大暑 [6] / [13]
“After we broke up, Ed contacted me. He said to me he knew what had happened between me and you, and wanted to comfort me. I met him several times, we drank together, and sometimes he brought me to some good places like the opera, and some fancy dance clubs. He bought me things I like. Bags, jewels, clothes.
He also said that I am the most beautiful woman he ever saw, and that he'd loved me since he saw me for the first time. He just couldn't confess this because of you. I didn't want to reject him. Anyway, he had such good manners, was good looking, and seemed like he was so competent!
He was gentle, so, to me, he felt like a suitable replacement for you. I said to him, I have no money, no place to live. He gladly let me live at his place. You know what? He lived with a roommate, a guy named Craig. He assured me his home was accommodating enough, so I didn't need to worry about encountering Craig in the house. I had no choice. Back then, I started to like him, wanted to be with him.
He was so sweet, gentle, with perfect manners from the first night we spent together. He kept asking me how I was feeling, trying to follow along at my pace. When I felt pain, he slowed down or even stopped, ceaselessly touched me until I almost melted from it. It was ecstasy. That was true. But he gradually changed.”
Alexander listened to all of this without speaking. She continued.
"He was so patient and understanding. And then, over time, he started yelling at me. Not all the time, and not at first. In the beginning, he would just get annoyed if I would ask him questions or talk too much, but then he started yelling at me if I spoke at the wrong time, or didn't do what he wanted me to do. When he hit me, that was it. I left for a couple of days, but then, I came back, and we reconciled."
She looked at Alexander with a pleading expression, one that begged him to understand.
"I had nowhere to go," she said, exasperated,
"I couldn't turn to anyone else, and it wasn't like I could turn to you, could I? What was I supposed to do?"
Alexander shook his head and said,
"Look, it's none of my business what you did, or why you did what you did. I'm not judging you. Just go on with your story."