Taking Back My Heart

LARA I watched in silence as Johnson turned off the ignition after pulling the car onto the parking lot. I turned to the right to see the vacant space allotted to the Chief Executive Officer and a scowl formed on my face, repulsed at how the man who was supposed to love and cherish me instead took me for a fool. Maybe I truly was a fool. I saw the signs, the late nights that often came with excuses of being busy at work, the passionate love making sessions that turned into casual s*x, the conversations always morphing into series of arguments and the empty promises of him making it up as a way of shutting me up. With all the screaming red flags, I still held onto the little streak of hope his empty words of assurance that never seemed to match his actions. Maybe I really was a fool like he thought, but I chose to be that fool for him, a fool for love, a love that he stopped returning for a little over three years now, a love that made me question why I was doing everything so wrongly when infact I tried to make things right. My fingers reached for the file laying next to me, perusing through its carefully written content and clauses. With an encouraging nod from Johnson who had been observing me from the driver's seat, I slipped the file into my bag and pushed the sad thoughts to the bad of my mind. Soon enough, it was going to be all over, the love I had given so much for while receiving nothing in return would come to an end and I was going to take my love back. I gave it to him myself and it was time to retrieve it. I With a heavy sigh, I opened the door, making my way out of the car and walked into the reception of the five star hotel that belonged to my husband and I. I ignored the familiar bustling of the place as it bustled with activpretty face of the receptionist, a glint of fear and surprise flashing through her eyes the moment she recognized me. I walked past her as she hurried to my side to acknowledge my presence, a bitter lump forming in my throat. I swallowed thickly, not wanting the disloyalty of others affect me. That is; if she owed me any. I might have offered her a lift a couple of times, given her a salary raise after making sure her little cute daughter received proper medical attention at the time she fell terribly ill. But then I I quickly understood that her loyalties were towards her job, she needed to have her job at all cost, if she was to survive. As for me, it was only reasonable that I demanded loyalty from my husband and not our employees - that was the right thing to do. “Stay back.” I ordered, my tone firm and even, refraining myself from raising my voice on her while I walked into the elevator, stopping her from following me. I did not have it in me to direct my anger towards her even though from her reaction just now, she seemed aware of what had been going on for a while now. In what wasn't more than a few seconds, I stepped out of the elevator, coming face to face with the door of the executive suite. This suite held special memories for Jake and I as we designed it specifically to our taste. I rummaged through my Louis Vuitton hand bag and fetched out the presidential suite key card making the card reader spring to life the moment I inserted the card into the lock. The door pushed open with a soft click and I pulled myself through the entrance into the suite that was exclusive to my husband and I, the familiar exquisite smell of the spacious living room hitting my nostrils with a disrupting note to it. My eyes scanned the luxurious sitting area taking in the differences. Asides Jake's Dior’s Fahrenheit perfume, there’s the lingering smell of rose and jasmine somewhere in the air with a fancy peach colored hair band lying on the glossy, marble floor. I could feel my face heat up in anger with disgust sweeping over me the very moment I set my eyes on the pack of used condoms. It seemed both parties were so impatient that they couldn't wait to start devouring themselves. I walked up to the work table at the far end of the living room as my eyes landed on the intercom unit, its display screen lit up alongside a ring that notified me of a call from the front desk office. This very table held so much memories for Jake and I as we had had so much of ourselves on it countless times. I couldn't help but shake my head in disappointment, lifting my hand to press on a button on the intercom, bringing the call to an abrupt end. I moved away from the table in annoyance but not without noticing the flashing LED light that indicated that the room had missed a few calls already. Knowing Jake very well, he must have deliberately ignored the calls like he always did whenever we were being intimate and I figured he was prioritizing his time with whoever he was with at the moment. I bothered myself with checking and saw that the calls alongside a message all came from the front desk. She obviously wanted to inform her boss about his ‘co-owner’ finding him in such compromised position. She at least had the brains to stay loyal to one of her bosses, maybe because this particular one called the shots here, I almost laughed at the thought. A heavy knot settled in the pit of my stomach as my legs carried me to the slightly opened door of the bedroom and I fought back the urge to scream at the sight I am greeted with. The air around me felt heavy, a sharp ache twisting in my chest making me almost gasp for breath. It was one thing to know that your husband was unfaithful to your marital vows, but seeing him in the act brought with it a whirlwind of uncontrollable rage. Right on the plush king sized bed, I could make out the hard abs on the upper back of my husband, his lower back still covered with the duvet as it pushed in and pulled out of what I recognize as the spread out legs of a woman, judging by the feminine voice that rang across the room with her well manicured nails that half-wound round one of Jake's muscled arm. His broad shoulders obstructed me from catching a glimpse of the face of the woman that was obviously doing skillful things to him making him groan out loud alongside the sound of flesh hitting against flesh. “You feel so good, Ellie.” I heard Jake groan in pleasure. I rolled my eyes at his lust-inspired comment. These words were very much familiar to me, he made sure to often spill them out with skillfully placed sexiness that made me shiver under him with hot desire. To my surprise, I almost gagged with disgust at the memory of it. What felt like the best moments of my life now made me sick to the stomach. For “f**k!” Jake groaned again, louder this time, the two intimate bodies moving in sync with each other, the sound of their noises echoed of the walls. If I thought Jake had been rough with me the last time he touched me, then I was making a big joke, judging by how ferociously he pounded into his companion who also matched his motion with wild moves of her own, either of them unaware of the intruder in their private space. Well, it used to be I and Jake's. A sudden rush of anger hit me again at the thought and for a moment I contemplated walking up to the two and hitting Jake across the face. I pushed the thought aside, willing myself to control my annoyance and ignoring the actively intertwined bodies completely consumed in their ongoing heated activity. I instead retrieved the carefully placed file from the my bag and with the clink of my heels on the marble floor, I stomped to the bed stand and slammed the file with a loud thud.