Teo hinted to Anna to get in the car.
"Bernardo!" Anna roared and rushed herself into the arms of the guy. "Bernardo, I love Randall! God help me what to do! I don't want to be with Teo!"
"Anna, what are you talking about?"
"I love Randall, Bernardo!!!"
"And he loves you, too?"
"He doesn't love me, Bernardo! He doesn't love me, Bernardo! Oh, my God!" cried the girl, unsteady on her feet from the convulsive wailing. "I don't want to be with Teo!"
"Oh, Anna!" Bernardo exhaled.
After talking for quite some time, Teo and Randall walked over to them and Anna threw her arms around Randall.
"Randall, please, I love you, Randall!" Anna screamed, losing control over herself, her hands around Randall's neck. "Randall, please, I don't love him!"
"Let's go home, Anna." Teo tried to pull her away from Randall but she refused to obey. "Anna, let go of him. Go get in the car."
"I don't want to be with him, Randall! I love only you!!!"
"Anna, you have to go..." Randall said, trying to free himself from the girl's grip. "Go with him, Anna."
"What? No! Don't say that, Randall! Please, do not leave me!" the pain of his words seemed to paralyze her.
"Anna, you have to go..." Randall repeated.
"No! No!"
"Come, Anna." Teo finally pulled her away from Randall. "Don't make a scene in public."
"Randall!... No!" she cried as Teo dragged her toward the car.
Randall just stared after her. He had nothing to say to her.
Teo shoved her into the backseat of the car and spoke sympathetically:
"Don't humiliate yourself like that, Anna. You can see he doesn't love you."
Anna said no more but kept looking toward Randall, who was leaving the platform with Bernardo.
Nothing ever hurt her that much.
"Here." Teo handed her the rose. "I bought it on the way home from work. I thought you'd like it."
Without another word, he walked around the car and got behind the wheel, starting the engine.
Nothing ever hurt him that much.
Chapter 70
They drove in silence. Teo knew that if either of them said a word, there would be an explosion. And he wasn't sure he could control his emotions right now.
He kept replaying in his mind the scene of the conversation with Randall, when he came up to him on the platform whilst Anna was talking to Bernardo.
***
"Hi."
"Hello again, Teo."
"I came to get the girl."
"Not for the first time."
"Huh?"
"I said it's not the first time you've come to get the girl." Randall said with a bitter grin.
Teo's eyes flashed.
"It's not the first time you've screwed up so much that people who truly love you run out of your life."
"Really. You're an angel. Rich and famous. How could anyone not love you?"
"Randall, you're ridiculous."
"Anna's not going anywhere with you, Teo. I want her to stay with me. Be a man, and without any scandals just bring her things and documents."
Teo smiled and answered:
"You want? What does Anna want? Listen to me carefully, Randall. We both know you don't love her, and before you took her down the notch with your childish adventures, you better shut your mouth right now. Anna's coming with me, and if you try to stop me in any way, I'll turn your face to mush right here. You feel me?"
Randall was about to pounce on Teo, but they both looked at Anna, who was being crushed in Bernardo's arms and restrained themselves.
"Don't humiliate her with your behavior, Randall."
"Poor Teo, you don't know what to do to make her notice you - neither the songs nor the money help, huh? I bet it makes you sick to think that she loves me, such a poor, simple fellow."
Teo grabbed Randall's arm, careful not to let the audience see, and said:
"Listen, you poor, simple fellow. I have absolutely no interest in the crap you're talking about, but I'm warning you that today is the last time you're gonna mess with my relationship with Anna. Stay away from me if you value your teeth."
"She loves me." Randall said through his teeth. "You can't change that, no matter how much you threaten. Just remember, you can't force yourself to be loved."
"Selfish bastard. Look at her! What can you give her? You don't feel anything for her, and that's just low. Let her go, she deserves better. At least act like her real friend. You tell her you're friends, right?"
With that, he let go of Randall's cast and they both went to Anna and Bernardo.
Teo pulled up outside the house and, as Anna got out of the car, started the engine and drove off in an unknown direction.
Chapter 71
Anna waited until morning, but Teo did not come until the following night. He reeked of booze and alcohol. Without a word to the agitated girl, he undressed and went to bed.
Anna wanted to talk to him, but she didn't know what to say. Her quenched eyes betrayed only the pain for Randall and she was sure that all the words, if she opened her mouth, would be about him. Still, she was mortified by the way she treated Teo, the way she'd made a scene on the platform, hugging Randall and screaming of her affection.
She knew everyone had heard everything. She knew she had caused Teo an unbearable affliction. But what could she do? How to change the intentions of the heart? She tried her best to banish his from her heart. But she still doted on Randall, and even after he told her to sod off, she continued to love him despite all.
She was not ashamed that she beseeched Randall not to leave her, that she shouted all over the street she loved him. If the entire world had been listening to them at that moment, she would still have screamed that she loved him and begged him not to leave...
Even knowing he didn't love her back.
"Why." Teo's voice broke into her thoughts.
"What?..."
"Why, Anna?"
"Teo, I..."
Teo swung around to face her and looked her straight in the eyes as he fought his way through the gloom.
"Why do you bestow your heart on someone who treats it like it's a piece of shit?"
"Teo..."
"Why am I not worthy of cherishing your heart, Anna?"
Anna covered her face with her hands. She would not cry anymore, for all the hours she had been home alone she seemed to have cried a river. But she couldn't look into Teo's sincere eyes even through the night, knowing that whatever she said would only hurt him.
Teo sighed heavily and said:
"But you must know that I will still love you. Even after you yelled at the world that you didn't love me and you despatched me out. Even after every time you trampled me in the mud. Even after I let you go. I love you, Anna, no matter what, and you always remember that. And I expect nothing in return. I'm just telling you to know that. I love you, and that's why I'm letting you go. I will no longer hold you in the shackles of this hateful union. Forgive me if I have unwittingly led you astray from the path your heart desires to follow. Just mind this- he doesn't love you, Anna."
With that, Teo looked once more into Anna's tearful eyes with anguish, smiled sadly and turned away to sleep.
Chapter 72
"Where do I go, where do I go..." muttered the girl, making her way through the huge snowdrifts.
Stepfather threw her out at dawn. It was winter and in the morning it was so cold that even breathing brought unbearable pain from the icy thin air.
She moped around to find some shelter and wait until morning to try again enter home and see if her stepdad had fallen asleep. All her books were in the house, and before going to school, she wanted to at least take the backpack, if the usurper was still awake. For now, all she could do was wait.
Having reached an abandoned barn, she decided it would definitely be warmer inside than outside. When she opened the rickety door which creaked with oil-free screws, she was glad
to find that there was no one in, although such places were usually inhabited by hobos or by groups of freezing homeless animals.
She dropped into a corner and curled up, whispering a prayer of thanks, and fell asleep.
After a while, there was a rustle, and as Anna opened her eyes, she saw her stepfather standing over her with an axe he was swinging to strike.
She screamed and...
Woke up.
Her breath caught in her throat and eyes filled with terror. She automatically turned to Teo, who was leaning over her with an expression of compassion and pain on his face.
"Another nightmare." he said, more in the affirmative than expecting an answer.
"Teo, I dreamed he wanted to kill me." Anna murmured, still trembling.
"Who is he?"
"Varrel. My stepfather."
"Did he try to kill you in reality?"
"No, he... He couldn't, he's a terrible man but he wouldn't kill me, would he? Right, Teo? He's too weak for that. Teo?"
Teo sighed sadly and tried to comfort her by taking her in his arms. It was hard for him to understand what she was talking about because she mentioned nothing about her family but he knew that sometimes it was just superfluous.
Anna clung to his shoulders and held him tightly. She thought only her and Teo existed in the world now. She was so terrified that she couldn't think of anything to say what was happening to her.
At last, gathering her wits and moving a little away from the hideous dream, she explained:
"My stepfather expressed an insuperable aversion to me and treated me terribly. I've learned to ignore that part of my life, and in reality, I only stick to the positive side of things but his words, his moves, his actions haunt my dreams and there's nothing I can do. He reminds me that no matter what I do, I am a nobody, worthy only of defiance, I am incapable of anything piece of shit that needs to remember that above that level I will not go, I..."
"Shush." shut her mouth with a kiss Teo. "Don't prattle that heresy. You're not nobody, you're the most beautiful girl in the world and you drive everyone crazy with your beauty. Look what cockfights are happening because of you!"
Anna forced a smile and faded again.
"Thanks for the support, Teo. But I know what I am. Very nice of you..."
"Your stepdad is a piece of shit, and I can see he's ruined your life and your self-esteem but you know what? I'm not going to give you a "love yourself so others will love you" speech. I already love you, despite all the horrible thoughts and labels you've put on yourself because of that bastard Varnall."
"Varrel."
"Yeah, right. Whatever name they gave him at birth, they had to stop after the word bastard."
He showered her with encouraging kisses and offered to go to the kitchen to find some mineral water for his hangover and something to cheer her up.
She nodded and they headed for the kitchen. As soon as they sat at the table, Anna said:
"I'm sorry about everything, Teo."
"Let's not talk about it, Ann."
"Forgive me."
He looked away, pretending to look for something to eat in the refrigerator.
"Oh My God!!" Anna squeaked.
"Huh??" Teo looked at her in horror.
"Jesus!!"
"Anna! What is up!"
"I'm not pregnant!" the girl jumped to her feet. "My days came!"
"Oh."
"I'm not pregnant, Teo!" a weight seemed to lift off her shoulders. "I'm not pregnant!"
"You see. I told you it would be okay."
"I'm so happy!"
"I can see that."
Anna caught her breath and looked at Teo, expecting to see anger or disappointment. But his face was impossible to understand, it was like a stone and expressed nothing.
"Teo, is everything all right? I just..."
"It's all right, Anna."
"I'll run and get cleaned up."
"Certainly."
She ran out of the kitchen and into the bathroom.
Teo sank into a chair and closed his eyes, thinking even if she were pregnant, he would be the happiest man on the planet.
But fate always has its own plans.
"Is this the end..." he rhetorically uttered in a whisper and buried his face in his hands.
Chapter 73
Leaving the bathroom, Anna found Teo already on the balcony. He was smoking and playing some melancholy chords on his guitar.
"Teo," she started. "you're upset."
He looked at her and grinned.
"If you're looking for confirmation of your idiotic idea that I maliciously planned your pregnancy and am now upset that it didn't work out, then you're not gonna get it. I'm not upset that you're not pregnant, Anna."
"You're mad at me, I can see that."
"I'm not mad at you, Anna. I'm mad at everything. You're leaving in a couple of days and I don't think we'll see each other again. That hurts me because I know your mind is full of Randall and your time with me is dust to you."
"Teo, please don't say that!" she pleaded, falling into his arms. "Please forgive me for all the words I shouted on the platform."
"You don't regret saying them, Anna." Teo said calmly, pulling away from her. "All those words were true so do not retract. And it only hurts more. But I just can't comprehend how you can love him. He's a dog in the manger, Anna."
"Teo, Teo!" Anna hugged him again, holding him. "I'm here with you, I'm not with him, Teo."
"It's true." he sighed heavily. "But you only came with me because you didn't know if you were pregnant or not. That's why. Otherwise, you would have agreed to run away with Randall, even though he just couldn't stand the idea of you with me. Even seeing that he doesn't love you, you're still willing to blind yourself to any idea that allows you to be around him. But know this, Anna, it won't do you any good."
Teo pulled away from her grip and stood up, lighting another cigarette.
"Teo, am asking, let us not part like that. You just reminded me I am leaving soon, and if the last hours you are determined to hate me, I cannot take it!"
"Silly Anna!" he shook his head. "Your empty head will never understand the depth of my feelings, and you will always try to ascribe to me what is not. It doesn't matter what you do or say, Anna. I don't hate you. I love you."
Teo tossed his half-smoked cigarette angrily and looked at her.
She was silent, her eyes downcast.
"You're right." he said in a calm tone. "We have little time. Let us have some fun?"
Anna nodded shyly as she met his gaze.
"I suggest walking along the waterfront and visiting Burton restaurant in Porta Nuova."
"Is it good?"
"Oh, it is. Delicious food there." he smiled and added. "And it's posh."
"Very, very posh?"
"Very, very posh. But for me it's nothing." he winked.
Anna laughed. As soon as she saw Teo lose his guard, she leaped back into his arms. He couldn't help laughing too.
"Come on, put on something gorgeous."
"You're not working today?"
"No, and I'm very hungry."
"All I have is the black dress and the one I wore when you and I had a romantic dinner. Will that do?"
"No more outfits?"
"No."
"Just get in the car, we're going shopping. And then, finally, some breakfast. I'll dress up, too."
Startled, Anna hurried to her car. She was glad they'd talked and tried not to think about how bad things really were. The realization that she had tickets back to Mining Great City in two days hit her with a force that made her ears ring. She knew that she would never see Randall again, contrary to Teo's opinion that she would now communicate only with Randall. Brooding over the scene at the station repeatedly, each time she heard Randall calmly saying, "Anna, you have to go." The words stabbed her in the heart like a dagger each time, and feelings of deep vexation and irrevocable despair choked her throat.
She knew she couldn't m
ake him feel anything for her. She had to get Randall out of her life, out of her heart, out of her mind. But how...
Chapter 74
They pulled into some local fashion boutiques and went shopping. Teo clearly enjoyed picking out tons of different dresses for Anna, loading up on a skinny, sleep-deprived salesman named Chuck. She laughed and clapped her hands over every new dress Teo put on the poor assistant.
Not Giving Up on Forever Page 14