Ready For Your Love [COMPLETED]

✯Chapter 1✯

Author's Note: Picture of Scarlett Winchester

◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩◩

I stared at the fireplace and smiled. The warmth it was emitting was soothing, almost consoling, although there was nothing that needed consolation. Everything was alright. Life was good.

Ever since I was young I've always dreamed of having a fairy tale wedding. I loved reading fairy tales about princesses that were rescued and loved by their princes and secretly hoped that one day I could meet such a prince. And when I turned 16 I met him. His name was Colt. He was the jock that every girl was in love with at school. But somehow we met through Carly, my childhood friend. We were at a diner along with a group of people who were celebrating Colt's football team win. I didn't watch his game; I was at the diner by chance. Our eyes met a couple of times, and moments later he was at my table, asking me for my number. We texted every single day, and whenever we were at school we would hang out together. We became best friends.

On a faithful day Colt decided to ask me for prom. Not Chloe, the most popular girl at school. Not Dana, the sexiest most outspoken girl in my class. But me, the quiet, studious type of girl that avoided contact with almost everyone but Carly Gomez, the loud and cheerful Spanish girl in my class.

The prom was unforgettable. Of course, I could see people looking down on me that day. But it didn't matter to me, because Colt was with me. My dress wasn't particularly breath-taking, but Colt told me that I was the most beautiful girl at prom. I couldn't believe how lucky I was when he took me aside and asked me to become his girlfriend.

Now we were married. It's been two years since we both said, 'I do'. I got my happy ever after thanks to him. He accepted the fact that I couldn't conceive children because of my endometriosis. He loved me for me. I couldn't be happier.

I became a teacher at the age of 21 and have been teaching ever since. Teaching isn't an easy job. It's often looked down on and causes us to work hard even after school hours. But it sure is fulfilling. I was 29 now, and I still didn't regret my decision to take care of these adorably mischievous bundles of joy. However, I wanted a new challenge. I wanted to teach older kids. Colt was aware of my desire. Usually he would encourage me to pursue my dreams. But this time, he simply didn't say anything about it. Every time I would bring the topic up, he would find a way to deflect it to something else. It was frustrating, but I assumed he must have had a good enough reason for not wanting me to do it.

1:44am. I was reading a novel when I heard the front door slide open. Moments later he opened the bedroom door and started taking his coat off.

"Hey, you're still awake," he stated without looking at me.

"I can't sleep without you," I teased. I placed my bookmark at the page I was reading and closed my book. "Did you have to work late again?"

"Yeah," he said, sighing, "A client came by after closing hours."

"Way after closing hours," I noted.

Colt didn't reply. He made his way to the bathroom. "I'm going to take a bath."

"Sure," I said, getting a weird feeling.

For some reason I've been getting this nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was off about Colt these days. I've asked him if everything was okay multiple times, but all he would tell me is that he was fine. As a woman, I knew all too well that if someone said they were 'fine', they were most definitely not 'fine'. I had the feeling that Colt was hiding something from me. But maybe it was just me.

I stood up and walked over to his dirty clothes to put them in the clothes basket. My eyes fell on something unusual; a red stain on his shirt. At first I thought it was tomato sauce. I did prepare spaghetti for him to take to work after all. But upon closer inspection, my heart fell. It wasn't sauce. I wasn't that naïve. This was a lipstick stain. It looked like someone had accidentally smudged the hem of his shirt with red lipstick and was trying to fix the problem by wiping it off, but it had the opposite effect. The smear couldn't have been more obvious.

My mind got riddled with questions. But when Colt stepped back into the room and found me holding his shirt, hands trembling, all of the things that I wanted to ask him or say to him vanished into thin air. We were both silent. My hands clasped his shirt tightly. I frowned at him.

"What are you doing with my shirt?" he asked.

"What I do every night," I told him, "Put the dirty laundry away. What is this stain?"

"That's just... Your spaghetti sauce made a mess on me," Colt said, trying to regain his cool. He dried his hair off with his towel. "What else could it be?"

"You tell me." My chest was pounding. I hated confrontation, but how could I look away? The evidence was right in my face.

Colt walked over to me and ripped the shirt off my hands. "What are you insinuating, Scarlett?"

"We're both adults here, Colt," I said, glaring now, "Don't play dumb with me. Just tell me the truth."

He huffed. "Are you saying I'm cheating on you?" he yelled.

"You said it yourself," I replied, feeling the tears begin to sting.

"I thought you trusted me." Colt stomped his way to the bed and climbed in. "I'm so disappointed in you."

I didn't know what to say or do. I couldn't move. What just happened? Was this a misunderstanding? Or was Colt really cheating on me?

I went over to my side of the bed and climbed in, covering my entire body with the sheets. This was the first night that we didn't cuddle before falling asleep. Colt turned the lights off. Minutes later I asked him:

"You're not cheating on me, are you Colt?"

I heard a sigh. My back was for him, so I had no idea how he had reacted to my question. I felt the bed move, and soon enough he was cradling me in his arms. He placed a peck on my neck.

"Why would I cheat on you?" he whispered in my ear, "I married you for a reason, didn't I?"

I didn't say anything. The silent tears that rolled down my face said enough. The same minty scent that I used to love so much has now become unbearably nauseating to me.

In the morning I had to focus extra on my household chores. It was still a weekday, which meant I had to get ready to go to work. I got up before Colt did, as usual, and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. I made French toast with hard-boiled eggs. At first, I forgot to add cinnamon to the French toast recipe. Then I forgot to prepare the tea. I was trying not to think about it, but the occurrences of last night bothered me much more than I wanted them to.

I heard footsteps while I was doing the dishes. I didn't turn back to look at him like I always did. I did almost drop the dishes in the sink and breaking them in the process.

"Good morning," he said, hugging me from behind, "What's for breakfast?"

Normally I would feel giddy at his touches and the things he would say to me, but today... I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. And Colt knew that. He let me go almost immediately after not receiving a response from me.

"Are you still upset?" he asked me, with a hint of mock in his voice.

"I don't know if I should believe you or not," I admitted to him.

"Are you serious?"

Finally, I turned to look at him in his eyes, which caught him a bit off-guard. I told him 'yes'. Colt frowned, his smile dropping as quickly as it had appeared.

"How could I prove to you that I haven't been cheating on you?" he asked me.

"Easy," I said, "Just look me in the eyes and tell me that you still love me."

Instead of looking at me, Colt's gaze dropped, and he turned his back for me. "So we've come to this..."

I felt choked up. He couldn't tell me that he loved me? Was this really happening?

"We'll talk later," he said, walking off again.

I didn't want to be here for this 'later'. I wanted to be anywhere but here.