No Hearts For Lenny

PROLOGUE

Lenny laughed. The open- mouthed- from- the- stomach kind of laugh. And to him it was music to his ears. Ivan locked the door behind them and drew the curtains closed. The lights were on, revealing comfy furniture. A mahogany center table, cream leather padded sofas arranged in a ‘U’. A 42” plasma TV with complementing home theatre system and satellite decoder; he didn’t play with his entertainment. It was a two-bedroom apartment, with a kitchen, dining room and sitting room. It had three bathrooms, two of which were adjoined to the bedrooms. Each modestly furnished.
Ivan’s heart squeezed in his chest while he watched Lenny's face glow with happiness.
The evening had gone well. They had gone to a mutual friend’s engagement party; Bill and Abigail. Bill was Lenny’s friend; Abigail was his ex. Abby had dumped him for Bill. It was kind of messed up if you think about it. Anyway, there had been wine and barbecue and music that just pulled the feet to dance. And at that moment, with Lenny laughing so hard at something he’d said and the moment passing in a haze of slow motion, he decided the time was right to get intimate. For the past month they had been both been too busy with work all day and resting all night only to work all day again and just last week they had rounded up a movie series for the season.

So he wound his arm round her, planting a kiss on her neck. She resisted a little, but it was alright, she always resisted a little but lust always won. Then she said something like she wasn’t in the right mood, but he’d thought she was just scared. Lenny  had always been scared of her emotions. So he had gone ahead, kissing her neck, murmuring reassurances, then planting a few stray kisses here and there. He was so aroused and the thoughts of the pleasurable things he could do to her got him on some sort of high. She moaned a little then and he’d felt encouraged and soon his movements had become frantic. He had just unzipped her gown when she slipped from his grasp.

“Ivan, I don’t want this. Not tonight” she said.
“What do you mean? It’s been over a month baby. You want this as much as I do. I can feel it in your responses. Come here” he said coaxingly pulling her back into his arms. His lips crushed hard on hers, cutting off any protests she had coming next. She wiggled in his grasp, trying to break free. But he was stronger, and soon he was done with his business. He had barely made it to the bathroom when he threw up and passed out on the cold tiles.

Ivan woke in the bathroom the next morning with a raging headache. And with the hangover came the memories of the previous night; the realization of what he had done.
“No” he whispered to his reflection in the mirror, horror in his heart. He ran out of the bathroom to find Lenny, to apologize. But the bedroom was deserted, and so was the sitting room. He made to check the kitchen but deep down he already knew the truth. She wasn’t there. She was gone. And right then he knew; she wasn’t coming back.