CHAPTER 15

After washing her hands, Mara took some tissues to dry them as she contemplated her reflection in the mirror. Her make-up needed some repair; so, after throwing the tissues in the trashcan, she opened her purse and took out her lipstick. She put it on her lips slowly, as if she was making a work of high precision, returning the rouge to her purse once she was done. She also fixed her hair a little with her hands, hollowing it out to make it lively. Then, she winked at herself and spun to get out of the restroom, but someone in the doorway made her stop dead in her tracks.

Alex!!

“What…what are you doing here?” she shouted, furiously, stepping back when she saw Alex coming in. “You shouldn’t…”

“I know, I know…” he cut her off softly, raising his hands. “But… I just wanted to…”

She didn’t even let him finish his sentence. “How many times do I have to tell you we have nothing to talk about? Are you stupid or what? What part of our earlier conversation have you not figured out? When did I tell you “go to hell” or perhaps, “go to hell”?” she growled. Her voice was sharp and cold as her deep hazel eyes, although inside she was trembling like a leaf.

“Look, Mara,” he said calmly as he stepped towards her a bit more. He seemed quite serene, as if Mara’s words hadn’t produced any effect on him. “I guess you wonder why I am here.” He stopped a bit before resuming. “Simple… I just want to apologize for what I told you before, for everything.”

Mara’s expression was now very confused. She blinked once, twice… What?? An apology? It cannot be possible. What she wouldn’t ever have thought receiving from him, now it seemed to come true. She would hear an apology from Alex! It was incredible!

“Very well…” she relented finally crossing her hands over her chest, not leaving the firmness in her voice. “Go ahead. I’ll listen.”

He cleared his throat and then, swallowed hard, before speaking. “Er… well… Mara. I know you’re upset with me and don’t blame you. You have all the right to be mad at me for behaving like such an asshole, treating you like someone that you are not, I mean, like a bitch…”

Mara’s eyes nailed to him fiercely when he pronounced this word, which made him stop a bit, hesitating. But a quick lift from her jaw was the sign to continue.

“I know I have to accept that you don’t like me and that you possibly preferred other company better than mine. I was a stupid trying to get from you something by force and deserved that you squashed my balls in that way…” He chuckled a bit, filling the room with his laugh. “Shit, Mara! You have such a temper!”

She smiled at him bitterly as she lowered her eyes, remembering that very moment. Of course, he deserved it! And she would do it again if it were the case. Then, she lifted her look up, finding Alex’s eyes nailed to hers.

“It was just that, Mara. A humble apology,” he said, tilting his head a bit.

She remained silent for some seconds, staring at him intensely and trying to find out if he was being truthful or not with her. Her inner voice told her what she wanted to know: his apology seemed being sincere. So, clearing her throat, she spoke. “Well, Alex, I accept it. I hope to have no more problems with you. It has been enough, I think.”

“Alright,” he replied, smiling at her softly as he put his hand on his chest. “I promise.”

“Fine. Now… if you let me… I must go.” She walked towards the door, a bit indecisively, all the while watching Alex. She saw a weird bright on his eyes and when she averted them, Mara wondered suddenly if he would fulfil his promise or not.

She would know, soon enough…

Fast, like a predator, Alex moved with an awesome speed, blocking her exit with his arm. Only he knew what was in his mind just then, and he wasn’t entirely certain at first, himself. It was something very powerful that took possession of his will at the very moment Mara started to leave the restroom, or, more to the point, his life. No, he decided, that could not happen. He wasn’t ready to let her just walk away, despite his promise to give her no further trouble. She was too fine to just let escape. Her hazel eyes, her soft skin, her nice figure, exactly, all of her, was something he wanted to possess, in one way or another.

“Dear Mara…” he purred, staring at her luxuriously. 

“Let me go,” she asked firmly, at least, she tried to not sound as frightened as she really was. “Please, Alex.”

He raised a hand and softly caressed her arm with a finger, provoking in her an unpleasant shiver of repugnance, making her stiffen. “I forgot asking you something.”

She squirmed to avoid Alex’s touch. She knew right away he had just lied to her. His behavior was proof enough. “Look, I don’t mind at all what you want now. I’m not going to listen. Not now. So, let me go right now.” Her voice held a clear sharpness and abruptness.

“Hey, pushy cat!” he muttered with that honeyed voice of his as he continued teasing her arm with his caress. “I’ll let you go if you give me just a kiss. A little kiss, just that, Mara.”

“No!!” she exclaimed decidedly as she reached for the door handle, but Alex got in the way, blocking the exit again and this time, setting the lock.

“Think about it, Mara. If you let me kiss you, then, I’ll let you go without any harm. I swear,” he stated, staring at her intensely.

“I don’t believe you. I’ve just seen that your word is pure crap,” she said between clenched teeth, trying her best to not seem completely terrified, which was becoming an ever more difficult task. “And if you don’t let me go in two seconds, I swear I’ll yell as strong as I can.”

“You won’t,” he assured, wrapping her quickly between his arms as his hungry lips seized hers, thrusting his tongue abruptly in her mouth.

He seemed to be possessed, like a demon, completely beside himself, as he smashed her against the door, controlling her body with his. His hands roamed wildly across her, touching every part of hers as his mouth and tongue left a trail of disgusting kisses on her neck. She felt an enormous, uncontrollable, instinctive repugnance build in the pit of her stomach, and she wanted to vomit right there. Her mind, however, fought against the panic and yelled at her body to take control of the situation. Another instinct, a stronger, more basic one seized her; she had to escape. Frantically, she slapped at him with her hands, hoping to beat him off, but all she did was anger him even more.

Alex stopped dead and glared at her. “Keep still or else…”

Mara, despite her fear, didn’t say a word; she just acted. She scratched his face like a wild cat and that made him stop his assault. But his reprisal was going to be worse.

He touched his wounded cheek and when he looked at his hand, he saw there was blood on it. That infuriated him much more. “Damned bitch!”

Enraged, Alex delivered a strong slap to her face that made her lose her balance, knocking her to the floor. She gingerly touched her cheek where a sharp, strong pain throbbed, and couldn’t keep her tears in check any longer. She began to cry absolutely broken. She hadn’t even enough strength to yell for help, but she still knew she couldn’t let him just abuse her like this. She needed to get out of there as soon as possible, before she could no longer fight him off. Suddenly, Oded’s image entered her mind and she stopped crying. Just knowing he was waiting for her was enough to give her all the strength she needed.

Alex stepped towards her quickly and roughly yanked her up, but he would have a surprise just as Mara was standing up in front of him. She didn’t hesitate for a second as she slammed her knee into his balls with every ounce of anger in her.

Once Alex felt that exorbitant pain between his legs, he doubled over with his hands clasping his two wonders to try and calm that breathtaking ache. But it wasn’t enough… He fell on his knees, yelling like a wounded animal. To Mara, those screams reminded her of the ones he gave the first time when she crushed his balls not longer ago. But if she hadn’t felt pity for him before, she felt even less, now.

After taking her purse from the floor, she got closer to a devastated Alex and spat him out on his face. “Maldito…maldito hijo de puta…Ojalá te pudras en el infierno (Damned… damned son-of-a-bitch. I wish you rot in the hell),” she cursed between clenched teeth, sobbing a bit yet.

Before Alex had a chance to recover, Mara spun around, unlatched the door, and, ran out of the restrooms as quick as she could. A big part of her wanted to run towards Oded to hug him strongly, but she just couldn’t do that. Instead, she just headed for the main entrance of the restaurant almost as if she was mesmerized. She just needed to get out of there as soon as possible, to run away from that place.

In her anxiousness to escape, she didn’t see the young waiter who had just walked out of the bar, and crashed against him. Her purse went flying, and the boy apologized as he picked it up for her. Mara tried to cover her face with her hand but she wasn’t quick enough, because he realized something wasn’t right.

“Are you fine, ma’am?” he asked, worried.

“Yes, thank you,” she muttered, taking her purse and heading for the main entrance, leaving an astonished waiter behind her.

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Oded had just paid the bill a few minutes before, but there was no sign of Mara yet. He chuckled at himself for being surprised at this. Peter was right when he explained that women spent an enormous amount of time at the restrooms, as if it was their second home. Of course, this occasion wasn’t going to be an exception. So, sighing deeply, he was waiting patiently, when the young waiter who had served them dinner, came over.

Clearing his throat, the boy spoke, “Er… sir, maybe it’s not my business, but your girlfriend…”

“My girlfriend?” Oded cut him off, shocked. But right away he knew the boy was talking about Mara. And the boy’s stunned expression indicated him something was wrong. He asked him what happened as he felt how an awkward knot formed in his stomach like if it was a sign of bad premonition.

“Well, really I don’t know, but I just crashed into her and when I handed her the purse… well, I… I realized something was not right. Her face, her eyes… well, it seemed she had been crying and…”

“Damn it!” he cursed as he got up from his chair quickly, taking Mara’s shawl. “Where’s she now?” His voice held a clear worry.

“Outside, sir,” said the boy.

“Thank you,” he added before starting to walk fast towards the main entrance, leaving the young waiter behind, shrugging his shoulders.

Oded came out of the restaurant and looked nervously around to find her. Soon, he saw her, walking between the cars parked there but without any concrete direction. 

“Mara! Stop, Mara! Please, sweetie!!” he hollered as he ran towards her, but however, she didn’t even stop as if she hadn’t heard him.

She kept her hypnotized walk, sobbing nonstop and when she felt a hand over her arm, she startled instinctively and squirmed to avoid that touch.

“Hey, hon… It’s me. Oded,” he said softly to try to calm her. “What happened, Mara? Tell me, please…”

She didn’t say a word; she couldn’t yet. Her sobs were too hard to let her even speak. She needed to get her emotions under control, and Oded was everything she needed right then to do so. So, wrapping her arms around his waist, she hugged him strongly as she tried to stop her tears.

Seeing her in that way, crying her soul out, was something Oded hadn’t thought at all he would end up witnessing that evening. He honestly thought everything between them was working to perfection during that date. But it looked he was wrong. Mara was crying and he… well, he was there, trying to calm her weeping, embracing her as sweetly and securely as he guessed she needed by then, while he whispered the softest words he could find within him to serene her. However, he couldn’t help but wonder over and over what had provoked in her such anguish, what evil thing had changed the good passing in that evening, threatening to spoil everything. He didn’t know it, so breathing deeply, Oded waited patiently for Mara could calm enough to explain him all.

After some moments, Mara’s sobs had almost lessened completely and she at last lifted her face up, removing finally the hair from it. It was when he saw her distressed expression. “Oh, God!  Mara…what… what happened to you, sweetie? Why are you so sad? Tell me.” 

She averted her eyes from his and stepped back to search in her purse for some tissues to clean her face, now ruined with the mascara running down her cheeks. By the time she was done, Mara talked eventually. “¡Oh, Dios mío, Oded! (Oh, my God, Oded!) It has been horrible… I… I thought he’d make me… ¡Oh, Virgen Santa! (Oh, Holly Mother!) It has been terrible…”

“Who, Mara?” he asked, raising his hand to caress her cheek tenderly, but once he brushed it, she complained in pain. “What is it?”

“He… he slapped me,” she muttered as she touched her aching cheek to alleviate the soreness.

“Who?” he insisted, already suspecting the answer, but he needed to be sure before doing anything.

She sighed deeply and let the air out slowly before replying. A single word came to her lips. “Alex.”

It was enough to turn Oded’s anger on. He held back the urge to let loose a string of curses in a loud voice, but he thought it better. He would save all his rage to that damned rat. “Please, Mara, go to my car and wait for me in.” He handed her the keys and the shawl.

“But… what are you thinking?” She recognized the anger in his face and knew he was up to something.

“You just do what I’ve just asked you, ok?” he pointed out firmly as he kissed her on her lips.

“Don’t try to do something that you’ll regret later, Oded,” she tried to dissuade him. “Please, let’s forget this, ok?”

“Forget? Please, Mara. He dared to touch you although I warned him. I can’t allow it,” he stated seriously.

When she looked at his deep chocolate eyes, she knew what his real intention was and tried to keep him for doing something crazy. “Please, Oded, don’t do it,” she begged, grabbing him by his arm. “It’s not worth the trouble. Moreover, I already gave him a souvenir from me. Surely, he must be still picking his balls up from the floor…”

Oded stared at her, and, despite his rage at what she had gone through, smiled slightly when she told him how she had incapacitated Alex. Without any doubt, Mara had her methods to protect herself. But he knew perfectly that he must do the right thing in that situation and in spite of her insistence, he wouldn’t stop.

“Mara, please, wait for me in to the car and don’t move from there,” he repeated firmly and then, he moved away without looking back.

“No, Oded! You’re just looking for trouble,” she shouted at him, running after him.

The sound of her high heels on the tarmac made him spin around quickly. “Please, Mara, go to…”

“No!!” she cut him off abruptly. Then, cupping his face, she made him look at her directly to her eyes. “I won’t let you do anything. Do you hear me? Nothing.” Then, her tone of voice smoothed and a little smile made its appearance on her lips. “Listen, Oded, I… I’m not going to allow you to go in. Of course, not. That could bring you a lot of trouble if anyone sees you doing something to Alex. And I’d feel terribly bad for not having been able to stop you. So, please, don’t go. Just stay with me… It’s the only thing I really want now.”

Oded closed his eyes, sighing deeply as he tried to decide what the right thing was. A part of him was angry and needed revenge, but the other part of him knew Mara was right. Things could become worse if someone witnessed some aggression between him and Alex. It would be something negative for him and he didn’t need that at all as it could damage his career. So, swallowing hard, he opened his eyes and could see in her beautiful hazel eyes an immense plea. And he couldn’t help it…

“Alright, Mara. I will do nothing… if you go with me to a police station,” he finally stated, his eyes nailed to hers.

“What?” She removed her hands from his face and stepped back confused. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean, Mara. You must report him. He deserves punishment for what he did you,” he pointed up seriously.

“Ah, no! I won’t,” she stated stubbornly, shaking her head as she started to walk towards the car.

“If you don’t, then… I’ll pay him a visit…” he said, turning around and heading for the restaurant for a second time.

When Mara heard that, she spun around quickly. “No! Wait!” she shouted as she ran to stop him once again. By the time she got him, she nailed her eyes to his dark ones. “That’s blackmail, do you know?”

“I’d say better that it’s a fair deal. I don’t go inside if you finally decide to go to the police. That’s it,” he clarified, arching an eyebrow. “What do you say?”

She took a long breath in, feeling still so unsure about what she must do. She was thinking for some moments, not knowing what to answer. But Oded broke her inner thoughts.

“Tell me, Mara. Why is it so difficult for you deciding to do this once and for all?”

“Because… well, I’m just a tourist and soon, will be leaving to go back to my country. And if I report him, surely it will be a court hearing and… Oh, God! It can… it can get complicated everything,” she complained, feeling how her nerves started to take possession of her.

“Easy, Mara, easy…” he whispered as he wrapped her with his arms to reassure. Then, kissing her forehead, he suggested going to the car. “We’ll be better talking there.”

They walked the few yards back to Oded’s car in silence. Once they were in, Mara was the one to break the ice.

“You have to understand me, Oded,” she kept insisting.

“And I do, little one. But I don’t agree with you. They’re not reasons enough to not do anything against him. If you don’t do it now, then, he could try it again at any moment,” he affirmed, looking at her intensely.

“But…” she tried again.

“Look, Mara,” he interrupted her. Then, taking her hands between his, he resumed talking. “Let’s see if you agree with this.” He stopped a bit to swallow hard. “I know someone in Santa Monica Police. She works at the Women’s Protection Unit and takes care of all these sort of problems. She’s a very kind person and can help you decide what to do. So, if you want, we can drive there tomorrow and take care of all this. What do you think?” He arched an eyebrow as he stared at her expectantly.

She cleared her throat before speaking. “Well… I must admit that it’s a good idea. Right now I have my mind made a mess and can’t know what the right thing is or not. So, tomorrow we can go to see her.”

“Very well,” he said with a wide smile of satisfaction. Then, he leaned over her and softly kissed her lips.

When they parted, Mara whispered. “Except for the incident with Alex, it has been the very best birthday of my life. Thank you, Oded.”

“You’re welcome, but the night is not over yet,” he purred naughtily, winking at her as he started the engine.

She giggled shyly, blushing fiercely. She knew what that remark could mean and felt incredibly nervous, and when she realized he was driving in the contrary direction, she couldn’t help but stiffen. “Er… Oded, where are we going? Hermosa Beach is in the other direction.”

“I know, Mara,” he answered, turning his head a bit to look at her and noticed her expression. “But… you need to put some ice on your cheek, if you don’t want a nice bruise on it tomorrow.”

“Oh, that… Good,” she said. But now she was curious. “Er…by the way, Oded, where do we…?”

“At my home,” he replied softly, cutting her off as he gave her a quick glance before returning his look to the road.

“Oh, well… no problem,” she answered simply, trying to feign that she was not nervous. “At last, I’ll know how the handsome Oded Fehr’s house looks like. I’m curious and impatient…”

“Oh, no! Is it Mara or the interior designer who’s speaking?” he said humorously. “If it’s the second one… oh, God! I forgot to redesign my livingroom and also, change the wall color. I think now that the pink was not a good decision,” he joked, giggling.

“Hey! Don’t make fun of me,” she protested between laughter as she smacked him on his arm.

Oded stopped the car before a red light and turned his head around to stare at her. His laugh was gone and now his expression was soft as he reached for her cheek to caress. “This is something I’d never do.”

Then, tilting his head, he approached his lips to hers and kissed them. First, tenderly and later, bit by bit, the passion took possession of him and also, of her. For several long, lovely moments, it was as if they were the only two people who existed, and the rest of the world didn’t matter at all.

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A Sweet Obsessión – Chapter 16 (coming soon)