There were guards outside.There was always someone watching.They were always seeing her humiliation.
Tears filled her eyes.This was a nightmare.
She just needed to break free.Giovanni must have realized she was a problem.A big child he needed to babysit.She must have embarrassed herself at the way she had thrown herself at him.She was a fool.
Kicking off her pumps, she ran across the lawn and just kept running.Her parents’ property was large, not as big as Giovanni’s, but she was able to make her way down toward the bottom of the garden where there was a small woodland.It was only a few random trees, but when life at home got hard, this was where she hid.
She just needed to clear her mind, to figure out what she was supposed to do.How could she have a baby when Giovanni wouldn’t even come near her?She hadn’t gone to her room but laid in the bed they were meant to share together.He never came to bed.Maybe he was having an affair, and that was why she never saw him.
Tears fell from her eyes, as she got to the end of the yard and just collapsed to the ground in the stupid pencil skirt with a small slit up the back, which didn’t give any real movement away.
Mia didn’t know how long she sat there, alone, staring across the yard—a minute, ten, it didn’t matter.She heard some movement, and she quickly glanced behind her to see Giovanni approaching.
“You don’t have to be here.I’m going to make one of the guards take me back,” Mia said.
“You’re not going to get the guards to take you back.”Giovanni rounded the tree and then crouched down in front of her so they were at eye level.“Do you want to tell me what is going on?”
“No, I just ...I want to go home, okay?That is what I want.”
“I saw you leave the party,” Giovanni said.“And I saw your mother leave the party.”
She snorted.“And?”
“What happened?”
Mia didn’t want to say anything.Complaining would just make her sound like a freaking child.This was so frustrating.What didn’t make her a child?
“I’m not good enough.I’m failing them as a daughter and you as a wife.I’m nothing but a big, fat, childish failure.”She shrugged.
“Mia—”
“No, it’s fine.I mean, I should accept it, right?You can’t stand my childish traits, so no wonder we can’t make a child.You can’t even stand to touch me.”She pressed her lips together, or at least attempted to keep her pain at bay, but nothing was working.It was like the dam had burst, and there was no way to keep it all in.The tears kept falling, and she hated it.
“What did I do wrong this time?”she asked.“I ...we ...the sex was good.It was great, but you haven’t touched me in three weeks, and yes, I guess that makes me childish because I counted.I remember these small little details.”She was even more mortified.“What is wrong with me?”she all but screamed at him.
Mia was expecting him to walk away, to look down on her, to do something her parents and brothers had done.
Instead, Giovanni cupped her face and tilted her head back.“It’s time you and I had a conversation.”
