Marrying my high school bully

Lorraine

My phone rang loudly, disrupting my conversation with Victoria but I couldn’t complain as the caller was an important one.

“Hey, Bumpy,” I greeted casually. “Missed me?”

He chuckled lazily. “It’s part of the reasons I called you, but not the main one.” He stated.

“What other reason could that be?”

“I’m leaving.” He responded almost immediately and my heart fell.

He couldn’t leave, but then I remembered that he came to California because of a business deal with Dexter and he’d have to return to his city. “Are… Are you for real?” I knew that my emotions were becoming obvious but I didn’t care.

“Let’s meet in twenty minutes at the park. Tell your husband about it so he wouldn’t send men to strangle my neck when he finds out we are together.” He joked, trying to make the atmosphere lighter.

It didn’t work.

Bumpy has become a part of my life. He was the kind of friend I prayed to have and now he was leaving. We could talk over the phone, but it couldn’t be compared to knowing he was in the city.

“Are you still there?” His voice was like a bell, intruding on my sad thoughts.

“Yes. I’m here. Just missing you already. Why do you have to go back anyways?” I whined. I knew that I sounded selfish, but I just wished that I could find a way to keep him in California for the time being.

A sound resembling a sigh left his lips, then I heard a chair creak. “I have my business to run in Chicago. The reason I’m still around is because of you.” He admitted as I swallowed, my tongue running dry.

“What do you mean?”

“Like I said earlier, come to the park and we’ll talk.” His voice became distant but since I didn’t want to push it, I decided to give him what he wanted.

Massaging my forehead and ignoring Victoria’s questioning glance, I said. “I’ll be there at fifteen.”

“Who’s that?” She asked when I got off the call then I remembered that Bumpy was actually Victoria’s ex.

We had started afresh on a good note and since I wasn’t sure of her present feelings for him, I decided to keep him a secret. “A friend I have to see immediately. I’ll tell your brother that I’m leaving so he can come and stay with you.” I informed her and she nodded.

I’d gotten to the door when she called me, bringing me to a halt. “Any problem?” I spun around, worried that she might be having a headache.

“No.” She said as relief washed over me. “You asked me why I chose to speak with you before my brother, right?”

“Yes…”

She inhaled deeply and flashed a bright smile. “It’s because I trust you.” She said simply and I felt my heart melting.

My eyes churned with tears because her brother didn’t even trust me. Though we were silently trying to work things out, I knew that it would be hard for him to have the same blind trust he had in me in high school.

“Thank you, Tori. I’d like to call you that.” I rushed towards her, my arms wide open for an embrace.

Amidst the turmoil and the downward trajectory my life had taken, something felt right for the first time.

“You are very free to call me that, Lorri.” She laughed.

A look of understanding passed between us and deep down, I knew that a new chapter had been opened for us. “That’s a weird one, but I like it.” I stared at my watch and sprung away from her. “Someone’s waiting for me.” I reminded her.

“Have a great time.” She wished me as I trotted out of her ward.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

While hoping that I’d quickly find a cab to take me to the park, I searched around for Dexter who had apparently disappeared. Since I’d given Bumpy a time frame, I had to leave without telling him.

Luckily, I found a cab and flagged it down. I got in and we headed for my destination. As he drove on, my mind went to Bumpy’s statement that I’d refused to acknowledge.

He said he had been around because of me, but why was he leaving soon?

I sighed, knowing that I couldn’t get everything I wanted. Chicago wasn’t so far from here and if he valued our friendship, we’d make time to see each other.

The silence in the cab was beginning to get me bored. My mind flashed to the interesting conversations I used to have with my cabbie. It wasn’t forced and I usually looked forward to going to work in his cab, before the video from the ice-cream parlor trended.

I checked my wristwatch for the umpteenth time, getting disappointed that we hadn’t gotten there yet. I took a peek of the environment from the window and realised that we weren’t on the route to the park.

“Excuse me, Mr. I think we’re on the wrong route.” I called out to him.

“Don’t worry, there are different routes to the park. There’ll be traffic on the main route by this time, hence my decision to follow this one.” He explained with a chill tone, but I wasn’t satisfied with his response.

I didn’t want to sound imposing so I gave him the benefit of the doubt and let him do his thing. I reached for my phone which was inside my bag to text Dexter but my phone had gone off.

“Oh no. I charged this phone.” I muttered under my breath.

An unmistakable dark chuckle came to my hearing as shivers ran down my spine. Something was wrong and I began to feel uncomfortable in the car.

I glanced at the driver’s face through the mirror and flinched in fear. His expression was unsmiling with a scar running from his cheek to his jaw.

If he had such a scary scar on his face, I wondered how much more his shirt hid.

Masking my fear behind a sweet smile, I pretended to scroll through my phone then sighed. “Ummm.. Sir, can you drop me off here?” I made sure my voice didn’t show any hint of fear or he’d use it against me.

“I decide that, sweetheart, so shut up and allow me to drive us to the destination peacefully.” He replied coldly.

The destination?

What was he talking about?

I raked through my hair and wiped up the sweat that gathered under my chin. “What destination? I really need to get down now.” I demanded firmly.

He shrugged and changed the gear, increasing the speed of the car. “You’ll know soon.”