Come Together by Jessica Hawkins

voices. I grabbed the nearest towel and sneaked out of the room into the hallway. Peering around the corner, I almost dropped my towel when I saw Maria in the doorway.

CHAPTER 8

    DRESSED IN A BODY-SKIMMING black dress that displayed ample cleavage and muscular brown legs, Maria oozed sexuality from where she stood in the doorway.
    “Maria, I won’t say it again,” David was saying, his voice hard-edged. “We’re done.”
    I watched as she blinked up at his towering frame. “But, David,” she replied in her buttery Latin accent, “I’ve been here years, waiting. I don’t deserve this. I deserve a real chance.”
    He shifted on his feet. Jealousy reared in me as I watched her eyes drop to scan his naked torso until they rested on his boxer briefs.
    “Waiting? For what?” he asked softly. “Things were casual; you knew that.”
    “Not casual, David. I’m not clingy like the other girls, but I’m here when you need me, when you don’t want them anymore. But now you dump me like nothing? I’ve put in the time, mi amor . I deserve more.”
    “More?”
    “Let me make you happy. I want a ring.”
    “A ring?” he barked. He looked over his shoulder suddenly, so I retreated behind the wall until he spoke again. “I was always upfront with you. How could you think that?”
    “You and me, we make a perfect pair, David. We make sense together. You can’t tell me you never thought of it.”
    “Listen, you have to – ”
    “We have so much history. After three years you feel nothing? You cannot turn it off just like that.” She snapped her fingers, and there was silence. “I thought so,” she cooed, placing a hand on his naked shoulder.
    My face flamed, and my heart pounded in my ears. Does he still . . . ? I backed away and into an end table.
    David whipped around. “Olivia,” he said, and Maria’s mouth dropped when she saw me. He turned back to her. “We can discuss this another time, Maria, but do not come to the apartment again. Leave your keys with Gorman downstairs. Am I clear?” She began to protest, but he held up his hand. “Clear?”
    She pursed her lips, obviously avoiding my daggered stare. “ Sí .”
    He closed the door in her face and stalked over to me.
    “You didn’t tell her?” I cried, recoiling when he reached for me.
    “I did, but she’s in denial or something. I told her it’s over.”
    “When?”
    “Just now,” he said like it was obvious, “when she came to the door.”
    “Earlier you said you would call her.”
    He sighed. “I’ve been with you the entire night. I haven’t had a chance to call her and furthermore, it’s not necessary. There’s nothing to end.”
    “Sure about that? You can’t turn it off just like that!” I snarled, my fingers snapping in his face.
    His face darkened, and he grabbed my wrist. “I’ll say this one last time,” he growled. “It’s done . You’re overreacting. She means nothing.”
    I ripped my hand away. “That was nothing? Do you think I’m blind?” I asked, backing away. “How could you not have ended this after everything I gave up for you?” I ran to the nearest room and locked myself in it.
    “Olivia,” David commanded, banging on the guest room door.
    I flung myself onto the bed and buried my head in my hands. Oh my God. Three years? Three years cannot be erased in a weekend . . . . The thought brought a sob from my chest. How much power did she have over him? Could she get him back? Did he love her?
    I could hear the fury in his voice as he called my name, jiggling the doorknob.
    “Go away,” I cried. “I don’t want to see you.”
    “Let me in.”
    “No!”
    “If I want to come in, a locked door isn’t going to stop me.”
    My heart skipped, and I clutched the pillow to my chest. “Go away!” I yelled.
    The door thumped with his weight once and then burst open with the second hit.
    “Get out!” I screamed.
    I scrambled to the headboard, but he grabbed my ankles and dragged me back. He leaped