Fruit of Misfortune by Nely Cab Read Free Book Online

g-g-go,” I gagged.
    “You have to. I’m calling an ambulance,” he
said, pressing numbers on his phone.
    I felt a strong pressure coming up my throat.
I held my breath, but it was no use. I couldn’t overcome it, and I
retched.
    “Mag... ni… fique,” Eros said, looking
down.
    There would be no need to knock Eros’ teeth
out after all. Justice had been served—on Eros’ over-priced
designer shoes, that is. That’s where most of the nastiness landed.
Eros raised his foot with a disgusted look on his face.
    “Camilla!” he called out.
    If I hadn’t felt so horrible, I would’ve
laughed.
    ***
    Poor Camilla had the unpleasant job of
cleaning up my mess. I trembled so much and my body felt so weak
that she also had to help me change into my pajamas. In the
bathroom, she wiped my face with a warm damp cloth, which felt good
against my cold skin, and then brushed my hair.
    “Thank you,” I said, shivering as I sat on a
vanity stool. She replied in Italian with a lot of words that
sounded like gibberish to me.
    When we returned to the bedroom, Eros had
turned down the bed and was waiting to help Camilla. Even though I
protested, he lifted me and placed me on the mattress, pulling the
sheets up to my neck. Camilla pulled a chair next to the nightstand
and sat with a pan on her lap and a towel over her shoulder.
    “What’s she doing?” I asked Eros.
    “Her job.”
    “Can you tell her to go? I’ll be fine.”
    “I no go.” Camilla surprised me with her
English.
    For a few minutes, Eros and Camilla spoke in
Italian, leaving me in the dark. Camilla then handed the towel and
pan to Eros with her brow tightly knit. She left the room with what
sounded like nagging, and Eros took her place on the chair.
    “I don’t want you here,” I said.
    “I’m not leaving you in this condition. What
would your David say if I left you alone and ill?”
    “You’re a hypocrite.” I glowered at him.
    “And you’re not? Do you think that because
you keep your feelings for me a secret you’re being sincere? You’re
two times a hypocrite because you try to pretend with me, as
well.”
    “I’m going to tell David about you as soon as
he gets home.”
    “And who do you think he’ll believe? He’s
going to confront me, and I’ll have to tell him the truth. I’m
going to have to tell him that you—” he shrugged “—threw yourself
at me.”
    “That’s a lie! He won’t believe you.” Or
would he?
    My teeth rattled, either from rage or from
cold. I knew their long years of friendship were my
disadvantage.
    “He will.”
    “Get out of my room.”
    “No,” he said, touching my cheek. I trembled
more. “Your temperature continues to drop.”
    “I h-hate you.”
    “No you don’t, my sweet. You’re only a thin
line away from being in love with me, and Dahveed has every right
to feel jealous.”
    “He’s not j-j-jealous of y-you.”
    “I can feel it in him.”
    “Then you must f-feel how much I hate you
right now.”
    “I ignore those emotions. But when it comes
to matters of the heart I feel everything—what you felt when you
heard me speak for the first time, the surge that spirals through
your blood when I touch you. Do you know how I know this? Because I
feel the same thing when your skin touches mine. And do you know
why? Because you and I yearn for each other, Isis. You don’t have
to be empathic to know that.”
    “You’re d-deluded.” My teeth chattered.
    “It’s strange,” Eros said, ignoring me. “I’ve
never felt this sort of attraction for anyone. I can’t ignore it,
and frankly, I don’t want to. It’s like you’ve bathed in
pheromones, and it sickens me with an emotion that I’m unable to
explain—and I like it.
    “Did you know that nothing I’ve ever truly
wanted in life has been given to me—like you, for example? I’m
starting to believe that I’m cursed.”
    “Well, sucks for you, doesn’t it?” I curled
myself into a ball. “G-go away. “
    “No.” He stood from