Balotelli-Bale Series Book #4: THE OTHER MAN PART 1

Chapter 6: Not Him!

A/n: This is a new addition.

"...what you are afraid of doing
is the very thing that will set you free..."

Keira's POV
It's Friday.

After a long week, weekend vibes should be uplifting my mood especially because I am going to Miami. Okay, I'm not certa if I'll go to Miami. I haven't even packed. I can't risk Jason seeing anything in a suitcase. On normal days, I can't leave the house without having him checking what is in my handbag. I think he fears the day I'll leave him. I have categorized what I need in the closet so that it easy to put it all in a bag.

He came home a while ago and locked himself in the spare room upstairs. I'm trying to cook dinner but I'm stuck in a phase of worry. I'm biting my nails just to deal with my anxiety. It's 5:35pm. Nick said he's picking me up at 6pm. He is never late. What will I say when he shows up at my doorstep and Jason opens the door? I'm not allowed to open door when someone knocks because he doesn't trust me. If he's home, I have a duty to inform him that someone is at the door.

"No! No! No!" I turned the stove off and dropped the smoking pan on the floor after it burned my hand. I looked behind me in a panic wondering if he has heard it. The whole kitchen is full of smoke! I got lost in my mind just for a second and this happened! Okay,not a second. The salmon is eae on one side and seriously burnt on the other.

"Keira?" He's coming down the steps. "What's going on down there?"

I rushed to open the window willing the smoke to get out by waving a kitchen towel towards the open window. The neighbor is staring at me. He must think I have gone mad.

When I turned out of compulsion from his dark presence, our eyes met. His dropped to the pan on the tikes floor. They then moved up to me. "What is this?"

"I uh... there was... I'm sorry."

I'm always saying sorry. I say it so much it may as well be my middle name.

He picked up the hot skillet using the handle. He turned it upside down for the salmon to end up on the floor. He grabbed a handful of my hair. He forced my head down, cheek first and trapped my squirming legs in between his. "Are you the one who buys the food in this house?"

"Jason no! No Please!" The hot skillet is just above my cheek. I can feel the heat already.

"Answer me!"

"No! I don't buy the food! You do! You do!" I sped spoke in a mess of tears and panic. He is capable of pressing the hot skillet on my face. Is there anything impossible to him? "Jason. Please. Jason please. I'm sorry."

He dropped the skillet in the sink. I gave it a moment for him to move away from me. I remained i. That awkward position, cheek still down. When I heard his footsteps move away, I stood up suddenly. I turned the faucet on to cool the skillet before he comes back and carries out his threat. The neighbor is watering her vegetables. She no doubt heard that. The houses are only eight feet apart. She's staring at me. I closed the window with my trembling hands and drew the curtain.

Embarrassment is what I feel. Deep shame for allowing this to persist. It's not that the neighbors don't know. They do know and I see the way they look at me. They whisper when I pass them. They whisper my shame. Only Lorraine has ever publicly intervened when Jason was assaulting me in public. She beat Jason up and she called the police. But when they came, I couldn't say anything. Jason told them it was a misunderstanding and I agreed with him even when I was rocking a black eye.

Getting punched in the face is the least of my problems. There have been worse moments when I thought I would doe in this house.

I heard his footsteps again. I turned promptly.