I shouldn't love you

CHAPTER TWO

Jenna

It has been a hectic two weeks for me, so I haven't gotten the opportunity to talk to my sister regarding her divorce yet. 

My heart hurts for Stephanie. 

She is 23 years old and we have always been close for as long as I can remember. It's always been the two of us, annoying my brother Max, who is 26 years old.

When we were younger we were always devising plans to get our brother off our backs because he was as strict as dad is. I remember one day we took the belts of our robes and connected them to the bedroom doors across the hallway. We planned to make Max trip and fall. Then we would tie up his hands and feet then lock him in his room.

The only thing I can say is that's not how it played out at all. Dad found us and proceeded to shout at us and told us to clean up our mess and get ready for bed. 

The point is Stephanie is my ride or die and I hers, to think that she was going through this alone guts me.

Today is my sister-in-law's baby shower, Gwen is pregnant with the first grandchild and niece in our family so everyone is pretty much excited. Hence why mom decided to throw her this baby shower and invite everyone she knows. 

I'm getting dressed in my room when there's a knock at the door and my sister pokes her head in. "Hey, come in," I say to her. She comes in and closes the door behind her. She sits on my bed and seems nervous for some reason, "Is everything okay?" I ask her.

"Yeah, of course. I just came to tell you that I'm bringing a date to the party." I'm shocked at this revelation but I'm able to mask my reaction. I pretend as if I don't know about the divorce because she hasn't said anything to me and I don't want to let on that I was eavesdropping on her and our parent's conversation three weeks ago. 

I try for nonchalance as I say this, "What do you mean, you're bringing a date, of course you are your husband." I look at her pointedly.

"About that, Sis, I have to tell you something." I stop doing my makeup and go and sit beside her on the bed. 

"I'm listening," I say with an encouraging smile. 

"Thomas and I are getting a divorce." She says in one breath. 

"What? Why?" I ask her still playing my role perfectly. She starts crying and I embrace her and rub her back in a soothing manner. She cries for a little while and then tells me the story of how she found out that Thomas was cheating on her, I cannot believe my ears. Thomas seemed like an upstanding guy and for him to do something like this is very disappointing. I would also leave someone that has the guts to cheat on me and pretend as if he doesn't know why I'm upset or want to divorce him. 

"Are you ready to move on? Where did you even meet this guy and when?" I ask her.

"There's no better time to get over a broken heart than before it festers and that is why I have to move on now. My friend Gerald hooked us up two weeks ago, we went on a date and hit it off." She has a smile on her face if you didn't know her you would think is a happy smile, but I can tell that it's forced. I don't want to force the issue or make her angry, so I just nod my head and tell her that I can't wait to meet this guy.

It's a couple of hours later and the party is in full swing. We're finished with the program and speeches and it's now time to eat. On my way to the kitchen to tell the caterers that they can bring out the food, I'm accosted by Thomas. 

He grabs me gently by the arm and stops me. "What do you think you're doing? Get your hands off of me." I say through gritted teeth. He looks at me perplexed and that's when I notice that he's sporting a black eye, that must be from either dad or Max, good he deserves that and more for what he did to my sister.