“You are humiliating me and still saying I'm being childish? I'm leaving here, and... I'm done with you.” She pulled out the engagement ring and threw it at him.
He smirked. He didn't take her actions seriously. This was not the first time she threatened to leave him whenever he did something wrong. He believed she would calm down in the next seconds and beg him as she always does.
“Stop acting up. You need me in your life so much to walk out. You can't do that.”
Emily glared at him with bloody eyes and walked toward the doors, feeling every eye on her back.
"If you walk out of that door, I won't accept you back if you come back begging."
Without saying anything or even looking back, Emily pushed the door open and left. Desmond let out a little laugh. “She’ll be back. Give her thirty seconds.”
Several guests exchanged quiet and uncomfortable glances. While everyone believed she would come back as usual, one of Desmond’s friends didn't believe. “Desmond… I’m not sure she’s coming back. That was... man, that was rough.”
“She’s obsessed with me, Reuben. I'm her life. She can't do anything without me.” Desmond said, brushing it off. “She’ll come back and apologize. She always does. And this time, I will make sure she kneels down and beg me."
“I don't think so,” Reuben insisted. “This time, you went too far.”
Desmond ignored him. “Just watch. She’ll walk in any second.”
"What if we bet ten thousand dollars?" Reuben said. "I bet she won't come back."
"Betting this with me is just like giving me ten thousand dollars for free." Desmond said with all confidence.
"Are you in or not?" Reuben dared him, pulling a stack of ten thousand dollar bills.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." Desmond pulled his down cash and slammed it on the table with a smile. "I will be ten thousand dollars richer in the next seconds."
They waited. 1 minute passed. Two minutes, five minutes, nothing. He was expecting the door to open at any moment, but there was not even a sign.
Reuben leaned back and crossed his arms. “I told you. She's not coming back. You have lost her.”
"Maybe she’s waiting outside.” He replied.
“What if she's not?” Reuben asked.
"I'm sure of what I'm saying. I will go out now and come back with her." He said.
"Let's see."
"Watch me." He smirked and made his way to the door with all confidence that he would come back with her. He pushed the door open, expecting her figure leaning against a wall, maybe wiping her tears and ready to rush back the moment she saw him.
But to his surprise, the lot was empty. Everywhere was quiet. He called her name without getting any response. She was gone. Completely gone. "Fuck!" He mumbled in anger and walked back in with a tight face. Reuben smiled just as he saw him walking back alone.
"I guess she's not outside either."
“She must be waiting for me at home,” Desmond muttered, but the words didn't sound as confident as before.
Reuben took the money, and with that, the birthday party continued, but the vibe was no longer the same.
.
.
.
Desmond got home after the party still feeling full of himself. He believed that Emily would be waiting for him inside to apologize and calm his anger.
He told himself maybe her useless pride couldn't let her apologize in front of the guests. That felt somehow reasonable to him even though he found it disrespectful.
He opened the door with that same confidence, while expecting her to walk out of the room and meet him halfway like she usually does. But nothing happened.
He dropped his keys on the table and called her name. Unfortunately, no response. He shouted her name, but still he didn't get any response. For the first time that night, he felt slightly confused. He walked towards the bedroom, thinking maybe she was lying on the bed, crying or hugging a pillow as she always does whenever she is upset.
But when he pushed the door open, the room was empty as well. He looked around, and the small bag she came with wasn’t leaning on the wall behind the wardrobe where he saw it last. That was when he finally knew that she had left.
“What nonsense is this? What has come over her?” he muttered. It annoyed him that she left like she didn't have the right. "All because of what happened at the party? Something she should have brushed off?" He shook his head.
Emily leaving the house didn’t make sense to him. She never did things like that. She always apologizes even when he was the one wrong.
He pulled out his phone to call and confront her. To his surprise and for the very first time, the call didn’t go through. He tried again, and the same thing happened. He frowned and tried sending a message, but it didn't send. That was when he realized he had been blocked.
"She blocked me? Who does she think she is?" He let out a short laugh, shaking his head like it was ridiculous.
“So she’s doing this now? She’s trying to get my attention." He said to himself. He convinced himself that maybe she wanted him to chase after her a little. Maybe she wanted him to feel guilty for what he did and apologize to her.
"I will never apologize to her if that is what she wants." He said proudly. “She’ll come back when she’s done acting.”
Nothing felt real to him yet. He also believed her father would never stand with her. He gave her father a job in his company and also supports them financially.
"I made her useless father a truck driver when he had nowhere to work. Emily knew that. She knew how much I had helped them." He muttered.
That thought made him relaxed. In his mind, she would have no choice but to come back. “She’ll beg,” he said with a small smile. “She thought she could teach me something by leaving, but she will end up learning instead."
He stretched his body and walked toward the couch like the whole situation was nothing but a little drama. He even imagined how she would kneel down, crying and telling him she was sorry. He pictured himself acting like her master. To her and her father, he sees himself like a savior. So he believed she was not supposed to have any choice of her own.
The more he imagined all that, the more pleased he became. And because of that confidence and swelling pride, he didn’t bother thinking about her any further.
He simply settled into the couch, pulled out his phone, and scrolled for a bit. Then he dialed Tricia's number.
“Tricia." He called when she picked up. “Come over and let’s spend the night together.”
"You will see me soon." Tricia replied without hesitation.
It was as if she had been waiting for his call.
Desmond leaned back, smiling to himself, totally convinced that Emily would come back the next day.