Untold Sorrow

Your love is all I need

Hello my dear readers 

This is the last chapter I hope you enjoyed reading the story, it'd be amazing if you could leave a comment for me.  

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The apartment seemed very quiet when Jennifer let herself in late the next afternoon. She went straight to her room and unpacked her things, hanging the few clothes she had taken with her back in the closet, setting out her toilet stuff on the bare dressing table, and putting away her underwear in the chest of drawers.

She went into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. There was hardly a trace of Matthew there. A glass and a cup had been rinsed and were turned upside down on the counter to drain, but other than that the room looked as though no one had entered it since she left. He had probably eaten his meals out, she thought.

Then an idea came to her. Why not cook him a nice dinner? It would be a good way of letting him know she was home to stay. She glanced through the cupboards and refrigerator. There wasn't much to work with, she soon saw. A half dozen eggs, a quart of milk, an unopened pound of butter, some canned soup.

There was a boneless cooked ham in the freezer. She could make an omelet. Tomorrow she would go shopping, stock up the nearly empty shelves and barren fridge. Matthew needed taking care of, she thought, a fierce rush of love filling her heart. He needs me.

She set the ham out on the kitchen counter to thaw and with her mug of tea in her hand, she wandered through the apartment. It was good to see her own things again in the living room, the rust-colored sofa, the small gold chairs. I'll build a fire later, she thought, give him a cheerful cozy place to come home to.

It was a beautiful apartment, with limitless possibilities once she set her mind to it and gave up her former tentative feeling about her marriage. They could start entertaining more at home. Matthew would like that. She continued her inspection, her mind occupied with plans for the future until she found herself just outside Matthew's bedroom. She stopped Short. The door was open.

On an impulse, she stepped inside, her eyes darting immediately, instinctively, to the bedside table where she had seen Beth's silver-framed photograph. It was gone! Jennifer caught her breath sharply. What did it mean? A wild hope surged within her. Then, sobering, she thought, perhaps he out of town and had taken it with him.

Of course, she decided, her spirits drooping. The cold apartment, the barren cupboards, the spotless kitchen. He was gone. She should have called him first before she came. She glanced at her watch. It was at six o'clock. Ordinarily, he would have been home by now.

She went back into the kitchen and rinsed out her cup. Nothing has changed, she thought dully. A wave of despair passed over her. It was dark outside now, she could see through the kitchen window, and the rain spat against the blackened pane, driven by a sudden gust of wind. She glanced around the spotless kitchen sadly. It was hard now to recall her happy plans of just a few minutes ago.

Then she noticed a newspaper lying folded up in a far corner of the counter. Idly, she unfolded it and glanced down at the date. November the~ Twentieth. That was today. He must have been here this morning, at any rate. She frowned. There was a significance to that date. What was it? She stood there, pondering, for several moments, and then it dawned on her.

November the twentieth was the anniversary of Beth's death! How could she have forgotten? What a stupid day to pick to come back! Wherever Matthew was he was most likely off on his annual drunk, the photograph of his dead wife with him, his thoughts immersed in her.

She stood there shivering uncontrollably. The apartment seemed so cold all of a sudden. Her first impulse was to run, to leave, to come back another day, perhaps not to come back at all. Then she thought of the child she was carrying, her resolution to make a life with Matthew no matter what it cost.