Chapter 213 - Knocking On Women's Doors
The doorbell rang when Natalie had just left the shower and was wiping her hair with a towel.
"Coming!" She called and let the towel fall onto the bed, then left her room and headed for the front door. She checked herself out and decided that her simple homely dress was decent enough. It was probably the furniture delivery bringing in her dining table. After an intense fight with her parents, she had moved into a new apartment the day before, and chosen one that was unfurnished so she would select her own furniture.
She opened the door and was about to direct them where to place the dining table when she saw the person outside the door. She paused mid speech when she realized that it was no delivery guy. It was Devonte Lemaigre in the flesh. "Why is it you? What are you doing here?"
"Nat…" He whispered out her name.
He looked like crap and for a moment she almost felt pity for him. No matter how he looked, she felt worse. She pulled the door to close it and he pressed his palm against it to keep it from shutting. He was stronger than she thought.
"What? Aren't you scared your fans will see you trying to break into a woman's apartment and leave you? There is probably some other actor who doesn't go knocking on women's doors. He will be more appealing." She scoffed sarcastically.
He looked pained. "Nat, please give me a minute of your time. Just a minute." He pleaded.
She crossed her arms, giving up trying to close the door in his face. "One minute has already elapsed. You may leave."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Please." He pleaded.
She rolled her eyes at his ridiculous expression. Was it even real or was it acting? It was worth noting that this man had convinced hundreds of millions of fans by his convincing act. This entire thing could as well be a play to him. "Why do you want to come in? So you can convince me that you regret saying what you did? Lie that you didn't mean it?"
She cut him off before he could say a word. "Then what? Will you try to sleep with me and if you manage to get what you want, leave before I wake up? What am I to you, huh? A bin for you to empty your balls?"
He ran a hand down his face, knowing that she was only using that kind of tone and saying such hurtful words because she was hurt. Heck, she had every right to feel that way. He took a step closer to her and tried to take her hand. "Nat, I would never do that to you. "You did worse. Get out of my sight." She roared, swatting his hand away before it could touch her. And to think that this was the very man whose touch had ignited fire in her body before. All she felt for him now was resentment.
She turned to enter her apartment.
"Baby, can you hear me out?" He took a step to follow her but knew better than to actually enter her apartment. He could only stand at the door and plead, "Leaving you was the worst mistake I have ever made. I…" He swallowed. "I have no excuses and it wasn't my choice either."
She turned around dramatically and crossed her arms when she heard the infamous excuse start to build up—that he didn't have a choice.
"Let's see." She tapped her chin with her forefinger exaggeratively. "Did you accidentally knock another woman up and were afraid to tell me?" She asked sarcastically. She had watched enough melodramatic soap operas with those. If that was what happened, then Devonte was back because he realized that the child the other woman was carrying wasn't even his—that he had been cuckolded and it turned out that leaving his former girlfriend was a mistake. She gave him a deathly stare before he could open his mouth. She should have gotten the water boiling before opening the door so she would chug it down his face if he dared to spout such ridiculous nonsense.
His lips trembled and he stared at her in disbelief for even thinking of such a possibility. "Hell no. I have never been with another woman during our relationship." He was afraid that his words didn't sound believable so he looked into her eyes. "Never, Natalie. I know there is probably no way to believe it but please trust me. It has only been you for these twelve years."
He had included the time they knew each other without dating. That made it sound serious and to some degree, it softened her heart. She frowned at the thought. This was not the time to be feeling anything for him. Not even hate.
She continued ticking off her list of possibilities. "Then what? Were you diagonized with an incurable illness that you were afraid would make me leave you, but you found out that you can be cured so you came back?" This time it was a possibility she had considered while she was still in denial about his departure.
He still shook his head. "No."
She scoffed. "Did someone threaten you with my life and say that they would kill me if you didn't call it quits with me?"
He remained silent. It was not that either, she guessed from her knowledge of him.
"So you realized that your words were stupid, huh?" She made a guess she thought was silly.
When he didn't respond, she sighed. "If it's none of these situations, I can never take you back."
She remembered another possibility and looked him up and down. "Oh. Unless you lied about your hard work and your career was actually sponsored by a woman who wanted you in return. If it's such a thing, I'd never take you back. I hate unfaithful dogs."
He winced at her unfiltered words.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Can you listen to me once? I'm only fucking asking for one minute. Why can't you calm down for a second and listen to me?" He wanted to pull at his hair in frustration.
She tilted her head to peek at the space behind her as if to check whether he was speaking to someone standing there. She saw no one so she looked up at him.
"Are you yelling at me? What right do you have to do that?" She was starting to lose her temper too.
"Don't fucking raise you voice at me!" He pointed at her with a growl. She raised an eyebrow unamused. Who the hell raised their voice at the other?
His eyes were suddenly bloodshot and he looked like he was about to murder someone.
"Devonte?" Her body shivered. She had never seen him this way before.
He ran a hand through his hair and avoided her gaze. "I'm sorry."
She frowned at him and scoffed in the end. "Whatever. Just leave."
Before he could try to plead, she grabbed her phone which was on the nearby coffee table threateningly. "Or else I'll call Desmond."
That made him retreat. He knew that the last person he should ever mess with was Desmond, and that was even more fatal after ditching his best friend.
Natalie watched him leave and let out a breath. "Devonte Lemaigre, just what the hell happened to you?"