I want a divorce. She had said. He could still hear the whisper when she spoke those words.
His breath had stopped, and his smile from the passionate kiss they had shared had frozen in time.
He was too shocked; he had watched her walk away as she told him she would be staying in the guest room.
Now he was pacing the room they shared, his eyes occasionally moving to the pictures on the floor, evidence of his infidelity.
He winced at the sight. Moving his head from side to side, he walked to the window and took a smoke to clear his head.
She was probably just acting out from his actions. She would forgive him in no time. He thought
But there was a doubt.
What if she didn't forgive him this time?
He couldn't lose her.
After a moment, he decided to do something grand for her and called his assistant to order a florist to bring in roses to decorate the entire house, including their bedroom.
She loved roses.
He placed an order for an expensive jewelry from an Italian store in the city. A matching set of jade necklace, bracelet, and earrings. The piece was a customized piece from a rare diamond.
Noting the time of arrival of the items, he scheduled a two-million-dollar transfer to her for the next day so she would be too overwhelmed with the items to focus on his mistakes and accept his grand apology.
Satisfied with his plan, he set everything in motion, then walked to the guest room to try to speak with her again, but noticed she had locked the door.
He left when he tried to talk to her, but she refused to open up.
The next day, Natalie woke up quite early. She couldn't sleep.
She had cried all night; her feelings for Daniel were something she couldn't write off when he had kissed her. It took every willpower within her to suppress her weakness.
She had missed what they shared; aside from him taking her when she asked him not to, she couldn't lie, she had wanted to go further with the kiss. It had been months, they had something that intimate because he was either too busy at the office, or too engrossed with work in his study, or on a work trip, and when he had stayed, he was too tired to share their bed.
He had hurt her deeply. So much so that she didn't know if she could ever recover from the heartbreak.
What was the point in being with him?
If she forgave him, what was the possibility that he wasn't going to cheat on her all over again?
Could she ever believe him again?
Could she continue with his mother in the same space still?
Could she stay docile like she always was?
She had given so much, she didn't think she could willingly subject herself to such conditioning while he shamelessly cheats on her, lies, and gaslights her still.
She kept playing how he lied through his teeth, unknown to him that she was aware of his infidelity.
What if she hadn't known?
She sighed, picked up her phone, and booked an appointment with the divorce lawyer for noon. Then, contacted an agency that specialized in providing households with maids so she could hire one for the house she had already bought.
She had to go furniture shopping. She sighed when she thought of her car that was sent for repairs, making a mental note to contact the mysterious man she met two weeks back.
She needed to work fast as she had a lot of work caught out for her, so she decided to start early.
She walked into the closet in the guest room and mentally slapped herself. Her things were in the room she shared with Daniel, so she stood up and went to her room, hoping she wouldn't bump into him.
He seemed to be available a lot since she got back from New York. She thought to herself when she saw him in bed.
She walked in quietly while he slept, took her bath, and went to her closet to pick up an outfit. She got a long-sleeved white blouse and a short leopard print skirt. Adding a matching jewelry to the mix, she dressed to the nines and walked into the room to have her makeup done.
She worked on her makeup, creating magic with light tones. She always liked her makeup natural; her features were nice enough. She had a very beautiful, natural face that could put any cosmetic face to shame.
While she worked on her look, she watched Daniel stir; their eyes met through the mirror, and she paused in her movement.
He walked up to her, surprised to see her looking magnificent in their room. He stood behind and appraised her without saying a word.
His eyes narrowed as he watched her slow movements as she applied her makeup.
"You're going out." He said, more of a statement than a question.
She simply hummed and continued.
He leaned in to her and smiled in her hair, inhaling her scent.
Natalie swallowed as she looked at him through the mirror.
What was wrong with him? He was doing everything to be in her face. He was hardly available to her, hardly communicated, and rarely gave any emotional side to himself in like forever.
If she had not been aware of his escapades and he had made this effort, even just a little, she would have been so elated.
It's funny how she always begged for his attention; unknown to her, he had been cheating, and she had been the fool.
As though woken from her reverie, she wrapped up her makeup, put on red lipstick, and wore her six-inch heels.
She picked up the Gucci bag she had decided to go with her skirt color and held her phone as she walked out of the room, booking an Uber.
Daniel straightened up to his full height and smiled at her, wishing her a great day while he walked to the bathroom.
He had wonderful surprises lined in for her tonight.
Tonight, she would be his again.