Delusional Love (2nd Edition)

by Young, Sage

  “He’s fine Steph, calm down. He had to fly Ashley to the hospital in Rome. She came back from the shopping trip with mom; she was visibly upset and started developing pains in her stomach. Ivan didn’t want to take any chances so he flew to Rome with her. I just heard from him, the doctors said she is fine but they want to keep her overnight for observation.” “Unbelievable, he couldn’t tell me himself.”

  Adam looked at Stephanie with compassion.

  “Have you eaten? Let me take you to dinner. I know a really great restaurant not far from here.”

  “Okay lets go, I was going stir crazy in this room.” They went to a quaint restaurant near the market place she visited earlier. They were seated and ordered their meal.

  “So what’s really going on Adam? I feel like I’m an intruder in this situation.”

  “Steph, you have to understand that my parents are very old fashioned in their beliefs. The moment my mother found out that Ashley was pregnant with Ivan’s child, she was expecting him to do the right thing by marrying her.”

  “We don’t even know if it’s his baby.”

  “I think Ivan’s convinced. This is extremely difficult for him to go against our mother. Never in our lives have we gone against anything our parents have requested of us. So for him to take a stand against my parents wishes is a big deal, bigger than you can imagine. This is not an easy situation.”

  “So what do you suggest Adam that I give up and go back to the states?”

  “Of course not, I want to let you know that if you and Ivan are determined to stay together, you need to be prepared for the fallout of your decision. I really like you and Ivan together, I know my brother loves you but sometimes when things are set in motion there is no going back.”

  “So, you think Ivan will leave me and marry Ashley.”

  “No not at all, I think that he will stay with you and it will cause a major rift between my parents and Ivan. Ivan is the strongest man I know but when it comes to our parents he always felt the need to please them even if it was doing something he felt strongly against.”

  “Well how can I really compete with that?”

  Adam was silent. Their meal was served and they ate in silence. Trying to change the subject Stephanie asked Adam how things were going between him and Bri. He talked about wanting more of a relationship but Brianna was against it. They also talked about this beautiful small town and Adam promised to show Stephanie around tomorrow if Ivan was still tied up.

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  Ivan and his parents were sitting in the living room having a heated discussion about Ashley, Stephanie, and the baby. Ivan’s parents were adamant that he marry Ashley as to not disgrace the family by having a baby out of wedlock.

  “This is not the 1900s, people have babies all the time without being married and tell me mother, how is it that I’m disgracing this family. I employ most of them and pay them handsomely. I don’t need or want their approval. I only need you and papa to understand why I can’t marry her. I will take care of my responsibility by providing for Ashley and the baby, but I don’t love her and I will not marry her. I am in love with Stephanie and when I am ready to marry, she is the one I will ask.”

  His mother left the room too upset to speak. His father looked at him disappointed and in Italian said. “We raised you to be a good man and while your mother and I do not agree with your decision I will respect it. Come have a drink with your papa.”

  His father was a man of few words and the fact that he would respect his decision was good enough for Ivan. Ashley was in another part of the house; she excused herself to use the bathroom and stood outside the door where Ivan and his parents were talking. She overheard the conversation and was devastated.

  How could he even consider marrying the black whore? Well at least she had an ally in his mother and she was going to use it to her advantage.

  ‘Hell will freeze over before I let her marry my man and father of my baby.’ She thought to herself. When she heard his mother exit the room she hurried back to the kitchen where the other women were gathered.

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  Adam dropped Stephanie off at the hotel before returning to his parent’s home. There were a few messages left at the hotel for Stephanie from Ivan saying he would see her in the morning. After a restless night Stephanie knew what she had to do. When she woke up she called the airport, scheduled a flight to the states, and packed.

  Stephanie arrived home late Sunday evening. She dropped her bags on the floor and headed towards her bedroom. Stephanie removed her clothes walked into her shower and turned the water on she didn’t even flinch at the initial spray of cold water. She stood in the shower and the tears rolled down her cheeks, as she sobbed uncontrollably. She became nauseous and ran out of the shower, just making it to the toilet bowl before she emptied the contents of her stomach. She sat on the floor naked, holding on to the bowl as she cried.

  MONDAY, AUGUST 29th

  Stephanie arrived at work to a barrage of questions from Betty. She rearranged Ivan and Stephanie’s schedule so that they could make the trip together. Betty was surprised to see her back so early. Stephanie could not answer her questions; she was still too upset to deal with that situation. She just wanted to keep busy and the best way to do that was to come to work.

  “Ivan and Adam are still in Italy. I cut my trip short and I really need to catch up on my work.” Betty looked confused but sat back at her desk. Around three o’clock Betty buzzed Stephanie to tell her she had a call on line two.

  “Quinn Corporation Stephanie Young speaking. There was silence but she could hear breathing. “Hello.” She said

  “Why the hell did you leave?”

  “I don’t want to talk about this now Ivan. I don’t want everyone in the office knowing our business.”

  “It’s my fucking office, I don’t give a shit about what MY employees think.” Ivan said in a low angry tone.

  “Ivan I will call you when I get home, I can’t do this now.”

  “Fine.” He said then hung up.

  Stephanie got home fixed dinner and took a shower. She did not have the energy to talk to Ivan right now. ‘I will take a nap and call him later.’ Stephanie didn’t wake up until the next morning. She had several missed calls from Ivan. ‘Shit, he must really be angry.’ She tried to call him but his phone went to voice mail. I guess I will have to face the music at work. Stephanie arrived at the office refreshed and ready to face what was to come. She noticed Ivan’s door open as she walked to her desk. She put her purse away and began to work on the assignments on her desk.

  Ivan came out of his office and immediately knew Stephanie was there. He could smell her lovely scent. He looked over at her desk but was too angry to address her there. He had to prepare for an important meeting. Stephanie would have to wait until later. He left the office without speaking to her. Her heart sank ‘You can do this girl be strong.’ Stephanie was so busy that she forgot to take lunch. At five o’clock Stephanie headed for the door glad that she avoided Ivan today. “Goodnight Betty, I will see you in the morning.” And she walked out of the door Ivan grabbed her arm and swung her around. “We need to talk.” He released her arm and turned to walk back to his office. She followed him into his office and he closed the door. Still so angry it was hard for him to speak.

  “What was that little stunt you pulled in Italy?” He said talking through his teeth.

  “Stunt, stunt, the stunt was you leaving me in a hotel in a foreign country alone while you traveled around with your baby mama!” She yelled back.

  “Don’t be ridiculous, she needed medical attention. I was not going to let anything happen to my baby.” “My baby? Oh now you’re sure it’s your baby, you know what…” She put her hand up in the air. “I’m done. I can’t do this because that conniving heifer will do anything to be with you including sabotaging our relationship. She already has your mom hating me.”

  “Stephanie stop acting like a fucking child, yes, I do believe the
baby she is carrying is mine but that does not mean we can’t be together.”

  “Now I’m a fucking child? You know what Ivan I’m done. Have a good life with your psycho baby mama.” She turned to walk away but Ivan grabbed her by the arm and swung her around holding her in a tight embrace.

  “Ivan, let me go before I slap the shit out of you.” She said as the tears started streaming down her face. He held her as she struggled to get free. She pulled away from him and tried to slap him but he caught her hand. He picked her up and placed her on the sofa, climbed on top of her, grabbed her by her neck, and pulled her into a kiss. She tried to resist but was unable. She felt his erection on her thigh. Her body felt like it was on fire. She felt the moisture building between her legs. Right at that moment, she hated that her body responded to his touch. He reached under her skirt and ripped her panties off. She squirmed under him and he inserted his finger into her heat. “You are so wet.” He breathed into her ear.

  She arched her back and moaned, angry that her body her body would betray her so easily. She knew it belonged to him. He then inserted another finger and thrust them in and out of her.

  “Please Ivan stop, someone might come in.” She said with tears in her eyes. He brought his lips back down on hers. She loved this man, she loved his body and God help her she was hopeless to his advances.

  She felt the onslaught of an orgasm. Just as she was about to yell, he muffled her screams with his mouth. He flipped her around so that she was on her knees bent over the sofa. He took a condom out of his pocket and sheathed himself. He grabbed her hips and slammed his dick into her from behind. She bit her bottom lip to keep from screaming. He felt so good and she was angry with herself for enjoying it so much, she was angry with him damn it. His thrusts quickened and she backed into his erection meeting every thrust. He could feel her pulsating around him as she was about to come again. Her orgasm exploded in her body as she heard a low grunt from Ivan as his body stiffened. They both collapsed on the floor. Once their breathing returned to normal, Ivan turned Stephanie’s body to face him. He cupped her face, and looked into her eyes as he spoke.

  “I love you baby. It’s going to be challenging but we can make this work, I know we can.” He leaned over and kissed her as he laid his forehead against hers. “It exerts too much energy to be angry with you and I don’t want to fight. Let’s go home. I need you in my bed, under me.” He kissed her again and she could feel his need because she had it too. They fixed their clothes, Ivan grabbed his jacket and they headed to his condo.

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  Over the next several weeks, Ivan tried really hard to keep their relationship as normal as possible but he was being pulled in several different directions and Ashley was demanding more of his time. Something had to give and she had a feeling it was going to be her. The stress of the entire situation caused her to eat more and she started put on weight. She really needed to get her life together.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 23rd

  They were suppose to have dinner together on Friday evening but as usual something was wrong with Ashley and he needed to check on her. He got to Stephanie’s house about 11 p.m. He looked tired as he sat on the sofa “Stephanie, we need to talk.” Stephanie sat next to him and he pulled her into his lap. He inhaled deeply. “You smell so good, God I love you so much.” He said so low she did not think it was meant for her to hear.

  “I love you too baby.”

  He kissed her on her lips softly. “I can’t do this anymore. I love you so much but I can’t do this.”

  “You can’t do what? US?” She questioned and looked into his eyes.

  “Yes, it’s not fair to you, I can’t give you the attention you deserve. We need to end this.” She jumped up.

  “What are you talking about? You are the one who said that it would be challenging, but we could work through it. We can work through this baby, please don’t do this, don’t do this to us.” She grabbed his face and looked into his eyes. The tears streamed down her face.

  ‘I need to make a clean break and get out of here, otherwise I’m going to lose my nerve.’ He couldn’t stand seeing her hurt so badly. He needed to leave while he still had a shred of courage. He stood to leave and she grabbed him around his waist and held onto him tight.

  “No baby, don’t do this. Let’s just go to bed and we can work this out in the morning, you look so tired.” If she only knew, he was tired and his heart was breaking in a million pieces. The last thing he wanted to do was break her heart, but he gave his word and his word was his bond, and he would have to live with the consequences.

  He pulled out of her embrace and walked towards the door.

  “Look, let’s not make this harder than it already is. We are over Stephanie.”

  She was stunned. Ivan felt her body shake and wanted to hold her, but he knew that would confuse the situation. “What are you doing Ivan, we can work this out, I don’t need a lot of time.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and started kissing him. “Don’t do this baby, I need you.”

  He pulled her hands from his neck. He was so cold. How could he be so cold if he loved her? “You can still stay with the company, but you will be transferred to a different office.” Stephanie’s head was spinning. She felt like she was in a bad dream.

  “Please I need you. Don’t do this.” She labored over every word as she sobbed uncontrollably.

  “Goodbye Stephanie.”

  Stephanie grabbed his jacket and yelled. “Why are you doing this Ivan, I gave you every part of me and this is how you treat me, you rip my heart out.” He yanked her away and her body slumped to the floor as she continued to cry, his heart sank, he knew exactly what she meant because his heart was also ripping. “Take care of yourself Stephanie.” Was the last thing he said to her before walking out the door and out of her life.

  “Fuck you Ivan, I hate you, you hear me I hate you.” She screamed through the door.

  He leaned against her outside door and willed himself to move as he tried to compose himself. Ivan got in his car placed his head on the steering wheel and allowed the tears to fall. He never remembered shedding one tear in his adult life, but he sat there unable to control his emotions. He allowed others in his life to dictate his fate, now he would have to suffer the consequences.

  SEPTEMBER 26th

  Stephanie tried to pull it together. She cried so much over the weekend that she made herself sick. When she arrived at Ivan’s office Betty had her stuff boxed up and showed her to her new office. Betty gave her a gentle hug and told her to call if she needed anything. She could see tears in Betty’s eyes.

  “Don’t Betty, if you start it is going to make me start and I won’t be able to stop.”

  Betty wiped her tears gave Stephanie a smile and walked away.

  Stephanie settled into her new position. She was working with one of the managing directors, Peter Cummings. He was an older gentleman who was married with two kids in college. The workload was not nearly as demanding as Ivan’s office, but it was the same pay and it kept her busy.

  OCTOBER 6th

  The best part of her new job was that it was on a different floor and she did not run into Ivan. She had been working in the new office for almost two weeks and was adjusting well. Stephanie had also managed to avoid Brianna and Tara. She did not want to talk about the breakup. How could she explain something that she did not understand herself? She left them a couple messages, making sure she called when she knew they wouldn’t answer. She tried to leave upbeat messages so they wouldn’t get suspicious. Just thinking about him caused her heart to hurt. She could not allow herself to think about him so she redirected her attention back to her work.

  Mr. Cummings came out of his office. “Stephanie I need you to check your calendar and see if you are available to attend a meeting with me on October 12 .”

  “Sure thing Mr. Cummings.” “Peter, please call me Peter.”

  “Okay Peter.” She pulled out her calen
dar and realized something disturbing. “Shit.” She looked at the calendar again. “No, this can’t be happening.” She whispered.

  “Is everything okay Stephanie?” Peter asked.

  “Yes, I’m…..uh I’m fine I just realized that I have a doctor’s appointment that I forgot about, but yes I am available to attend the meeting.”

  “Good now if you’re not too late, go to your appointment.”

  “Thank you Peter, if I leave now I can just make it.” Stephanie quickly grabbed her purse and headed out the door. As she rushed onto the elevator she did not notice Ivan and Ashley. Ivan was looking down at his phone, answering emails, of course Ashley noticed her right away and seized the opportunity.

  “Ivan when we leave the doctor’s office can we go by that baby boutique we saw yesterday, they have the cutest little clothes in the window.”

  Ivan inhaled deeply trying to calm his nerves. When he inhaled he could smell that wonderful scent that he had missed over the past month. He looked up to see the back of Stephanie’s head. His heart instantly ached and his breathing and heart rate rose. Ivan did not acknowledge Ashley’s silly question because he knew she was saying it for Stephanie’s benefit. Stephanie tried to regulate her breathing but she was having a hard time catching her breath. She needed to get off the elevator. When they reached the garage level Stephanie practically ran off the elevator as she walked towards her car she felt a soft tug on her arm.