The Writer's Love Affair

Episode 32: Threat

Episode 32: Threat

"Christopher!"

He turned around as he felt someone tug harshly onto his arm.

The man came to face to face with Marley once again.

He felt himself sigh at the fact that she couldn't take a hint.

"I thought I made myself clear back there," he said warningly.

She disregarded his tone; no longer treading on thin ice around him but running on it—literally. And after catching up to him, she emitted a heat he could see solely from her gaze.

Christopher still remained cold.

"I thought you said that nothing in this world could change the way you felt about me. Is it so wrong that I took a detour from us? I get it! I made a mistake! Is it such an awful one that it can't be fixed?"

"For Christ's sake, Marley, you're married." He inflicted the words upon her and she flinched. "This isn't some one night stand or a slip up you can come back from. You got married to the guy and left me to suffer alone. You cut off whatever ties we had the moment you said 'yes' at that altar. I even...I even begged you that night to stay with me. If you'd only stayed with me, I would've turned a blind eye to your actions. I was that infatuated with you."

"I thought I was pregnant," she gasped out.

A sharp streak of lightening struck across the sky. Angrily and unyielding.

He looked at her, momentarily stunned by the confession.

It took a minute before she gathered the air to speak again.

His eyes saw a hint of desperation and helplessness crowding her slender form. She could only dig her finger nails into her skin—a habit he personally had to deter with his own hands when they were together.

It was a sign that she was uncomfortable and one that she was not okay.

For some reason, the tiniest bit of pity flooded him.

Mainly because of this new piece of information.

She'd thought she was pregnant?

A clap of thunder jolted both of them back to reality before she stared at him, giving in to her demons. He swore the place became darker than it was before despite it already being nighttime.

"I thought I was pregnant. It was only supposed to be a drunken mistake that I'd never have to revisit. John was my superior; it wasn't like I had any intentions of making a mess of our relationship by fucking him. But with a little too much to drink I had no say in that."

"You're seriously not blaming all of this on alcohol right now." He scoffed. "And the fact that you were scared into marriage because of not even having the common sense to be safe...you continue to amaze me, Marley."

"Don't be condescending right now! I'm giving you my truth! Why are you treating me differently than before when I've done it so many times in the past?"

His eyes hardened at the audacity of her.

"That was about your insecurities stemming from bullying and an unstable household that held an abusive father. I coddled you because of those misfortunes. Not because I was blinded by the truth. I knew how all of that destroyed you mentally, so much that you had to rely on people's opinions of you. You craved praises and needed to be reassured every single second that you're wanted and loved. I gave you that because that's what you needed. After all, your past was something you had no control over as a child."