“The thing is, she has to fall in
love with you! Because that’s what I decided must happen!” Elizabeth shouted, as
she pecked away at her keyboard.
Zane had rebelled one too many
times.
“I listened to your reasoning,” she
went on. “I cared enough to let you speak your piece, but it just won’t do! You
will let her fall in love with you, and you will stay and love her back, just
as I’d planned!”
The problem wasn’t that Zane didn’t
love Marie, because he did. He loved
every hair on her head, every fleck in her eye. The problem was that he was
trying to run away from her, trying to keep his secret from her, hoping
Elizabeth wouldn’t reveal it.
Their story was much deeper than Marie
realized, but he feared the day she found that out. She’d always just assumed
she’d met him at the bar one night—just a random joining of fates. But Zane
knew that’d not been their first meeting. He couldn’t deny himself the chance
to get to know her—really know her.
They’d become so close lately, and he didn’t want to let that go, but it was
time for him to leave.
He wished so badly Elizabeth would let
him go, or just leave his secret in the shadows so they could be together. But
he knew how she worked all too well; she’d keep all those pertinent little details
to herself until just the right moment, when she’d cram them all down Marie’s
throat in one violent, emotional helping.
He cringed.
What would Marie do? Would she run
away and never come back? Of course she would…
Elizabeth was a control freak;
everything had to happen exactly like she wanted it to. The second he tried to make
a turn—a turn for a route he wanted to
take—she’d throw in the towel and disappear for two days, gathering her
literary artillery. She had her moments—moments when she’d give in to him—like,
when he’d been about to shoot that disgusting bastard outside the bar that
night, and she’d realized that he wasn’t a killer after all, and allowed him to
just kick his ass, instead. Nonetheless, she irked him, like a pesky little
piece of dust under his eyelid.
The words sped across the screen,
as she continued ranting, the letters appearing quickly. There wouldn’t be room
for rebutting from him anymore; she’d just say everything as quickly as she
could and that would be that!
Marie found every seed Elizabeth had
planted. She’d followed every breadcrumb, just like she was supposed to. She rounded
the corner, eyes blazing. “It was you, wasn’t it?” she seethed, tears already
streaming down her face. “I knew your voice was familiar!”
Zane recoiled at the sound of her
pain. He didn’t know if he could hear her say it…or if he could admit it.
He wouldn’t have to. She knew.
“You abducted me, didn’t you? It was you!”
His face contorted and his insides
knotted. He’d hate Elizabeth for the rest of his life for doing this! “Marie,
please,” he pleaded. “You don’t understand. I can explain everything. I swear!”
She slapped his hand away, the
flames in her gaze daring him to touch her again. “I don’t want to hear
anything you have to say, Zane! That was the most horrifying time of my life!
It scarred me, ruined me! And all
this time, it was you!”
Zane reached for her again, not
knowing what else to do. “He was going to kill me!” he reasoned. “I was just
following orders! If I hadn’t taken you, he would’ve killed me, Marie! I let
you go! I let you go, and I beat the hell out of his crony when he came after
you. Doesn’t that count for something?”
She ignored his question. “You let
me have feelings for you, knowing what you did! You let me think I met you at
the bar! But you knew you’d met me before!” The words were muffled under her
sobs.
“I’m so sorry! I fell for you,
Marie. I had to find you, so I went looking for you.” He’d dropped to his
knees, crying, begging for her mercy.
Her face had turned more serious
than hurt. Her eyes glazed over, and her hands clenched into fists at her side.
“You’re not who I thought you were. You abducted me from my home, Zane. You
kept a mask over my face for a week!
How could you do something like that?”
He got to his feet, and she let him
take her hands this time. “Marie, please, try and understand why I did it. I
love you…”
Her chin quivered, shattering his
composure. “I could never love someone who did what you did. You belong in
jail.”
More than his poise broke this
time; every part of him broke. All he’d wanted was to leave before things got
serious, before she had more than just feelings
for him. He’d wanted to leave before she found out. Then, he’d have to live
with what he did, and Marie never would’ve had to know.
Elizabeth tagged on a stern period, ending the
sentence and the chapter. She dusted her hands together, just for a dramatic
effect (such a long chapter warranted something dramatic). She let out a satisfied
sigh as she fell against the back of the chair. “Oh, Zane! You rebellious character,
you,” she said, grinning. “You’ll get your happy ending. Don’t worry.”
