The Promise

By Denise

The next morning I woke to the chiming of the clock coming from downstairs, I glanced over at the clock on the table and it was 7:30, so I quickly go dressed hoping he would still be here. I came down the stairs and was about to go through the swinging door when I heard voices coming from the kitchen.

"Roxanne…no!" I heard Antonio say.

"But why?"

"We can't do this anymore?"

"But…I am in love with you. Why did you bring her here?"

"Roxanne, I said no!"

Then Nadine came up behind me. "Are you all right?" she asked as she opened the door and that was when I saw Antonio standing in front of Roxanne. His eyes met mine as I turned around and ran back upstairs slamming the door behind me and then locking it. I lay down on the bed burying my face in the pillow as I cried. A few moments later there was a pounding on the door.

"Cassie, open the door!"

"No!" I screamed. "Go away!"

"Cassie."

"No! Leave me alone!"

"I am not leaving until I see you."

"Damn it!" I got up off the bed to open the door. "What the hell do you want?"

"Cassie!"

"Don't be telling me how to talk!"

"Cassie, I just want to talk to you." He pushed the door open. "I can't go to work until I see you."

"Okay, you have seen me…what else do you want?" I stood there with my arms folded.

"I want to talk about this."

"No! I can't..." I started crying again.

"I love you, Cassie."

I trembled as he kissed my cheek as my tears ran down my face. He took me into his arms, holding me as I cried. I looked up at him, "Why don't you go to work and we can talk about this when you get home, okay?" I wiped the tears from my eyes.

He didn't say a word as he backed away and went out the door. I followed him as I closed the door and locked it. I then went over to the window and watched him as he walked to his car and then drove away. I decided I needed to get out of here so I got dressed and went for a walk.

It was a lovely warm spring day as I walked along the cement path enjoying the flowers on the trees and growing in people's yards. I stopped when I saw a woman outside tending to her flower garden. "Excuse me, ma'am." She looked up at me and came over to me. "What kind of flowers are those?" I asked.

"Those yellow flowers are called daffodils."

"Oh, those are beautiful! Maybe one day I can grow these in my garden."

"Do you live around here?" she asked.

"Yes, I do. My name is Cassandra Anderson. I am staying with my fiancé, Mr. Cardenas. I grew up in a small town and he is showing me what it is like to live in the city."

"Oh, where are you from?"

"A town called Meredith, Colorado. It's south of Glenwood Springs."

"You said you were engaged to be married?" She seemed to be checking out my hand for a ring.

"Well…it's not official yet." I put my hands into my pockets. She seemed to have a strange look on her face as if she didn't approve of me living with my fiancé. "Well, it was nice meeting you."

"Yes, come by anytime."

"Thanks, Mrs. …"

"Oh, my name is Sharon Connelly."

We said our goodbyes and I continued walking, until I came upon a park. I headed towards the playground area and sat down on a park bench to watch the kids play. I thought about the future and wondered what it would be like watching my own children play here. Then I heard a small voice say, "Hi, what's your name?"

Then I looked around and saw a young girl about 4 standing in front of me. "Hello, I am Cassandra. What's yours?"

"Amy."

"Well it is good to meet you Amy. Where is your mother?"

"Over there." She pointed to the other side of the playground.

"Let's go find her."

She took my hand as we walked over to where her mother was sitting. "Amy, where have you been?" the woman asked.

"She's okay."

"Thanks for bringing her back to me. My name is Lynnette."

"I'm Cassandra."

"Do you have any children?" she asked.

"No, someday I would like to have a daughter just like Amy." Then my eyes filled with tears wondering if it will ever happen. Was he unfaithful to me?

"Are you okay?" Lynnette asked.

"I had a fight with my fiancé this morning and I am still upset about it."

"Well, I hope you get it straightened out."

"Me too. Thanks."

***

I made back home and went upstairs to change my clothes; when I walked into my bedroom and found Roxanne. I watched her as she picked up his clothes off the floor and holding it to her nose. "What the hell are you doing?"

She jumped when I spoke to her. "Cleaning his room, like I always do."

"Get out!"

"But, I haven't finished cleaning."

"Yes you have, bitch! Get out!"

"You can't talk to me like that?"

"Why can't I?"

"You aren't my boss…he is!"

"Once we are married, I will be."

"You can't marry him."

"Why can't I?"

"Because, he is in love with me, that's why. He told me he loved me the night we made love."

"Oh really? When did this happen?"

"A few months ago."

"And it only happened once?"

"Yes, but I am sure it would have happened again, if you hadn't come along."

"Well, Roxanne, I hate to break the news to you, but Antonio loves me. And I have been with him 5 times since Sunday, so I assure you that he isn't interested in you."

"Well, I could be pregnant."

"You're lying." I went over and pulled the clothes from her hands. "Get out!"

"He will hear about this when he gets home," she declared as she finally left the room.

"I can hardly wait!" I slammed the door shut. Still fuming wondering what she meant about being pregnant, could she be telling me the truth about making love to him? I changed my clothes and then went downstairs to find something for lunch. I was starved since I didn't have breakfast. I walked into the kitchen and Nadine was standing at the sink. I opened the refrigerator and searched for something to eat.

"I have sandwiches made," Nadine said.

"Huh." I turned around and she had a plate waiting for me. "Oh, thanks Nadine."

"Oh, Mr. Cardenas called while you were out," Nadine said.

"Did he want me to call him back?"

"He didn't say."

"Thanks." I went outside on the front porch and sat down on a lounge chair to eat my lunch. She made roast beef sandwiches and macaroni salad. When I finished I went back into the house and went up to my bedroom. I read started to read a book and I fell asleep.

Several hours later I woke up and found Antonio behind me with his arm around me. I touched his hand as he grasped it with his and then felt his warm lips kissing my shoulder. My pulsed raced with anticipation as I turned over to face him as he took my mouth and body prisoner.

"I'm beginning to like this," I sighed heavily as we lay together, running my fingers through the hair of his chest.

"Me too. I enjoy coming home and making love to you." He kissed my lips. "What did you do today?"

I laid my head on his chest. "Well…I went for a walk."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I met one of our neighbors, Mrs. Connelly. I wanted to know what kinds of flowers she grew in her garden. Then I went to the park and watched some kids playing. I met Lynnette and her daughter Amy. She was so sweet!" I looked up at him. "I want a daughter like her."

"You will," he assured me as he got out of bed. "Let's go downstairs and have some dinner."

As we came down the stairs I noticed that the house was quiet and when I walked into the kitchen I found it empty. "Where is everyone?"

"I gave them the night off."

"Oh." I smiled as I watched him go over to the stove and opened the lid of the kettle. He took a bowl from off the counter and filled it. He then sat it back on the counter and picked up the second bowl and filled it too. He put the lid back on the kettle and then put the bowls onto a serving tray and carried it into the dining room as I followed. I sat down at the table as he placed a bowl of stew in front of me and then he sat down next to me. I said grace and we began to eat.

"I understand you had a fight with Roxanne."

"Who told you?"

"Nadine. So, what happened?"

"Well, when I came back from my walk, I went upstairs and found Roxanne in our room and she was…" I took a drink of water.

"What?"

"She was smelling your clothes."

"She what?"

"Yeah, she was picking up your clothes and smelling them."

He chucked. "Then what happened?"

"I told her to get out."

"I will do something about it on Monday."

"I just want her to stay out of our bedroom."

"There is a lock and I have locked her out before."

"Okay…now I want to know what happened this morning?" I asked.

He stood up from his chair and took our bowls into the kitchen. When he came back he took me into the living room and sat down on the divan. He held my hand as he looked into my eyes and began to speak.

"Last fall when I bought this house I discovered I needed a housekeeper, so I advertised for one in the newspaper and I hired Nadine. Well, a short time later Nadine told me about her daughter and wanted to know if I would like to date her."

"Nadine didn't know about me?"

"No…not at that time. I never discussed my personal life with her."

"Okay, so what happened?"

"Well, I did take Roxanne out a few times, but it was on New Year's Eve when I made the mistake of taking her to bed."

"So it's true?" My eyes filled with tears.

"What did she tell you?"

"She told me…" I was shaking trying to hold back my tears. "That you made love to her and that she could be pregnant."

He pulled me into his arms as I cried. "I can't believe she would tell you that? Well it happened almost 5 months ago, so if she was pregnant, I think she would be showing by now."

I pulled away from him wiping the tears from my eyes. "So, did it happen here?"

"No, no…we were downtown at a New Year's Eve party. When the clock struck midnight I kissed her and then I let it continue. I could make up a bunch of excuses why I did it, but I have none, except for being lonely. So when I woke up the next morning and found Roxanne next to me, I was devastated and all I could think about was you and how I was unfaithful."

"Was that the last time you saw her?"

"No, she started working here after school and she was always leaving me presents and love notes."

"Oh."

"Then just two weeks ago I finally told Nadine and Roxanne about you and I was going to bring you here to live. Roxanne got upset and she left."

"Okay, so what happened this morning?"

"I didn't know she was working here again until I saw her last night."

"I had a feeling something was wrong. You didn't seem pleased to see her."

"I wasn't sure how I felt about the situation. I tried to talk to her about it this morning. I didn't like the way she treated you last night. Well, then she kissed me and I pushed her away."

I sat there quietly not knowing what to say.

"Do you forgive me?" He asked as he touched my face.

"Well…I don't know. Should I?"

He leaned forward and kissed me gently on the lips. He drew back and said, "wait here -- I will be right back."

I laid my head back closing my eyes thinking about what he just told me. I had already forgiven him. I loved him! Now I know why Roxanne was treating me that way, she was jealous of me. Then I heard him coming back as I opened my eyes, he sat down next to me with a bowl of ice cream and strawberries.

He then dipped the strawberry into the ice cream and fed it to me. "You know that night when we first did this?"

"Yeah," I moaned as I licked the ice cream off his fingers.

"I wanted to make love to you."

"I know," I sighed as I fed him a strawberry. "I felt it too."

"At least this time we can." He finished the strawberry and captured my mouth. We then went upstairs and made love.