My husband pulled up in the driveway and we had a late dinner.
"The fish is good, honey."
I pretended that having a face stuffed with food was stopping me from replying, but anyone with eyes could see that I couldn't stand being in the same room as him. But Gio was always blind to my emotions.
He cleared out his throat with some wine and asked, "What did you do all day?"
"The same thing as always. Nothing special," I drawled, "Nothing special at all..."
"You know what? You...nevermind..."
There was a time where I cared for this man, but being in love with him was something I debated was ever real. If Max wasn't born, there wouldn't be any proof that we liked each other enough to have sex.
That day did feel magical back then. The two of us, college seniors, doing what all kids did- fucking the ever-loving shit out of one another. I won't lie and say he's a bad lover. He did make me cum eight times that night when he distracted me from studying for my finals. That thing he does when he sucks on my neck, it removes my common sense.
I think we were on the couch in his apartment, and I was riding him. Or maybe, we did it in the car before we went inside? It had to have been the couch if I was studying earlier. It's been so long even memories like that could be skewed. But one thing I'll never forget is how it made me feel.
When Gio held me close to cum inside me, telling me how beautiful I was, it felt like Heaven. But that's the Devil's way of tricking you into Hell.
Nowadays, sleeping in the same bed disgusts me, especially knowing where his penis has been.
"What is it, Gio, huh? What do you want me to do? What could I possibly do to make you feel comfortable?"
"Don't start."
"If you wanna look like a sad sally over there because I won't give you head, then explain to me what else can I do that won't put me in danger!"
"You're still on that?" Gio's tongue poked at the side of his cheek, holding back a laugh, "Don't think I'm stupid, Hannah. You don't want to do it with me because you don't love me anymore. It has nothing to do with what happened. Admit it."
"Tell me how you'd be if I came home saying I got fucked by a bunch of strangers!"
"Watch your mouth!" he raised his voice, "Max's right here!"
"He knows!" I looked at my 19-year old son who kept his head down, awkwardly poking at a piece of lettuce, "He's old enough to know. Better he knows now so he doesn't end up like you!"
"Like what? A rape victim? You have a lot of nerve!"
The boiling rage I had over wasting decades of my life to this man has culminated into this ferocious beast that I had no control over. Where was the little girl that dreamed of becoming a Traveling Nurse?
"Oh shut up!" I pushed out of my chair, "You would've fucked them anyway, which is why you were at that bar. How convenient to say it was rape when you got in a taxi with this woman? How does a 44-year-old man get into such a situation, hmm? And if you were really taken advantage of, why not report it to the police? And if it was really rape, then I shouldn't still be smelling another woman on you every night!"
"MOM, SHUT UP!"
I closed my mouth upon hearing Max's distressed voice. This isn't the first time he's broken up a fight between us, and the waves of guilt ran all over me again. I balled up my fists to try and contain the rest of my anger.
"...We'll talk about this upstairs."
"No, we aren't" Gio responded, "You had the guts to spill our business publicly. I've said all I have to say, so at this point I'll just be repeating myself. We're finished." He got up from the table and directed his attention to Matt, "You're still going to your friend's house?"
"Yeah."
"You better get a move on, it's almost midnight."
He patted our son's shoulder and sent him off to grab his things upstairs.
"I'll meet you in the car!" he called out to him. Then, he looked at me with those disappointed eyes of his, "Don't wait up." Max's friend's house was only a few blocks away, but Gio hadn't returned home for hours.
I didn't wait for him at all. I went to sleep.
I saw my ex-boyfriend in my dreams. We had just gotten done making love. I was on my stomach, holding onto my tear-stained pillow in bliss. I knew this wasn't real, so I clung to the fantasy as hard as I could.
I'd never forget that big dick of his. The way it curved ever so slightly and how he made me discover that squirting was more than just a golden shower. He was so handsome, and we had been together ever since high school. But then, I dropped him for the kid who didn't have any friends because he was so focused on his dream.
He wanted to be more successful than his parents who immigrated from Italy to give him a better life. I felt the same way with my own. I'm American, but my mother was born and raised in Vietnam. My blue-collar father wooed her to stay with him and start a family, not including the one he already had with his wife.
"I'm going to own a business," my husband told me back then, "and I'll be able to support you and give you whatever you want."
"I don't need much to make me happy," I rested my head on his shoulder. We were sitting on a bench on campus, looking at the sunset during one of our dates, "Just a big house is fine."
"You sure? I have a feeling I could make anything happen for you. No...I PROMISE you I will!"
He wasn't wrong, he did make things happen that I never believed would be possible, like getting a positive pregnancy test right before graduation.
"I'm not going to leave you, so please don't cry," Gio hugged me when I told him, "This will only make me work harder. I'll perfect my craft, and make sure you and this baby are taken care of!"
Gio continued his schooling and reached his dream of owning a business, such a thriving business that it has made me and my son financially stable for generations to come. We live in this mansion in a gated neighborhood. He installed a balcony, a movie theater, a pool in the backyard, and a walk-in closet just for me.
It was so perfect, and I loathed him for it.
I wanted to do so much more with my life than sitting in this big house. I planned on continuing my education and traveling to Vietnam to get in touch with my roots. But that one slip up where he distracted me from my studies, that foreshadowed the rest of the years where he would value everything else over my needs.