HIS CLAIM

58

Elsa

“I’m sorry for leaving you like that… I know it was hard for you too and I haven’t been the most considerate person.” I said to Tessa as we took a walk around the garden.

“Don’t worry about it.” She smiled softly.

“It didn’t come as much of a surprise to me. You’ve always been that person that needed to isolate whenever you were upset.”

“I know, but it wasn’t right of me to do that. I was a complete bitch and abandoned all of you, especially Nicholas.” I sighed. I had always been the type that needed to be alone whenever I was upset to handle my thoughts, and feelings at my own pace, without having people trying to breathe down my neck.

“No, you weren’t. You went through a lot and needed to get away. Trust me, I know what that feels like… Besides, Dante helped me a lot and never once left my side.” Tessa said and I flinched a little at her words, guilt eating me alive for not being here for her at all.

“If you apologize one more time, I will hit you.” She glared at me when I was about to apologize again.

“Sorry – I didn’t mean it! It just came out.” I said quickly when she was about to smack my head.

“Sounds like it’s still going great with Dante ?” We continued our stroll in the garden, watching Kiki  explore the new territory. There was so much space for her to run around, and I had to keep a close eye on her so she didn’t suddenly disappear.

“It is. He’s really the best man I’ve ever been with.” Her whole face brightened up when she talked about him, and it was easy to see she loved him as her eyes twinkled. I gave her hand a small squeeze as I smiled, feeling happy for her and my chest warming for her to finally be able to be happy.

“Weren’t you scared when you first saw him? All I could think about was how scary Tank Man looked.” I would never forget when I gathered the courage to go for a handshake, and he left me hanging for a good minute before deciding to shake my hand.

“You still call him Tank Man?” Tessa  laughed and shook her head.

“He’s literally the size of a tank!” I exclaimed.

“Oh, he sure is.” She gave me a cheeky smile and a wink, and I groaned, rolling my eyes.

“I didn’t need to hear that…”

“But to answer your question, I guess I was scared. The first time I saw him was from a distance, and all I could think of was, if that man hits me, one blow and I’m good as dead. Then I got to see him up close and it made me realize just how huge he was, and then I thought of how I wanted to climb him.” She bit her lip, wiggling her brows at me. I stopped walking to look at her, blinking a few times as I let the words sink in before I burst out in laughter.

“Only you, Tessa ” I managed to get out in between laughing as she chuckled as well.

“But I’m happy for you, and soon you will be a Mrs. Donavan”

“I can’t wait for that. To get a new name, a new start, and just leave that shitty name behind for good. No offense.”

“None taken.” I gave her a dismissive wave. I would have felt the same if I had gotten abused by my father too. There was nothing positive she could put to the name.

“It wasn’t always like that, you know. I gave Dante  a lot of hell in the beginning. I didn’t want this engagement and tried to get out of it by being a psycho bitch to him. But, I guess along the way I just fell for him.” Tesa  chuckled to herself, which had me smiling.