My new, beautiful, painfully alluring student.
Without touching my newly made drink, I swipe my keys off the countertop and force myself to sober up quickly. I sway vaguely toward the exit, but the fresh nighttime air helps ease the dizziness.
Just drive slow, and you’ll be fine. No one’s probably out anyway.
That was an easy thought as I sat in the parking lot, but once I pull out and drive down the road, glaring at the packed streets and crossing pedestrians, my anxiety shoots through the roof.
That sobers me up a bit more, though.
It takes double the amount of time to get home because I wouldn’t drive above fifteen miles per hour. But, it gave me enough time to clear my head of the alcohol fog. Beth is going to be furious as it is, but she would go ballistic if I came home drunk, even though that’s probably her current state.
It's only acceptable for one of us.
I exhale a determined breath as I stop just inside our gate. Then, with weighted limbs, I storm out of the car, fumbling with the fob to engage the locks before crashing inside. The sound of fake sitcom laughter drifts faintly into the entrance hall from the main room.
I can smell the wave of alcohol seeping from her pores as I come up beside her. She doesn’t notice me, not until I stand in front of the television.
“Where have you been?” she asks without so much as a greeting. The fury written all across her features sends my stomach cratering to the floor, but I can’t let the nerves stop me from answering, or she’ll make this night much worse for me.
“Sorry. Today was a long day at work. I stopped to have a drink at Brick’s.”
It was a mistake to be honest with her. I know it the second the furrow between her brows deepens just how bad of a mistake it is.
“Oh, so you can go to the bar instead of coming straight home? You can blow all of your responsibilities here and get wasted like a fucking teenager? Okay, got it. Don’t worry, I left all your duties piled on the bedroom floor.”
“I just needed to wind down a bit,” I explain, dropping onto the space next to her. Sinking into the thick, pillowy cushions, I rest my head against the back of the couch and close my eyes.
Sleep dances on the edge of my consciousness. It slowly pulls me under, but I jerk myself awake. Rubbing the fatigue from my eyes, I reach over and take Beth’s hand into my own. She loves palm massages. They’ve always relaxed her.
She doesn’t look relaxed now. The opposite, actually.
She looks fucking pissed.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she snaps, yanking her hand from my grip. I twitch back in shock. I’m used to her sounding upset, but never with so much venom in her voice.
“What do you mean? I was just giving you a massage.”
“No, you weren’t. I know you, Theodore. You are trying to get me in the mood.”
“Is that so wrong? You’re my wife. I love you. I want to be with you, sweetheart.”
Any thoughts of Scarlett fly out the window as I stare at my wife, who’s becoming more and more enraged. When did she become so cold?
“I’m not fucking you, Theodore. Are you stupid? Watch some porn and jerk off in the bathroom. I don’t want to feel your dick digging into my back.” When did she become so unloving? “And don’t come into bed until you finish cleaning your fucking shit.”
She storms away from me, fists balled tightly at her sides, before she comes to a standstill at the end of the hall. “And next time you decide to drown yourself in alcohol, do it at home. Last thing me or my family needs is the embarrassment of an alcoholic.”
The bedroom door slams shut seconds later.
I sit on the couch with an empty heart and an unsatisfied soul.
I never bother to go into the room and find the mess on the ground. I think I’ll find more comfort on the couch with only my arms to keep me warm.
Scarlett Dane
CHAPTER X
I walk into Ellis’s with my portfolio clenched tightly to my chest.It masks the quivering of my breasts as well as the violent thumps of my heart.
