Kiss me in the crossfire

ChapterSix

Annika’s POV

It is difficult to make out my path as I trudge further away from my husband’s house.

My husband.

The word sounds really laughable now, considering what I have just heard. So, all of this has been some huge joke. There I was, waiting, holding out that everything would become different.

I was willing to forgive him for having s*x with my best friend. It was only supposed to be a little lash out, and then, I would go back to him. Because I cannot imagine my life with anyone else but Ares.

Bright lights shine in my direction, and I raise an arm to shield my eyes. The car swerves to my right sharply, and a series of curse words follows.

My heart thumps hard against my chest, and I lower myself onto the asphalt, not minding that I am in the middle of the traffic. Tears flow ceaselessly down my face. It hurts so much that I find it hard to breathe.

The honks get louder, but so do my tears. My father has just said that I mean nothing to him, this was only a game for my husband, my best friend was having s*x with him behind my back, and then, there is me, the clueless one in the lot.

“Who is this mad woman?” A raging man screams at the top of his voice, barely avoiding hitting me. “If you have a death sentence, go die somewhere else.”

His tyres screech before he zooms away, and I fold further into myself.

“I’m sorry,” I whimper, knowing no one will be able to hear me. Still, the words wrap themselves around me like a nest.

“Hey!” I hear someone yell at me again, as a door opens in the distance. A clack of heeled shoes on the ground scurries in my direction, and arms wrap themselves around my shoulders.

I flinch, thinking this is no different than the last. But the arms are firm, soft, and insistent.

“Annika? Mrs. Brooker? What are you doing out here?”

I look up at her, my eyes narrowing, trying to place the face. But I have met over a thousand people in a couple of months, her face rings no bell.

“Come on,” she murmurs, pulling me up from the ground. “Let’s get you out of here, and you can tell me about everything.”

I find it hard to trust strangers, but everything that has happened to me let me walk towards her car with her. If the people I love can pose so much of a threat to my existence, what is the worst that a stranger can do?

Quietly, I get into the passenger seat and look outside the window as she drives off. She must have said something, but I can barely hear her above the roar of blood in my own head. The car takes a sharp turn onto a street.

It is not exactly in the rich area of the city, where people like Ares stay. But it is for the moderate earners. The people doing good for themselves.

The car comes to a halt, and she turns to look at me.

“I just realized you might have no idea who I am,” she whispers. “I just made things worse for you, didn’t I? A stranger seeing you at your weakest moment.”

“Everyone has seen me at my weakest moment.” My voice comes out broken and scratchy. “It isn’t your fault.”

“I’m Sloane,” she continues, nodding. “We met at a gala night a few months back, but you shouldn’t be able to remember because you were with your husband that night. I tried to talk to you about buying some of my pictures, but…”

The memories come flooding in. I remember because it was one of those nights I had to deal with Ares and one of his many w****s.

“I’m sorry,” I breathe. “I didn’t pay you any attention that night because I was preoccupied with something else. And now, you are helping me when you have no reason to.”

“I liked you that night, Annika.” She thrums her fingers against the steering. “I saw you struggle for your husband’s attention, and forgive me if I am stepping out of bounds, but I have a huge feeling he is responsible for you crying out in the streets tonight.”

I find myself unable to say anything, tears blinding my vision once more.

Sloane gets out of the car and walks around to the other side. She pulls the door open and sits beside me, pulling me into her arms.

“Everything is going to be alright,” she whispers, patting my back gently. “You can spend the night here if you want, and if not, I can take you back home.”

I like the way she doesn’t ask questions. How she just makes herself available without pushing hard.

“I’d like to spend the night here,” I whisper. She smiles at me and takes my hands, leading me into her apartment. It is not as big as Ares’ but it feels like home. The colors reach out to me in such beautiful radiance that for a minute, I forget my problems.

“You can make yourself comfortable,” she says. “The bathroom is that way, and that is the kitchen. There is an extra bedroom in the hallway across from mine. You can stay there.”

“Thank you, Sloane.”

“I have a feeling we are going to be such great friends.”

I don’t know if I feel the same, but she doesn’t question my silence too. For the first time tonight, I fish for my phone in my purse. I don’t know why a part of me still holds on to the hope that this is all some mistake.

That Ares and my father were just making some huge joke about their rivalry, and that I misunderstood them.

But there are no missed calls on my phone, just a single text sitting in my inbox.

I almost ignore it, but on second thought, my finger moves to the icon. A message pops up on the screen.

“He never deserved you, Annika.”