Chapter 2
1411 Words
Naya's POV.
I didn't plan to end up in a bar. It just happened anyway. A few hours ago I was standing in my living room, staring at burned-out candles and cold food, and the next.
I was in the back of a taxi, giving a location I barely remembered with my hands shaking so hard that it hurt.
I didn't want to think. That was the only goal. I didn't want to replay Derek's face in my head, I didn't even want to see Lydia's eyes or remember how small I felt in my own home.
I especially didn't want to cry. Because whatever my eyes had seen and my ears had heard, I had single-handedly done it to myself.
I stayed and agreed with his preference. I chose love over my dignity as a woman. I walked into the club like a woman who didn't care how people saw her anymore.
The music was extremely loud. The smell of alcohol and perfume filled the air. The bar was the kind of place where people came to forget who they were or the pain surrounding them.
That was perfect for me. I sat at the counter and ordered a drink.
Then another. Then another. I kept on drinking until I could barely drink anymore, I couldn't even lift my glass without the drink pouring on me.
The burn in my throat felt good. It felt like a punishment to me, and I deserved every bit of it.
I stared into my glass, watching the ice melt as my reflection blurred away. And I didn't even notice when someone sat beside me at first.
I only noticed when the space next to me felt occupied. I turned my eyes, and then it landed on the strange man.
I was drunk and I couldn't even access his physical features properly. The only thing I noticed was his grey colored eyes, dark hair, and his height. He was extremely tall, and while sitting beside me I could still feel the height difference.
He didn't smile at me. He just had a very calm face. He didn't even flirt with me as usual, because that was what other men would try to do especially when they saw a drunk woman. They would definitely try to take advantage of her situation.
He just looked at me like he was trying to study a broken woman.
“You look like a mess.” he said in all honesty and I chuckled at his words.
“That is obvious at least.” I replied.
“You’ve been drinking like you are trying to erase something.”
“Maybe I am.”
“Did you have a rough night?” he asked.
I shook my head. Then nodded. And I shook it again.
“My husband brought his pregnant girlfriend. Or should I rather say he brought his pregnant mistress into our home.” I blurted and the words shocked me as much as they probably shocked him.
“It was our anniversary,” I continued, my voice cracking. “He forgot about our anniversary today. And the only way he could help me celebrate it was to bring in his mistress home. Like I was nothing.”
My eyes burned so badly. The tears of a strength so hard not to let flow down my cheeks finally did, and I hated myself so much for breaking down in front of a total stranger.
But I did it anyway. Because the tears came faster and stronger. I covered my face with my hands.
“I stayed when I shouldn't have. I begged when I should have walked away. And now look at me, sitting in a bar, and crying to someone I don't even know.” I expressed.
I wouldn't lie when I say I waited for comfort. Probably I waited to feel a hand on my shoulder and to hear soft words coming from him.
But I got none. Instead he just watched me silently.
“I don't want sympathy,” I muttered, drinking another shot of alcohol. “So don't give me that look.”
“I wasn't,” he said. “I was listening.”
His words made me feel much more pain than ever. Because to me, listening felt more dangerous than self pity.
“Do you want me to teach him a lesson?” he asked, and his words made me freeze.
“What?”
He turned slightly towards me. “Your husband. You want him to feel something right? For hurting you so much.”
I stared at him for a second then burst out laughing.
“You are insane.”
“Probably,” he said calmly.
“This isn't a movie. You can't just walk into someone's life and fix their mess.” I said.
“I didn't say I want to fix your life. I said I want to help you teach your husband a lesson he won't ever forget."
****************************
I woke up in my bed and that was the first shock.
The second shock was my head. And it felt like someone was hitting it from inside with a hammer, the headache I felt was so excruciating.
I winced and sat up slowly, my eyes scanning my room. My clothes were changed and my shoes were removed. I was barefoot.
“How did I get home?” I whispered.
I stumbled out of my bed and headed downstairs, holding my head. I reached for the medicine cabinet and that's when I saw Derek.
He was still home, seated on the couch. And guessing from the time he was supposed to be at work. I noticed that his posture already screamed anger but I didn't know why.
I also chose to ignore and just take my medicines and go back to sleep. But that wasn't the case for him.
“You had a good time last night?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“Who was the man who brought you home last night?” he asked and his question came as a shock to me.
“The…what?”
“Don't play stupid Naya. Who is he?” he snapped.
“I don't know,” I said in all honesty. “I went to a bar. I drank too much. And I don't remember coming home.”
“He carried you in his arms until he reached the door. The neighbors saw everything.” Derek said, standing up and my chest tightened.
“I swear to you, I don't even know what that man's name is.”
His phone started ringing and he dismissed the call the first time. But it rang for the second time and he still did the same thing, and then it rang for the third time when he finally picked it up.
He was ready to blurt out words at the person and hang up the call, but then his impatience was swapped with a shocked expression on his face.
He pulled the phone from his ear slowly, and stared at the screen. It had just done something he never thought it would do.
“What the hell is that?” he whispered.
He turned his phone screen towards me. And my heart stopped breathing.
It was a picture of me and him and in that brief moment I remembered the face. from last night. The stranger from the bar. We were seated too close to each other, looking intimate.
My head was tilted towards his chest and it looked like we were a couple. The headline underneath already destroyed everything for me.
Business Man's wife spotted with her mystery lover.
“What is this?” Derek shouted. “What the hell is this, Naya?”
“I don't know! I don't even remember taking that picture.” I cried out.
My phone started ringing. And before I could pick the call, Derek snatched my phone from my hand.
“Derek, give me my phone!” I said, trying to snatch the phone back from him.
But he ignored me and looked at the screen.
“Baby?” he murmured, giving me a deadly glare.
“I don't know who that- is. I swear,” I said, my voice shaking.
He answered the call, putting it on speaker. A deep and calm voice filled our ears.
“Hey beautiful. I've been thinking about you all morning. I miss you”
- Writer
