WestFiction- "Promise Me" by Kate

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PROMISE ME

by Kate

Dorothy slammed the door, threw the keys on the table and threw herself on the couch.

She just sat there, staring into space with a thousand thoughts running through her head. She was so angry she wanted to scream, but then she decided she didn’t want the neighbours to wake up and bang on her door.

Instead she just stood up, went to the kitchen and got herself a huge box of her favourite ice- cream.

She always did that when Kian hurt her and it always made her feel better, no matter in how lousy mood she was. Fortunately, it helped now as well but the pain, hurt and anger were still there, hidden deep inside but ready to explode in her any minute.

It wasn’t the first time Kian cheated on her. She stopped counting the times she caught him making out with another girl a long time ago. She never was the kind of girl to be jealous of nothing but illusions, but her boyfriend never left her with a single doubt about what he was up to.

Beautiful girls always surrounded him and he was obviously too weak to resist them. At least that was what Dorothy thought: she didn’t want him to feel trapped in their relationship and she knew he was just a man, so she always forgave him those little mistakes.

Especially when he was so sweet to her... He apologised by saying she was the only one and that it would never happen again- even when she knew exactly it wasn’t true ‘cause he wasn’t the type that would stand by just one woman. Sometimes, after a night she caught him cheating again, he would send her flowers- so many flowers that they filled the room leaving no empty space and almost making her choke on their sweet, strong scent. Then he would appear in her apartment, kneeling in front of her with another beautiful necklace or earrings or a bracelet, saying sweet words of love, making her heart melt. Then he would kiss her deeply on her lips, slowly lowering his lips to her neck, he would unbutton her blouse and lay her down on the bed...

How many times before she was willing to make him stop by saying: “You bastard, you cheated on me again, I’m leaving!” or something like that, but she never did. His kisses seemed to make her loose her mind and stop thinking clearly. In moments like this he had the power to make her think he was saying the truth, that this time it was the last time he had hurt her.

When he was making love to her, she felt safe and loved. She pictured herself with Kian, a happy couple that they never were, she imagined him with his eyes fixed on her like he was never going to look at another girl.

But then her illusions got shattered as she was founding him kissing other girls again and again. There were times when she thought she’ll find the strength to let him go, but his hugs and kisses proved she was wrong

Tonight her world tumbled down again. Her and Kian were in a club with Mark, Bryan, Shane, Nicky and Dorothy’s friend Kate, who was going out with Mark. They were having fun, dancing and fooling around but Kian found a way to spoil everyone’s fun once again. All night he was acting like Dorothy wasn’t there, flashing smiles all around and returning some girls’ lustful looks. She blamed it on these few drinks he had had, on these girls, finally on herself. But again, she did nothing to stop this. She even ignored the looks Mark, Kate and Bryan were giving her all through the evening. She knew exactly what they were thinking about this, she listened to them too many times. ‘He’s not good enough for you’ Bryan was saying constantly. Mark shook his head: ‘You should stop this’. ‘I can’t understand why you let him do this to you!’ –that was Kate. Even if Dorothy knew they were right about everything, she couldn’t understand why they all turned her backs on her with hopeless looks in their eyes when she repeated all over again: “...but I love him”.

That night he made her feel humiliated again, in front of all her friends, but that wasn’t the worst thing. One second he was sitting right beside her, a moment later he emptied another glass and walked up to a girl at the bar, who was smiling at him all through the night. Dorothy just sighed and turned away her gaze from him, she knew too well what was going to happen next. Once again she caught Bryan’s eye. This time he was looking differently at her: there was a bit of pity in his look, she could recognise that kind of look anywhere, she got used to it. But there was something else in his eyes, something that made her believe things were going to be all right after all. She smiled at him and he returned the smile.

Dorothy knew that at the end of the night he was going to be the one to comfort her. Kate gave up on her a long time ago, saying she was hopeless and naive. But Bryan was always there for her, no matter how sad or angry she was, even if he had to take her punches meant for Kian and listen to her angry words, insulting himself, even if he wasn’t the one to blame.

Dorothy was staring blankly into space, lost in her thoughts, when she heard someone knocking on the door. She was sure that it was Bryan- he always came around after Kian did something wrong, which was quite often. This time she didn’t feel like confiding in him, she got even angrier knowing he’s here again, trying to tell her what she should do.

She opened the door. It was Bryan. He smiled at her, which made her sick.

- Hi D...- he greeted her with a shy smile. Funny, he was always the type that was fooling around the most, joking all the time and never letting anyone mess up with him. But when he was around her, he usually got quiet all of a sudden, giving her shy smiles and weird looks.

- Bryan... I’m not in the mood for your comforting words today..- she said looking him straight in the eyes, not really giving a damn if she has hurt him with that or not.

But she got a little surprised when he pushed the door open suddenly, so she didn’t have the time to stop him from coming in.

- What the hell are you doing?!- she exclaimed in anger, trying to find a sign of regret in his eyes, but eventually she failed. His face was showing no regret. In fact, he seemed to be proud of himself.

He took his jacket off calmly and hang it behind the door. Dorothy watched him in amazement. She has never seen him so confident in front of her.

- Do you want a cup of tea?- he asked on his way to the kitchen.

- I...I...- Dorothy was so surprised she didn’t manage to say anything that would make sense.

He just smiled at her. – One cup of tea with two sugars coming right up!

When he was gone, she sat down on the couch trying to figure out what he was up to. Unfortunately she couldn’t think of a proper explanation. It was all far too strange.

Bryan walked in with two steaming cups and flashed her a wide smile.

- A cup of tea is good for everything. Even for a broken heart.

Dorothy stiffened at these words and got impolite again.

- What do you want from me, Bryan? I already told you I’m not in the mood to talk to you and you pushed yourself in anyway! Can’t you just leave me alone ?!- at that point she was almost shouting at him, but his face showed on emotions. He put down the cups on the table and sat down beside her.

- I can’t and I won’t. You need me, even if you don’t realise that just now.- he was looking at her in such a firm way, that it made her turn away her gaze, feeling she’ll blush any minute. But she still managed to be sarcastic. She laughed out loud not looking at him.

- I DON’T need you. Can please go away now?- she shouted at him, but he didn’t move. To her surprise he took the remote from the table and turned on the TV. She got even angrier, ‘cause it seemed as he wasn’t paying any attention to her.

-I said: go away, Bryan!- she shouted again, took the remote from him and threw it on the floor, expecting some kind of a reaction from him. Again, nothing happened, he didn’t even look at her. He just took the remote off the floor and put it back on the table.

That was it- Dorothy lost her temper and tried to hit him with all her might, but he was faster. He caught her hand up in the air, inches from his cheek, and stopped her in time. He looked at her- it seemed like eternity because his look almost hypnotised her- she felt helpless all of a sudden and lost all her negative feelings. That was when he loosened his grip and got back to watching TV, like nothing has happened.

Dorothy snapped back to reality when the telephone rang.

- Hey D - it was Kate.- How are you doing?

Dorothy stood up and walked up to the window with the receiver. She looked out into the black of the night.

- Fine. – she said shortly.

- Yea, sure- Kate said sarcastically. – Is Bryan there with you?

- Yes, he is. As always.- Dorothy sounded angry.

Kate sighed and asked mysteriously- You just don’t get it, do you?

- Get what?- Dorothy was now puzzled. What was she talking about?

- It doesn’t matter. All I can say is what I’ve been always telling you: leave Kian and look for somebody who’s man enough for you.

- Is Mark available then?- Dorothy asked ironically, making Kate sigh some more on the other end.

- HA- HA Dorothy. You wish!- Then Kate’s voice softened as if she was telling her friend some kind of a secret.- You don’t need to look far, Dorothy. Bye.

Dorothy put down the receiver on its place and sat back on the couch, this time a little closer to Bryan.

He was watching some model contest: lots of beautiful girls walking around in bikinis and exposing their, erm, talents.

Her voice was hardly audible as she spoke.

- I’m sorry Bryan.

- I wonder if she’s got a boyfriend...- Bryan mumbled with his eyes fixed on the screen.

- Huh?- Dorothy got confused.

He looked at her and pointed at the screen.- That chick there. I wonder if she’s got a boyfriend. She’s gorgeous.

Dorothy had to laugh. – You’re not listening to me, McFadden!

Bryan glanced at the screen again –Wow, great body...

Dorothy grabbed a cushion from the couch and hit Bryan over the head. – Bryan!!

-WHAT ?!- he looked at her surprised but happy at the same time. Dorothy was back.

- I was talking to you and you were staring at those girls there!- Dorothy pretended she was hurt but failed when Bryan grabbed her around the waist and pushed her on the couch.

- Okay then miss, I’ll be staring only at you from now on!

Dorothy giggled when Bryan did what he had promised- he started looking at her. She was still giggling after two minutes of his continuous stares but began to feel a little uncomfortable at the same time. Five minutes has passed and she gave up.

- Stop, Bryan- she pleaded, afraid to admit that his look was sending shivers down her spine.

He just smiled and leaned towards her. Her heart started beating faster. When his face was so close to hers their noses almost touched, she closed her eyes and prayed that he wouldn’t hear her loud heart beat, revealing her nervousness.

She waited for the kiss, wrong or right, but the waiting seemed like eternity. She eventually opened her eyes again and saw Bryan smiling widely at her.

- I bet you won’t stand series of tickles either- he whispered in her face.

- Bryan, nooooooo...!- was all Dorothy managed to say before he laid his hands all over her body and started tickling her.

She screamed for him to stop, tried to threaten him or even beg, but he just laughed and continued tickling Dorothy until she was out of her breath.

- Please stop Bry...- she said quietly and smiled at him to make her plead more effective.

To her surprise he finally stopped. She was trying to catch her breath now, but smiling happily at the same time. Again, Bryan made her feel better, just like he always did. But tonight he made her feel something more . She just couldn’t figure out what it was yet. It just felt good, that was all she knew for now.

- I’ll stop if you’ll promise me something- he said when she eventually caught her breath.

She smiled at him. – You stopped already, so I don’t have to promise you anything.- she said with a sense of triumph, looking him straight in the eyes.

- Watch it, girl, I can start all over again!- he exclaimed, fiddling his fingers -I’m unstoppable!

She laughed but stopped as she heard him saying seriously:

- Will you promise me something Dorothy?- he leant towards her again. This strange, yet pleasant feeling she had as he did it for the first time appeared again, this time it was twice as intense as before. Her heart pounding strongly, she managed to let out a quiet:

- I will.

His face was again so close she could smell his after-shave. His eyes were running up and down her face, as if he was trying to remember every single detail of it.

- I want you to repeat after me, Dorothy. I want you to repeat everything I say, okay?- his tone turned very serious again. She couldn’t say no.

As he said the first sentence he wanted her to repeat, she wanted to decline but at last she found the strength to say:

- I won’t let Kian treat me this way.

Bryan smiled slightly. He knew he was doing the right thing and this time- he was going to succeed.

- I won’t believe in any of his apologises anymore.

This one was easier. - I won’t believe in any of his apologises anymore.- Dorothy looked up at Bryan, who was giving her a reassuring smile.

- I will listen to my friends’ advice...

- I will listen to my friends’ advice...- Dorothy repeated.

- ...and leave Kian.

Dorothy looked at Bryan. She was terrified. She knew that after she had said that, there‘ll be no way back. Finally she closed here eyes.

- ...and leave Kian.

Bryan’s face was glowing. He decided to take advantage of the situation. He moved his face even closer to Dorothy’s and whispered sincerely, his heart beating fast:

- I love you.

She smiled to herself when she felt Bryan’s lips on hers. She never felt her heart beating so fast when Kian was kissing her, or when he was putting his arms around her, just like Bryan did just now.

She felt happy and it definitely wasn’t the feeling she had when she was with Kian.

When Bryan pulled away, she smiled at him. She touched his face and ran her fingers along his features, then she put her fingers in his hair and ran them through it.

- I love you. – she said and smiled at him.

Although Bryan wasn’t sure if it was just the sentence she repeated like he had ordered her before, or a vow, he decided to believe the second one.

Just as he was leaning towards her to kiss her again, she stopped him.

- Now you promise me something Bryan.

He wasn’t sure where it was heading to, but he nodded slowly.

- Promise me you’ll never make me eat a single box of ice cream...

- Come again? – Bryan asked puzzled but by the look on her face he guessed it was important. - I promise. – he said finally kissing her passionately. – I won’t let you eat chocolate either.- he mumbled in between kisses and Dorothy had to laugh.

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