Page 35
Story: His Ring, Her Rules
He pulled away, put his hand on both of her cheeks, and kissed her forehead, then both of her eyes, then both of her cheeks, left one and right one, and finally the tip of her nose as Clara closed her eyes. He then kissed every part of her face, loving her, and finally kissed her lips softly, slowly, and gently for a few seconds.
Clara gently opened her eyes, but he still had his eyes closed.
He opened his eyes when he was convinced he could fully manage his feelings.
He suddenly remarked, “I told you not to come to work.”
Clara groaned and went back to Jaxon, who was still upset. She thought, “He has more mood swings than I do.”
They were curled up on the couch, watching a movie together. She turned off the TV when the final credits started to roll.
As she snuggled closer to him, she murmured, “What’s your favorite word?”
“Is there really such a thing as a favorite word?”
She rolled her eyes and said, “Yes, it is. Don’t you have a word that always inspires you?”
“Nope. What’s your, by the way?”
“Believe and hope,” she continued. “Those two things are very important. Hope is what keeps us alive. A hope that the future might be better…that the future might be beautiful no matter what is happening right now.”
Jaxon gazed at her with respect and said, “If that’s true, then you are my hope.”
Jaxon glanced up at him with dazzling eyes, and he said, “You are my hope…a hope that you will make me forget what happened in the past. A hope that I might be able to spend a day without thinking about her.”
Clara knew what Jaxon was talking about when he didn’t use Julia’s name. She sat on his lap with her knees on each side of his waist.
“Umm…I wrote something a few days ago. Do you want to hear it?”
“Go ahead.”
She picked up her phone and opened the notepad. She typed a few sentences, even though she knew them by heart. She simply didn’t want to look him in the eye when she read them.
She cleared her throat and then added in a soothing voice, “Let me fix your broken heart so it swells with love again…so it falls in love again…”
She stopped for a second to look at him and saw that he was confused, which made her wonder if she should keep on or not.
But she had to keep going, “So that it falls in love…with me…cause I…cause I love you.”
She put her phone down and swallowed hard before looking back at him. He had a blank look on his face.
She put her hand on his heart and said, “I love you, Jaxon. I love everything about you, every single thing.”
He wanted to say something, “Clara…”
“It’s okay if you don’t love me back,” she said, pressing her hand tighter on his heart and placing her forehead against his. “But just let me love you, let me fix you, let me take care of you…”
As she cried, the hand that had been pushed on his heart slowly turned into a fist.
“I’ve already given myself to you, Clara; I’m all yours.”
She kissed him passionately, putting all of her feelings into it, and he kissed her back just as fiercely.
Jaxon got home at midnight, and he had previously informed Clara he would be late.
He didn’t go to his bedroom; instead, he went to his study and fell asleep in the chair.
She told him she loved him, and he wanted to speak those words back to her and tell her how much he loved her. He was about to say those words, but something stopped him: fear. The dread that anything like what happened to Julia would happen to her, too.
He was with Kena and told him everything that occurred. Kena then scolded him nicely and asked why he didn’t say it back when he loved her so much. And again, he said dread.
Fear keeps us from taking advantage of the chances that come our way, just like Jaxon did when he didn’t tell his sentiments.
Jaxon opened a drawer, took out the picture frame, and looked at Julia’s picture for a minute. Then he said, “I’m sorry, Julia…but I guess I’m moving on. I’m not forgetting you, but I’m moving on from the past and those sad memories because I want to tell Clara how much I love her. Of course, those memories will still be there, but I’m letting go of my fear from now on.”
That girl is wild and reckless, just like you, and she has stolen my heart.
She is the one who keeps my heart pounding. She is my hope and like oxygen to me. She makes me feel alive again, exactly like I did before. We didn’t get off to a good start, but now I can’t even think of leaving her.
He ran his finger over her photo one final time before putting it back in the drawer and locking it up for good.
When Clara stated it was okay that he didn’t love her back, she was lying. Of course, it wasn’t okay. Of course, it hurt her. It hurt her soul when he didn’t say it back. She was longing to hear those words from him, but she couldn’t make him say them.
It was almost midnight when she stopped crying and was prepared to go to bed because Jaxon claimed he would be late.
But as the door opened, Jaxon stepped in, and she didn’t look him in the eye.
Then, all of a sudden, he was in front of her, holding her face in his hands and staring at her.
“Were you crying?”
“Umm… I’m fine, Jaxon.”
She carefully took his hands off her face and went into the restroom to calm herself, but Jaxon’s comments made her pause.
“I love you, Clara Dante.”
She thought she was dreaming. Her body tensed up when he said it, but everything was real when she turned around, and he said it again: “I love you…I love you, Vivian Hayes Dante and I love you, Clara Dante. You seem to have my heart and soul. I’m sorry I couldn’t say it sooner; I was scared, but I’m not anymore because I know you’ll be with me forever…”
“Say it again,” Clara said as she stepped closer to him and held his shirt in her fingers.
“Sweetheart, I love you.”
She muttered, “I love you too, Jaxon,” as she buried her head in his chest.
She wanted to speak more, but Jaxon wouldn’t allow her. Instead, he bent down and kissed her lips in a way that was different from the other kisses they had shared.
It was rough, hard, passionate, and slow all at once. Everything else faded away because, at that moment, they were the only things that mattered.
A few months later…
I questioned Jaxon for the millionth time, “You really think I can do this?”
“You can’t go back now.”
Before I got out of the car, I took a big breath, and Jaxon followed me. The house looked precisely the same as it did seven years ago. The house where I grew up, the house where I first walked, the house where I played, the house where I studied, and the house I left seven years ago.
The cream hue on the walls was deteriorating, and there were pots of plants hanging from the wall.
Jaxon gripped my hand and pulled me towards the main gate that led to the tiny grass in front of the home. I didn’t move.
“Jaxon, please, we should go back,” I begged him in a low voice so that no one else could hear us.
“It took me a month to get you to come here, Clara, and we won’t go back until you talk to your parents and ask for their forgiveness.”
“But… do you think they would forgive me? They must be glad I’m gone for good.”
“That’s why they come to Florida almost every few months. They want to meet you, Clara. You said you would come back, but you didn’t.”
I held his hand firmly and said, “I’m scared. Let’s just go back. I’ll do whatever you say.”
In a harsh voice, he continued, “All I want you to do is go inside and talk to them.” “I’m not asking you to suddenly become close to them… just talk to them.”
“Why does it bother you?”
He held my face in his hands and said, “Because I love you, sweetheart. I just want you to be free because I know you think about them almost every day. I know your heart isn’t satisfied yet because you know you broke your promise.”
I sighed and closed my eyes as I caressed my tummy where our boy was developing. I was almost eight months pregnant.
“I won’t be in there for more than fifteen minutes,” I said before going up the few steps to the door and giving Jaxon one last glance in case he changed his mind. He didn’t, so I rang the doorbell.
I waited a minute for the door to open, and that minute felt like an hour before it eventually did.
I thought my parents, my brother, or Lilia would open the door. Instead, as soon as it opened, we heard Rose yell, “Vivian!”
I went down to her level and smiled warmly. “Hey, babe. How are you?”
She said, “You came to see me?” with excitement, ignoring what I had just asked.
“Yes.”
Clara gently opened her eyes, but he still had his eyes closed.
He opened his eyes when he was convinced he could fully manage his feelings.
He suddenly remarked, “I told you not to come to work.”
Clara groaned and went back to Jaxon, who was still upset. She thought, “He has more mood swings than I do.”
They were curled up on the couch, watching a movie together. She turned off the TV when the final credits started to roll.
As she snuggled closer to him, she murmured, “What’s your favorite word?”
“Is there really such a thing as a favorite word?”
She rolled her eyes and said, “Yes, it is. Don’t you have a word that always inspires you?”
“Nope. What’s your, by the way?”
“Believe and hope,” she continued. “Those two things are very important. Hope is what keeps us alive. A hope that the future might be better…that the future might be beautiful no matter what is happening right now.”
Jaxon gazed at her with respect and said, “If that’s true, then you are my hope.”
Jaxon glanced up at him with dazzling eyes, and he said, “You are my hope…a hope that you will make me forget what happened in the past. A hope that I might be able to spend a day without thinking about her.”
Clara knew what Jaxon was talking about when he didn’t use Julia’s name. She sat on his lap with her knees on each side of his waist.
“Umm…I wrote something a few days ago. Do you want to hear it?”
“Go ahead.”
She picked up her phone and opened the notepad. She typed a few sentences, even though she knew them by heart. She simply didn’t want to look him in the eye when she read them.
She cleared her throat and then added in a soothing voice, “Let me fix your broken heart so it swells with love again…so it falls in love again…”
She stopped for a second to look at him and saw that he was confused, which made her wonder if she should keep on or not.
But she had to keep going, “So that it falls in love…with me…cause I…cause I love you.”
She put her phone down and swallowed hard before looking back at him. He had a blank look on his face.
She put her hand on his heart and said, “I love you, Jaxon. I love everything about you, every single thing.”
He wanted to say something, “Clara…”
“It’s okay if you don’t love me back,” she said, pressing her hand tighter on his heart and placing her forehead against his. “But just let me love you, let me fix you, let me take care of you…”
As she cried, the hand that had been pushed on his heart slowly turned into a fist.
“I’ve already given myself to you, Clara; I’m all yours.”
She kissed him passionately, putting all of her feelings into it, and he kissed her back just as fiercely.
Jaxon got home at midnight, and he had previously informed Clara he would be late.
He didn’t go to his bedroom; instead, he went to his study and fell asleep in the chair.
She told him she loved him, and he wanted to speak those words back to her and tell her how much he loved her. He was about to say those words, but something stopped him: fear. The dread that anything like what happened to Julia would happen to her, too.
He was with Kena and told him everything that occurred. Kena then scolded him nicely and asked why he didn’t say it back when he loved her so much. And again, he said dread.
Fear keeps us from taking advantage of the chances that come our way, just like Jaxon did when he didn’t tell his sentiments.
Jaxon opened a drawer, took out the picture frame, and looked at Julia’s picture for a minute. Then he said, “I’m sorry, Julia…but I guess I’m moving on. I’m not forgetting you, but I’m moving on from the past and those sad memories because I want to tell Clara how much I love her. Of course, those memories will still be there, but I’m letting go of my fear from now on.”
That girl is wild and reckless, just like you, and she has stolen my heart.
She is the one who keeps my heart pounding. She is my hope and like oxygen to me. She makes me feel alive again, exactly like I did before. We didn’t get off to a good start, but now I can’t even think of leaving her.
He ran his finger over her photo one final time before putting it back in the drawer and locking it up for good.
When Clara stated it was okay that he didn’t love her back, she was lying. Of course, it wasn’t okay. Of course, it hurt her. It hurt her soul when he didn’t say it back. She was longing to hear those words from him, but she couldn’t make him say them.
It was almost midnight when she stopped crying and was prepared to go to bed because Jaxon claimed he would be late.
But as the door opened, Jaxon stepped in, and she didn’t look him in the eye.
Then, all of a sudden, he was in front of her, holding her face in his hands and staring at her.
“Were you crying?”
“Umm… I’m fine, Jaxon.”
She carefully took his hands off her face and went into the restroom to calm herself, but Jaxon’s comments made her pause.
“I love you, Clara Dante.”
She thought she was dreaming. Her body tensed up when he said it, but everything was real when she turned around, and he said it again: “I love you…I love you, Vivian Hayes Dante and I love you, Clara Dante. You seem to have my heart and soul. I’m sorry I couldn’t say it sooner; I was scared, but I’m not anymore because I know you’ll be with me forever…”
“Say it again,” Clara said as she stepped closer to him and held his shirt in her fingers.
“Sweetheart, I love you.”
She muttered, “I love you too, Jaxon,” as she buried her head in his chest.
She wanted to speak more, but Jaxon wouldn’t allow her. Instead, he bent down and kissed her lips in a way that was different from the other kisses they had shared.
It was rough, hard, passionate, and slow all at once. Everything else faded away because, at that moment, they were the only things that mattered.
A few months later…
I questioned Jaxon for the millionth time, “You really think I can do this?”
“You can’t go back now.”
Before I got out of the car, I took a big breath, and Jaxon followed me. The house looked precisely the same as it did seven years ago. The house where I grew up, the house where I first walked, the house where I played, the house where I studied, and the house I left seven years ago.
The cream hue on the walls was deteriorating, and there were pots of plants hanging from the wall.
Jaxon gripped my hand and pulled me towards the main gate that led to the tiny grass in front of the home. I didn’t move.
“Jaxon, please, we should go back,” I begged him in a low voice so that no one else could hear us.
“It took me a month to get you to come here, Clara, and we won’t go back until you talk to your parents and ask for their forgiveness.”
“But… do you think they would forgive me? They must be glad I’m gone for good.”
“That’s why they come to Florida almost every few months. They want to meet you, Clara. You said you would come back, but you didn’t.”
I held his hand firmly and said, “I’m scared. Let’s just go back. I’ll do whatever you say.”
In a harsh voice, he continued, “All I want you to do is go inside and talk to them.” “I’m not asking you to suddenly become close to them… just talk to them.”
“Why does it bother you?”
He held my face in his hands and said, “Because I love you, sweetheart. I just want you to be free because I know you think about them almost every day. I know your heart isn’t satisfied yet because you know you broke your promise.”
I sighed and closed my eyes as I caressed my tummy where our boy was developing. I was almost eight months pregnant.
“I won’t be in there for more than fifteen minutes,” I said before going up the few steps to the door and giving Jaxon one last glance in case he changed his mind. He didn’t, so I rang the doorbell.
I waited a minute for the door to open, and that minute felt like an hour before it eventually did.
I thought my parents, my brother, or Lilia would open the door. Instead, as soon as it opened, we heard Rose yell, “Vivian!”
I went down to her level and smiled warmly. “Hey, babe. How are you?”
She said, “You came to see me?” with excitement, ignoring what I had just asked.
“Yes.”