ALWAYS AND FOREVER

Kathy Pov

“Cross? Who is she?”

I asked and waited for his answer, I want to see how he is going to get himself out of this, he lied about being at work the photo already proved that to think I was going to apologize to him for overreacting but then this said it all, he was a lier and by the picture a cheat too, the fact that his expression didn’t even change, he didn’t even appear to be sorry for being caught, he just kept staring at the photo.

“Are you going to answer me or are you going to keep staring at the photo? Are you doubting if you are the one in the photo? It’s you, and a woman going into a hotel room and also you and her yesterday, now let’s talk about being at work all day,”

I said my anger increasing with each word.

“I owe you no explanations,”

Was all he said, I actually knew that’s what he was going to say, yeah that and also the mind my business part.

“Cross, really? That’s what you are going to say? You owe me no explanation, my husband pictured going into a hotel room with another woman and he didn’t return home that night and the next day, he was pictured with the same woman and he doesn’t have an explanation for me and I am supposed to be his wife,”

I said bitterly, this wasn’t supposed to hurt so much but it did, it hurt more than it did when u found out who Louis really was, hurt more than when my family disowned me, I felt my heart burning and my throat went dry, the tears that dried up yesterday suddenly threatening to return.

“I don’t owe you an explanation, and don’t wait for it, that I have been playing house with you doesn’t mean you should forget your place and the reason I married you, I don’t care about what you think,”

He replied.

“Playing house? We are married in case you have forgotten,”

I shouted.

“Keep your voice down bitch,”

“I am not going to keep anything down, you are going to tell me who the fuck she is and why you went into a hotel room with her, did you sleep with her?”

The thought of it made me angry, the thought of him in bed with another woman, I never thought of him as the type who cheats but maybe I was wrong again because I was always wrong, I am a bad judge of character.

“Believe whatever you want, don’t bug me with it,”

He replied, his answers were parts of the reasons I got even more pissed, his refusing to answer my questions rather he keeps using the not my business phrase, I honestly want to hit something or someone.

“So that’s it? That’s what you are going to say? Why because our marriage is not real? But what we have is a real marriage, we got married in a chapel, you made vows, the ones you are failing to keep, and why the fuck are you wearing that ring if you know you are not going to keep to the vows you made?”

I asked, the tears almost dropping, I held them him, no way was I going to let him see me cry, no fucking way.

“Like I said, I owe you no explanation,”

He repeat, going back to getting ready for work, I couldn’t believe his confidence.

“Cross? Is this the real you? Have you been pretending all this while? Mind my business? I thought we passed that? How did we get here? What’s going on? Why the sudden change?”

I asked, I just couldn’t wrap my head around how we got back to this point, we were doing fine, we were happy and now suddenly we are not.

“I am off to work, you can get to school on your own,”

He replied and left me standing there in the middle of our room, I angrily wiped off the tears in my eyes and calmed myself, he wasn’t worth my tears, no man was worth my tears, I wish my mom would come see this, I wish I could show them, I wish my sister will see this, when I told them that he was wrong for me they doubted it, now look, but then again, I got into the marriage myself, and as always, I am the one with bad lucks, and maybe I forgot that maybe I thought I could be happy too, for once, I thought I found a place I belonged but looks like the universe wasn’t in for my happiness, since this is how he wants us to be now then so be it, my mind made up, I started moving my stuff in our shared room to the room at the far end, I wasn’t going to share my space with him no more.

After moving all my personal belongings out of the main bedroom, I took a bath and left home without eating breakfast, I only had one class after which I will be meeting Marilyn, the materials I got arrived yesterday and I had loaded them in the car when the came, was going to show them to her, we had to designer a mini house, which I have asked to be made already and it will be available by Friday, the plan was already drafted out on my system and all we had to do was follow it in designing the main thing, since it was our first project, it didn’t need to be perfect, that’s what the lecturer had said, I plan on telling Marilyn to come over to the house next week Wednesday so that we can do it together and I can submit it in school.

I called Marilyn on my way out of the school and she picked up almost immediately.

“Hey, Marilyn,”

I greeted when she picked up, I wanted to go home first because I was super hungry but I didn’t want to be reminded of the sadness in that house, and also I didn’t want Betty or Nora to ask me what’s going on, Nora heard me and Cross fight this morning, and she saw the photos too, I didn’t want their pity stares, so I decided I will grab lunch at the place Marilyn and I were going to meet.

“Kathy, I was about to call you, can we meet up at my place? Sorry, I can’t leave home, I can give you directions,”

“Alright cool,”

“Aha, thank God, I will send it to you, it’s not hard to find, what do you like? I can make it for you to make up for all the stress that I am putting you through,”

“Nah, it’s fine, I am not a picky eater, anything would do,”

I replied, happy that she thought of feeding me, we talked some more before she hung up and sent me directions to her house, it took me over one hour to get there because I had gone to the wrong address the first time and had to go back.

“Hi, Kathy, you are much prettier in person, oh my gosh,”

Marilyn greeted me when I stepped into her apartment, she was so not what I expected, she was a woman who would be in her late thirties or early forties, I expected someone younger by the way she talked.

“Thank you,”

“Come on in girl, you are welcome to my home,”

She invited me, I stepped into the house and was amazed by how homey it was, I expected a much younger person so I had been expecting a girl’s house, but this was a home, I couldn’t keep it in so I asked.

“I am sorry to say but you are much older than I expected,”

I voiced out.

“Yeah, I know, I am forty-seven old and have three kids two sons, one is twenty-three and the other is twenty and a daughter too who is eighteen years old, they are all not around right now because they are visiting their dad, we are divorced, I know I am an oldie, that’s why I decided to go for a school that offers online courses, it’s being a long term goal of mine to get a degree in interior design, so even though I am old, I still want to get it, better late than never,”

She revealed and I felt bad about what I said.

“I am sorry if what I said offended you, I didn’t mean for it to,”

“Nah, I am not offended, don’t be sorry, it’s perfectly fine, and you are much younger and beautiful than I expected,”

“I am twenty-three years old,”

“I see, you are the same age as my oldest son, do you have a boyfriend? I can link you up with my son, he is a good and handsome young man,”

She said, now playing matchmaker, I raised my left hand which had been covered with my sweater, and showed her my ring.

“Oh, sorry, my bad, used you are married, these days it’s hard to see young people who marry early, I should have found you early, what a lucky man your husband is,”

She said I wish my husband thinks the same but sadly he doesn’t give a fuck about me.

“I made fried rice, let’s eat first before we start?”

“Yes, please, I am hungry,”

I said, relieved that she didn’t ask me about my husband, she led me to her dining room where we both eat and then we started off with what brought me there, we spent the next couple of hours coming up with different ideas on how we wanted the mini house to come out as, it was surprisingly comfortable to work with Marilyn despite our age gap, she was fun and very welcoming, by the time we were done it was way passed six pm.

“Thank you for today Marilyn,”

I said as she saw me out of the house later that evening.

“No, thank you, I am so happy that I got someone who I can talk to and who understands me,”

“You are welcoming, everyone will get along with you,”

“Not my daughter though, she hates me and thinks I am controlling,”

She revealed shaking her head.

“I think all daughters are like that, I think the same of my mom but I don’t hate her, and I am sure your daughter doesn’t hate you,”

I said.

“I hope your husband won’t mind that I kept you till this time, if you want I can talk to him and tell him you were with me,”

“No, no need for that, he knows,”NôvelDrama.Org (C) content.

I lied, I hadn’t told Cross about Marilyn, I mean I would have if only he had given me a chance to but we haven’t been talking and he wasn’t even around, I didn’t even tell him what happened with Louis and I bet he won’t even care, he doesn’t give a fuck about me anyway.

“Okay then, I will see you on Wednesday,”

“Sure,”

I said and got into my car, I drove out of her estate towards the main road, I honestly didn’t want to go home, the energy at home made me sad, just two days ago that house has been my best place but suddenly I wanted to be anywhere but there.

“You always fall in love with the wrong people,”

I said to myself, I wish Cross had shown this side of him three months ago, then I wouldn’t have gotten into him.

“It’s your fault still, you knew the kind of marriage it was, you should have known this would happen,”

I said, talking to myself because there was no one else I could talk to.

I got home by some minutes to nine and as I thought, Cross wasn’t home, my first thought was, he was with her again, I tried looking up the woman but I couldn’t find anything on her, she wasn’t a model either was she a public figure, I wished I had a way of contacting her, to at least tell her that the man she was dealing with was somebody’s husband.

I couldn’t sleep with my head imagining Cross in bed with the unknown woman, the image kept playing in my head, I stayed awake hoping he would return home but he didn’t, the tears I thought I won’t share, came out on their own and once again I cried myself to sleep…