Chapter 15
The next time I open my eyes, I am completely shocked to see that it’s three o'clock in the morning. Where is Daniel? He’s not in the bed next to me.
Wiping my hand over the cool, empty side of the mattress, I stretch out my limbs and slowly rise.
I head into the bathroom to quickly freshen up, and then I make my way out to the top of the stair landing.
Faint voices seem to flow right up from down there, laughing and talking all animatedly.
Taking my sweet time creeping down the staircase, my heart beats faster and faster with every single step that I take. Because there ain't no way that this woman is still here at three o'clock in the fucking morning.
My heart is beating so fast it literally feels like I'm about to fall over. I cut through the kitchen quietly, going around the other way and sliding past the big marble island counter with the five barstools, the ones with the comfortable, soft cushions at the top tucked neatly underneath it.
Then I look over diagonally to my right. They're still in the living room by the fireplace, laughing. Daniel is sitting to Kara's left now, and they are deep in conversation.
"So this client of mine goes straight to the high-roller tables in Macau," Danny is saying, leaning in as he tells her some business story. "He loses like 500 g’s in twenty minutes, shrugs it off, and orders another round of drinks like nothing happened. Haha and he tried to make it seem like it didn’t faze him. Mind you, the guy was 2 mil in debt."
Kara laughs softly. "So wait… he didn’t have it?”
“Nope. And he knew we all knew that but… pride is one hell of a thing. But that’s what I meant about people mismanaging their resources. You could give them everything in the world, and they would piss on it and blame you for them bleeding.”
“Yeah, my mother once spent about ten thousand in one day at a casino. She literally had to go sell like… half the stuff in our house afterward, and she was completely freaking out. It was a total nightmare. Then yelled at me for wasting money."
“Haha, that sounds about right,” Danny chuckles.
As soon as Kara's eyes catch me, her genuine smile is completely wiped off her face.
A more somber, professional smile replaces it.
Daniel sees me too, and both he and Kara instantly quiet down, acting exactly as if they've just been caught talking about something they weren't supposed to be talking about.
Now, this is completely unacceptable.
"Hey. I thought you went to bed for the night," Daniel says.
"It's after three in the morning," I tell him, looking at Kara pointedly and then right back at him. Because there is absolutely no way they're gonna disrespect me in my own house like this.
"Oh, I told Kara she could stay for a little while because the storm got worse," Danny explains, gesturing toward the windows. "I didn't think that, you know, it was safe for her to call a ride."
I just stare at my husband, blinking slowly.
"Right," I say, letting the sarcasm drip. "Is she supposed to sleep here?"
"I mean, no," Daniel says. "We were just waiting for things to die down."
"I can leave," Kara says, starting to get up from the couch.
"No. No. No. Please, sit," I say, stopping her. Then I look at Daniel. "Daniel, can I speak to you for a second?"
"I'm actually finishing up right here. Can you give me a minute?"
"You've had her ear since nine-thirty p.m.," I press, trying my absolute best not to sound weird or crazy. "It's three o'clock in the morning. Like I said, I'm sure the girl would like to go home."
"And I said, give me a minute," he says, putting a lot more bite into his words this time.
My eyebrow raises. Kara looks visibly uncomfortable, instantly looking away from both of us and staring down at the rug. My eye literally twitches, but I just turn around and leave the room.
"I'm so sorry about that," Daniel whispers to Kara the second he thinks I'm out of range.
"No, it's okay," Kara whispers back. "Actually, I do think I have to go. I don't wanna be disrespectful."
"No, she... she gets like that sometimes. I'm so sorry," he whispers.
And oh my god. I feel like completely losing my shit. I look back at the both of them just in time to see him touch the small of her back, leading her somewhere else in the house. I don't even know where they're going, probably to the front door.
I feel like my heart is breaking into a million pieces, because what the actual hell is happening right now?
Why is my husband being like this? Did the last two weeks not even fucking happen?
There's a little nook right across from the island counter in the kitchen, a little booth with a round table in front of it and two chairs parked by it with a little houseplant sitting right in the middle. I sink into the booth, trying to process everything.
"I'll be back."
Daniel's voice scares the absolute mess out of me, causing me to flinch.
"Where are you going?" I ask.
"I'm gonna drop Kara off at her house," he says.
He cannot be serious.
"After three o'clock in the morning?"
"You don't want her sleeping here, do you?" he says, acting as if I'm the one being completely stupid or unreasonable.
Scoffing, I look to the left before looking right back at him and standing up. I look around to make sure Kara is completely out of earshot, and then I lean closer to him.
"Babe, I don't wanna nag," I tell him.
"Great. So I'll be back," he says.
He actually has the nerve to give me a smile, kiss my forehead, and just start walking away. What the actual fuck?
"Danny!" I call out.
He stops. "What's up?"
"Don't just walk away from me like that."
"You don't want her being here because it's late, or early in the morning," he says, throwing his hands up.
"Yeah. She should have gone home a fucking long time ago."
"Don't fucking curse at me," Daniel warns me, his eyes narrowing. "I really don't like your tone, and quite frankly, I'm kind of fucking upset because you embarrassed me in front of this woman."
"I'm sorry?" I ask him, seriously wanting to slap him and myself at the exact same time.
"I hired her for you so you could have a little bit more help around the house, and you put on that..." He puts a fist to his mouth, closing his eyes tight to cut himself off. "I don't wanna talk about this right now. We'll talk when I get back."
"Danny—"
"But you didn't want the woman here," he interrupts.
"Am I being unreasonable by saying that a woman is not supposed to be in our house after two o'clock in the motherfucking morning?!" I almost yell.
"I'll see you when I get home," he says flatly.
"And it was storming out there. That was your excuse a second ago, right? What happened now? The snow's magically gone?"
"Since it's so important to my wife, I'm gonna find a way."
"Are you gonna fly her out of here?" I snap.
"I'll take the Aegis. I think it can handle the snow fine. I'll just attach the plow to it," he says, turning his back on me.
He's going to leave, and both of us are angry. It's something I absolutely hate for us. What if something happens to him? What if those were our last words to each other?
But at the same time, my anger and my heartbreak are completely stifling my need to go and make things right.
And it's not like I can even make it right right now anyway, because he knows he's hurting me.
He must know. Maybe it's my insecurity. I said I'm being insecure, but the way that he spoke to me and treated me, and the way he made me look like a crazy person to that woman, oh my god. I wanna fucking strangle him.
The garage door opens. I can hear it, the heavy vibration of it rattling right through the house. Then, Kara laughs really loudly at something Danny says. I'm not really sure what it is, but in my mind, they're making fun of me. And then they leave.
I watch from the window as he takes down the barriers of snow with a shovel, gets into the big Aegis van, and disappears down the street.
He could've just called a ride for her, but no, he is driving her personally to her house.
He didn't even consult me, and he knows damn well that I'm upset about this and that I'm not comfortable with it.
Oh my god. What the actual fuck is happening right now?
Heading upstairs toward the master bedroom, my gerbils call out to me from the loft.
"Everything okay?" Germany asks.
I don't even answer. Stepping into the master bedroom, I just stare at the sheets for a minute, remembering every single bit of lovemaking we've been doing throughout the week.
His smile at me, him moving inside of me, holding me close, looking at me the way that I thought he used to, or at least something similar to that.
Screaming, I rip the sheets off the bed and just start throwing things. I don't care what my hand grabs. I just throw them, and I scream as loud as I possibly can. No one can hear me.
"Melody!" Georgia calls out to me.
My gerbils keep calling my name, but all I can do is scream. I'm so mad and so heartbroken. The tears can't even fall; they're just trapped behind the pure anguish in my eyes.
Is this a dream? Is this a nightmare that I'm locked in? Am I paying for what I did to my mother? Maybe I deserve it. But I can't take this.
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