Marriage By Contract

Chapter 36: Petty Quarrel

"No Lola, you don't get it. Money can't satisfy my needs right now. I want you."

His voice rung in my ears like a broken record. It was unending. He wanted me but the feeling wasn't mutual. Tears soak my cheeks as I cry our for Jason. I feel a blow to my abdomen and let out a shrill cry.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Derek yelled, sending another punch to my face now. I gasp and sputter. Breathing was now a strenuous task.

How could one be so cruel? So uncaring and violent?

I felt trapped under Derek's body. Tied up and smothered by his viscous darkness and sloppy wet kisses.

I want to die, I thought. I need to die.

And then suddenly there was light. It didn't come in the form of actual light, but in the form of human. This light was different. The darkness that once smothered me was now gone, rendering my body free. In an instant, the pain was gone too along with the suffering and torment. It was now replaced by a new feeling. A feeling that seemed so foreign and strange to me. It brought warmth and comfort, safety and and a sense of security. I wanted to hold on to this light. To grab and it and never let it go. Sure it sounded selfish, but I didn't care. I didn't care because this light was mine, and only mine.

"Babygirl...." he said just above a whisper. His voice was faint and gentle, just like his lips as they grazed over mine. The kiss was subtle and fervent, making me feel as if I would melt at any second. That strange foreign feeling returned again, only this time bringing ten times the intensity. Warmth sprang through my veins and fluttered in the pits of my stomach, jolting my inner body with an electrifying shock.

The tears were now gone and it was because of him. My savior, Jason.

But suddenly this new found happiness was snatched away, seized and wrenched away, leaving me to go back to my darkened past.

"No." I breathe out.

Darkness began to surround me again, trapping me in its whirlpool of immoralities.

"Jason," I whisper. Where did he go? Who dared took him away from me? I wanted to scream, to cry out for him to come back and comfort me.

And then I saw him, with her. Her stomach now round and plumb with the baby they would be raising together. A throbbing pain plucked at my heart.

"No," I breathe out. "It can't be."

But it was, and it was going to be. He had a family now, and I din't fit into the picture. The frame wasn't big enough. I had no place. I watched in agony as he took her face in his hands, the same way he did me. He bent down and leaned in.

No! I thought. But I was inaudible to them. His lips met hers, and they moved in sync together. I place a hand on my chest. My heart felt as if it had been ripped out and stomped on by Jason's foot, no, it was by Jessica's foot and she was still stomping. Grazing my heart against the floor mercilessly as she jubilated with happiness. Jason crouched down in front of her belly, bringing both hands to touch her round stomach.

I knew what was coming next but I couldn't peel my gaze away. It was too difficult. My body was frozen and paralyzed in this whirlpool of darkness. My mobility hindered and taken away from me, along with my heart. Jason closed his eyes and leaned in. His soft lips lay a feathery kiss onto Jessica's stomach.

"Babygirl," he mouthed to Jessica, and then they were gone with the snap of a finger, leaving me alone and stranded in my world of demons.

I want to die, I thought. I need to die.