“Mmm, yes, what time is it? You’re back already.”
“Its 5 pm. Honey, we have to get ready for the gala dinner.”
I jump out of bed. “I thought it was tomorrow night.”
I go to the bathroom to take a shower while I hear him talk. I hear only a little bit of the whole speech: “.... but we have three hours to prepare.”
“Yes, but three hours isn’t long. Especially if I’m half asleep.”
“Don’t worry, love, you’ll be beautiful.”
I step out of the shower and start getting ready, calmly but quickly.
I urgently requested a hairdresser. She arrives immediately and helps me with a simple but effective hairstyle—half gathered and braided and loose and the other half curls. Not too elaborate but perfect for my Vera Wang.
As soon as Jeremy sees me, his eyes light up.
“You’re amazing.”
“Thanks. You’re not bad either.”
He tries to kiss me, and I walk away. “Let me get there perfectly. It took me an hour for this make-up.” He draws me to him and touches my lips, whispering an “I love you.”
Arriving at the location where the gala dinner will be held, we see a crazy line of photographers. Jeremy never misses an opportunity to be photographed. He makes me laugh while turning and kissing me.
Dinner is going wonderfully. While men talk about business, we wives sit aside, speaking, and gossiping.
I notice that Jeremy doesn’t take his eyes off me. He smiles. I smile back and resume the conversation with the ladies.
After a little over an hour later, we are interrupted by Jeremy, who, apologizing, takes me to the dance floor. We mingle with the other guests. I look around for a while, and then I focus on him.
He seems to have changed. “Is everything alright, love?” I ask. What I see in his eyes worries me, and I don’t understand what happened.
“Let’s talk about it later.” His tone is edgy.
We finish dancing and say goodbye to everyone, blaming jet lag. A car takes us to the hotel in frightening silence. I hear his irregular breathing, which means he’s angry.
Arriving in the room, he closes the door, and I begin to take off my dress. It’s beautiful, but after four hours, I can’t stand it anymore.
“Can you tell me what’s wrong, please? This silence is killing me,” I say as I fumble with the zipper. Once I manage to take it off, I turn to Jeremy, he’s a few steps away from me.
He comes at me like a predator, ready to devour his prey. I instinctively recoil until I feel the glass on my bare skin.
“You were the center of attention of all the men tonight, and I didn’t like it.”
“You’re exaggerating. It’s the alcohol talking. You drank a lot tonight.”
He puts his hand over my mouth. “You’re mine, mine and nobody else’s. Do you understand?” he asks, growling.
I nod as he releases his grip and kisses me, it’s a hard, violent kiss as he unhooks my bra. He turns me toward the window and pushes me against it.
The glass is cold and makes me shiver.
“Jeremy, please stop being paranoid. It’s not good for us. I meet his gaze in the window and fear the worst.
He tears off my underpants and enters with such violence that I’m out of breath. “You’re mine, your every breath is mine, and no one can look at you.” He takes me by the neck and squeezes it tightly. I start to feel out of breath as he pushes himself deeper into me. He reaches orgasm after a while, and his grip softens.
I start coughing. I walk away as soon as Jeremy lets me go, and the tears start flowing uncontrollably.
