Seriously? This is what he’s going to do again after the major fight that convinced me that he is capable of a lot more violence than I gave him credit for.
I want to be with someone who thinks that being with me is enough without all the trimmings and a houseful of kids. I want a man to be satisfied with just me for however long it takes me to be ready for the white picket fence and the junior soccer matches.
I may never want kids in spite of Nick, who once told me how unnatural that is.
“You’re just scared, Clara.”
“No, I am not. I told you how I felt about bringing children into the equation when we couldn’t even agree about the color of the freaking living room. I don’t want marriage and a family right now. I want to build my career—”
“Career? You teach second grade, for God’s sake, and make less than some cleaners earn. What kind of career is that?” he yells, finally losing his patience.
“It’s the one I want and that won’t change now or even ten years from now. Like I told you, we’re not compatible.”
I’m sure, now, that I’d never willingly go back to him.
“Clara.”
“What’s in the package, Nick?” I cut in, not willing to listen to another word.
“I bought you a new wardrobe and some better shoes—”
“I’m sending it back. I can’t wear designer clothes to work, and I don’t freaking want to! You’re not my boyfriend anymore, so stop buying me stuff!”
I disconnect the call to the sounds of him yelling and possibly cursing me out. Looks like I’ll have to move soon on top of spending a ridiculous amount of cash I can’t afford to send his attempts at controlling me back to him.
Miah would be different.
Jude once told me that she and George raised their sons, along with Roman and Jace, to understand that men were only as strong as they allowed their women to be.
I like that, because what they got out of it was five men who are well rounded and have a healthy respect for females. George and Wyatt may coddle Jude and Ellie to an uncomfortable degree, but they’re not averse to letting their wives do what makes them happy. Even if it means they’re doing something they don’t like.
Take Jude, for example. George hates the fact that she drives in the rain and won’t let him fill her gas tank, and yet she does it regularly, sometimes with him in the car.
Now that is a marriage, an equal partnership that I’d dreamed of when I first met Nick, and he fooled me into believing that he was this modern, easygoing guy.
“Clari! Open up, girl!”
I’m so lost in thought that the pounding on my door and the sound of Ellie’s voice startles me.
“Ellie? My God, woman, did you drive here all by yourself?” I ask when she bustles in, loaded down with shopping bags and her burgeoning belly.
“Of course. Here, take these, I need to get to the bathroom before I disgrace myself.”
She waddles into the kitchen a few minutes later as I’m unpacking the mountain of junk food and taking it all in with dread. Ellie is great and I usually love being around the girl, but ever since she married Wyatt, she’s been stuffing her face with all manner of junk and she expects me to follow suit.
I’m not complaining since I enjoy a good tub of Rocky Road and chocolate, but she takes this stuff to a whole other level.
“Now then, ahh, that’s better,” she moans, lowering herself into a chair at the table and kicking off her flats. “You didn’t call.”
“Sorry. I kind of got sidetracked by Nick and his stuff again,” I groan, pulling my hand back in the nick of time when she lunges for the ice cream and chocolate sauce.
“Nick called? How? I thought you changed your number when you left.”
“I did. Twice. But he keeps ferreting it out, and no, I’m not impressed, either, since he’s taken his stalking to a whole new level and sent me clothes this afternoon,” I huff, taking a scoop from her ice cream.
Eating with the rabid wolverine is a chance I take at my own peril, but this conversation definitely requires a sugar coma and the endorphins that come along with it.
“What! Crap, Clari, the man is getting worse. He knows where you live?”
“Apparently. He called to let me know that he wants me to wear the clothes. Oh, and get this, he still thinks I’m coming home.”
The ice cream helps now that I’m not as afraid or angry as I was before Ellie arrived.
“You need to be careful, Clari, this does not sound normal.”
No, but it’s not exactly what Ellie went through with her stalker, and we both know it. While I appreciate her concern, I’m conscious of the fact that to Ellie, it’s never going to seem anything less than a DEFCON situation when a man shows a little too much interest.