JossBas: Is It Really Meant to Be?

Chapter 25

A/N:  The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Frank's POV

I knew that I was just imagining the shakiness that crept into Joss' voice when he asked me what I was trying to say.

And if I did not imagine it, I was not going to put any meaning into it. He was probably just feeling tired because it was already evening.

"What I'm trying to say, Joss," I said, as patiently as I could, "is that by the end of this week, I am moving to my own place, if it's still alright with you to put me up for the rest of this week."

"Frank," he said, grabbing my arm, "it's alright with me for you to stay till the end of this century."

I pulled my arm away, "Stop fooling around with me, Joss. You will probably get tired of me before the end of this week. I promise to move out even before the end of this week the moment I am able to sign the contract with the apartment manager whose building is not too far from my agency's office."

"No, YOU stop fooling around with me, Frank," he said, with a very serious expression on his face, "I am not letting you move out of my condo unit EVER."

"Joss!" I exclaimed, "you can't keep me prisoner here! I need to be free and have a place of my own. I cannot camp on this couch in your living room forever and ever. I need some privacy, too!"

"Fine," he said, running his fingers through his hair, "you can have my room and I will sleep on this couch."

"Stop it already, Joss!" I was starting to feel frustrated now. I felt that our conversation was not going anywhere.

"Frank," he said, grabbing my arm again, "you said you needed some privacy, so I'm giving you my room so that you can have some privacy."

"I'm really sorry, Joss," I was starting to feel tired of pursuing the argument, "but I have made up my mind to have a place of my own, away from you, away from..."

I cut myself short. I had almost said "...away from the heartache of living with you, knowing that Bas is the person in your heart."

"What have I done to you, Frank, to make you want to leave me?" he asked.

How was I going to answer that, except with a lie.

"You have done nothing wrong, Joss," I said, "I just don't want to be a burden to you anymore."

"But you are not being a burden to me, Frank!" he exclaimed, "what can I do to convince you that you are not a burden to me at all, that in fact, if you leave me, I will ... "

It was his turn to cut himself short.

I did not push him to finish his sentence. It was his right not to say anything that he did not want me to know.

I stood up and started to walk to the kitchen to start washing the dishes.

He ran after me.

He grabbed my waist from behind and started to kiss me on the side of my neck while my back was still turned to him.

I pulled away.

"Joss," I said, "I need to wash the dishes."

"To hell with the dishes," he said under his breath, and grabbed me again, turning me to face him and tried to kiss me.

"This is not the way to try to convince me to stay," I said, pushing him away.

Suddenly, his phone started to ring. He took it out of his pocket.