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“Yeah, Frankie looks like my grandpa, Ardrey, but getting back to my Indian blood. I want to go see that professor you mentioned that teaches at the university.”
“You mean Sam Bapttise?”
“That’s him, I read about him last night online. Let’s go.”
“Now?”
“Well, yeah, as soon as we can get dressed.”
“That’s sudden.”
“You okay with that?” Donja asked, “I can go on my own if you like.”
“No, I’m with you, but first tell me about your date. How was it?”
Donja exhaled. “You know, Torin’s a mystery in himself, sophisticated, educated, rather debonair and about the most handsome man I have ever known, and he excites me…no, that’s the wrong word. He out and out turns me on in ways I never knew existed.”
She paused, staring at nothing.
“The problem,” Donja mused, “is that I don’t know if I love him or if it’s just lust. Furthermore, I don’t know if he really has feelings for me or just wants my blood.” She sighed. “It’s all so confusing, one minute I detest him and all that he stands for, then the next I find myself lost in the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen.” She shook her head. “I could get lost in him, I can feel it,” she whispered. “I swear there are times the man penetrates me with those eyes, I’m telling you girl, he’s powerful and that scares me, scares the hell out of me.”
“Maybe you’re just having a hard time with trust. That last guy, Kevin, burned you…big time.”
“Yeah, I thought about that, but it’s more than just that.”
“Maybe you’re in shock, ’cause I gotta tell you, the way you look at him, it’s either fight or flight, kill or rape and you don’t hide it very well.”
“I do fluctuate rapidly, rather bi-polar I suppose,” Donja breathed, “but Torin has the effect on me.”
“Well, I for one think it’s love. I went through something similar.”
“With Gage?”
“Yes. Did I tell you that we met after my suicide attempt?”
“No.”
“We did. I actually had to go to the police, can you believe it, and give a statement, it’s Ontario law.”
“But weren’t you in Michigan?”
“Hear me out. I didn’t want my dad to find me all stiff and puckered with bulging eyes and a god-awful stench.” She scrunched her brows. “I’ve heard you defecate when you die.”
“Oh yuck!”
“My sentiments exactly, so I went to the big Soo, rented a hotel and cut my wrists. A maid found me all but dead and thank God she did. Anyway, Gage interrogated me. He came back to check on me almost every day for a month. Then he asked me out.”
“How romantic,” Donja swooned.
“I know, it was, and we had dated for almost three months before I began to pick up on his little hints. Finally, he took me sailing on Lake Superior, just the two of us and he professed his love. I was so happy, but then he revealed himself to me. I was in shock. I couldn’t believe such a thing was even possible. He took me home that night, fully aware that I was reeling with fear, disbelief, you name it, I had it. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, I just paced and thankfully my dad was spending every weekend with your mom in St. Joseph. Five weeks later after I was fifteen pounds thinner, it dawned on me that Gage must truly love me. I could have called the police…the government, I could have gotten us both killed with one word, yet he risked it…risked it all, for me. I called him and we met up. I vowed my heart forever and you know what, I don’t regret it, not one damn bit.
“What about your dad? How did you pull that off?”
“It just happened. You see, Gage and I had dated for months and my dad saw the change in me. Finally, I introduced them over dinner and Gage and I were honest about our feelings. Dad was tripping at first but seeing that I was so much better and that I finally had something to live for, he caved, but not before he warned Gage that he would kill him if he hurt me.”
“Wow,” that’s amazing.
“Moral of story,” Makayla said with a serious tone. “I almost let fear rob me of my one true love. I think you’re doing the same thing.”