I woke up out of my sleep from a nightmare. I was sweating and my heart was racing. James seemed unfazed and simply rolled over when I sat up. I decided to go for a swim. My parents had an Olympic sized pool put in when they learned I loved to swim. They also added a large hot tub because they liked to soak in the warm water.
I pulled on my robe and walked to the pool. It was 3am, so nobody but the gate guards were awake. I took off my robe and dived into the pool. Swimming laps until my arms and legs felt like they were going to fall off.
I floated for a minute before getting up to sit in the spa for a bit to relax my tense muscles. I decided to turn my phone back on. 53 missed calls with voicemails and 29 missed texts from Maximo. Jesus, I thought to myself. I flipped through the texts and saw all of the ‘I’m sorry’ texts, ‘please forgive me,’ and ‘it’s not what it looked like.’ God whatever! I locked my phone and plunged deeper in the hot tub.
My sore body welcomed the warm water, it made me relax. I didn’t realize how long I had swam until the sun started to come up, it was 6am when I finally checked the time. I got out of the water, put my robe on, and started walking back to my room when the front door opened. I thought it was Nalla, but it was Maximo. He was sweating, pissed. He saw me and ran at me grabbing me hard. “Let go of me!” I squealed as he pulled me outside, shutting the door behind me.
“You don’t ever leave me again.” He said through gritted teeth. I noticed the guards were not in their posts. I wondered if he killed them just to get to me.
“Are you fucking delusional?” I yelled at him pulling my arm out of his fingers. “You cheated on me, Maximo, I literally caught you fucking someone else. You don’t get to be upset. You don’t get to tell me I cannot leave you. You don’t deserve me.” Julio was waiting by the car. He didn’t look happy to be here. “You need to leave, Maximo. I can’t stand to look at you. This is the second time I have caught you fucking someone else. I can’t live like this. In fear you are going to fuck every woman you find attractive or easy.” I was breathless. I was tired from all the swimming.
“You’re coming home.” He demanded trying to grab my arm.
“No. I’m not going anywhere with you. You deserve to be alone.” I took off my wedding ring and threw it at him.
“Pick that up.” He hissed. I turned around to walk in the house, but he caught my arm, holding me gently. “Please, mi amor. Don’t leave me like this. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” I pulled away from him, walking inside and closing the door.
I walked back to the bedroom and locked the door. I took a quick shower to wash the chlorine off my skin. If James smelt the chlorine on me he would have been upset I didn’t wake him to join me.
I dried off and climbed back into bed. I had fallen back asleep and was awoken by Nalla at 10am. “Breakfast, angel.” She had already picked me out sweatpants a lose white tee shirt and my favorite crocs. What a poor outfit, but I loved it. I got dressed and met her in the dining room for breakfast.
My heart sunk when I saw Maximo sitting at the table. Nalla looked at me nervously. “He was waiting outside, we got to talking, and I invited him for breakfast. He knows that is not an open invitation back to you, my little angel, just a civil breakfast so he can be on his way.” I nodded once and sat as far away from him as I could. He sighed and made small talk with Nalla. He was so commanding and controlling when he spoke. He was a natural-born leader. They laughed and shared stories as I looked at my food, too nauseous to eat.
I felt James’s hand on my thigh, bringing me back to reality. He held my hand, giving it a squeeze. He made me feel so safe. I excused myself and went to hide in the movie theater. Yes, my parents were so extra. They have a movie theater. I sat back in the reclining chair and turned on the projector. I flipped through the movies before finding something to watch. I turned it on and turned off the lights. I heard the door open, and Maximo sat right next to me. “Please, mi amore, I’m so sorry. Please come home with me.”
“I can’t. You hurt me. I need time to cool down.” I was crying again. I was angry and hurt. He grabbed my face, wiping away my tears.
“How long do you need?” He asked softly.
“I don’t know.” I answered honestly.
“We need to remain a united front for the cartel. If they sense weakness in my relationship, they will not find me to be as powerful as I am. I need a strong marriage to lead the cartel. My father and mother had a very strong and powerful relationship for many years before she died. I want that to carry on.”
I pulled away from him. “I don’t care, Maximo. I don’t give a shit about running the cartel with you anymore. I thought we were going to rule the world together, but you continue to hurt me. So no, I don’t care about maintaining a united front for appearances. It will be widely known I am unhappy if someone just looks at me. Just leave me alone.” I turned off the projector and started to walk out when he grabbed my arm.
“I will give you a week to cool off and make it back home to me. If I don’t see you in a week, I will come for you, you do not want me to come for you.” He warned before kissing my lips softly and walking out. I sunk to the floor and hugged my knees. I started crying hard, hyperventilating. A week. Wow. What a dick. Doesn’t even own up for his mistakes.
Whatever, I thought, I would get him back, and I knew just how to do that.
He kissed Nalla goodbye and left without saying anything more.