We wave goodbye to Jen and Christian in front of the café and make our way towards the bus stop.

I have a car, but I don’t really use it much since traffic in the city can be really inconvenient.

I mostly use it when I need to travel longer distances, or I when I come by Mona’s place, so I don’t have to rely on public transportation in the later hours.

She still hasn’t let me spend the night – other than one time when we’d been going at it for hours and ended up passing out from exhaustion – but she’s come to terms with cuddling after sex and spending time doing other things, though she still grumbles a bit. I’ve begun to find it kind of cute the way she resists me but always ends up buckling under the pressure.

During the ride I wonder if I should ask her about what’s going on with her. I can’t help but feel it’s something more than just being tired… but it’s probably better to wait until we get back to her place.

We get off the bus and make our way to her apartment, while chatting a little about Christian and Jen. She seems happy and relieved that Jen’s found a decent guy to be with and I can’t help but smile at her expressions.

We get inside the complex and make our way to the elevator that opens with a ‘ding’ and she moved as if to get in. Then stop dead in her tracks.

I see how her whole body freezes and the color drains from her face, and she takes a step back.

In front of us in the elevator stands a man. He looks clean-cut, businesslike; he has brown hair and green eyes and, on his lips, forms a grin.

For some reason that expression makes all of the hairs on my body is stand up.

“Mona! There you are!” he says and steps out of the elevator, “I thought I might have been in vain coming here, but this is great timing”.

This guy is dangerous. Mona’s reaction and the look in his eyes tells me so, and I instinctively move my body in front of her. He needs to go. Now.

“Oh, who’s this? Your boyfriend?” the man asks and glances me up and down, estimating me.

“He’s no one, Daniel” she says and there is a chill in her voice I haven’t heard before.

She pushes me away a little dismissively and I feel a sting at her words.

“Hmm… Maybe it was bad timing coming here?” he asks, still a fake smile on his lips.

“It is” she says sharply.

“Oh, well… Next time then” he says scratching his neck.

“Yes”

Then he makes his way past Mona and just as he does, he bends down and whispers something in her ear. I clench my fists and resist the urge to shove him against the wall and bite his head off, and my eyes follow him as he leaves. Chill Aaron, chill. Don’t do something you’ll regret.

The nonchalant walk, almost a spring in his steps. He clearly saw how she reacted to him and he enjoyed it. My attention returns to the woman next to me and I notice she is shaking.

“Mona, are you okay?” I say this as I reach out to touch her shoulder, but she recoils from my touch.

“I’m fine” she says in a cold voice, then she steps into the elevator and I quickly follow her.

Inside she like a statue: unmoving and silent, but as soon as we reach our floor she suddenly storms out and starts running down the hallway.

“Hey, Mona!” I yell in surprise and run after her.

She’s fumbling with her keys to unlock her door and just when I reach the door, she gets it open and nearly smashes it in my face, but I catch it before she does.

“H-hey!” I exclaim in surprise.

“I-I think you should go, but t-thank you for today” she says, and her voice is trembling.

She’s doing everything she can to seem natural; like she didn’t just sprint down the hallway in a panic and is trying to shut the door in my face with shaking hands.

“I don’t think I should” I tell her and force the door open.

For a moment her expression is utter terror and she takes a step back as I make my way inside.

Who was that guy? What did he do to her, to make her like this? I want to run back after him and bash his head in, make sure he can never hurt her again. He was reveling in her terrified reaction.

I’ve never seen her like this before; so scared, shaken up and vulnerable. I need to do something. I need to comfort her. I close the door behind me, and she looks like she’s been caught by a wild animal.

I stretch out my arms to take her in my embrace and she immediately steps back. Why is she looking at me like I’m going to hurt her?

“Who was that guy, Mona?” I ask her. I need to know.

“Aaron, I just want you to go”

She’s hugging her arms like she’s trying to comfort herself.

“I don’t want to”

She looks at me with so much pain and sorrow that it makes my heart ache, then she takes a deep breath to collect herself and her expression hardens.

“Aaron, leave. That’s an order” her voice is cold and sharp.

“I’m your boyfriend, not your pet. I don’t take orders from you” I tell her snarling at her words.

Why is she determined to push me away? Why can’t I know what’s going on with her? Why does she have to try to hurt me every time I get close?

“Then I don’t need you!” she yells, her voice full of anger and despair.

“I don’t care!” I yell just as angry, “who was that guy? Tell me!”

“No one, Aaron!” she lies insistently.

“I don’t believe you, who was he?”

I’m getting really irritated.

“I said: No one!” she yells, “why do you even care so much?”

“Because I love you!”

The words just fly out of my mouth before I have time to stop them. I wasn’t supposed to say that. It isn’t time yet, she’s not ready to hear it.

And I’m not prepared for her response when she immediately yells:

“Well I don’t!”