Page 37 of Rewind

What was worse, there was no one at the dinner to support her. Mark had invited her aunt and cousins to surprise her but they were only there for a free meal. The rest of the people in attendance weren’t much better. It was Mark’s sanctimonious parents and a few of their church elders.

Amina had felt out of place and uncomfortable at a celebration that she was supposed to share the honor in. She had to put up with snide comments from Candace about the size of her ring and the ugly dress Amina had worn, a dress that her future mother-in-law had bought for her. It had been an ugly brown concoction with ruffles around the neck and wrists. And it nearly touched the floor. She could barely walk in that thing without tripping over her kitten heels.

Amina shook her head to rid herself of that distasteful memory. There was no way she could go back to the way things were. Maybe Mark wasn’t currently at the point where he was downright abusive yet, in this timeline. But he was already showing signs of becoming exactly that.

Her phone vibrated in her hand and for a moment she thought it was Mark calling her again. To her relief and delight, she saw that it was Ethan.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself. You sound kind of bummed. You didn’t have a good day hanging with Paisley?”

She missed the sound of his voice. There were a few times when he’d stopped by her office this week, he gave her a quick kiss.

It was those stolen moments that kept a smile on her face that entire week.

He’d wanted to see her this weekend but he had a conference to attend that he would be lecturing at.

“We had a great day actually. That girl has a black belt in shopping. She wore me out and I ended up spending a significant amount of money. But it was well spent because my wardrobe was in need of an update.”

“Will you be okay, financially? If you need my help, just say the word.”

Amina’s heart flipped inside her chest and a grin split her lips. Offering to help her out would have never occurred to Mark. He talked a good game before they were married, but once he had access to her funds, he considered them his as well.

“I’ll be okay but thanks for the offer. But as I was saying, I had a great time with Paisley and we plan to hang out more often. She’s super sweet.”

“That’s good to hear. Then why so down when you answered?”

Amina groaned. “Because I just got off the phone with Mark. He apparently came by my house earlier but I wasn’t home. He was pissed and called several times.”

“What did he want?”

“Basically to chew me out, but you’ll be so proud to know I managed to stand up for myself.”

“Good for you.” She could hear the smile in his voice.

“I gotta be honest when I say I was a little scared at first, but it felt good being able to stand my ground. But then again it was over the phone. I hope when I face him again, I won’t buckle.”

“I believe in you.”

“I’m glad one of us does because now he believes we’re engaged.”

“What!”

“It’s just like the previous timeline. This was around the time he proposed to me but this time it was a little different. I think because I wasn’t home, the event deviated a bit. After I stood up for myself, his tone changed. He then basically said we should get married and I didn’t get a chance to tell him no. Now he’s expecting me to attend an engagement dinner. If it’s anything like the previous one it’s going to be a disaster. But at least this time he said I could invite some friends.”

“Hmm. This actually may work out in our favor.”

“How so?”

“What better way to get your revenge than at the engagement party?”

“I hear you, but what do you suggest?”

“His parents will be there, correct?”

“Yes, along with some of the members of their church. They were all a bunch of judgmental sanctimonious jerks, especially Mark’s mother. When I was married to Mark, she acted like he was perfect and everything wrong in our marriage was my fault. She made my life miserable.”

“And his father?”

---