Shawn
"Laura, I didn't mean to—"
"You didn't do anything, Shawn," she said. "I feel sick. I'll be heading home now."
"I'll drop you off," I said, my weary gaze searching her face.
"You don't have to. My driver will."
"I insist."
–—
I leaned over and opened the door for Laura. "You're home."
"Thanks," she said and swiftly came out of the car.
"Laura," I called out, slowly.
"Yes."
"I'm sorry," I said.
"I have no idea what you are apologizing for." She smiled ruefully when she said it.
I stiffened. "About early—"
"Do you want to come in and say hi to Lena and Luke?"
I bit my lips. "Yes, sure—"
My phone buzzed, interrupting us. I glanced at it. It was a message from someone I had never expected to hear from again. My exgirlfriend, Erica Peters: Hey, love. I'm coming over.
"Em… maybe another time, Laura. Something came up," I said, frowning.
She nodded, her smile disappearing. "Is everything alright?"
I flicked my eyebrows. "No… I mean… yeah. Say hi to Lena and Luke for me," I said, starting the car's engine.
"I will. Bye," she said, giving me a worried look.
"Bye,"I said and drove off.
I arrived home and saw Erica standing at the front porch of my house. Erica had long curly blonde hair with gray eyes. I used to think she was the most beautiful girl in the world until I met Laura. She was strikingly beautiful with long jet-black hair and hazel eyes.
"What are you doing here?" I questioned, as I approached her.
"I see you added a new tattoo to your neck and chest," she squinted her eyes. "What's that? Laura? Love… Lena and Luke and then a rose flower. This reminds me of when you tattooed my name on your chest."
"Stop it," I growled, grabbing her arm. "We are done."
She stretched her hand and touched my necklace which had a cross pendant. "This is beautiful and so is your chest," she said, touching my chest. Her hand began to slowly slide down my abs. I was used to exposing my neck, chest and some abs, even when wearing a suit.
I caught hold of her hand when it tried to go lower. "Stop it," my husky voice warned.
"There's something about your aura. Your mean demeanor. The way you act when you get angry. Your hoarse voice. Your presence." She chuckled and bit her lips. "I miss us."
"There is no us, Erica. You left me for another guy," I snapped, through gritted teeth.
"And I'm back," she said with a smile. "Back for good. I'm back because there was once a time you were crazy for me, there was once a time you were so overprotective and loving. There was once a time you were so obsessed with me. There was once upon a time you were ready to kill for me."
"Did you forget what you said to me when I pleaded with you to come back to me? You said you couldn't go back to your vomit and you didn't read your books backward. So what the hell are you doing here?"
She placed her hands around my neck. "I missed you, Shawn. I regret ever leaving you for Aaron. He abused me and I almost died. Actually, he had blackmailed me into getting together with him. He had a fake videotape of me stealing from my boss. I was so scared, Shawn. I didn't want to lose my job."
I walked past her and opened the door. Then I got in. She followed behind me and shut the door.
"Listen, I don't need your explanation. I have work to do."
"I never stopped loving you, Shaw—"
"Shut the fuck up!" I screamed.
"Shawn," she cried out. "You promised you'd never hurt me."
"That was before you left me," I yelled, opening my laptop and starting it.
She moved closer to me and crouched down. "I know you're mad at me and I deserve it," she said, holding my hand. "Please give me another chance and we can work this out."
I turned to face her, my hand reaching for her neck. I caressed it. "What do you really want from me?" I whispered, furiously.
"I want you to love me the way you used to. I want this to work."
"Have you run out of cash? Is that why you came back?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.
"No, I swear. It's because I love you," she said, lifting herself closer to me, that we were almost nose to nose with each other.
"Shawn," she slowly called out, about to kiss me. I pulled back.
"If this might interest you, I'm in love with someone else," I said, gently pushing her backwards.
The last time I saw her was three months ago. We had bumped into each other. Before then, we hadn't seen each other in years.
Back then when she was my girlfriend and I had also put an engagement ring on her finger, it was fire. It was hot. It was sexy. We would romance in the elevator, in the pool, in the restaurant and just anywhere. She was like a burning flame. Very hot. But, things had changed after she stood me up on our wedding day and eloped with my best friend, Aaron.
I had met Erica months after she had broken up with her ex-boyfriend. A friend of mine had actually hooked me up with her. I was so into business that I never really had time for women. But when I met Erica, things changed. I loved her so much, I gave her everything she wanted, I gave her love, time, attention and affection. And what did she do in return? Cheat on me with Aaron and left me for him. Ever since then, I'd never really been with another woman. I'd sworn never to love another woman. Until fate made me cross paths with Laura.
My phone started to ring.
"Ignore it," she whispered
"I don't ignore calls. It has got to be an important call. Business or someone I care about." I dipped my hand into my pocket and brought out my phone. It was Laura calling.
I answered the call. "Hello, Laura. Is everything alright?"
I heard her sob. "Lorenzo," she cried out.
"Did he hurt you?" I questioned, eagerly. If he had done anything to hurt her, I wouldn't hesitate to find him and teach him a lesson he would never forget.
"Baby, who's that?" Erica asked. She definitely did that on purpose.
"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called," Laura said and ended the call.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I questioned, angrily.
Erica walked closer to me, hugging me from behind.
"Stop it," I snarled. "You disgust me. I don't love you anymore. Have some decency and stop trying to force yourself on a man that's madly in love with someone else. A good and responsible woman unlike you."
Without waiting to hear her say anything, I grabbed my car key.
"You're going to leave just like that?" Erica questioned. "For something I guess is of less importance to you. Why are you like this?"
Laura was very important to me. She was in a bad state and I needed to be there for her. She was more important to me than a fling, than a one-time pleasure which I wasn't interested in.
"Duty calls," I said and stormed out of the room.
"It can fucking wait…"
It sure could but as for me, I couldn't.
"You are free to leave whenever you get tired of waiting. My security team will lock up once you leave," I shouted. "And one last thing, don't you ever show your face to me again, Erica."
"You'll regret this, Shawn. I won't let any bitch come in between us," Erica yelled. "Whoever that girl is, I'm going to be her nightmare."