Page 2 of Adored By Jonah

I sigh heavily and look up to find my husband back in his usual attire of a black suit and crisp white button down shirt. He looks exactly like the snake of a business man that he is.

“What does it look like I’m doing Mark?”

“Don’t be a stupid. Where the hell are you going to go? It’s not like you have any money to take care of things.”

“Do you honestly think I’m going to stay in this house while you bring woman after woman in here, betraying our marriage? Do you really think I’m the kind of woman who will let this happen?”

“It was a goddamn mistake. It won’t happen again.” He says, but the way he says it makes me feel like he doesn’t mean a word. He’s only saying it so I won’t leave. That wouldn’t look very good for his image as a family man in our town. I don’t care though, he should have thought about that before he ruined things.

I throw my head back and laugh sarcastically. “A mistake-“

“Mommy,” Gracie cries, putting her hand over her mouth looking ready to throw up.

“Shit,” I grab Gracie and run out of her room to the bathroom, but don’t make it in time. She throws up all over the both of us.

“Sorry mommy,” she cries.

“It’s okay sweetie, it’s not your fault. You don’t feel good.” I say rubbing her back and turning on the water to fill the tub with warm water.

“What’s wrong with her?” Mark asks as if only now realizing his daughter doesn’t feel well.

“She’s sick,” I say pulling Gracie’s clothes off and putting her into the bathtub.

“I can see that, but what’s wrong with her?”

“I’m not sure yet. She might have the flu. She has a fever.”

Mark is standing at the door of the bathroom, his hands on either side of the doorframe, staring at me. I can’t tell if he’s pissed that I interrupted him or if he’s actually upset that his daughter is sick. I really have no idea what’s going through his head right now.

Seconds later heels clack against our tile floor and I shake my head in disgust when the redhead walks out wearing a tight black pencil skirt and a fuschia button down top with her white lacy bra exposed. She’s a lot taller than me and beautiful with long red hair and perfectly applied makeup. Nothing like me. Is that what he likes?

“Mark honey, we need to get back to the office,” she sneers looking at me like I’m the scum of the earth.

“Yeah Mark, you better go. You don’t want to be late.”

Mark sighs dramatically and shakes his head. “Don’t be a bitch Maddie.” Oh, this isn’t me being a bitch. He’ll see what that’s like soon enough. “Go wait in the car,” he tells her.

“But Mark...” She whines, just like our daughter.

“I said go wait in the damn car, Sienna.” Mark yells.

Sienna crosses her arms and walks away, a few seconds later I hear the front door open and close. “I’m taking Sienna back to the office. We’ll talk about this when I get back.”

“Uh huh,” I mutter under my breath.

“And you better fucking be here,” he snaps as he walks away.

I don’t tell him that I have no intentions of being here. I don’t know why he thinks I’d stay. As soon as I hear him walk out the door and slam it closed, I release a large sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

“Daddy mad,” Gracie whimpers.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, everything is going to be okay,” I tell my daughter. I give her a quick bath then find her something to wear in the mess of clothes I already packed. Once I’ve got her dressed in some pajamas, I put a TV show on in the living room while I get her some more Tylenol since she threw up the first dose. She must be really feeling bad because she doesn’t fight me when I give it to her. Then I take her temperature, it’s only one hundred degrees. While I don’t like that number, at least it’s going down.

In the next twenty minutes, I change, then quickly pack everything I can and put it in the back of my SUV, packing it full. There are things I’m leaving behind, but those are things I just have to give up. I don’t know if I’ll have a chance to come back and claim these things again. Knowing Mark the way I do, he could sell them off, or throw them away for all he cares. So I take the things I can’t live without. I manage to pack everything I need with enough room for Gracie and me. I say goodbye to the home I made with Mark five years ago and pull out of my driveway. I don’t know if I’ll ever be back but if I do, it won’t because I’m getting back together with Mark. Nothing could ever make me get back together with this man, not after what he did. Our marriage wasn’t in a great place before this, but any possibility of fixing it is over now. I can’t be with a man who betrays me by sleeping with another woman.

I hit the button on my steering wheel and tell my car to call Liz. She answers on the second ring. Trusty Liz, she’s always there.

“Girl, what are you doing calling me this early?”

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