“He'll survive,” he stressed.

“I'm not so sure. You didn't see his face. You didn't hear what he said. God, it was so awful. I feel so awful, being here with you. How can I be with you now? Where is he now? Where did he go? Why do I get to be here, wrapped in someone's arms?” Mischa sniffled.

“He's at a hotel on the other side of town, he's flying home tomorrow,” Tal answered. She turned to him, shocked.

“How do you know that!?” she exclaimed. He smiled sadly and brushed hair away from her face.

“Man of many talents, remember?”

Fuck you, mystery man.

“I just can't believe how bad it went. I never imagined, in a million years, that it would happen the way it did,” she sighed, pressing her face into her hands.

“I'm sure it's not as bad as you -, what the fuck is this!?”

Tal's voice was sharp as he grabbed her arm and pulled it towards him. He examined her skin closely, his glare wandering over the little bruise marks. He let her go and shifted around her, looking at her other arm. She looked as well, and sure enough, there were identical marks on her other bicep.

“I'm fine,” she assured him, trying to push his hand away.

“Like hell you are! That mother fucker put his hands on you!?” Tal shouted. She shook her head.

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“No, it wasn't like that, really. He didn't hit me, he wasn't trying to hurt me,” she said quickly.

“Well, he's fucking dead. What happened,” Tal insisted, moving around some more till he was sitting in front of her.

“Tal, it's not a big -,”

“What. Happened.”

Mischa sighed.

“We went to the beach. He kissed me, I stopped him, he asked what was wrong, and I just said that … that we were unfixable. That it needed to end,” she started.

“That doesn't get you bruises. What else.”

“He didn't listen, I kept talking, he started to freak out when I said I wanted it to be over, he tried kissing me again, and I … I kinda … I wigged out, I shouted at him to stop. And it was like he knew. He just knew. He asked if I had cheated on him, and I … I said yes,” she stammered through the story.

“What did he say?”

“Nothing. He came back here, and I followed, and when I got here, he was throwing all my stuff off the balcony.”

“You just let him!?”

“What was I supposed to do, Tal!?” she snapped. “'Hey, fucker, I know I just pissed all over your heart and ripped our eight year relationship to shreds, but can you put my Victoria's Secret underwear down?'. Yeah, no, I don't think so. He could've taken a shit in my luggage, and I would've let him.”

Tal actually started laughing, which made her laugh a little, too. But it felt good. And feeling good was bad, and then the guilt was back. Suffocating her.

“What else,” Tal kept his voice gentle. She took a deep breath.

“I told him that we needed to talk, and he calmed down. Said he understood, said we could work it out, he would forgive me, we'd go to therapy, blah blah blah. I kept telling him we couldn't work it out, and that's when he figured out that it wasn't just me having sex with someone else,” her voice became smaller and smaller.

“He figured out it was an affair,” Tal finished for her. She nodded, wiping at her nose.

“Yeah. Yeah, he did.”

“How did it end? How did you wind up in the shower?”

Misch took a deep breath.

“He, ah ... he was upset, at what I said, at what he'd figured out. He was yelling at me and, I don't know, trying to shake some sense into me. I think that's how I got the bruises. Then he kept pushing me against the wall, and he was calling me names,” Mischa started crying again. “He just kept pushing me, then he yanked my rings off. Took them and walked out of here.”

Tal stared at her for a second, then got off the bed. She watched as he pulled his shirt off the back of a chair – he must have taken it off while she'd been sleeping. He slipped it on and began buttoning it up as he walked across the suite.

“What're you doing!?” she demanded, sliding to the end of the bed.

“I'm gonna go kill him,” Tal said simply, stepping into his shoes.

Misch was out of the bed and managed to get in front of him before he could reach the door.

“Stop it!” she yelled, pushing him away. “Stop. He was angry, and he did some fucked up things, but so did I. He hurt my skin. I hurt his heart.”

“I don't give a fuck. That doesn't give him the right to touch you like that,” Tal was almost growling.

“It's my body, and I say it does,” she snapped back. He suddenly leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers.

“Baby, I hate to tell you this, but it's not just your body anymore. It's belonged to me ever since that first night,” he informed her.

“Tal,” Mischa took a deep breath. “He was upset. I've known Mike a long time, and I have never seen him like that, ever. Please.”

Before Tal could argue, the sound of Misch's phone chirping interrupted them. They stared at each other for a long moment, then she went back to the bedroom. Her cell was plugged in on the night stand, and she leaned over it.

“Is it him?” Tal asked, walking up behind her. She groaned and shook her head.

“No. My mother.”




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