Winning her back

10. Memory Lane

His lips had barely touched mine before I pulled back and slapped him across the face.

"You son of a b*tch! You've been planning this the whole time huh?", I yelled rather than asked.

"Li-."

"Is that why you brought me here? To try and lure me back to you? Well guess what, I will never come back to you. You're a narcissistic bastard! Did you think of me at all while you were f*cking another girl?"

I was fuming at this point. I almost believed that during this whole arrangement, Ben was looking out for my best interests. I should have known better.

"Lisa", he began, but I cut him off once again.

"How stupid am I to believe that you genuinely just wanted to help".

"Lisa", he persisted, but I wasn't done yet.

"Not as stupid as I was to believe that I was the only one you were f*cking".

The room fell silent. My name was no longer on his lips, but his eyes were on mine. If I hadn't know any better, I would have thought that he'd actually looked hurt and distraught by my last sentence.

Must be his poker face, the one he's mastered during our years of marriage.

You see, I never got my closure. I left before he could destroy me even more and not too long after that, I filed for divorce. If it hadn't been for Lydia giving me constant updates on him, I wouldn't have known what he'd been up to.

"It's done", he suddenly said.

Confused, I raised an eyebrow. "What's done?"

"The injection", he began, "It's over".

Looking down at my abdomen, I realised that I had forgotton all about the pointy object pricking my body.

"Still not an excuse to kiss me".

"I know", he said turning his attention to the first aid kit. "Old habits die hard I guess".

With that, Ben began to stitch me up in silence. It was only then, that I realised that the divorce had taken a toll on him as well. His beard was unshaved, and his hair was longer than usual. The bags under his eyes were evident, and the eyes, they were the worst of all. They were filled with guilt.

I had never seen this side of him before. The Ben that I knew, was a completely different person. He was confident, ruthless and strong.

The Ben that I knew could get anything or anyone he wanted.

~ 5 years ago ~

"Fucking hell Lisa, Martinez has been eyeing you down for the past thirty minutes", my best friend Amanda whispered, during our first period.

"You're delusional, he'd never be interested in me. I'm the church freak remember !"

My last statement earned me some giggles from some nearby classmates, including Amanda.

"Yeah, I bet you'd be a freak in bed too", said the one and only, Ben Martinez, who was now eyeing me down from the back of the class.

Turning red immediately, I adjusted my sitting position, and avoided turning around and meeting his gaze.

I heard Amanda muttering something along the lines of 'I told you so', but I didn't dare look back. I spent the rest of the class avoiding everyone's gaze and replaying Ben Martinez's statement in my mind.

I sprinted out of the class as soon as the bell rang. I thought I could make a quick escape to my locker, and to my next class. However, faith was not on my side.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you", said a voice I immediately recognized behind me. I turned around to the one and only, Ben Martinez. "You didn't", I said leaning on my now shut locker.

"Good, I didn't want you to get the wrong impression", he said whilst adjusting his back pack.

I just stared at him in awe. There he was, flesh and blood standing in front of me trying to ... converse with me? I couldn't phantom why one of the most popular guys in our school would ever have an interest in me, the church freak.

"So", he said interrupting my thoughts, "I'm throwing a get together next week at my house, nothing too big just some good beer and friendly faces. Do you wanna join?"

Stunned was an understatement. I didn't know what to say. So I didn't say anything.

"Amy can tag along too", he continued when I didn't reply.

"Amy?"

"Yeah, she's your friend right?"

"You mean Amanda", I corrected.

"Yeah, yeah um, just let me know".

With that he disappeared, almost as if magic, leaving me alone with my thoughts. It was almost too good to be true.

~

Well, it was too good to be true.