PAPER VOWS Novel Chapter 14

“Dante!” I roughly knock on his car window. People really change. Is this the same Dante who used to open doors for me, who is now ignoring me? I am literally knocking on his car window, and he is ignoring me. I don’t care that he looks like he is on the phone, but I am in front of him. I am not even here to cause drama. I just want to talk to him. “Dante Lyon, open this window.”

He finally rolls down the window. I take a deep breath when he finally gives me attention. I haven’t seen this man in a year, and he looks fine as he always does. He is wearing a black t-shirt and what looks like black sweatpants.

Without even getting out of the car, Dante says, “Can I help you, Miss Willow?”

I scoff. Did this man just call me Miss Willow? Since when am I Miss to him? “Can we talk Dante?”

“We cannot talk, Aria. You are my ex-girlfriend, I have nothing to talk to you about. This also won’t look good to my woman.”

I chuckle, folding my arms, “You care about a woman. That’s a first.”

“Can you move your car? I have things to do.”

“You told your people not to open the gate for me. Not only that, but you blocked me on WhatsApp and my phone number. I didn’t know we were enemies now,” I say to him.

Still in his car, ignoring that the sun is burning me out here, he says, “Aria, why are you here? You and I have no business together. We broke up a year ago – let me rephrase that, you left me. Why are you here?”

“I want to talk.”

“Talk then, I have things to do,” he answers, picking up his phone and focusing on it. Is this Dante? Is this the same man I used to love? When he realises that I am not saying anything, he looks at me and says, “Are you just going to stand there and look at me or say something?”

“Do you love her? I am talking about your new woman?”

“I don’t have to say anything to you. You are my past; my current is not your business. Now, please move your car before I run into it,” he says, seeming very irritated with talking to me.

“Did you ever love me?”

He answers, “What would my answer do, Aria. What change will it make?”

“It will make me feel better.”

He answers, “I did love you, happy?”

“A little. I am surprised how your new woman is all over the media, yet you couldn’t even take a picture with me.”

“It is what it is, Aria. Is that all?” No emotions whatever, but then this is Dante – ever serious.

“Can I come in? I need to pee. I had a few glasses of gin.”

He looks at me like I irritate him. This is the same man who used to bury his head between my legs. We were so in love back then. He might have been busy, but Dante knows how to love a woman.

“Go to your house, Aria. I cannot let you into my house. You are my ex-girlfriend, and I know you have drama. I don’t want you in my house.”

Does having a girlfriend make him stop being human? I want to use the bathroom, not do something crazy. “Am I supposed to pee on myself?”

“Do whatever you want, Aria, I don’t want you in my house.”

“Fine, I will do it here then,” I push down my shorts, hoping he would show some humanity, but the man ignores me. I pee right there in front of him. Is Dante crazy? I really needed to use the bathroom. When done, I pull my shorts and say, “I cannot believe you.”

“If you are done, you can leave.”

“You are a horrible human being, I hope your new woman knows that.” I furiously stride back to the car.

Kelly gets out and opens the door for me. I cannot believe Dante let me embarrass myself like that. I hope no one caught that – even if they did, I don’t care. No bad thing about me circles around. People know to leave my name alone – I don’t mind suing people.

“Drive Zach! Do I have to tell you everything?” I yell at him. Doesn’t he see that I am ready to leave? Zach starts the car. We see Dante reverse a little to give us passage to turn around.

Dante can be mean all he wants. I know what kind of a man he is. Soon, that woman of his will see it too and leave him. That relationship will be over in no time.

“Give me my alcohol,” I say to Kelly, who hands me the bottle. I sit back as Zach drives us back home. I should have just listened to Paula; now I have embarrassed myself in front of a man.

I look at Kelly when she clears her throat. She better not try me because I will fire her. She softly says, “Paula was calling you, Miss Willow.”

I roll my eyes and reach for my phone that is on the seat. I attend to Paula, telling her that I am on my way back home. I will explain everything when I get back to the house. My mind goes back to Dante. Does it mean he hates me now? Did he block me after we separeted together or after he got with his new woman?

“What time is it, Kelly?” I ask her.

“I don’t have a watch or my phone with me, Miss Willow.”

I shake my head in disbelief. This person gets paid to work for me, yet cannot even give me time. As soon as we get home, I tell Kelly to tell Paula we are back while I go to my room to change, clean up and wash my hands. I need to change because that man made me pee outside like I am some animal. I will not forgive Dante for the way he treated me today. When I get back to my room, I find Paula there. I see Kelly got us more alcohol.

“Hey babe,” Paula gets off the bed and comes to hug me. I am now wearing denim shorts with a pick tank top.

“You were right, I shouldn’t have gone there.”

“I am so sorry, come, let’s sit down,” she leads me to bed and we sit. She hands me a glass of gin and asks, “What happened when you got there?”

“When I got here, they wouldn’t even let me in. At the gate, they said Dante gave the order not to let me in.”

Paula looks shocked by this. This is exactly how I felt when those men wouldn’t let me in. “Why? It’s not like you two are fighting. You two ended things civilly.”

“It turns out I have been blocked all along. You should have seen him today, Paula. He treated me like I was nothing – like I am one of his helpers.”

Paula shakes his head, sipping on her alcohol. “His new relationship must be getting to his head.”

“Clearly, this is not the same man I experienced a year ago.”

“Don’t mind him, Ari. You are a beautiful woman, you will get someone better than him,” says Paula.

“A part of me still wants him. The way he is acting now is exactly how I wanted him to act. Why couldn’t he do all that with me?”

Paula answers, “We don’t know what is really going on between them. Maybe he is just doing it for show. If he is really a bad man, then his actions will show.”

“You are right. That woman will see what kind of man Dante is.”

“Now forget about him. We could go out, maybe hit the club?” Paula suggests.

“How do we go out when the only good clubs in GoldenRock are owned by that man? It will just remind me of him.”

Paula says, “We also could stay here, that’s fine too.”

“You should have seen him today. It was like I don’t exist in his world, like we never shared anything special. Dante and I used to be so in love. He used to promise me the heavens and the earth.”

“You two separated a year ago, maybe you should accept that he has moved on,” says Paula and I give her the look. Does she think I don’t know this? Can’t she see that I am hurt that the same man who made excuses with me is doing things differently with his new woman?

“That girl isn’t even that pretty for him to be showing her all over like that.”

“Not to be mean, she is not even in his league. That man is a billionaire – she is a nobody. Dante really downgraded there. Is she maybe a one nightstand that got pregnant? Something is fishy about this whole relationship,” says Paula.

I sit with my legs folded, thinking about it. She could be onto something. Dante is trying to cover up something. Maybe he met her at one of his clubs. Maybe she is pregnant now, he is trying to make it seem like they are in love. He is concerned about his reputation. Paula and I go through Jade Marshal’s Facebook account. This girl posts almost every day. She looks like those types who post every day when about to leave for work. For some reason, this week she last posted on Wednesday.

“Is it me or her stomach looks a little bigger in her last photo? She looks pregnant,” I say to Paula.

“She does look pregnant. Why do you think she hasn’t posted since Wednesday?”

Then it clicks. “On Twitter, I saw that she is a former SP Fashions employee. I think Dante told her to quit so they can soft launch their relationship.”

Paula looks at me and says, “Do you want to be messy and start the pregnancy speculations? We can use a ghost account.”