Rob
The dents along the trunk of the Nissan are new, I know they are. I would have seen them before. When Aim isn’t around I always give her car a mini inspection just to keep her safe. I would have seen these fist sized indentions for sure.
I storm over and look closer, “What is this?”
When she starts to shuffle her feet, I know the story isn’t going to be good. “Oh, yeah. I ran into that guy again.”
“Guy?”
“Yeah, you remember?”
Then I did. I remembered the first night I reconnected with her weeks ago and the guy I had to check outside the club. My rage meter goes from two to ten in less than a second. I knew I should’ve put him the hospital.
“What!”
“Yeah, when you didn’t answer the phone I tried to find you at Avenue and he was there, but it’s fine.”
“He did this? Did he touch you?”
I’m way thrown off when she starts to laugh, “Yeah, but I touched him harder.”
Okay, that’s it. We need to talk. I jog over and ask Marce to drive the Charger home so I can drive Aim to our place, she says yes right away, but not before punching me in the arm. If I wasn’t still fuming inside over that asshole with the bad aftershave I probably would have slugged her back.
When I sit in the driver’s seat of the shitty Nissan I decide right then it wouldn’t do, I was going to get Aim a better car tomorrow. This thing is way past its prime and now it’s peppered with reminders of that little shit who tried to touch what was mine.
I start the decidedly temporary car and prepare myself not to rage too hard, “Okay what happened?”
“You did.”
“What?”
“You warned me someday I might be in a bad situation and taught me what to do if I was. And I did it, so thank you.”
“He tried to pull off you somewhere…”
“I didn’t want to go.”
I swallow hard and decide to have a meeting with my security team. If that piece of shit ever comes around there again he wasn’t going to be banned, he was going to be… detained. I keep my cool to the best of my ability.
“Did you hit him?”
“Yep!”
She’s laughing again, to be honest, I’m glad she’s not traumatized.
“Aim…”
“Trust me, you’re a great teacher. And he won’t be walking right for a while.”
“We should file a report.”
“Sure, they can put out an APB on a smelly guy with a limp.”
“Aim… “
She reaches out and rubs my back, like I’m the one who needs comfort, “I’m okay, Rob. You taught me how to be okay.”
I want to teach her more than that. I want to teach her to know she’s beautiful, and smart, and strong, and worth anything anyone ever does for her. Worth what I do for her. And I want to do everything for her. Not because she needs it – because she deserves it.
“Why don’t you live with us?”
Now she lets out a big laugh, “Hey, Maddie.”
I realize that sounded crazy and try to recover, “I mean, Marcy said your rent was high, I just thought, my place is too big for just me and her, and you don’t have to marry me or anything.”
“I would.”
“Live with us?”
“Marry you.”
I have never been so grateful for a red light, because it lets me fully look at her. The insecure aura she always gives off is gone. She isn’t crying or stammering – she’s just… mine. She pulls off her pink gloves and shoves them into her purse, “But I need to go to my apartment first.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh, “Before you marry me?”
“Shut up.” Even though she’s teasing, I do shut up. I’m afraid if I don’t I might say something to fuck up this perfect life I’m building in my mind.
When I pull up to her building she motions with her head for me to follow. I try not to get too overwhelmed by her ass as I follow her up the stairs. It’s eye level and more than close enough to grab, but once again, groping her in public might be a ‘fuck this up’ move. I control myself.
The sight of her place gives me a mix of emotions. It was so small, most of her electronics are outdated and worn down, but it’s amazing to be among her things. Everything smells like her, everything is a memory or a memento. I start to imagine how all these things would look at my place.
She doesn’t pause on her way to the bedroom and the man in me is hoping she wants to get more than a toothbrush. I was more than ready to give it to her. But I find her trying pull a broken mirror off the wall.