Page 10 of After Him, There Was You
As he began to explore the curves of my body, I could vividly recall the night of our first date during our junior year of high school. I saw the night we went to senior prom. I flashed back to the night he asked me to marry him in the living room of our off-campus college apartment during our sophomore year at North Brooke Port University. I reminisced back to the day we found out I was pregnant with each of our children, and Irecalled the day where we exchanged I do’s. It was the day that should have been the beginning of our forever.
As he kissed me, I cried.
I released tears because it felt wrong, but then again it felt right. It felt as if his lips were designed specifically for my skin alone.
Carrying me to the bedroom we once shared, he laid me on the bed and stared down at me with what had to have been love. It was a look that made me feel the security I needed to feel during our marriage, and although I knew it meant very little because of his wife, it still made me feel wanted, needed, and loved.
To feel those things from the man I was supposed to spend forever with was a much-needed ego boost to the broken woman his infidelity had made me. With each position he maneuvered my body into, he tapped and exposed levels of hurt and pain his hands had caused. With each touch, he massaged and caressed vulnerabilities and insecurities formed at his hands.
When we were finished and he finally released me from his hold, I felt more broken than I felt before he walked into my house, but even in my brokenness, I recognized the opportunity for the sweetest form of revenge.
She had slept with my husband, and I had slept with hers. It was poetic justice at its finest.
Grabbing his phone, I captured a picture of me nestled into his chest. I went to Amber’s contact profile, attached the picture in a text message, and wrote the perfect caption.
I’ll send him back to you when I’m done.
***
Hearing my phone chirp, I jumped straight out of bed and out of his arms. I knew I couldn’t have been sleep long, and without looking at my phone, I knew the chirp was the alarm I had set to meet Eva for a late breakfast. Normally I would havegone directly after yoga class, but as luck would have it, she had something to do and needed to push it back.
Had we met at our normal time, I wouldn’t have been home to know Jason was there.
“No. No. No!” Lightly tapping myself on my head in disbelief, I couldn’t believe I’d let myself slip into such an abyss that I allowed myself to dip back to my past. Being in the arms of my ex-husband was something that never should have happened under any circumstance.
Woefully, I couldn’t even blame it on the alcohol I’d consumed the night before because it had long ago left my system. All I could blame it on was stupidity, loneliness, and falling victim to Jason’s golden tongue.
Hearing his phone sound off, I glanced at his screen to see Amber was calling. As I aggressively nudged him to wake him out of his deep sleep, he didn’t look like he had a care in the world.
I didn’t know what was going through my mind, and while I found myself in a crazed level of panic-stricken anxiety, I answered his phone, placing the phone to my ear.
“Hello,” I greeted, taking note of the loud gasp she released, obviously not expecting for me to have answered his phone.
“Where ismyhusband?”
“He’s in the bed. As soon as I wake him up, I’ll be sending him back to you.”
“Tara, I feel like the three of us need to sit down and talk about this. I am willing to forgive you for sleeping with my husband, but—”
“Amber, please take your forgiveness and shove it up the furthest part of your ass,” I hissed, quickly ending the call.
I hated to come off so harsh and to use such a vulgar tone with her, but she deserved it. Replaying her suggestion in mymind, I couldn’t understand why she had been fighting so hard to have a sit down with the three of us, but it wasn’t something I had an interest in. Even giving consideration to her husband being in my bed, it wasn’t something I saw as being up for debate.
“Jason! Jason!” I yelled, ready to move my tactics from aggressively nudging him to forcefully kicking him out of the bed.
“Tara, a few more hours,” Jason mumbled, pulling my plush comforter over his head.
“You can have a few more hours of sleep once you go back to your house and get in your bed.”
“But I like it here. I don’t want to leave.”
“That, my friend, is an unfortunate confession becausehereisn’t where you belong.” Gathering his clothing from the floor, I pulled the comforter down and tossed his clothes on top of him. “This shouldn’t have happened. You need to leave… now.”
“Tara, we belong together,” he stated with a certain level of mocked conviction in his tone. I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or if he truly believed the foolishness coming from his mouth.
“Jason, I can’t stress enough how you need to be at home with your wife.”
“I am at home with my wife,” he insisted, attempting to pull my naked body on top of his. Suddenly, I regained the bit of common sense I lacked and fought against his advance to compromise the journey of growth I was on.
