Her Secret Affair

Chapter 20

"Did you just fucking hit me?"

"You are not to see that man again," he said threateningly. She did not recognise the man in front of her. He had never hit her before, nor ever gotten this angry. He could always compose himself. "Did I create this monster?" she thought, filled with fear.

"Did you hear me, Brianna Lancaster?"

Before she could answer, his phone rang. She saw Lucy's pop up on his screen before he swiped to answer irritatingly. She had met Lucy a few times when she attended work events with him, and she had never felt comfortable with her. She always seemed to be trying too hard to be nice to her.

"What?" he barked into his phone.

"No, I'm coming. Was just taking care of something at home," and he hung up. He stood up, without saying a word to her, and went to the bathroom. She heard the water running in the shower. For once, she was grateful that he was leaving for work. She could not bear to be in the same house with him at the moment.

Half an hour later, Joseph walked out the door without saying another word to her.

She quickly went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Her left cheek was red with his handprint across her face. Tears welled up in her eyes. She tried to undress herself to take a hot bath, but she failed miserably. After 10 minutes of struggling with getting out of her shirt, she gave up and climbed into bed.

F: Sorry I hung up like that, I saw the door opening behind you.

F: Text me when you can. x

She finally let her tears fall. She cried and cried, emotions from the accident, from the argument with Joseph, from her inability to even bathe herself. It all came pouring out. Her hand lingered over Frankie's name, she had no one else to talk to.

"How did I mess up my life like this," she thought guiltily.

B: I can't do this again.
F: Do what?

His text came back quickly like he had been waiting to hear from her.

B: Us. Whatever it was. We stopped it 3 weeks ago. Let's leave it like that.

F: What changed from this afternoon?

Her tears rolled down her face, her heart aching in her chest. "How do I fix this?" she thought. She knew for certain she did not want to be with the man that had slapped her. That is not the Joseph she knew. But her fear of the man she saw today kept her in place.

F: I thought you didn't like being away from me.
B: He knows.

As soon as she sent that text, her phone started to ring. She rejected his call.

B: I can't talk right now.

F: What do you mean he knows? Did you tell him?

B: He knew before I told him.

F: Are you ok?

B: My life is a mess. How can I be ok?

F: It will be ok Brie.

She stared at her phone. "How can he say it will be ok?"

After she didn't answer him for a while, he called her again. He knew Joseph wasn't home, because she wouldn't text this much if he was.

F: Brie, just pick up your phone. I know you're alone.

"Hello," she said softly, her tears still streaming down her face.