Bear No Malice | Paul Lahote

Seven

"Emma, where the hell have you been?!" The second I walked through the door and heard Rhett's voice I felt a part of me relax. Paul thankfully stayed outside as I tossed the truck keys on the table. My husband stood across from me, his arms crossed and muscles tense.

"I was walking home."

"Walking home in the middle of the night, drunk as hell-"

"Jesus Christ you make me sound like the town's drunken slut," I spat, my mood dampening further.

"You could've been hurt, is my point."

"Well you weren't gonna show up to get me so what choice did I have but to go with Paul? At least I only walked a mile."

Rhett stiffened up. "Paul picked you up?"

I rolled my eyes and ran my hand over my face. "Yes. Emily sent Paul to pick me up after I hung up on you."

"And you fucking went with him?!"

"What was I supposed to do?! Let the sloppy dickbag that was hitting on me take me home? Or wait for you to get over yourself and come get me?" I wasn't being fair, I knew that. I was the one that told him to not bother coming home, but dammit I was mad. And still tipsy.

Rhett paced to the kitchen and leaned against the counter in an attempt to calm himself. "You know damn well how I feel about him. But you let him drive you home in my truck like it's no big deal."

"And you're hanging out with some chick without actually telling me who she is," I bit. "Gotta say, I feel pretty bad for the things I was saying about Kim in my head, but you should've explained yourself better instead of beating around the bush."

"And I admit to that!" He yelled. "I fucked up, Emma, and I'm sorry! But you could've waited until I came to get you!"

"So just send him away and be an asshole to him after he gets me away from the creepy drunk guy?" I clenched and unclenched my fists at my sides as he stood there in silence staring at me. He had to have been drinking as well, I could tell by the way his face was settling. There's no way he would've come to get me after drinking anyway, he's a safe driver. He was just trying to make a point to me about Paul.

"Yes. You send him away and call literally anyone else. Because if I didn't know any better I'd say you wanted him more than me."

It was like a slap to the face and I couldn't stop myself from crying again. We'd had fights before, but him accusing me of wanting to cheat on him? It was so uncharacteristic of him. He seemed to realize his words as his eyes flickered to the countertop in front of him and he didn't say anything for a minute.

"Em, I'm-"

"Sleep on the couch. I'm going to bed." Without another word I hurried up the stairs and into our bedroom, slamming the door shut behind me before locking it.

The whole house was silent, save for the sobs I hid behind my hand. I hated fighting with him. And it was my fault, it stemmed from my drunken jealousy thinking he was with another girl. I knew he'd never do that to me, and a part of me knew one of the reasons I went with Paul was simply to piss off Rhett.

Well, it worked. Congrats, your husband thinks you want to leave him.

I groaned into my hands and sniffled before standing up and tearing my clothes off. I pulled one of his old shirts on before crawling into bed on his side and drifting off.
°°°°°°
My eyes opened blearily as I took in my surroundings. I was laying on the ground, rain falling over me. I tried to move but I was paralyzed, I couldn't feel any part of my body. The only thing I could feel was a searing pain in my chest, a burning that kept growing until it was unbearable. I opened my mouth to scream only nothing came out. Nothing except for a mountain of blood that flowed steadily from between my lips. I heard the crunching of footsteps and looked up to see the red eyed woman again. She smiled down at me like she was proud, the hand of my suffering.