Chapter 15
I change to Caroline's POV to Bruno's and back to Caroline's in this chap...and here's a bit german at the end... I hope you like it... ENJOY!
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We stay on this position for some seconds until I get myself together and shake her hand. She's Bruno's ex... so what? I won't let this take away my good mood. It's my last night with Bruno. I just wanna enjoy it. So I smile and greet her back. Bruno finally stops staring and greets her too. Then we all sit down. Bruno and Alex next to each other, me next to Bruno and Mandy next to Alex. Alex tries to lose up the tense and tells a random story about a surf student. I just half listen to him. I feel Bruno's uneased and I take his hand to show him that I don't care who she is. He lightly smiles at me and caress my palm with his thumb. We order for everyone a tequila shot and a second and we losen up a bit. After a while Alex and Mandy stand up and start to dance near the table. Bruno's view always wanders to them. I lightly get annoyed. I mean it's obvious that her presence upsets him. So I ask him if he wanna dance but he declines. I try to talk to him but he just answers with one or two word sentences. I don't know why... is he just uncomfortable around her or is he jealous? I don't know. I can't just keep on sitting next to him while he kind of ignores me, so I say I have to use the restrooms and walk away.
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BRUNO
I watch Caroline walk away to the restrooms. I know she can't stand the whole situation and my behavior that's why she leaves. This all is not how I expected the evening to be. Tomorrow she'll be away for one week and I wanted to just have a good night with her. But I just can't help, Mandy's presence irritates me. It's not that I still feel something for her but it's strange seeing her with Alex being so physical. I really have to get myself together. When Caro's back I'll dance with her and better we go home soon. Yes! That's a good idea, I think to myself and take a sip of my beer. Then I see that Mandy goes past the table and in direction of the restrooms. Oh hell no! I jump up and want to go after her, when Alex's suddenly beside me and holds me back. I glare at him.
"Hey dude, let her alone." He says to me calmly.
I calm down a bit. He's right making a scene here won't be a good idea. But why does she go the restrooms now when Caro is there too? That's not good! Not at all! "Why the hell did you bring her?" I say loudly to Alex.
"Man she's my date. You said you don't care if I call her so I did."
"I don't care if you date her or not. I'm just worried she gonna say something bad to Caro. You really could have told me earlier that you bring her!"
"I know. But we made a deal she said she doesn't make a scene here if I don't tell you that I bring her. So don't worry she doesn't say anything to Caro..."
"And why in hell does she go the restrooms just when Caro's there??? If you believe her fine, but I don't!" I say and make my way through the crowd.
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CAROLINE
I stand in front of the mirror and fix my hair. When I see her walking in, in all her gorgeousness. I instantly feel ugly. But I try to not show her my self doubts. I put on a smile and she steps beside me. I know she came here because of me and although I don't like it, I'm prepared whatever she gonna say now.
"Hey." She smiles at me. Ok here we go...
"Hey." I say back.
"Erm... I don't know where to start but I wanna tell you something."
"Ok... shoot." I say while washing my hands.
"As you know I'm Bruno's ex and I don't know how much he told you about me and our relationship, but I just wanna... warn you... You know I loved him very much but he only used me to get some jobs and has a place to sleep, plus he cheated on me..." I look at her through the mirror. Her eyes are fixed on me and I can tell it's not easy for her to tell me that. I take a paper towel to dry my hands, look at her and she continues with a calm, serious voice. "...whatever that's past! I moved on. And I don't care anymore about him... But it's just when Alex told me that he has a new girlfriend who got him a job I felt the urge to come here and tell you that. I mean you really seem to be a nice woman and I think you don't deserve to be played with. I just want you to know that he's a heartless betrayer who certainly wants to use you. You look a bit older than him! And I don't wanna offend you but look at me! He used me! And then look at you. Do you really think he's serious with you? I don't think so... Please don't take this wrongly now. You're beautiful, but I just speak my mind and warn you. He really hurt me much and I just don't want him to break another woman's heart...yeah that's kinda all I wanted to say to you..." She turns and walks out.
Wow! Did I just heard right? I expected something whole different. Swearing, insults, yelling, anything like that but not... this! I dry my hands still in thoughts I don't know what to think about that. Can that all be the truth? Is he really so calculating? If he really used and cheated a girl like her, then why in hell should he be with me in honesty? But why does he always say he doesn't want to use my contacts? I shake my head. I need fresh air to get a clear mind! I go out of the restrooms and head towards the doors. Outside I walk a bit on the street and then lean my back against a wall when I suddenly hear someone calling my name. I look up and see Bruno. He sees me too and jogs over to me.
"Hey, baby... why you're outside? What did she say to you?" He asks me with a rushed, worried voice.
"Erm...I needed fresh air... and... a lot of bad things..." I answer his questions.
"I knew it! Please don't believe her! I can explain everything!" He spits out still with a worried face.
"I don't know, Bruno. I have a lot of things on my mind. I don't need all of this shit right now. I have to concentrate on my family. She's your ex and she said you used her and cheated on her and she wanted to warn me. And I'm honest it's not the first time someone warns me that you're might only with me to get some new contacts and jobs. But nevertheless I took this risk and started a relationship with you. You make me happy and I'm fallin' for you. I hope you do too. But I know that you can't get everything you want and there are some things who let me doubt in you, otherwise I don't care you know. I enjoy spending time with you and I don't quit because one of your ex's talks bad about you. But I still need to know what's behind that. You know she didn't just talked with a bit jealousy. I could feel that you really broke her heart and I wanna know the story from your side as well..."
He nods. "Okay. Let's go home. I'll tell you everything and the truth."
I nod. "Okay."
We walk over to the car and drive home. We don't talk the whole drive, but it's still not awkward. I think both of us think so much that we don't mind the silence, only music is playing quietly. The latest Beyonce album which I love so much. Listening to it relaxes me. We arrive and take the elevator up. We both lean on the wall next to each other and after some seconds he takes my hand and squeezes it lightly. I look at him and see he smiles at me. I smile back a bit but I don't wanna give in, he has to tell me the truth, so I look away and free my hand from his grip. We step out the elevator and walk to my apartement. I immediately go to the bathroom to remove my make-up after slipping out of my heels. Then I go into the bedroom and change in my PJ's. I expected Bruno to lay in the bed already like he always does, but he's not in here. I go to the living room and see him sitting on the couch. I step behind him and put my hands on his shoulders lightly massaging them. I don't know why I'm doing this. It's not on me to make him feel good, but I can sense that all this is not easy for him.
I lean over him so that I can see the side of his face. "Hey... I'm so damn tired. Mind if we go to bed and talk there?" I ask him quietly.
He turns his head and looks at me in disbelief. "Are you sure? I thought you don't want me to stay the night so I sat down here."
"Is it so bad what you did? Oh Bruno..." I take my hands off of his shoulders and sigh. "Come!"
I walk back into the bedroom and hear him following me. I lay down on my side of the bed. I love this all, that we already have our sides. I know we're only a couple for 11 days but we saw us every day, he literally lives here and we spend so much time together, good time. I don't want this to end. I so hope that it's not too bad what he did. He turns off all the lights and crawls under the sheets. I feel his hand on my waist slowly stroking over my body up to my neck, from there his fingers run through my hair and he let them rest in it, only his thumb keeps on caressing the side of my face.
"Bruno?! Tell me now before I fall asleep..." I say trying not to show him how much I enjoy his touch.
"Okay..." He starts. Then silence again. I hear him breathing in deeply and slowly breathing out. "We met about 10 months ago in a club, changed numbers and had a couple of dates. It didn't take long that we fell in love with each others. At this time I had a own crib but I was so broke and couldn't pay rent for months. They threw me out after 4 months. She said I can move to her and so I did. It was cool at the beginning, but after a while she was annoyed that she had to pay everything, that wasn't even true. When I had money I always bought food and gave her as much as possible. But it wasn't enough for her, so she got me a job in a clothing store a friend of her worked in. I agreed but that wasn't what I wanted. I didn't care about the job and after 2 months they fired me. She was angry as hell and told me that I should finally get myself together, stop doing music and run after a dream that won't come true. I think that day I stopped loving her... I mean how can I be with someone who doesn't take me serious, who doesn't believe in me, who doesn't understand me and what I live for? The crazy thing is she loved my music and she's a professional dancer, she does what she loves. That's why I didn't understand why she can't let me doing what I love... music. She just said that she at least gets jobs and has money, but I struggled too long and should realize that I won't make it... I couldn't believe that she really thought like that. I knew I had to break up with her but she loved me so much and I started to think maybe she's right. So I decided to stay, but I couldn't find a job and secretly I kept on going to the studio. It was so frustrating not to show her what new songs I wrote...Then one day she found out, she found a couple of demo tapes. She made a huge scene and destroyed them. I was so angry. Then she had to go 'cause she had a video shoot for Sean Kingston. I had a job as a DJ that night. I went there and after it I drank much, I was still so pissed. I knew I didn't love her anymore and our relationship had no future. Then there was this girl, she bought a couple of drinks for me, I can't remember exactly what happened but she complimented me so much. She saw me DJ-ing and loved the way I look and everything. She made me feel special. When I was with Mandy almost all the time I felt worthless and this girl she showed me that she wanted me. And..."
He pauses and I finish his sentence. "... you slept with her?"
He nods and continues. "Yes. I went home with her, I was drunk and I slept with her. The next day I felt terrible. Though I wanted to quit with Mandy, I still was with her, so I cheated... that's not what she deserved... I went home and I wanted to break up with her. But when I entered her apartement she instantly fell round my neck and told me that Sean Kingston wants to buy one of my songs for 30,000 dollars. She listened to my songs at the video set and he asked if he can listen a bit too. He liked it so much and wanted to know from who they are. Of course she said that they are from me and he said he especially likes 'Innocent'. She told him I would love to sell it and he made her this offer. She gave him my number and he really called later that day and said he wants it. I knew when I break up with her like I planned she will do everything that he drops me. So I decided to wait 'til he bought it. A week ago it was sold and I quit with her. I really felt terrible the whole week and I even admitted that I cheated. She of course was totally whiped out and accused me that I only stayed with her 'cause of the job and so on and on. It's right but only for the last week! Things just went wrong totally... I'm not proud of that. But I can't change it, I only can move on and don't let that happen again..."
I listen carefully and I can tell he's really sorry for it. That doesn't make it better, he behaved totally wrong, but I guess we're all humans and make mistakes. That's what I'm thinking and that's also what I'm saying to him. "I believe you that you don't wanna let it come so far again. It's good tho that you told me the truth. I really appreciate that." I stroke over his head down his neck. He grabs my hand and kisses it.
"I promise you with you I feel totally different! You support me so much and I love that! I will never treat you like that or break your heart like that. Do you believe me that?" He asks looking deep into my eyes with his big brown eyes I can't resist.
"I believe you, but we'll see what time brings ok?!" I reply and he nods. "I'm really tired now and tomorrow will be a long day for me, so I would like to sleep now."
"Sure!" He says and wraps his arms around me pulling me close to him. I close my eyes and huddle against him. He kisses my forehead and lays his head above mine that his chin touches my hair. I can feel his breath in my hair and his heartbeat against my chest. The way he holds me says more than thousand words. I know he would never treat me like that 'cause I'll never treat him like that. It's the first night we don't have sex, but I never felt so close to him. I think this relationship is about to get serious slowly...
The next day we wake up late. I only have 3 hours left to pack and get ready. Bruno helps me to pick out the right clothes. It's so cute he just wants me to wear big and high-necked shirts. I hate it we don't have more time to spend together. I would love to sleep with him a last time, but it's just no time and I won't be satisfied with a quicky, so we don't do it. We can make it to the airport in time, so we at least have some time to say goodbye properly. It's hard especially after what happened yesterday, but I know when I come back everything will be alright. We kiss a thousand times and hug and say how much we miss each other until I finally can force myself to break away from him and go through the security checks. The flight is long but good without turbulences. I sleep at least half of it and the other half I try to avoid to think about Bruno. I fly to Germany to get the problems with my family together, so I concentrate on this. After the plane landed, I get my suitcase and walk outside. I can spot my mom from the second I go through the security doors. I walk towards her with a big smile, it feels good to see her. She smiles back at me. She's dressed up nicely as always and I think she lost some weight. But although she looks good I can see in her eyes that she's totally not fine. I hug her tight and she hugs me back.
"Hey Mama. Es is so schön dich zu sehen!" I say honestly.
"Ja find ich auch. Schöner wärs aber, du würdest wegen nem anderen Grund kommen!" She says back with a sad tone in her voice.
Great! It already starts here and now... I feel this week will not only be exhausting, it will change all of our lives. I pray to the better...