroom three hours later and found Dei already lying on her side, facing the wall, away from him.
He had spent the last few hours in the living room, watching TV, after cleaning up the kitchen. He stayed there, even after he saw Dei stepping out of the bathroom and stomping her way into their bedroom. He figured she needed her space, and he needed his too. They were too angry and he knew that they won't be able to maintain a calm and rational conversation until they had both cleared their heads. He was aware of how abrasive he can be when he's mad and he simply didn't want to hurt her more.
He sighed and turned the lights off before lying on the bed himself. He turned away from her too and faced the door instead as he browsed the internet on his phone.
A few minutes later, he heard her sniff and let out a choked sob and he paused, his chest constricting in pain for her.
"Dei..." he called softly as he turned towards her. "Are you still awake?"
She didn't respond and just continued her silent weeping.
"Babe, do you wanna talk now?" he asked, placing his hand gently on her shoulder.
"Don't touch me," she said in a hoarse whisper.
RJ sighed again and let go of her. "Stop crying, Dei. It's bad for you and the baby."
"Good for you to realize that now," she snapped, moving farther away from him.
"Babe, I'm sorry, I didn't want to upset you like this, but you have to understand where I'm coming from," RJ said earnestly. "You're not taking care of yourself, Dei, and it's making me so mad. It's like you don't realize that your life is different now, that whatever you do would affect not only you but our baby too. I admire your being so hardworking, babe, but you have to understand that at this point, you can't be like that anymore. You're pregnant, and that's my child you're carrying."
"You're smothering me," she cried. "Since you found out I was pregnant you have been constantly on my case. It's like you're always behind my back, looking over my shoulder and making sure I do things the way you think is right. I know you're just being protective and I appreciate that, but sometimes it could get too exhausting and it's stressing me out. I can't breathe anymore and it upsets me that you can't trust me to take care of myself."
"Because you're not taking care of yourself, Dei... just look at what happened today," he said. He moved closer but refrained from touching her although he really wanted to.
"I'm still trying to adjust, RJ, but I'm really doing my best to take care of myself. Today was an exception," she said in between gulps of air as she continued crying. She was being too emotional and she hated it, but her tears just won't stop coming. "They called for an emergency meeting and it lasted for hours. As much as I wanted to leave, I couldn't. It wasn't like I could stand there and tell them I can't stay just because I'm pregnant. I can't do that. I'm working with a team. Besides, I was feeling okay and there was no reason for them to send me home early.
I was so worried about getting home after that because I already knew that you would be so mad. Can you imagine the stress that I felt on my way home?"
"Dei..."
"And now you're forcing me to quit my job..." she trailed off, unable to get more words out of her mouth anymore as she continued to be racked by sobs.
"Come here, babe, please," he begged as he gently pulled her shoulder so she'd face him. She finally did and he wrapped his arm around her, drawing her closer to his chest. "I'm sorry, Dei. I didn't know I was being that overbearing. I really just want what's best for you and our baby.
We have to compromise, babe. I promise to lay off with my being too protective but you have to promise to really take care of yourself. Spring is a busy season for the kind of job that you have because of the events. How do you plan on managing that? You have to admit, babe, since February you have been working too hard nonstop. This past week alone you've always come home tired and stressed."
"I'll figure it out, just please don't make me quit," she said through stuttered breathing. "I promise to take care of myself."
RJ took a deep breath but didn't respond. He still wanted her to at least transfer to TrendBuzz so he could watch over her and make sure that she's alright.
"Stop crying now, babe. I'm not mad anymore," he finally said and he pressed his lips on her forehead. "You have an appointment with your doctor tomorrow, right?"
"Yes," she murmured.
"I'll come with you," he whispered, rubbing Dei's back gently until she calmed down and finally drifted to sleep.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
