“So I would come back to my room with you, where everything we did was monitored. God, oh god, oh god.”
“I meant everything I said, baby, ever wor-,”
“I am not your baby!” she shrieked, sitting upright in a flash. He smiled sadly and pressed his hand to the side of her face.
“You're my everything,” he whispered.
She lurched away from the bed, away from him. She sucked in air, but wasn't taking in any oxygen. She thought she might pass out, or throw up. Possibly both. In what order, she wasn't sure.
“You're a liar. You lied to me. Everything. You acted like you didn't know me. Introduced yourself, fuck. I can't believe it. You knew me, and I had no clue who you were. You had a mark, a mission, a job. All those days, all that time, just pretending,” she went on and on.
“You know me, Misch. You know me,” Tal stressed, following alongside her as she paced.
“I don't. I feel like I'm just meeting you right now, and I don't like this man very much,” she cried, pushing at his chest when he got close to her.
“You love this man,” he reminded her.
“How can I love someone I don't know!?” she shouted, shoving and hitting as his arms came around her.
“You do. You know me, you love me,” he kept repeating it.
She screamed and cried and shoved at him, but he held her tighter. Crushed her to him. Held her as she sobbed.
“I don't. I don't know you. I don't, I don't, I don't. I don't know this person. How could you do that to me? I loved you.”
She cried for a long time. He lowered them to sit on the floor, and she was reminded of their last day together in Rome, which just made her feel worse. She had thought breaking the news to Mike had been the worst thing ever?
Wrong.
“Mischa,” Tal whispered, his breath hot against her ear. She wasn't sure how long they'd been sitting there for; long enough for her to stop struggling against him. “You lied to your husband, to be with me. Well, I lied to you, so I could be with you.”
“I want you to leave,” she whispered back.
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
“I can't do this right now, Tal. First Mike, and then divorce papers, and now this. God, I always knew I wasn't a strong person, but fuck, you really wanted to nail it home for me,” she cried against him.
“I didn't. You are strong,” he assured her.
“I'm not. I'm weak, and you made me worse.”
His arms got tighter for a second, then loosened. Fell away. They were just two people, sitting on a hotel room floor, not looking at each other.
Strangers.
“I never wanted to do that,” he told her, his voice empty sounding. “I saw you in those pictures, saw you through a camera lens, saw you in Rome, and I thought to myself 'wow, what is this beautiful woman doing in this place?', and then I met you. Talked to you. Touched you. I'm selfish, Misch. So selfish. I couldn't stop. I wanted more. I'll always want more. Maybe that's wrong. Maybe I made a mistake. I've made a lot. But I'll always want you, always want to touch you. I have for a long time. I will for a lot longer. You own me, Ms. Duggard. Body and soul.”
Ms. Duggard.
“I made the mistake, Tal. Not you. All me. I told a lie – it gave birth to more. You're right, I lied to my husband. I can't get mad at you for lying,” she sighed.
“You can. I deserve it.”
“I deserve worse.”
“Stop it.”
“I want you to leave.”
“No.”
“I don't want this.”
“That's a fucking lie.”
More tears.
“You know, Tal,” she chuckled, wiping at her eyes. “For the first time in a long time, I'm gonna stick with the truth.”
“Fucking liar.”
She finally lifted her eyes to his, smiling at him before she got to her feet.
“Mr. Canaan, it was very nice to meet you. Beyond words. But I've been playing around for long enough. I think it's time for me to go home.”
Tal stood as well and loomed over her.
“You said you loved me,” he growled.
“I know. I meant it.”
“And I love you.”
“I think you meant it, too.”
“Then what's the fucking problem!?”
“Everything. I ended my last relationship in lies. I don't want my next one to be built on them.”
Hard logic to argue with, even for Tal and his silver tongue. His jaw worked, clenching and unclenching. He looked like he was in pain.
“Please, babe. Please, don't do this,” he begged.
“I have to do this. I'm in love with a guy I met in Rome. You're in love with a girl you met in Rome. Neither of us are those people.”
He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his chest.
“Then get to know this man. You'll love him even more.”
“It's time to go home now, Tal.”
She walked to the door and opened it. When she turned back, he was still standing in place, glaring at her.
“Home is with you,” he stated. She gave him a watery smile.
“Home is in Detroit. You hate the U.S.,” she reminded him.
He strode towards her, eating up the ground. She didn't even have time to react, he just grabbed her and kissed her hard. They fell against the open door, moving backwards as it hit the wall.