Chapter 51: Chapter 51

“What the fuck are you doing here with my woman, Jeff?”

His face is raging with burning anger. And when he sees me on my robe, his eyes get even more dangerous.

He speeds up towards Jeff and punches him without any hesitation. For a moment, I couldn’t move.

But when I recover from my shock. I halt him from hitting Jeff’s cheek again.

“Dee, it’s not what you think,” I explain to him, but he is clouded with anger right now.

Jeff tries to be on his feet, “Sir, I am sorry, I didn’t know he’s your girlfriend, I am sorry.”

Dmitri scowls at him like a lion, “Huh, cut the bullshit, Jeff. I know you like her. Don’t hide behind your innocent act.”

“But Sir, I swear, I did-”, he tries to explain but Dee isn’t ready to listen to him.

“Stop it, Dee! He really didn’t know. He asks me if I was your girlfriend, and I answered I’m not. That’s why,” I scold him.

“You did what?”, he diverts his anger at me.

“Why, I told the truth. I am not your girlfriend,” I stand against him.

“I already told you, Avery, you are mine,” he glares at me.

“No, I, am, not!”, I emphasize every word so he will get my frustration.

He punches the wall.

Jeff tries to calm him down, but it only gets worse, “Sir, please calm down, I, I have no intention. I’m sorry.”

“Stop your charade, Jeff. I saw you! I saw how you look at her, how you enjoy holding her hand and touching her face and rubbing her back. I saw you yesterday, I saw you earlier, and now this!”, he yells at his face.

“Stop it, Dmitri! This is damn ridiculous!”, I scream back at him.

He grabs my arms and looks at me with disdain in his eyes, “Tell me, do you like Jeff? Huh? More than me?”

“Let go of me, I am hurt,” I yell at him. Jeff tries to help me but he receives another punch.

“Just go, Jeff. Go!” I order him to leave. As much as he wants to stay, I insist he leaves now.

I struggle my way out of Dee’s hand and when I get the chance, I slap him real hard. Not once, but twice.

Those couple slaps are enough to bring him back to his sanity, “Avery, why did you slap me?”

I step away from him and get some water. My heart that’s been pounding out of fear and anger will burst any moment. I need a break from this toxic argument.

“Do you really like him, huh?” he asks, a little calmer than before.

“Yes, I like him, a lot,” I look at him in the eye and bluntly respond and then I continue, But not as much as I love you. Not as much as you drive me crazy!”

“Then why did you let him touch you. I already told you, I am the only one who could touch you!”, he irrationally argues again.

“Then, why the hell did you fuck those women yesterday night, huh? Why do you keep on having sex with others? How ironic Dmitri!”, I shout at him.

His eyes widen but he doesn’t seem to get the point. He gives me a ridiculous response instead of apologizing, “But that’s different. I only fuck when I am frustrated, upset and when I can’t have you.”

I cackle at his logic and claps idiotically, “Huh? Is that so, then I’ll fuck when I’m lonely and when I’m upset with you, too!”

“What the hell, Avery? Stop acting immaturely!”, he lectures shamelessly.

“No label, no rights. I gave you an ultimatum last time. You want me to compromise, yet you are not willing to give? Hell, no! I am not free!”

“Avery, I told you, I don’t do relationships. But I assure you, you are all I want. No one else!” he continues to insist on his illogical mind.

“No! Remember this Dmitri. My body, my rules. I will accept your open-relationship bullshit but don’t stop me from fucking other men,” I warn him.

“And don’t ever make a decision for me ever again, my time and my job are also important. Check in with me if you want some fuck time,” I firmly fight for my rights.

“This is all Jeff’s fault, he deserves to be-”, he mumbles to himself, so I call him off.

“Don’t you dare fire him because that would be unprofessional, I am warning you, if you do that, you won’t ever see me again,” I say right to his face.

He remains silent and doesn’t say another word.

“If you want to fuck, let’s do it later at your own hotel, I am tired now and I am not in the mood,” I mock him, and I get on the bed and turn my back at him.

He doesn’t answer and he just slams the door.

After he left, I cry my heart out. Every tear I held in during our confrontation, I release it all now.

I cry without a sound, and my throat feels burning now.

I hate to argue with him, and I hate getting angry at him. But he has to know my worth. He needs to see my value.

I cry nonstop until I fall asleep.

***

“Ms. Anderson,” I hear a feminine voice in my dreams. I don’t know who it is, though.

“Ms. Anderson,” I hear it again and it’s starting to annoy me. So I blurt out, “What?”

“Are you awake now, Ms. Anderson?”, she says. Does she really have to ask such a stupid question?

“No, I’m sleeping, I’m dreaming can’t you see? Now, will you go out of my dream?” I hush her.

“But Ms. Anderson, you’ll be late for your meeting,” she worriedly says.

So I open my eyes and see a real person talking to me, I quickly sit down on the bed and ask who she is, “Sorry, who are you again and what meeting is it?”

Her face is full of questions, “Well, uh, according to Mr. Sullivan, you already knew since he sent you a message about it.”

“No, he didn’t,” my voice raises. “Sorry, my bad,” I calm myself up.

I just told him not to decide for me. So I reach for my phone to check his message, but I notice that my phone is off.

Then the woman says, “He says he called you plenty of times but you’re out of reach.”

Now I remember why I didn’t receive his message. I turned my phone off and forgot to turn it on because of the ruckus yesterday.

“How stupid of me!” I blurt out, “How much time do I have to prepare?”

“You have half an hour before you and Jeff leave to Mr. Sullivan’s hotel. It is fifteen minutes away from here,” she explains.

“Jeff’s still here?”, I surprisingly ask.

She smiles as if she finds my question dumb, “Of course, Ms. Anderson, he works for Mr. Sullivan.”

When I hear about that, a pain in my chest has been removed. I was worried that he would lose his job because of me.

“Okay, thank you. Please tell him to wait for me in the lobby. I’ll be there in thirty,” I ask her a favor.

Once she leaves the room, I densely turn my phone on, nervous about what I may see from his message.

When it’s finished loading, I hesitantly open the screen.

There were 13 calls from Dmitri and 5 from my bestfriend Kendra.

Then there’s one message each from Kendra and him.

With shaking fingers, I open his message, and it simply says,

“You are right. No label, no rights. Jeff will bring you to me later. See you later, Ava.”

I immediately close it and feel both disappointed and relieved all of a sudden.