chapter 3
“When are you going to stop? I see Lola as a sister. Her parents trusted me to look after her, that’s all. I gave her a job at the company because she’s qualified. Stop being so paranoid.”
“If that’s what you want to believe, there’s nothing I can do.”
The same lines over and over. I could recite them by heart.
I went home, but didn’t wait up for Kobe. I just went to sleep. As expected, he never came home. I knew he wouldn’t.
A message pinged on my phone in the morning. Lola’s power went out last night. I stayed to help her fix it. Got late. Didn’t wanna wake you.
Another ping. I got a room at a hotel. Didn’t stay at her place.
He was always so brazenly honest about it, never hiding anything about Lola. He seemed to think that as long as he told me the facts, he’d done his part.
My phone buzzed again. Booked us a table at that restaurant you love. Dinner tonight?
That was his classic move. An explanation followed by a treat. Whether I accepted his peace offering or not, he would consider the matter closed as long as he felt he’d explained himself. I was expected to drop it.
So many times I’d tried to push, to scream that we needed to actually talk things through. But the look in his eyes always said the same thing. He just didn’t get it. He saw me as a petulant child throwing a tantrum. And so, more often than not, I was the one who swallowed my hurt, plastering on a smile and playing the part of the mature, understanding girlfriend just to please him.
I replied, Sounds good.