Page 13 of Day

It was maybe only a minute later that she dropped her legs and smiled at Tony.

“Hiya. I’m Lilith, Leon’s wifey,” she explained, smiling.

“Well, uh. Congrats, guys,” he said through his shock, knowing full well this was a weird move for me.

“Thanks. We’re gonna go.” I grabbed her lightly by the arm and started pulling her toward the boat after leaning down to pick up her bag. It was light. Odd.

“Nice to meet ya!” she called out to the gaped-mouth Tony behind us.

I helped her onto the boat, and she walked down to the cabin without hesitation. I’m sure everyone could still hear everything that was about to happen, with the big holes and all, but at least I felt like we had some sense of privacy.

Her bag made a light thump as I set it on the table and looked at her. She was leaning against my small kitchen counter. Were all her belongings in that bag? The protective instinct in me started to filter through my thoughts, but I wasn’t going to let it out. This was all one big misunderstanding, anyway.

“Let’s hear it.” She looked comfy as she hopped up onto the counter.

“If you already know what I’m gonna say then why are you still here?” I retorted, feeling slightly asshole-ish for blurting it out instead of being the calm one.

“Because you obviously still don’t remember, but I didn’t make a mistake marrying you. I chose to do it, because I saw something in you that I wanted to be with. So I will not be going anywhere.” She started playing with her nails like this was a boring topic and that there was something better to focus on.

“I don’t remember shit,” I bit out and dropped onto the bench next to the table.

“Look, you saw I’ve got other stuff going on in my life, and I could hurt you. Even by accident. I’m not meant to be with anyone. You seem like a nice woman. But you are way better without me. So let’s just wait this month out separately, and then get it annulled. You can find someone that can’t break your bones from having a nightmare at night.” It was as truthful as I could get with her.

She looked at me and slowly slid off the counter before she walked over to me. Like a lioness, her eyes were locked on her prey: me.

“You see, Leon? This guy right here, the vulnerable one? That’s the guy that locked me in, and I’m not going anywhere. Nothing is going to change my mind once it’s made up.” She stood in front of me and reached down to lift my hand to examine it.

“I’ve had many broken bones by the hands of men. Despite your extra gift, you would never hurt me. Not even by accident. You might not remember it, but you were the one to ask me to marry you. You saw something in me that you wanted to keep.” She patted my hand then set it back down.