Vapas Karo
Hindi. Translation: To take back
Adrienne took out a pair of two-piece suit from the bag she brought with her when she first went to her friends’ room. Now that she’d relieved herself of Troy’s chains, and Kimberly had just shown her that she is not entirely prudent like she appeared to be, Adrienne thought that there’s no harm in wearing a perfectly decent two-piece suit. If her parents arrived in the evening and if her mother lectured her on the virtues of being prudent, she must remember to point out that her favorite daughter did more than wear a piece of revealing clothing.
When she finished dressing, she was happy to see that her suit highlighted her flat tummy, her curves and her long legs. Jill lent her a pair of very sheer white capri pants. The outfit looked decent, but showed a hint of her bikini underneath. She felt sexy and stylish. She thought that if she was still with Justin, she knew exactly what he would say to her.
Her phone rang. It was her father.
“Sweetheart,” he started. “We can’t make it. Your mother and I both have emergency surgeries. We just can’t get out of this. Troy’s parents decided not to go too. We figured you kids can have some fun without us.”
“All right, Dad,” she answered.
Kim is already having more fun than I am.
“Take care, okay?”
She looked at Jill and Yuan. “One problem out of the way. My parents aren’t coming anymore.”
“Good. At least you didn’t have to pretend to be civil to Troy and Kim in front of them.”
They went down to the restaurant to have dinner. She chose a table in a secluded corner outside. She sat with her back on the crowd. If Kimberly, Troy or Justin walked in, she didn’t want to see any of them.
Fortunately, none of them showed up and she was able to eat a full meal in peace. All Jill and Yuan talked about were their latest dates and escapades. They also planned a night out the following week, where they would go bar hopping.
“The best way to meet guys!” Jill said.
“Both straight or not,” Yuan agreed.
After dinner, they hung out by the beach front. Yuan got them some beers.
“All right, Adrienne, whatever pain you feel, let’s talk about it. Now. With spirits! Don’t go Miss Prude on me, darling.” Yuan handed her a bottle of beer.
She took a gulp. It was very cold, thus, she didn’t mind the strong taste.
“Will you ever forgive Kim?” Jill asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m aware that she hated me, but I never expected her to sleep with my boyfriend, either. I mean, sure, Troy is barely a boyfriend, but still, if she had the decency, she wouldn’t do it with him. Or at least wait until we break up before she did something like that. It’s disgusting!”
“Have you ever thought about seeing somebody else aside from Troy?” Jill asked.
She stared at them. Has the time to be honest finally come? She did promise herself she would come clean to her friends once she broke up with Troy. Well, she and Troy are history now!
She nodded. “Yes, of course. My relationship with Troy was absolutely less than perfect and I did… feel the need to be with someone who lights up my fire.”
“During those dry spells, didn’t it even cross your mind to explore… you know… other horizons? Or were you just… so resigned to the fact that you’re gonna marry a vegetable?” Yuan tried to put it mildly. But Adrienne knew that what he really meant was, ‘Didn’t you even think about sleeping with somebody else while you were with Troy?’
She sighed and took a gulp of her bear, for liquid courage. Then she replied, “Yes. Yes…I did.”
I slept with somebody else. I cheated on Troy. She wanted to add those sentences but the words never came out.
“Why did you wait this long to break up with that loser?” Jill asked.
“Troy was the only guy she went out with,” Yuan told Jill. “Could you blame her for not having anybody else to compare him to? She wouldn’t know that Troy was the sorriest excuse for a boyfriend because she didn’t know any better.”
Adrienne took a deep breath again and mustered all the courage she could. “Actually…I know that. I was able to compare my relationship with Troy with someone who was…” She took a deep breath. “Pure perfection. The relationship was an absolute bliss.” Again, she felt her heart break a hundred more times.
Her friends blinked back at her. “What?”
“Sometimes, I couldn’t believe what I was doing. Like one time, I went to Gypsys. I dressed up in this very sexy outfit that Jacob picked for me. I went to that bar like a vixen in search for my latest prey. And…sometimes, I still think I just imagined it. Like it was a dream.”
“Adrienne, what the fuck are you talking about?” Yuan asked.
She smiled at them bitterly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you earlier, guys. I hope you can forgive me.”
“What?”
“There was somebody else. Troy was the official boyfriend. But he wasn’t the guy I was in love with. There was someone else. I know what you’re saying about sharing passion and intimacy with a guy. And you’re right. It was perfect. It was pure bliss.”
Yuan and Jill went silent for a moment. Adrienne looked at them and realized that they weren’t even looking at her. They were staring at somebody behind her.
She turned around and found Troy staring down at her. She stood up and faced him. “What do you want?” she asked.
“What did you just say?” he asked angrily. “There was somebody else?”
“That’s beside the point, Troy. We were done a long time ago, you know that!”
“Adrienne…we can still fix this!”
“We were nothing before, Troy! You were… a ghost of a boyfriend! You were not even a friend most of the time! Where did you think our relationship was going? And then you screwed my sister? That just made it so impossible for me to even think good thoughts about you!”
Troy’s face turned red. He took deep breaths. Then without warning, he took hold of her wrist and pulled her to him.
“Let me go!” Adrienne said, yanking her arm away.
“We lacked intimacy! That’s why it went downhill for us!” he said. “But it didn’t have to be like that, Adrienne. I planned this weekend so we could finally cross that line!”
“And you decided to be intimate with my sister as well? That’s beyond thinkable!”
“It’s you I love, Adrienne! Kim was a mistake! She was… she was always there! And I always missed you. It killed me to have to be so far away from you. It’s you I really want! What Kim and I had was just sex. And it won’t happen again!”
Adrienne shook her head. “But I don’t love you, Troy. There had been nothing between us for a long time. It didn’t matter whether you were screwing my sister behind my back. I was going to break up with you anyway.”
“Because there was someone else?” he asked in a grave tone. “Who was he?”
“It doesn’t matter, Troy. It’s not about him. It’s about you. I don’t love you.”
Adrienne saw the anger in Troy’s face turn to fury. Then without warning, he took her by the forearm and pulled her away, this time with so much more force.
“Damn it, Troy! Let me go!” she cried, struggling to pull away from him.
He started dragging her, not listening to her pleas.
“Troy, please, let her go!” Jill said.
“Let her go or we’re calling security!” Yuan said.
“You two stay out of this!” Troy fired back at them.
He turned to Adrienne and grabbed her other forearm. He was bruising her arms now.
“I waited for so long and got nothing! And somebody else got to enjoy your body, you slut!”
His face had gotten within only a few inches away from hers and he smelled of beer. Adrienne realized that Troy was drunk! She panicked when she realized that he was leaning forward to kiss her on the lips. She struggled but he was too strong for her.
She could hear Yuan and Jill screaming. With all her might, she launched a slap on Troy’s face that made him fall back.
“You bitch!” he roared. And before she could see what was coming, she felt a sharp pain on her cheek, so strong that it made her fall to the ground.
Yuan launched a punch at Troy, but he jabbed him in the ribs and he, too, fell to the ground.
Jill screamed again. “Help! Help us!”
Adrienne started to get up. She saw what could be the scariest thing she had seen in her entire life: Troy’s face, filled with fury, as he started for her again.
Just when he was about a meter away from her, somehow he got pulled back. The next thing she saw was Troy, on the ground being beaten up.
There were two other guys. They had pulled on Troy’s assailant to stop him.
“Shit man, stop it!” one blonde guy said. “You could kill the guy! He’s down already.”
It took her a moment to realize that it was Justin. He had mounted Troy and punched him to the core. His face was red and Adrienne realized that she had never seen him raging like this before. When he finally stopped attacking Troy, his friends had to hold him back to make sure that he didn’t go for him again. Troy sat up from the ground, holding his jaw in pain, and looked like he didn’t know what had hit him or why.
Justin bent to pick up his shades that fell to the sand.
“What the fuck?” Troy shouted at him, when he found the voice to speak. “What’s your freaking problem? Mind your own damn business!”
Justin didn’t answer. He turned to Adrienne. The minute their eyes met, she knew he saw the terror on her face. She had turned pale. He went to her.
“Justin,” she whispered.
He didn’t say anything. Instead, he put an arm around her waist and tilted her chin up to see the damage that Troy’s slap did to her. Troy had hit her harder on her lower lip, and it had started bleeding lightly.
“Oh, honey…” he said very softly. Amidst all the terror that she had just gone through, Adrienne wanted to break down and cry. Not because of the fear she just felt, but because of the gentleness in Justin’s voice. And because she heard him call her honey again.
Justin bent down to touch her lips with his, on the part that it was bleeding. She realized that he sucked the blood that was coming out of it.
“What the fuck…” Troy cursed when he saw what Justin did.
Justin turned to him again. Fury and rage returned to his face.
“Didn’t your mother tell you not to raise your hand to a girl, Troy?” Justin asked coldly. Justin still obviously fumed. He released Adrienne and started for Troy again. “And guess what? You picked the wrong girl to mess with, asshole!” Then he punched him on the jaw one more time. Troy fell to the ground again.
“Justin, please?” Adrienne pleaded softly. He looked at her and nodded slightly.
He went to her again and seeing how terrified she was, he enclosed her in his embrace, as if telling her that everything was going to be okay. She could feel safe with him now.
“I’m sorry, honey. I’m sorry, I didn’t come soon enough,” he said to her as he caressed her head. “I wouldn’t have let him hurt you.”
She shook her head, as tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn’t know whether it came out of relief, or because of the fear she felt, or because she was so happy being in his arms again.
She felt him kiss her temple. She closed her eyes and prayed that it wasn’t a dream. That he was here for real. That she was back in his arms again.
“Justin, man…” one of his friends called him. “Can we have a word?”
Justin nodded and pulled away slightly from Adrienne. He stared at her for a moment and then kissed her forehead. “Wait a second, hon.”
She nodded and Justin went to talk to his friends.
Yuan and Jill went to her in obvious awe. She realized that the moment of revelation had come. Fifteen minutes ago, she considered being honest with them. She planned to take it slow, and offer explanations…to break it to them gently. But now, they were staring at her as if they had just been bitch-slapped with the truth.
Troy had gone to sit on the sand. Kim had magically appeared at his side. Adrienne turned to Yuan and Jill again.
She felt lost for words now. She knew that there’s nothing she could say that would make them not hate her at all.
Finally, Jill was able to find her voice. “‘Honey?’ Justin Adams just called you ‘honey?’”
She opened her mouth to say something in her defense but no words came out.
“What is going on, Yen?” Yuan asked. “I mean, clearly, Justin Adams came here to rescue you from your lunatic ex. That part we get. But…him hugging you, kissing you, and calling you honey, with so much familiarity…it makes no sense!”
“And you were right. His eyes are blue. That wasn’t a guess, was it? You knew that before. I remembered you saying crystal blue. The exact color of his eyes. We barely see him without the shades. But it looks like you’ve looked into his eyes more often than anyone else.” Jill shook her head.
“Adrienne…were you the girl that Justin was referring to in the interview?” Yuan asked. “The one that he said he was involved with?”
Adrienne whimpered. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Then she nodded slightly.
“Oh my God!” Jill breathed.
Yuan threw his hands in the air. “I can’t believe this!”
“I tried to tell you before,” Adrienne said. “But you laughed at me. You thought I was joking.”
“Then you should have slapped both of us and told us you were serious!” Yuan said in a frustrated voice.
“I was about to tell you before Troy came to us,” Adrienne said in a quiet voice. “And I will tell you everything. I’ll explain everything from the beginning. But I can’t do that now, not after what just happened. I hope you can understand me and give me some time to sort things out.”
They didn’t say anything. They stared at the figure standing behind her. Justin reappeared at her side and wrapped an arm around her waist.
“Hey, Jill, Yuan,” he greeted them casually. Finally, he met them. And this was not the way Adrienne imagined introducing Justin to her friends.
Jill and Yuan nodded at him, but they still gave Adrienne a cold, murderous look.
Justin turned to Adrienne. “We better get you inside, honey,” he told her. “You’re cold, and we need to attend to that wound.”
Adrienne nodded. She turned to her friends. “I’ll talk to you guys, later. I’m really sorry.”
Justin put an arm around her shoulders and walked her back towards the hotel silently.
She felt too shaken and too confused. But she was also happy. In her mind, she kept asking if he was real. If this was real. Did he really walk with her? Are his arms really around her once again?
When they entered the elevator she said, “Justin, I can’t go back to my room. I’m sharing it with Kim, and I can’t stand to be in the same room as her now. I just can’t.”
Justin stared at her for a moment. “I never said we’re going to your room,” he said. His voice was serious and a little cold. The look that he gave her was distant. “You and I need to talk, too. And I’m not taking no for an answer this time.”
Her heart pounded in her chest. Justin stood next to her, but didn’t touch her. It seemed like forever before the elevator stopped on his floor.
Justin led her to his room. He rented the suite, with a king-sized bed and a big balcony. The room she shared with Kim was even smaller than Justin’s living room.
He closed the door behind him. She stared at him nervously. He looked back at her.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“For what?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Rescuing me from Troy. I realized Yuan couldn’t do much to him.”
“I would have done more to him had you not pleaded with me to stop,” he stated coldly.
“Justin, you could get into trouble for that. What if Troy sues you for damages? You gave him the beating of his life.”
Justin shook his head. “I don’t care. He shouldn’t have touched you! He deserved what he got.”
Tears were shining on Adrienne’s eyes as she looked up at him. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’m so glad you’re here!”
He didn’t move. He just kept looking at her, studying her, waiting for her to say something. In his eyes, she could still see how deeply she hurt him. How small she made him feel.
“Oh God, Justin, I’m so sorry,” she whispered. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“For what?” he asked.
“For…not listening to you. For not giving you a chance to explain.” She continued weeping.
He raised a brow at her. “And?”
“For…lying about you to my friends. For making you feel like I’m ashamed of you…of what we had.”
When he still kept silent, she stared back at him, wondering what was going on in his mind. “Go on,” he urged.
She smiled bitterly. “For not fighting for you. For giving you up. For not believing in you in spite of all the things you showed me. For not trusting you…even though I should know better. For thinking… that you were cheating on me.”
“Do you still think I slept with her?” he asked in a steady voice.
Adrienne looked down on her feet, feeling ashamed of herself. She shook her head. “No.”
She felt Justin tilt her chin up so she could look at him. “Do you still think I would cheat on you?”
She bit her lip. “Would you?”
Justin groaned. Suddenly, he snatched her by her waist and crushed her into his arms. “You are unbelievable! You drive me crazy sometimes.” His voice was gentle, his arms tight and warm around her. Then he pulled away and looked into her eyes. “I know you lived your life around inconsiderate people who did nothing but crush your spirit and made you feel that everything that you are, and everything that you do… is mediocre.
They’re wrong, Adrienne! I am here in front of you, and I’m telling you now… that you’re the most beautiful woman in my eyes. You’re amazing. You’re beautiful, inside and out. And I am absolutely, undoubtedly crazy about you. And no! I would never ever cheat on you.”
Adrienne smiled in spite of her tears. She couldn’t believe that she heard these words from Justin. That finally he spelled it loud and clear that he’s crazy about her.
Justin looked into her eyes and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “So now… Troy is history?”
She nodded.
“Sure? You told him it’s over? Finito?”
“I did,” she replied. “I wished I said it to him before I found him in between Kimberly’s legs though. But nevertheless, I told him.”
Justin raised a brow at her. “He was sleeping with your sister?” he asked, obviously finding that hard to believe.
“Yup. I wish they just told me, you know. I didn’t need to see the evidence.” She let out a little shiver.
Justin grinned. “So, the position of current and official boyfriend is finally open?” he asked, his eyes dancing.
She smiled at him, her heart pounding inside her chest.
“Yes,” she replied.
“If you don’t mind, Miss Miller, I would like to apply.”
She grinned at him. “Well, I’ll have to see if you pass the audition first,” she teased.
Justin’s eyes gleamed and he smiled at her mischievously. Adrienne realized then how naughty and kinky she sounded.
Justin pulled her to him just a little roughly. She shrieked. “Justin, wait! I didn’t mean…” she started protesting.
He lifted her off her feet, his hands cupping her thighs, making her wrap her legs around his waist and he started carrying her to the couch.
“Don’t worry, Miss Miller. I know exactly what you mean!” Her laughter died in her throat as he crushed his lips to hers as soon as she landed on the soft cushions. A few minutes later, she was screaming his name as he took her to the edge of oblivion, and soon after he met her at the gates of Nirvana.