With Grace

Chapter 1 - Archer

"Leila! I'm home." I called as I entered our apartment for the first time in a month. It was a couple of days after New Year and I'd been at my parent's house in Massachusetts over the holidays while my girlfriend, Leila, visited hers in upstate New York.

I always spent Christmas with my parents and four siblings as a rule and it was common knowledge that my brother and sisters didn't particularly like Leila so she didn't come with me to visit them. It wasn't like either side tried to keep their hostilities from me as you'd expect.

We'd been dating for over five years by this point and we moved in together soon after college, to practically everyone's protests but I was adamant she was the one for me. She was different when it was just us two. The jealousy that came out among other girls just showed that she loved me as much as I loved her. We lived in harmony; going about our own lives and seeing each other between work. She was a floor manager at a nearby Italian chain while I worked at the Montgomery Investment Corporation as COO, so I tended to work nine-to-five while she worked in the evenings. It was our little dynamic and it worked. Or so I thought.

Generally, when I got home from Worcester, she'd be waiting in our little seating area and then proceed to shout at me for being away for so long and not wanting to spend time with her which I would then remedy by kissing her. It was a choreographed routine by this point. But today, there was nobody in the communal spaces and I'd made sure to check with the restaurant to see if she would be at home, to make sure the surprise went off without a hitch.

I had driven myself and my sister back to New York this morning as she had to pack for a flight to Europe for early the next day. Some fashion event in London as she went to the Fashion Institute for Technology in New York. I'd planned to stay an extra day or two with the others but they all seemed to be doing some kind of work so I came back to give my girlfriend a surprise and get an early start on office work that always piles up after long breaks.

I placed my suitcase on the wooden floorboards behind the couch and sat down, sighing as I let my feet sit on the coffee table. As Leila didn't appear to be in, I could relax for a little while.

I was just about to turn the television on when I realised that the music I thought was coming from the apartment next to ours was actually from our bedroom. Leila was usually pretty good at making sure we weren't wasting electricity so I quietly made my way down the corridor to the biggest room in the small apartment.

The music got louder as I walked closer but it also became clear it wasn't a mistake and definitely not an accident. I could hear the motions of two people in the throes of passion, most probably atop the bed I've slept in nearly every night for two years. It wasn't like a homeless couple had broken into my fourth-floor apartment for a quickie on a comfy surface.

I quickly decided that interrupting would just be rude and they clearly weren't thinking about me at that moment so I wouldn't think about them as they continued moaning and screaming to Justin Bieber. I wonder if he knew what people were using his music for? One of the many reasons I would never listen to his music ever again.

I'd taken my favourite clothes with me home so they were all packed into my suitcase. Most of my personal belongings were in my study like pictures of my family and friends and trophies from my college and high school sports. I left the picture of me and Leila face down. It didn't take five minutes to find some old boxes from Leila's many large purchases and I packed up everything I wanted to take with me. I'd lugged them into the elevator and into the trunk of my CR-V that I happened to park on the street instead of in my garage in order to get upstairs quicker.

Half an hour later, I was stood in the kitchen making myself a coffee in my travel mug when I heard laughter and talking coming towards me. I can't deny I wasn't excited about her excuse. They came around the corner and I was partially glad I didn't recognise the guy so I just nodded and raised my mug to the half-dressed people gaping before me.