One Day You'll Be Mine: Steamy Contemporary Military Romance (8 page)

“Oh you don’t?” My eyes flared, then narrowed to slits. I turned to Presley, who stood there highly amused. “Presley, how was your sangria the other night? Kelli and I enjoyed your company the other night.”

Presley’s expression filled with shock. He raised his hand in the air, signaling his departure. “I don’t know how you know my name. I have nothing to do with this.”

“Oh you don’t?! Everybody’s fucking clueless that my husband’s a fucking cheater, huh? Is everyone also clueless about the fact that he’s fucking another –“

SLAP!

Before I knew it, Hollis reached out and slapped the shit out of me. My face was frozen from the sting of his contact. He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into the house.

“MOOOOM!”  I heard Jordan scream. “MOOOOOM!”

“Come here Jordan,” I heard Kelli say. “Stay away from your mother.”

“Dad just hit mom!” Jordan roared. “Mom are you okay!?”

I was too stunned to move, respond, or attempt to look my son in the face. My brain started to dizzy as I tried to take all of this in. Was this really happening? My heart paced like crazy. Hollis never put his hands on me. Ever. He also never forcefully dragged me anywhere.

Kristophe must have started to follow, because Hollis shouted. “Stay out of this! I’ll be right back.”

He tossed me on the floor. “What the fuck is wrong with you, you stupid bitch!”

I looked up at him, and broke down in tears. “What the fuck did I ever do to deserve this?! What did I ever do to you? You’re cheating on me, and now you’re hitting me and calling me a bitch?”

Jordan’s screams for me penetrated the glass door. Hearing his worry compounded my pain, and I started sobbing even more. I never intended for my son to see how badly we were not getting along, but hiding the stress of our situation was maddening.

Hollis looked at the door and shouted, “Jordan be quiet!”

“You’re tearing this family apart. Don’t you see that?” I stood up, finally able to move past the shock of being slapped by my husband. I looked at him, hoping to see some kind of remorse in his eyes.

I got nothing.

He seemed too cold and soulless to give a damn.

“I didn’t come over here causing a scene. I didn’t start making wacky accusations. And I didn’t rock the boat. I don’t know what the fuck your problem is, but it’s not me. You need to get your shit straight. Your problem is with that man you’re fucking, not me.”

“You’re accusing me of fucking another man when the man
you’re
fucking is the one who gave me those flowers,” I spat. I enjoyed the slight bug in his eyes when he realized that’s how I found out. “He left them on my car when I was at Kelli’s, after you bought him that ring he’s wearing. He let me know everything the other night while you were drugged to sleep in his bed. Oops! I mean ‘working for 24 hours.’” I made quotation marks with my fingers to emphasize my knowledge of his made up story.

Hollis’s jaw clenched. He reached out and clamped my shoulder. I tried to shrug him off, but his grip was too strong. He pushed me out of sight from the glass door, away from the view and towards the bathroom. I started screaming, and he shushed me. I didn’t listen and tried to fight him, but as always, his strength outmatched mine.

The dark look in his eyes was evil. Pure evil. I’d never seen anything like that except in horror movies or Lifetime re-enactments.

Tears ran down my cheek, and I began trembling as he closed the bathroom door behind us. I was sure this was where I’d die; here, in my best friend’s bathroom on a beautiful summer day at the hands of my cheating husband. I was sure after he killed me, he’d just bury my body in his lover’s backyard.

He slammed my head against the wall and wrapped his fingers around my neck. As I slowly lost my fight, and my life started to flash before my eyes, I started to see all the mistakes I made, the opportunities I missed, and things that passed me by dealing with this knucklehead.

“Don’t you tell anyone,” he snarled through gritted teeth. “Or your life will be a living fucking hell.” His eyes looked into mine as he squeezed. “Do you understand me?”

I grunted in the affirmative, and he released me, leaving me to slip to the floor, and as always, walked out without saying another word. I gasped as my throat pulled for air, and started coughing.

I heard the glass door open, and heard frantic steps enter. Kelli and Jordan called out for me. I could barely speak, so they had to listen to the sound of my coughs.

Jordan wrapped his arms around me and cried. He thought Hollis tried to kill me in the house. Kelli appeared calm, but there were tears building at the corner of her eyes. She raised her hand to step back and let me have a moment with my son, who desperately needed my soothing.

“Mom, are you okay?”

Even though it was uncomfortable for me to talk, I nodded. “Yes, baby. Mommy’s okay. Your father and I just had a little fight. That’s all.”

“You’re not supposed to hit girls. That’s what they taught us in school.” He looked at me. “Are you calling the cops? Is dad going to jail? Why did he hit you?”

“Boys are not supposed to hit girls, honey. You’re right. And No, I’m not going to call the cops. Daddy’s not going to jail.” I sighed, holding my boy close to me as tears fell. My life was unraveling quicker than I could catch up, and I couldn’t stand watching it happen in front of my son. “But Mommy is going to leave Ms. Kelli’s house with Ms. Kelli and take some space, so Daddy and I can calm down okay?”

He looked at me, his hazel eyes pooled with concern. “Can I come too?”

I smiled and caressed his face. “I would love to take you, but perhaps another time. Mommy just needs rest. I’ve been sick all week, and now I’m tired.”

“It’s okay. I’ll make you soup,” he offered.

“You don’t know how to make soup.”

“Uh huh. You open the can, pour it in the bowl and put it in the microwave.”

I smiled. For a boy who thought affection gave you cooties, he was pouring it all over the place right now.

“Spend time playing with Karter. School’s starting soon, and that means you won’t spend time with him because you’ll be studying and playing basketball. I promise to spend time with you later on, okay?”

He nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer. He helped me up. I checked my face in the mirror. My cheek was still red from where Hollis had slapped me, and there were was redness around my neck from where he grabbed me. I could tell I’d be bruising later on, another curse of have sensitive fair skin. The burn of shame, anger, and embarrassment would redden me up just enough that nobody would notice. At least that’s what I told myself, pushing my glasses down my forehead and perching them back atop my nose.

***

Jordan held my hand protectively as I walked into the living room. Kelli was inside, Karter sitting next to her looking sad.

“See, Ms. Natalia is okay. Jordan’s taking care of her, you see?” Karter nodded slowly, looking at us as if he were in a daze.

We kissed our sons goodbye, though they were reluctant to let us out of their sights. They followed us to Kelli’s car, and almost marched us right past Kristophe, who was standing by himself, and talking on his phone. Kelli walked over to Kristophe, and spoke a few words to him. He nodded, his eyes flitting back from her to me, before waving grimly. Too weary to fight I waved from the car and buckled my seat belt so I could close my eyes and surrender myself to rest.

Kelli started the car. Immediately music began to play, but she lowered the volume.

“Are you okay?” she said. “I know you didn’t want to make a scene, but do you need help? Do you want to go to the hospital or call 911?”

“I’m battered and bruised, but not broken.” I didn’t bother to open my eyes. “I don’t want to go to a hospital. I don’t want to go anywhere. I just want to go home and sleep.”

Angst began to fill my lungs, and I started to get that familiar feeling in my nostrils I usually got when my eyes watered and started to cry. I was tired of crying. I was tired of being emotional, I was tired of putting up a strong front for my son and this military family Hollis and I created, and I was certainly tired of being in pain.

I assumed Kelli would listen to me and take me home, but she didn’t. I could tell because it only took a few minutes to get to my home, and before I knew it, I felt the car go over the speed bumps and swerves required to exit the base.

“Kelli…” I groaned. “I’m not in the mood. Please take me home.”

“Shhh,” she said. “Just relax and trust me. Please. Just rest.”

I grumbled, sighed, and once more resigned myself to Kelli’s plans. Even when I all I wanted was to be alone, I couldn’t have what I wanted out of life.

Chapter 13: Natalia

“Wake up, lady.” Kelli nudged my shoulder. I blinked rapidly, attempting to figure out where I was. Not realizing I’d fallen asleep in Kelli’s car, I was surprised to wake up and see we were in front of a hotel.

I looked at her and asked, “Where are we?”

“We’re at our destination.” She opened her car door. “Get out.”

I looked around and realized we were in San Bernardino, an hour and a half away from home. I couldn’t believe I had been so tired, I didn’t realize she had taken me on a road trip.

“Kelli, you know I have to go to work tomorrow. I can’t stay in San Bernardino overnight.”

“Hush woman.”

Less than 10 minutes later, Kelli and I were in our room. She booked a basic room with two king beds. But basic was anything but “basic” in my eyes. The room had a serene ambience, decorated in blue, crème, and gold. The bed was just so inviting.

“I felt you needed time to get away from the madness and consider what you want right now,” she spoke quietly. She turned on to her side and faced me. “You’ve been through a lot, and today was just the explosion of it all.”

“No kidding.” I palmed my cheek, checking the sting level left from the slap.

“I came here a lot when I first discovered Kristophe’s infidelity,” she confessed. “I’ve spent many random nights here, wondering how to deal with him. If I should tell him, or whether to just keep going.”

“Where’d you get the time to do that? Or the money? Aren’t you a stay at home mom?”

She smiled. “Never let anyone fully control your lifestyle, lady.” That secretive smile she work provided even more questions than answers.

“This room is paid for. I’ve taken care of it.” She stretched out briefly, then looked at the time, which was now after 4 PM. “The stores are closing early because it’s a Sunday, so I’ll be back. You just rest. Unless you want to come?”

“No, that’s okay.” I really wanted to get out and explore, since I hadn’t been out in a while, but the level of fatigue in my spirit made that an impossibility. I stretched one leg up, curling it closer to my person. The sheets were calling my name. “I just don’t have it in me right now. Thank you.”

“No problem.” She fished in her purse and tossed a medicine bottle on my covers. Curious, I examined the label. “Ambien. It’ll help you knock right out for 8 hours. Get some rest while I’m gone.”

Shaking my head, I tossed the container back. “I don’t need 8 hours of sleep. Not in the middle of the day.”

She tossed me another container. “Here’s Xanax. You may or you may not sleep. But you will certainly be more diffused. And that would definitely help you right now.”

I popped one of those, letting it dissolve under my tongue, and then swallowing the slightly gritty, bitter pool of saliva that built from its exchange.

It was less than 15 minutes before I drifted off to sleep. Throughout my state of sleep, I thought about everything that was going on. I dreamt of going away from Twenty-nine Palms, California, for a while, and being in Texas with Ro.

In the dream, I didn’t have Jordan, so I was free to go where I wanted. Ro and I got manicures, and had fun. Hollis was loving and attentive, and when Presley showed up, he was nothing more than some guy that hung around Hollis, and Hollis didn’t even like him.

Xanax must have worn off quickly, because I woke up two hours later. It was a little after 6 PM. True to her word, Kelli wasn’t back from shopping yet. I had no idea what this girl was buying, but she needed to hurry back. I was absolutely starving, and I needed to take a shower. Not so much because I was filthy from a hard day’s work, but I just needed to rinse myself off from the madness of today’s events.