AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I opened the door to my parents’ house, greeted with silence. My father had only spoken to me when he felt the need to express his disappointment in me. In my marriage.
“You got married young. Too soon. But that doesn’t mean you can just give up at the first sign of trouble. You go back there and fix it,” my father had said the night I came home sobbing after Massi’s bitter words.
Though the house was quiet, a light shone from the kitchen, so I headed that way.
“Here you are.” My mom leaned on the kitchen counter, her eyes red. She must have been crying. My father stood up from the table, his chest puffed out. Great. It was time to be subjected to another of his life lessons.
“You need to pack your things tonight.”
I blinked a few times and glanced at my mother who was trying not to cry. And failing.
“You go back to your husband,” my father said.
“He needs to come to me, Dad. He hurt me. He said horrible things to me.”
“Well, I’m sure you deserved them. You need to leave. Go back to him or find somewhere else to live. You’ve embarrassed us enough. If you don’t want to go back, then admit your failure to keep the man, but not under my roof!”
Before I could react, he stormed out of the room. As the door banged shut behind him, I stood paralyzed in the kitchen. My mother didn’t try to soothe me, she just patted my shoulder and left.
I watched her climbing the stairs slowly. Her head down, her shoulders hunched. Her disappointment in me was too much to deal with.
I didn’t know how long I stood there, considering all the ways I could salvage the ruin of my life, when the doorbell snapped me out of my misery.
I opened the door and my eyes met with Bianca Cassinetti’s. The vise that had been squeezing at my chest for the past weeks tightened its jaws as Massi’s mother stared at me with an unreadable expression.
“Perhaps we could go for a walk?” It might have been phrased as a question, but there was no room for an answer. Bianca turned and took the steps down, fully expecting I’d follow.
I exhaled heavily, hoping to find strength for another round of accusations, and trudged behind my mother-in-law.
“Massi is under the impression you’ve jeopardized his dream.” She laced her hand through my arm as if we were going for a friendly stroll.
“Is that what he told you?” I struggled to keep my voice even. Why was the only person on my side Frederick? Why did nobody want to see what had really happened?
“No, he hadn’t really explained what’s going on between you two. I like you, Gina, but you must know we were all surprised about the rush wedding. Sydney hinted at the likely reason for that and I’m sorry about the baby, I really am, but you both must know it was for the best. Massi needs to focus on his work now and you need to support him. You need to return to him if you want this marriage to work out.”
We walked down our street and found a bench in the circular park that connected three streets in our neighborhood. The playground where Massi and I had sealed our commitment yawned empty behind us.
We sat there in silence. I considered explaining my pregnancy happened after the wedding, but what was the point? Everybody seemed set on the idea of what I needed to do. But I wasn’t the only person in that relationship.
“We keep hurting each other. When we are together, we fight all the time. Massi said horrible things to me, and he hasn’t reached out once in the past two weeks to talk. To apologize.”
“My son is a proud man. Many times to his detriment, but you knew this, Gina, didn’t you? Wasn’t your attraction to him related to his ability to believe the world turned around him? Didn’t you want to be a part of that world? Because if it wasn’t, I’m afraid your union had no chance of success. But as much as Massi is as proud as a peacock, when he loves, he loves with every single fiber in his body. And perhaps, at times, the recipient of such attention might feel suffocated by the magnitude of his feelings, but in the long run, his love is very nurturing. You two are too young to appreciate that.”
“Why hasn’t he contacted me if he cares?” I sounded whiny, but I didn’t care because that was how I felt. Disappointed. Hurt. Bare. And so fucking alone.
“Well, his pride comes with a side order of stupid. He’d been drinking and acting out, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t long for you. Look, you two need to decide if you’re staying together because the current situation is going to destroy him. And you, potentially.”
“Frederick offered me a job in LA.” I didn’t even know why I told her because I wasn’t considering taking it.
We sat in silence for a long time. Or perhaps just the heaviness of the conversation stretched too far.
“Gina, I don’t want to see either of you suffer. I came to ask you to talk to Massi. It’s not fair. You may think he needs to make the first step. And you might be right. Hell, knowing Massi, you are right. But, woman to woman, speaking from experience, you need to be the smart one this time.” Bianca stood up. “Either fix what’s broken, or perhaps Frederick’s offer came at the right time.”
Unable to move, I watched the proud figure of my mother-in-law walk away. Was she right? Had Frederick’s offer come at the right time? Would time apart help us rekindle our relationship? Did we need to walk away to find each other again?
* * *
Massi opened the door and exhaled as if he had held his breath for two weeks. He looked ragged, disheveled. In a plain white T-shirt and running shorts, with a week-old stubble, he also looked beautiful and so vulnerable.
