Crestfallen [COMPLETED]

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ - 33

Alex

The guy releases her, stepping back as his face comes into full view.

This man.

The cause of all my woes. Of my immeasurable pain.
The source of my torment.

How dare he look at my wife like that?

How dare he touch her ?

I lunge at him. My anger converting into my body language.

As my fist meets his jaw.

A hard blow, and he tumbles down, nearly falling then balances himself. The hit is with so power as if all the anger in my body found a vent.

I watch him, his mouth bruised, blood dripping at the corner.

The same mouth he kissed my wife with.

A flicker of satisfaction surges through me as I watch him wince in pain, with a fleeting sense of vengeance.

At reflection of the agony that he's caused me.

My own hands are bloodied but it doesn't matter.

"Alex, " Joanna shouts my name with an urgency that brings me back to reality.

She walks over to him, that man.

My heart aches as I watch her touch his face gently, her fingers caressing his bruised skin with a tenderness that should be reserved for me alone.

"Does it hurt?" She asks him tenderly. Her hand on his face.

As if  her husband is not here. As if I didn't get myself hurt over hurting him.

I feel like an outsider, like an intruder in my own life, watching as, my wife tends to him.

My eyes go over to my bloodied knuckles. The physical and emotional pain both coursing in.

My bloodied knuckles throb, a physical reminder of the violence that erupted from within me.

But the emotional wounds run deeper.

My hand instinctively rests on
my chest, closer to my heart.
The pain of betrayal and
heartache carving a place there.

And no one to ask, 'Does it hurt?'
Not Joanna.

. . . . . . .  .

My voice echoes through the air, harsh and desperate, as I call out to her to come with me.

I watch as the other guy whispers something to her.

"Tell me if anything's wrong," he murmurs, leaving a kiss on her cheek that ignites another surge of anger within me.

I know he intentionally did it to rile me up.

Without thinking, I lunge at him once more, driven by the fire of my emotions. But Joanna steps in between us, as if she's shielding him from my wrath.

My heart shatters at that moment, the pain and frustration swirling within me. I force myself to hold back.

My grip tightens around her wrist,  possessively, as I guide her towards the car. She doesn't resist much, allowing me to lead her.

We get inside, I take the driver's seat while she settles in beside me.

I feel her gaze on my bloodied knuckles,
realization dawning in her eyes that I am hurt too.

"Let me drive, you are hurt, Alex," she reasons moving her hand to touch mine.

"Shut up, just fucking shut up," I snap, my voice dripping with venom as I start the engine of the car, my hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles turn even whiter.

Only, the roar of the engine matches the storm raging within me.