Oleander

Prologue

I couldn't believe Anja hadn't come home yet. The fact I was actually going to get away with this was incredible, and in the front room too.

A grin of accomplishment spread across my face as I stared at the blonde-haired woman beneath me on the foyer table. Our house was empty and quiet, save for the moans and grunts that filled the room. I didn't know her name, but did it matter? She was just another woman from the corner of the street that wanted my money.
To me, she didn't need a name. All I wanted from her was her body for a few minutes, and all she wanted from me was cash to fill her pockets.

"You like that, baby?" I whispered to her as I ran my hands over her curvaceous body. Her gyrating was out of rhythm to mine. It was sloppy and annoying, and it was starting to really turn me off. Somehow though, she was still managing to keep me happy, well, the me down there anyway.

The blonde answered with a soft moan that only made me smile and thrust harder, finally knocking the telephone off the table with a clatter. The woman didn't notice and only moaned louder; she was probably enjoying herself more than I was. I slid my hands down the backs of her thighs and heard her purr with satisfaction, the sound instantly turning to a yelp as the front door was thrown open.
My head whipped over my shoulder to stare at the person standing in the doorway. I blanched and choked on my words as I nearly threw myself off the prostitute and onto the floor.

It was Anja.

"How...how could you?" The red-haired woman whispered, her mouth trembled slightly, tears filling her eyes and spilling down her rosy cheeks as she tried to take in the scene before her.

I scrambled to throw on my trousers as the prostitute rolled off the table and crouched behind it, hiding her body behind her clothes that she had swept from the floor. Her face was a picture of astonishment and embarrassment. At another time, I would have made a snide comment about her being used to it, but at this moment, my gut told me I would heavily regret ever opening my mouth if I did. Instead, I quickly buckled my belt and tried to take a step toward my shaking fiancé.

"Anja, my love, it's not what you think," I said but then recoiled at my words. I had lied to Anja before, making excuses for being home late, regularly leaving the house after dubious phone calls, most of which she shrugged off as work, but Anja wasn't that stupid.
It was exactly what it looked like. I was making love to another woman, not my future wife.

Anja's body shook violently as she tried to control her sobs, her arms wrapping around her small frame, as if to protect herself from my act of disloyalty. Her head was downcast but shot up when I moved to touch her. Her eyes burned into mine with a ferocity I never would have thought my gentle, timid lover possessed. They almost seemed...wild.

The prostitute stumbled in the corner of the room and Anja's eyes flew to her, capturing her under her gaze. The woman shook as she dared not move, but then visibly crumbled under Anja's pressure and released a cry of fear as she shot towards the door, swung it open and slammed it. The noise echoed in the now silent house, and it was almost deafening.

For a moment, Anja forgot about me and only looked furiously at the door as if she wanted to run after the woman and, as seconds ticked by, I thought she truly would, but then she turned to me with a fire in her eyes that made me take a step back.

"Our house...why? Why did it have to be in our house, under my roof?!" She screamed suddenly, her body spinning round quicker than I could blink. Her hands now fists slammed into the door causing it to immediately buckle, the frame splintering, the walls cracking and the paint chipping like broken ice beneath her hands.

My eyes widened as I stared at her fists idented in the wall. My mouth falling open as I struggled to think.
What the hell?

"A-Anja, I -" I managed to stutter out but was instantly cut off as she screamed again.