Before He Cheats (Watty Awards 2011)

Before He Cheats - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Rhiannon

I took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of the delicious looking food in front of me. There was barely any place for plates on the kitchen table after I had placed everything I made this morning. It took me nearly five long hours to prepare everything but in the end it was all worth it. I’d made so many different things like omelets with bacon, macaroni and cheese, grilled sandwiches, all types of salads and even brownies. I knew that Grayson was probably only going to eat only the omelet and the salads but I still wanted to show him how hard I tried. Grayson was one of the few people on this planet, who actually enjoyed every single vegetable and would be content if he only ate salads until the day he died. 

I turned back to the counter to check again if everything was clean then sat on one of the chairs beside the table, waiting for my ex-boyfriend wake up. After the argument we had last night and the horrible thing I said to him I couldn’t fall asleep because of the guilt that was practically eating me alive. After hours and hours of tossing and turning on the couch, I decided that it wasn’t worth it and finally got up. I tried watching TV but due to my lack of concentration turned the damn thing off half an hour later to do something that almost always made me feel better. Cooking.  I decided what I wanted to do quickly and made a quick trip to the local grocery shop for the ingredients I was missing. I started cooking and it really did make me forget about the stupid thing I said to Grayson. It was unfair, completely untrue and even though he’d said and done some disgusting things to me he definitely didn’t deserve my harsh words.

Faint footsteps broke me out of my daze and when I listened closely I realized they were nearing the kitchen. I took a deep breath and then the corner of my lips tugged in what I hope was an apologetic smile. However the smile quickly vanished when Grayson entered the kitchen and I saw the state he was in.

For the first time since I’ve known him he actually didn’t look perfect. His usual gorgeous blonde hair was now a tangled mess on top of his head and his face was covered with light stubble. When he looked up at me, his eyes were bloodshot and they were surrounded by heavy, dark circles. His normally bright blue eyes were no longer holding the shine they had before. It honestly hurt me physically to see how much my words had affected him and in that moment all I wanted to do and was comfort him and tell him that there wasn’t any truth behind the stupid words I’d said last night.   

He was frozen in place for a minute, obviously not expecting me to be here at all. Then his eyes went from me to the table beside me. He stared at all the food for a very long time and when he looked back at me, his eyes were narrowed.

I raised my hands in the air and tried to give him another smile. “Surprise!”

He stared at me once again for what seemed like forever before he finally spoke. “You didn’t have to do that.” He stated his voice cold and emotionless and with that he turned to walk out of the kitchen again.

I jumped out of my chair and over to him immediately, taking a hold of his wrist with both of my hands. “Don’t go!” I looked him in the eyes and when I saw how unwilling he was, I let go of his wrist with one of my hands and clamped it around his other one. “Please!” I pleaded and when he gave me a slight nod I dragged him over to the table and gave him a little push towards one of the chairs.

We both quietly sat down, making the room filled with tension. Grayson observed the food while I bit my lip nervously and twisted a piece of hair between my fingers

“Look,” I began after a minute. “I want to apologize about last night Grayson. I was-“

“It’s fine,” he stated emotionlessly, cutting me of.