Bound in Love

Chapter 12

"Here." Chris told the driver as he put a twenty-dollar bill in his hand. The car had just stopped in front of the building where they lived. "Keep the change." He added right after and keeping his wallet in the inside pocket of his leather jacket. "Good evening." Chris said, opening the door and going out.

Immediately, his hair flew in the hair wildly as the wind blew strongly. He didn't even bother to try to keep it in place. Before he closed the door, he still heard the man wishing him a good evening too, but he was too nervous to respond. He shut the door without saying anything and ran towards home.

Chris stopped by the building's door and searched for the keys inside his pockets, feeling his heart beating faster and faster anxiously. First, he searched the three pockets of his jacket and then the pockets of his black jeans, to find it on his left one. He took them off and opened the door, letting it close by itself. He run to the stairs and climbed the steps two by two to reach his apartment faster. He saw his hand shaking when he inserted the key to open the front door. He hated to fight with her, especially because of Susan and Ellie had always shown so much intolerance for her. As the door opened, he rested the keys on the phone table and closed the door gently.

"Ellie?" He called while he took his jacket off and put it on the hanger. "Ellie!" He called again; this time louder for she didn't answer.

Chris took a deep breath. He was sure she had heard him. The light of their bedroom was on, so he went there. When he reached the door, he saw her putting on a shirt. She had changed to leggings and a shirt to be more comfortable.

"Didn't you hear me calling?" He asked her, entering the bedroom. Though he knew very well that she had heard him but she didn't want to answer "Uh?" He reinforced standing in front of her and looking at her.

Ellie raised her eyes to look at him. "You could have stayed." She said dryly. "You were having so much fun when I got there."

Chris smiled at her, but a pissed off smile. "I know you." He told her. "If I stayed, things would be a lot worse. You would say that I wanted to stay with her. It's not the first time we've been through this." He added. "I was having fun but not because of her but because I was with my friends." Chris clarified. "You seem to forget that."

Ellie pointed her finger at him. "If you know I don't like her, then you should know how I feel about this." She shot.

This time her tone was a little higher for they were not at the street anymore and Chris got even angrier.

"Don't raise your tone." He warned her. "Ellie... this is way out of line. I don't get you... really..." He shook his head, frowning at the same time. "... it's been ages!"

"But she is always around. She is always around showing she can!" Ellie yelled, looking in his eyes. "You're not that innocent that you don't see how she treats you and how she tries to insinuate herself to you. She does that in front of me!" She yelled even louder, sticking her index finger on her chest to make her words more meaningful.

"Stop that!" Chris yelled back. "You are being irrational Ellie and you are really pissing me off. What the fuck?" He asked in the end. "It doesn't make any sense. Always... we always have to fight because of her. It's stupid..."

"Right." Ellie half smiled. "I am the one who is wrong. Excuse me." She said and pushed him aside so she could leave.

"Oh fuck..." Chris whispered as he saw her leave the bedroom. He ran his hands over his hair and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, taking a deep breath. "Fuck... fuck... fuck..." He repeated trying to unburden his heavy heart.

Chris sat on the bed and began to untie his boots. He thought it would be better to give her and him a few minutes to cool down, otherwise, their fight would turn into something uglier. He pulled the boots off his feet and threw it near the chair, not even bothering to align them. Then, he searched for a rubber band on his night stand and tied his hair. Finally, he ran the door that led to the balcony and pulled the pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his jeans. He needed to calm down. He put a cigarette between his lips and lightened it right after. After putting the lighter inside his pocket, Chris took a long drag and then pulled the cigarette off his lips, holding it between his fingers, and blew the smoke out slowly, savoring the moment with his eyes closed. He leaned his elbows on the rail and watched the park. It was darker than usual, the lights that usually illuminated the paths at night were turned off. He was so disconnected of what was happening around him that he didn't hear her as she approached the window.