Post Thirty-Four: Intentions
- Britany le Fay
- Jun 2, 2016
- 3 min read
Morgan
I listened patiently while Elli told me her story. Cutting in and out at the points she was careful to avoid. Just enough to account for what Paul was yelling about. Yet still keeping the bits from me that she wasn't ready to share.
I got it, I did. I understood she had things in her life she didn't want me to know about yet. So why did it make me upset?
She recalled that she had technically lied to me earlier, when she said she was engaged for about 15 hours. Admitting that it was more for the dramatic flair of the story. They had only been engaged for over an hour when she called it off. Taking him privately away from the party to explain how she wasn't ready for marriage.
They hadn't broken up though, or at least, she didn't think they had. She just didn't want to be engaged. He had stormed off in a huff and the next day she did go over to his apartment to find him with another girl.
The part about him being angry about her sleeping with some of her friends was iffy. She admitted she never told him she had slept with Kyle, or another guy she worked with, Matt. But in her defense (as she put it) he had never asked her.
Unfortunately, as before, it was Natalie who had spilled the beans (deja vu anyone?) one time when they were drinking. Causing a rather large argument to ensue, one that she claimed they had never recovered from.
Paul felt that Elli should have forgave him for his indiscretion, as he 'forgave' her for hers. Of course, Elli had maintained it was different, since she had slept with Kyle and Matt before they were together. Whereas Paul thought, a lie is a lie, and one should excuse the other.
The part where he accused her of sleeping with me for money, or a job advance of some sort. She dismissed outright. Told me I didn't need to worry about it. It was rubbish, and not worth explaining. He was just jealous.
“The truth is, I just didn't want to be with him. I should have been honest before,” Elli finished, “but he's very prideful, so he won't stop until he gets what he thinks his wants. It's all ego though. He doesn't give a shit about our relationship, really.”
“Mmmhmm...” I nodded, “that...makes sense, I guess.”
Elli turned to face me, searching my eyes. Looking for clarity, I imagine. On how I was feeling now that I knew some of her guarded secrets.
The truth was, I wasn't thinking about her story or what had transpired with her and Paul. I was thinking about us.
I was starting to realized, Elli rarely asked me questions about myself. It was true, I had noticed many times that she left out personal details about herself, but why didn't she ever wonder about me? The relationship we had formed was becoming clearer and her intentions were starting to come into place. She saw this all as temporary, so why put in the time and effort of really knowing each other? She had no intention of continuing this beyond the week.
As she had told me before, it was fleeting.
“How did my hair get braided?” She asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.
“Oh...I did that. I just thought, you know, with the puking. I didn't want your hair getting in it,” I answered.
“You know how to braid?”
“I do,” I nodded, “I have a niece and sometimes she gets me to braid her hair.”
“You have a niece?” Elli looked weirded out, “I...that's cool. Sorry, I just, didn't know.”
“Well, you never asked.”
The words came out bitter, even though I didn't want them to.
“Sorry...” she apologized again.
I knew she could feel my tone, I might as well get on with it. She was the one who said we could talk if something was bothering us.
“Elli,” I began, “I am going to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me, okay?”
“Okay...” she hesitated.
“You never saw this going anywhere, did you?”
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