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“What?” Kevin was left confused. But he was the least of my worries now.
As Dylan led me out of that restaurant and to his car, I felt a sense of possessive behavior I had never seen from him before. He gave dirty looks to anyone that crossed our path and gripped my waist harder every time he thought I was getting out of his reach.
When I was finally inside his car, he slammed the door shut and sped away out of the parking lot. He accelerated his car as if he was taking his anger out on the wheels. But after passing a few blocks, he finally slowed down a little.
“I didn’t take you to be the jealous kind,” I said to him.
“You’re mine,” he replied and laced his fingers with mine with his free hand.
“You know I am not interested in Kevin, right?” I told him. “It was kind of cute how you got so jealous when you saw us together.”
Dylan did not reply. Instead, he kept driving in silence until the car came down to a halt, parked in a familiar driveway. I realized that we were outside of his apartment building. Dylan let out a deep sigh before speaking.
“Kathy,” he turned to look at me with an intense expression, “Don’t mess around like that anymore. I don’t like that.”
“Why not?” I countered. “It’s not like you have claimed me for yourself. As far as I am concerned, I am a single woman.”
He growled in response.
“No, you are not,” he said.
It was exciting to be in his passenger seat like this. It was as if I were in a movie, and that he was my star-crossed lover. But I needed to hear more from him.
“No, Dylan. I am not falling for this again. It’s clear that we cannot be around each other andnotfeel something,” I sighed and then braced myself for what I was about to say next.
Dylan looked at me. His anger had calmed down considerably now, but he still didn’t let go of my hand.
“I want a transfer. I want to go back to the New Jersey branch,” I finally said.
“What?”
“Yes,” I affirmed. “I don’t think we can have a working relationship with all the history between us. I knowIcan’t.”
“You just want to leave me like this?” His tone was defensive, and he squeezed my hand.
“You know I don’t want to,” I clarified. “But I am tired of being an ambiguous figure in your life. One minute you say you don’t want me as your girlfriend, but the next minute you suddenly throw a jealous fit when I go out with someone else. How does that make any sense?”
“Kathy…” Dylan tried to interject, but I was too charged up now to let him interrupt me.
“And besides, as you mentioned before, we are in different places in life. You are much older than me, and maybe this won’t work out in the end even if we were together,” I rambled. “I mean, I was stupid enough to fall for you, and yeah, I think you are amazing, but…”
“Kathy!” he yanked me towards him lightly, causing me to stop talking abruptly. Tears had started to form in my eyes.
“What?” I retorted, annoyed.
“Kathy, I need you to listen to me carefully,” he looked as though he was gathering up the courage, “I think I am in love with you.”
I thought my heart had stopped beating when he said that. I blinked twice, not sure if I heard correctly. I felt like I should be crying out of happiness but no sound came out of my mouth. I looked up to meet his gaze and his eyes showed such tenderness I had not seen before.
“I am in love with you,” he repeated more firmly this time. “I have not been able to have a single thought that didn’t concern you after finding out that you had a date with Kevin tonight. It took me too long to realize this… but you are the one I want. No one else.”
“You’re in love with me…?” I hesitated. “This is not a joke, right?”
My heart was beating so fast that it could jump out of my chest at any moment. But Dylan was calm. He pulled his hand away from mine and placed it on my shoulder. His gaze was intense but felt warm.
“No,” he assured me. “I mean it. Kathy, I love you.”
I was overwhelmed with my own emotions. In between soft sniffles I said, “I thought you weren’t ready.”
