Thirty minutes ago,

Todd was quietly nursing his Vodka and patiently waiting for Evangeline while a call came in. at first, he had tried to ignore it but apparently the caller was pretty persistent. “Speak bitch.” he holler at the phone.

“Wh….at??” he paused. “You are kidding right?”

“……. …….. … …. ..”

“How dare you threaten me?” he pounded his fist on the table. “ Do you know who I am? Have you forgotten what I can d…..”

“. …. …… … ….. ….. . …….. … …. … “

“ Big mistake, huge mistake. If you ever try that, I will kii…… you.”

“…….. … ….. ….. . …”

“ What do you want?”

 “……. …. .”

“No way, I cant do that. Did you expect us to be more than fuck mates? I mean.. common that was all you were ever good for and by the way, the sex wasn’t that great, god!!!

 “… ……. …… …. …. … …. …… …”

“Gush!!! the sound of your voice always made me wish I could crawl into a hole and get stung by a Python instead…..come to think of it you gave me crabs so I guess I did get stung.”

“…. … … .. …..”

“ what more do you want? I gave you more than you and your whole family could ever make in their whole lives and I’m sure there’s a lot left over to buy you your fair share of dicks till you die or till your back falls off.”

“…. …. …. ….. …… ….”

“What!! You’re right behind me?” he turned around and saw Blair, he got up and dragged her to a VIP room to get things settled once and for all.

Few hours later he went home as a happy man with Evangeline.

Hours later,

He was still on top of her, laughing so hard that she couldn’t help but ask. “ Is that from pure satisfaction or plain mischief?”

He kissed her sweaty forehead and smirked. “ It’s from both. We are so insane.”

“How?”

“Who else would make love with the song we use to be friends playing in the background?”

She clutched at his skin as she could still feel the after effect of the orgasmic currents that ripped through her body, She held him so tight it was hard for her to breathe.

Yes!! they had just finished making love, but this time it felt different, it felt as if a part of them was about to die. For some reason, this time she wouldn’t let him roll off of her, she just held him hold close.

So close he did not only feel her heartbeat but he could almost feel the blood pumping through her veins.

“Todd??”

“Hmmm,” he answered.

“Why do you love me?”

“I don’t need a reason, I just do.”

“ Do you really believe that love can last forever with just one person?”

“Yes. Without a doubt in my mind, no matter what happens in a thousand years, I Todd manning will always love you Evangeline Williamson. Don’t get it twisted.

” She sighed and called out his name again. “Todddd?”

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“Lets just stay like this for thirty more seconds, okay?” she replied.

“Why thirty seconds? How about forever?”

“Forev….foreverr sounds good.”

He gently stared into her hazel eyes and solemnly said “I would like to stay like this forever but you always complained about being crushed under my weight!!”

“Not this time, a hundred and eighty five pounds of goodies feel nice all on me.”

He could hear the discomfort in her voice, “What’s going on? I should just stay over tonight.”

“ no!! it’s okay. You have to be in Japan to meet the investors tomorrow, your flight leaves in three hours. You should get ready.”

“I need to know you’ll be fine before I leave.”

She spoke with a slight twitch on the left side of her mouth, “ I’m fine, just a little overwhelmed.”

“ You are lying.”

“Okay buddy, thirty seconds is over.” she pushed him off and he fell onto the ground and hissed with pain, she rolled her eyes at him because he knew her too well. “ We’ll talk when you get back.”

she picked up her robe walked to the restroom and shut the door behind her.

“No, we’ll talk now.” he yelled anxiously after her.

“I don’t want mess you up before your big day.”

“ Well, you just did, now I wont be able to think straight because I know you are hiding something from me.”

She mumbled to herself “ father forgive me for I’m about to sin.” she crossed her fingers behind her back and shut her eyes as if she didn’t have enough faith in herself, she opened the door and looked at him straight in his eyes and said “ I don’t know for sure but I might be pregnant.”

He had a big smile on his face as they switched places and took turns for the bathroom, “ did you get tested yet?”

“ No, but I can feel it, you know it’s like a woman’s intuition.”

He came out and quickly grabbed his cloths and put them on in a hurry then ran to her closet and pulled out some mismatch outfit and threw them on the bed.

“ Put them on, we’re going to the pharmacy.”

She looked at the clock, “You don’t have much time left, it’s not like I’m going anywhere, so why don’t we wait till you get back from Asia? I‘m too nervous right now, let‘s talk when you get back.”

He walked over to where she was standing and rubbed her shoulders with his hands, “ Is this how you want it?”

She grabbed his jacket and brief case and handed them over to him, “yes babe.”

“And we’re okay?”

“Yes!!” she kissed him on the cheek then pushed him toward the door, “ leave before you’re late.”

He spun around and gave her the most devilish charming smile ever and whispered in a slithering voice “ is that all I get?”

She looked at him with the most genuine and apologetic manner, “I’m sorry.” she kissed him on the lips.

“That’s more like it,” he chuckled and licked his lips. As he reached for the door, she called out his name. “Tee, forever really sounds good.”

He hugged and kissed her, "I love you."

She replied, "Thank you."

If only he knew what she meant by I’m sorry earlier.

Once he walked out of the door she picked up the envelop she had kept in her drawer and read through it again, she let out a heavy sigh then pressed rewind on her cd player and sang along to the song.

A long time ago, we use to be friends

But I haven’t thought of you lately at all

If ever again a greeting I send to you

Short and sweet to the soul I intend.

We use to be friends. A long time ago

We use to be friends. A long time ago,

We use to be friends. A long time ago,

We use to be friends…….

As she continued singing, her mind went back to an old conversation.

One and a half hours later,

Todd began to think about his woman, this woman that had turned his world upside down.

When they met, he had no plans about sticking around town for too long but he got trapped, he fell for her and no matter how hard he had tried in the past four years or how many times he had told her that he loves her, she just couldn’t commit.

His mind went back to an old conversation they had a long time ago.

As she headed for the door, he ran ahead of her and obstructed her part “ Don’t leave, stay with me tonight.”

“ I have places to go, things to do.”

“ At this time of the night?” he looked at his wrist watch then focused his attention back on her. “What things Evangeline.”

She looked down and away from his enquiring eyes, “ Just things.”

He moved much more closer to her, she could feel his warm breathe stroking her lips and the sides of her face. “Kiss me,” he commanded.

“ What!! We just did that and a lot more a while ago.”

He looked at her with a boyish grin on his face, “I know, but I still want to kiss you again, don’t you long for me when I’m not with you?”

“ Of course I do…..sometimes.” she stammered.

“ Lets go exclusive.”

“We already are, in some kind of way.”

He grabbed her waist with his left hand and held her left hand with the other, he planted his head around her neck and their bodies stayed glued together and they moved around, silently gliding to an unknown melody.

He whispered, “I meant lets get married.”

 She instantly froze and pulled away. “ Todd you know how I feel, marriage is complicated and only for fools. You dont seem like the marring type to me, You are fooling around, right?”

He ran his hand through his thick hair in resignation, “ I have given this a lot of thought and I ask myself how much I mean to you? After all this time, you don’t really like me that much do you?  Dont you feel anything when you are with me?”

She strained to make out the words as she coughed and choked on her own saliva. “ What in Go…d’s name are you going on about Todd. I‘m here, with you. doesn’t that count for anything?”

He disappeared into the kitchen for about ten seconds and came back with a glass of water.“ Drink up, it might allow the lies and denial to slide down your throat easily. God!! I must be nuts. In four years, you have never told me that you loved me and I'm still pining after you.”

She was afraid she would choke on the water so sat the filled glass on the center table, “I thought we had an arrangement?”

“It’s not working for me anymore. Gushhh!!!!! What is it? What is this? You don’t want me but you wont let go, yet you spend more time with that dirty looking, giant nosed freak of nature cop, Mckky or whatever his name is.”

“ His name is John, John Mc Bain, and he‘s my friend. Todd, We both agreed that if one party is no longer satisfied then the deal is off. Why don’t we call it a day then?”

“And we also agreed that parting ways has to be mutual, well it’s not, so I cant let you off.”

“Go and read the contract again, number sixteen says all agreements become null and void once I start getting bored. I think you are getting greedy and I don’t find it the least charming. I should go.”

He buried his face in his hands and groaned through his clenched teeth, “I love you, I cant live without you.”

“Have you forgotten rule number one? Skin ship is permitted but love on either sides nullifies the contract.”

“Good. Since the way I feel voids this little arrangement, we should start over.”

“what do you want?” “ Give me your heart and I promise to protect it from aching, I want you to love me as if you have never been hurt before. I don’t want to play around anymore, screw the contract, your body is amazing but your heart is more important to me.”

“Todd, stop living in fantasy, I don’t have that kind of time in my hands, I‘m not a doll, you just cant dress me up and put me in a box coz that‘s all love ever does to people, geez !! I feel like you are suffocating me already..”

“ I know you said you don’t want to get married and I said having kids is out of the question but I think we can compromise with each other, that‘s what people do when they love each other.”

“ Call it whatever you want but it's not love, and what makes you think you’re the one? You are not that special Manning.”

The last statement “You are not that special Manning” turned Todd into a blind raging maniac. He squeezed his hand together to make a fist and started punching the wall so hard that there was bloody knuckle prints all over.

She kept shouting, begging for him to stop but it had gotten out of hand, she knew he was crazy and out of control but it has never gotten this bad before, at least not with her. That was a side of Todd she had never seen before.

“ Todd plez…….stop. I shouldn’t have said that, I’m sorry.” The more she pleaded with him, the more energized he felt. She attempted to pull him away but whatever demon possessed him that night must have been a very strong one because he just wouldn’t back down.

She had no other choice, she felt responsible so she had to do something. he was going to take one last swing at the wall when she dashed across and stood between him and his wall then let out an almost inaudible shriek.

She closed her eyes , held her breath and turned her head to the side, her body was frozen yet it trembled all over because she knew there was a chance she could get hit.

They both let out a sigh of relief as he was able to stop himself just in time. “What are you doing? Trying to add an uncontrollable wife beater into my resume?”

“I needed to stop you from hurting yourself. Sorry I made you feel this way, but for me, love is an illusion created by people who desperately want to believe it‘s real, but it’s a big ole scam and nothing more.”

She looked down at his hand and saw blood dripping on the floor non stop, she wanted to go in the kitchen for the first aid kit but he pulled her back. “You have done more that enough for today, I think it’s best you leave.”

As she obediently picked her bag and made for the door, he walked away, afraid that if he looked in her eyes, he would become soft.

The craft engine fired up and he came back to life. Knowing that Evangeline is specialized in breaking big boy’s spirit, she’s an expert in deflating a man’s ego and she’s guilty of sticking around to watch em cry, he curled up into a ball in his oversized chair, hoping that this would be it, after all she said it herself “forever sounds good.”

He thought to himself, if she’s really pregnant, all I have to do is convince her that our child needs a stable environment.

She had always suppressed herself when it came to matters of the heart but this time, he wont let it slide but he had no idea what to do. He sighed and asked himself, “If I‘m not the one, who else is there besides me? Mc Bain?” No, it can't be stinky he’s already in the friend zone. But then there’s this dog boy Christian always hanging around too.

As Todd’s private jet took off, he picked up the phone. It was his habit…. actually no, It’s a ritual and religion for him to call Evangeline before any flight.

Just as he was about to dial her number, he felt his cell phone vibrate. Evangeline had just sent him a text and boy was he in for a long flight.

Text 1: “There’s an envelope in your left pocket.” he quickly felt his left side and bingo, there it was.

He expectantly opened it and to his utmost surprise, a ring fell out into his palm while attempting to make meaning out of what just happened, a second text came in.

Text 2: “ Todd my idea of forever doesn‘t include you in it, lets break up.”

God!!!! When it comes to this woman, everything just comes into a complete halt.