No Strings

Chapter 34--STAYING TOGETHER

I came five minutes late without calling him. In the middle of the restaurant in front of everyone Ted yelled at me. He grabbed my arm as if I was a five-year-old child. A few people watched, but didn't intervene. He pulled me by the arm. He said nothing. I could see the white fury. I was forced to stumble after him. He dragged me to the car and then started swearing. He drove the car and yelled. I tried to ignore it... but in a way I wanted this. I wanted him to do this. I set my lips form and braced for it. I wasn't going to cry. It was not the end of the world.

He sat me down, his face already red. I could see the lines in his face deepen.

"I've been talking to a friend at work..." he'd start to say. "We had a long chat."

"Yes?" I said trying not to cross my arms.

"I don't think this is working out."

I already was desensitized. I knew it was coming. I heard a roar in my ears.

"I can't do this anymore," he continued.

I said my pathetic, "Why?"

I don't know why I said it. I was supposed to take it like a real person should. Not cry, not beg, say OK.

"My co-workers... I've been talking to them and my mom... they don't think we should be together."

He started listing his complaints. The torrent released. I knew everything was my fault.

I said, "OK." But for some reason the tears came. For some reason I couldn't make them stop. I didn't know why. He drove me home, I said nothing the entire way. I cried and cried and cried. They didn't stop falling. He didn't react, he didn't cry, he said nothing....