“I think Jason and Chanel’s pops were in there looking for you,” Ethan explained to Xavier.
Ethan’s dismissal of Xavier wasn’t lost on anyone.
“Is that so?” He glanced over his shoulder. “I need to get up with Jason anyway. See y’all later.” He nodded at Ethan and gave me one last look before turning and leaving.
I exhaled, saddened yet relieved by his retreat.
“Let’s go.” Ethan grabbed my arm, none too gently, pulling me toward the glass doors, presumably to rejoin the party. Ethan’s mood told me the end of this night was not going to be pretty.
****
“You fucking him?”
I jumped as the door to our hotel room slammed shut. Wishing I could just be swallowed up whole by the floor, I kept my back to Ethan and inhaled deeply.
“I asked you a fucking question, Chanel,” he said through gritted teeth.
Turning to look my fiancé in the eye, I answered, “Of course not, Ethan.” I tried to keep my voice level, in hopes of calming him down, but the look in his eyes told me I could give that pipe dream up.
“Then why the fuck was he out there looking at you like that? Why he always in your Goddamn face? And don’t give me any shit about him just wanting to give no fucking congratulations!”
“But that’s all it was. Xavier has been Jason’s friend since they were teens. He’s practically a part of the family. He owns businesses in D.C. he checks on, which is why he came by the apartment that one time.” I’d told Ethan this over and over before. It was the God’s honest truth. Xavier probably looked at me as no more than his best friend’s kid sister. Hell, my father treated Xavier more like his child than he did me.
“But he ain’t family! So why the fuck was he all in your damn face tonight?” Ethan’s voice rose an octave as he moved closer to me.
When I attempted to step back, I bumped up against the couch behind me.
“Ethan, he just wanted to congratulate me—”
“On graduating from law school.Georgetown ain’t no joke,”he mimicked Xavier’s words from earlier. “Yeah, I fucking heard him. Who the hell comes to an engagement party and congratulates someone on graduating from school and not their goddamn engagement?”
“Well, I did just graduate law school,” I retorted, in a rare act of defiance. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, the stinging from Ethan’s backhand radiated across my right cheek and down my face, spreading throughout the rest of my body. Shakily, I brought my hand up, cupping my injured cheek.
“Say some more smart ass shit,” Ethan dared, now towering above me as I slumped against the arm of the couch.
“I…I was just saying that I haven’t seen him in months since before I graduated. I’m sure he came out to congratulate both of us on our engagement,” I attempted to diffuse Ethan’s anger.
“What the fuck ever, Chanel. Look, I don’t like that dude being all up in your face. Stay the hell away from him, or it’s gonna be a problem. Am I making myself clear?” he questioned, jabbing my forehead with his pointer and middle fingers.
“Y-yes.” My voice came out a little more than a whisper, but it was enough to satisfy Ethan.
He stepped back, looking satisfied for now. “I’m gonna get in the shower. Pack up; our flight leaves early tomorrow,” he ordered, walking into our hotel’s bedroom.
My shoulders slumped in relief as he left the room. I had been hoping this trip wouldn’t turn into a total shit-fest, but apparently, that’s not how my life worked. Ethan had been pissed since we’d left D.C. over yet another argument he’d had with his father, who’d been too busy working to attend our engagement party. Once we’d finally arrived, my father had spent the majority of the last three days cavorting with Ethan to convince me to turn down my job offer from a prestigious law firm in D.C. and begin popping out babies soon after we got married.
“Why the hell do you need to work? Your trust fund alone ensures you never have to work, and with Ethan ready and willing to provide everything for you, why would you even want to work? Your mother would want you to be a stay-at-home mother like her, anyway.”
His words spoken over our lunch the day before echoed in my mind as I rubbed my throbbing cheek. I shook my head, remembering how it’d taken every bit of me not to pick up my glass of water and toss it in his face. I knew for a fact he was one hundred percent wrong. My mother would not want me to be like her. She’d told me as much, not long before she died. I shut my eyes just thinking about my mother. My father obviously didn’t know the real her, and he clearly didn’t know the real me either. I looked toward the bedroom. No, he didn’t know shit about me or my relationship. And neither did he care.
I waited until I heard the shower turn on before standing and moving toward the bedroom. In the huge bedroom of our suite, I began pulling clothes out of the closet and dressers and placing them in our respective suitcases. Once done with that, I began removing the pearls I’d worn to place them back into the necklace holder my mother had used. I removed the beautiful white double pearl bracelet. It had been a gift from Ethan after yet another time he’d lost his temper. Removing the bracelet, I stared at my wrist, rubbing the skin marred by a yellow and purple bruise. This one was about a week old. I surmised it would disappear within the next three to four days. I’d become very familiar with the healing process of bruises over the last two-and-a-half years.
“You all packed up?”
Startled, I jumped at Ethan’s words behind me. I hadn’t even heard the shower turn off. I stared up at the mirror to see him with only a towel around his waist. His almond colored skin shone with wetness from his shower. His stomach muscles rippled and bulged as he walked closer to me. I raised my gaze to his handsome face, the lower half covered by a neatly trimmed goatee, his cheeks covered in a handful of freckles. When I gazed into his hazel eyes, I could tell he wanted something. He took a step closer, smacking me on the ass.
“You look like you’re gaining weight. All that eating out.” He smacked my ass again, making it jiggle. He stepped closer, placing his hands on each side of my waist. “You need to do something about that. My wife ain’t gonna be as big as an elephant, not even after we have kids.”
I swallowed, not saying anything. The truth is, Ihadgained weight over the last few months. The pressure from completing law school, followed by weeks of grabbing fast food on my way to or from the library as I studied for the bar was beginning to show up. I was never a particularly skinny woman to begin with, and Ethan knew the words to say to make me feel as insecure as he wanted me to.
