A Step Closer to Love

TRIGGER WARNING,

THERE MIGHT BE SOME ELEMENT OF DOMESTIC ABUSE IN THIS CHAPTER PLEASE SKIP IT IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE IT.

“What do you mean by that?” Everly asked as she turned to face her husband.

Since Saturday she had avoided making any meals for him and he had thought she was just temporarily acting up and would be back to her senses soon

“If you want breakfast so much maybe you should make yourself something to eat”

He had been ordering in since Saturday for all his Melas apart for dinners and he was not going to take it any more.

“Are you not going to get your husband something to eat?” he asked walking slowly towards her.

“You should get yourself something to eat if you are that hungry,” she said.

He moved closer to her and she moved back until her back touched the wall. She was now pinned to the corner and she did not like the feeling of being trapped at all.

“You have refused to prepare my meals, what are you doing at home then?” he asked.

She could feel his warm breath on her neck. She laughed at how this position was supposed to be romantic according to books and movies but all she felt was discomfort. She wanted to escape that moment immediately.

She gulped as she opened her mouth to speak. She was the only one who could save herself. “You stay at home all day too, you can as well prepare a meal for yourself too,” she said.

“What?” Ethan shouted at her.

Everly felt so exposed. It was as if somehow had forcefully taken off all of her clothing. “What?” he screamed again.

“You are scaring me Ethan” she said in a fearful voice.

“What do you mean I am scaring you? All I have ever done in life is to love you but you repay me like this?” he screamed again.

“I knew it was a wrong idea to bring that girl into this house, she is the reason everything turned to the way it is,” he said backing up from her and pacing the floor.

“What are you saying? Arabella has nothing to do with this” Everly jumped to defend.

“Why then did your attitude change when she came to love here?” he asked walking to her.

“I have had enough of you treating me like a tool used for a specific purpose, I am not made to make your meals, I am human and I think I should be respected as well” she said and gulped.

They had had arguments in the past, it was not something new but something about the situation made her feel a kind of fear she had never known before.

“When did I ever treat you like that? The role of the woman is to make the home and nothing more, why are you now trying to distort what it is supposed to be” Ethan said. She could see the veins in his neck popping as he screamed at her.

“It is the role of both of them to make the home” Everly responded.

“What was that?”

“You heard…” Everly was barely able to finish up her statement when she felt his palm on her cheeks, it hurt.

He slapped her.

Everly held her cheek as she pushed him out of her way. “Did you just slap me?” she asked, tears streaming from one of her eyes. She could not believe the situation she was in at that moment.

The same Ethan who had chased her around for years before he got her to date him and then suddenly made her pregnant and after that married her. It was the same man who had raised his hands and slapped her.

“I am sorry, I did not mean to” he stammered as he moved back staggering on his feet. “I don’t know what came over me,” he said again as his feet kept going back.

“I am going to go out now” she said rushing out of the house.

She felt a breeze hit her skin but she did not care all that was on her mind was how to escape that situation she was facing.

She was not properly dressed to be out in the cold. She could hear her name resound in the distance but she did not think about turning around.

When she thought of it she had nowhere to go, with every step she took she felt like she was gradually leaving her body and taking up a new body. The feeling was strange, she could not understand it.

By the time she came to herself, she had walked miles away from the house. She was at least forty minutes away from her house by car. She looked around her, she knew that the only person she could call was her son. She looked on her to try and locate her phone but it was nowhere to be found.

She looked up and spotted a cafe nearby, maybe they would be able to help her. The chime of the door directed all attention to her. She looked up and down as she walked to the counter.

“Hello,” she said in a shaky voice. Her voice was full of tears but she was trying to stop her eyes from crying.

“Hello ma’am how can I help you” the perky girl at the counter said.

“I think I am lost” Everly croaked out.

“Oh would you like to use my phone?” yeh girl asked and Everly nodded with appreciation in her eyes.

“Thank you” Everly said as she fumbled with the phone in her hand.

“Do you want me to help you?” the girl asked. She could see that this woman was in a position to handle herself. She looked a bit haggard, her hair was all over the place and she looked like she was cold and hot at the same time.

“Yes please” Everly said thrusting the phone back to her hand. She called out the number, she had her son’s number off the top of her head so it was easy for her.

“Hello, Kieran” Everly let out as the phone connected.

“Mom?” Kieran said.

“Can you come pick me up?”

PS: I felt pretty weird writing this