Laura's POV
September 12, 2023
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As I approach my apartment door, I fumble around in my purse for my keys. Entering quickly, I shut and lock the door behind me, hanging up my jacket and setting my purse on the kitchen counter.
"Laura?" The deep, husky voice that I know all too well scared me half to death, causing me to spin on my heel, my heart beating rapidly out of surprise. "What are you doing home this early?"
"Thomas?!" I exclaim, half still startled, half relieved it wasn't an intruder, and instead my boyfriend of over 2 years. "My last meeting got cancelled so I was able to leave the studio early. Wait what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on a business trip until Monday?"
"Hm?" Thomas looks genuinely confused when I mention his business trip that he had left for yesterday. "Oh right, my business trip. Yes, well, something came up in our local studio and they wanted me to come back to deal with it." I notice some uncertainty in his voice, but disregard it.
"Oh, well why didn't you tell me?" I ask him, still a bit confused.
"Uh, why didn't I tell you? Hmm...well...OH!" He hesitates a few times before coming to some sort of realization, making me jump a bit. "I wanted to surprise you. Yeah, that's it." He looks like he's thinking really hard while speaking, then forces a smile at the end, as if he's trying to convince me of something. I shrug it off, too exhausted from a long day at the studio to worry too much.
"Oh, okay. Well it's nice that we finally have some time together." Thomas and I both work a lot, so finding time to spend together is rare. He gives me a smile and nods his head. "Could we cuddle up and watch a movie or something? I'm absolutely spent." He nods his head again.
"I'm gonna go grab some blankets from the bedroom, get cozy on the couch and I'll be right there." Thomas walks off to the bedroom and I collapse down onto the couch, grateful I can finally relax after a long day of work. I hear Thomas talking to someone after a minute or two softly, and my brows furrow together. I go into the kitchen so I can hear a little better.
"No yeah, she came home early. I wasn't expecting her until around midnight." There's a pause before he continues. "Yeah I'm bummed, I really wanted to see you too. We'll just have to find another night she'll be out late, then you can come over." His whispers continue before I hear him say goodbye and disconnect from the phone call. I'm really confused, and quite suspicious might I add, but I head back to the couch and sit down, seconds before I hear the bedroom door open and Thomas comes back in carrying a blanket and a couple pillows.
Cuddled up into his arms, I try to let my mind wander off to dreamland, but there's something off about him. I decide to dig a little, because I won't be able to fall asleep before I understand what's going on.
"Hey babe, who were you talking on the phone with earlier?" I ask him as innocently as I can. He tenses up a bit at my question, but without missing a beat, he responds.
"My mom." He shoots back, rather quickly. It almost sounded rehearsed.
"Uh huh. Okay. So then why were you whispering?" I feel his body go almost completely rigid. He's getting nervous, but why?
"I, uh, I knew you were tired, and I didn't want to disturb you in case you had already fallen asleep." Thomas says quickly, clearly struggling to find words.
"Sure. Yeah, okay. And why, might I ask, did you tell her she couldn't come over because I'm here? You know your mom loves me." I start to get upset, because something is definitely wrong here.
"Um, well, so.......uhhhh...." Thomas stutters, trying to make up some bullshit reason. My eyes wandered away from him back to the TV screen. Something catches my eye though. It's a tiny, thin piece of lacy black fabric, poking out form under the coffee table. My arm stretches out and grabs it, and it unfolds. A thong. Not mine.
"And let me guess, Thomas. Are you about to tell me THIS is your mom's too?!" I start to raise my voice as I hold them up by my thumb and pointer finger.
"Babe babe babe, let me explain, I-" I yank myself out of his grasp and throw the panties in his face, standing up.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't dump you right here, right now!" I yell, tears threatening to spill down my red cheeks. "Why? Why would you do this to me? I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME!" Tears blur my eyes and waterfall down my face.
"I do! Of course I love you!" Thomas cries desperately.
"YOU CHEATED ON ME! YOU DON'T LOVE ME!" I scream. He stands up and begins to pace the room before speaking.
"Okay, okay look babe. You sort of, well, you always come home late, and you never make time for me anymore. I just, ugh, I get so frustrated, because you come home and you're so tired that you won't do anything with me." Thomas runs his hands through his hair and over his face. "I just want to have sex with my girlfriend! Is that really too much to ask for?"
"Of course it isn't. But you NEVER ASKED. You never told me you were feeling this way. Maybe if you told me instead of picking up some whore off the street we wouldn't even be HAVING this conversation!" I say, flustered and still crying. My face goes stark as a thought pops into my head. "Who?" I say quietly. "Who did you cheat on me with?" I hold my breath as he answers.
"Samantha." He says so quietly as he hangs his head, ashamed. My breath catches in my throat.
"Samantha? My best friend Samantha?" Looks like I'm dumping two people today. "Me working so much pays the rent for this apartment. Maybe if you had a job that could actually support us, I wouldn't be out so late every night. I pay for this home, and it's mine. So get out." I state as calmly as I can.
"Laura, I-"
"Thomas, get the FUCK out of my home and never come back." He jumps back at my tone. "Your stuff will be outside the door tomorrow morning. If you don't get it by noon I'm throwing it all out." He slowly turns towards the door and walks away.
"Oh, Thomas?" He turns around with hope in his eyes. "Leave. The key." He sighs, places the key on the kitchen counter, and leaves the apartment as I fall to the floor and cry.
YOU ARE READING
10 Years From Now ~ RAURA (ON HOLD)
Fanfiction"Just because I'm working with her and we have to have that chemistry and all that stuff, I don't see it happening in the near future. But you never know what's going to happen in 10 years." (6/17/13) - Ross and Laura worked for 5 years together o...
