Inspiration: Eastenders
Chantelle & Gray Atkins
Type: Descriptive/Narrative
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Where should the line be drawn? If speaking up only proves to be a death sentence?
Talking sweetly and quietly to one another, the couple were deep in conversation at the local community centre. Today was the day. Chantelle's entry into a hairdressing assessment landed her an opportunity to partake in a competition. She was counting down the days, cutting and styling hair was something she was passionate about.
As the host for the competition walked up to Chantelle to greet her, Gray steps in to introduce himself, like he wasn't already standing next to and in front of his wife.
"Chantelle? It's good to see you-" The host was immediately cut off.
"I'm Gray, Chantelle's husband." Interrupting him, Gray flashes a charming smirk. From the get-go, his possession was almost obvious.
"Listen, good luck! I'm sure the judges today will be just as impressed with you as I was." The man looked directly at Chantelle and only glanced over at her husband once as he spoke.
When he had walked away, Gray turned around, pecking his wife on the lips and wishing her good luck.
He was about to leave, but stopped himself.
"Oh and um-" Turning around on his heel, he continued, "Hurry home, yeah? I'm cooking your favourite for dinner." Disguised as a kind, loving gesture, Gray smiled, this was his way of laying down some ground work.
"Oooh thanks." Chantelle mumbled with a grin, giving him a kiss. Her nerves were all over the place regarding this competition, it was like an adrenaline.
The couple exchanged 'I love yous', before parting ways.
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Cold, dark and quiet, the house emanated silence. Gray's footsteps echoed on the laminated wooden floor, and as he walked through the living room, they were deafened by soft carpet. Setting the table, the plates and cutlery clattered gently as they were placed in the dining area. To complete the setting, small tea lights decorated the table like stars in the night sky, the beautiful bouquet of baby pink roses caressed the atmosphere of the room, giving it a romantic touch. And finally, a bucket of ice hugged the expensive white wine bottle.
Dinner was served, but his wife was not home.
Every hour passing, the room felt darker, colder, emptier. Gray's mood soured. With each glance he exchanged with the bouquet of flowers, you would think they were wilting in his presence, his anger enough to kill a soul without any words. The tea lights were no longer enough to upkeep the romantic feel the room once held, the soft background music felt like nails scratching a chalkboard. Irritating, and seemingly ticking Gray off even more. Only opting for one glass of white wine, his settling anger drove him to continue drinking, the restlessness refusing to wear off. A flame mirrored in his irises, but that wasn't the flickering candles before him, it was the burning fury of being stood up, being disrespected, and being forgotten. Chantelle wouldn't dare.
Gray had already sent one text to check in on her, yet no response. Checking his phone proved to be more infuriating as he was left out to dry once again.
He knew this would happen. He knew it would. He was insecure, and realising he couldn't keep Chantelle on a leash, she wasn't a dog that was obedient. In his eyes, she liked to bend the rules, and he wanted to beat her back into submission. Every. Time.
The abusive texts kept coming. And a frightened Chantelle was doing her best to keep things under wraps. Each ping echoed and rung against her ears, her heart thumping harder and harder. All she wanted to do was get through this competition, sure it was running over schedule a little, but the judges called for a tiebreaker, a running to first place. This competition would be good publicity for her workplace and herself, too. Surely a few hours over time wouldn't be that big of a deal, right? Chantelle knew that wasn't the case. It got to the point where she stopped in her tracks, staring down at the phone in her hands. The capital letters screaming at her violently:
DINNER'S RUINED.
She was panicking now, the competition didn't matter anymore. With a dull, defeated look in her eyes, she collected her things and left, admitting she had to go. Sometimes she wished she could cut Gray off with the blades of her hairdressing scissors, but she was scared, and that wasn't possible.
Walking back home, almost ready to endure whatever Gray was going to do, she timidly stepped in and made her way to the dining room where her enraged husband sat. The look on his face said it all, his aura felt vile, it wrapped itself around Chantelle and made her body tense up - as if she wasn't already tense when she arrived. Silence. A cold breeze carried itself around the house yet the air still felt thick and heavy. Chantelle felt like a child that was about to be scolded.
"I-I'm sorry, the competition ran on longer than expected..." She stammered, fidgeting with her fingers and standing awkwardly. While having no idea how to carry herself at this moment, Gray kept his focus on the table he was sat at, his grip loosening and tightening around the almost empty wine glass. If looks could kill, the roses would be dead by now.
"I-It looks amazing.." No response. "Smells great too.." Her eyes kept onto Gray's 'calm' figure, but soon faltered. Realising she wouldn't be getting a response, she turned on her heel and mentioned quickly.
"I'm going to go check on the kids."
Before she could even take a step out of the room, his reply was instant.
"They're at your mum's." He answered harshly, not taking his eyes off of the table he worked so hard to set for his ungrateful wife.
Chantelle paused. No, she froze. And that's when Gray adjusted his view slightly, he was tracking his wife's movements, analysing her.
She turned back in, and Gray returned his focus ahead of him. Chantelle tried to keep her cool.
As she shakily took her bag off and placed it down, she spoke, "Looks like.. It's just you and me then.." She trailed off, watching Gray down the last of his wine.
Swallowing the remnants, his words were brisk and glacial, like he was stone cold sober.
"Where.. were you?" Gray was not stupid, this was all a part of his act for control and the upper hand.
"You know where I was Gray.." Chantelle answered back, in a soft tone and meaning no disrespect. "The community centre... For the competition." He, however, thought the opposite. How dare she talk back.
"The competition." He mocked. "That is.. All.. I've heard the past couple of days, like nothing else matters." His expression was as venomous as his words. Brows furrowing, nose scrunching, it was difficult for Gray to undermine his anger to his wife. He was furious, and at home he could let his mask slip.
"D-Don't be mad, we can still have a nice evening." Chantelle tried to reassure him, she didn't think it was that big of a deal. Gray did. He rubbed his forehead. Despite his eyes being shut, his exasperation was prominent. You didn't have to make eye contact to know how he was feeling.
"Shall we eat?.." Chantelle suggested.
The moment she stopped speaking, Gray exploded, slamming his hands on the dining table and throwing the wine glass to the floor. Shattering into multiple pieces.
"IT'S RUINED." He yelled, staring his wife down.
Not wanting to put up with it, Chantelle began to leave. "I'm going to my mum's." She didn't want to be in this situation.
Grabbing the framed, stained, tainted certificate that belonged to his wife, Gray ran after her.
One strong punch to the back flipped Chantelle around to face her husband. He spitefully pushes her, causing her to land on her back in shock. Her gasps and screams were almost mute as Gray towered over her.
"You see what you've done?" His words boomed, bouncing off of the walls of the house. Huffing and puffing, he carried on, aiming the corner of the frame in her face as he spoke. "I go out of my way to make things nice for you. To show you how much I LOVE YOU."
Chantelle quivers, her husband's eyes wide open and piercing, he was seeing red.
"And what do you do? You throw it all back in my face!" Gray's poisonous bullshit made him shake with resentment and it was conveyed through his voice too. He had created this belief that everything was his wife's fault. Classic gaslighting.
Clutching the framed certificate, its red wine stain speaking for itself, Gray shoved it towards his terrified wife, throttling it in front of her. "Is this really more important than our marriage Chantelle?" He had stepped closer, until he was almost on top of her. "Cutting... some stranger's hair?"
Gray paused, staring her down to make her think hard about the position she was in, he was asserting dominance in the classiest of ways.
"You're putting this, above me..." As he spoke, there was a build up of momentum, that instantly crashed as he threw the certificate to the ground, the glass frame breaking on impact. The shattered crumbs of Gray's sanity.
Chantelle screamed, afraid for her safety and not knowing what to expect, she stifled some sobs, hoping at least her shrieks of terror would make Gray come to his senses.
"ABOVE.. OUR KIDS.." His yells were more amplified as he continued smashing the frame into the floor, muffling his wife's cries.
Gray grabbed Chantelle roughly by the shoulders, firmly grasping her hair and throwing her to the stairs. She was still screaming. He still did not care.
His wife could no longer stunt her tears as she held her head in agony. But Gray wasn't done yet.
"YOU MAKE ME DO THIS." He was inches away from her shivering frame, and his wrath was a mean blanket.
Nothing could be worse than this.
Until Gray clenched his fist and leaned back, aiming at Chantelle's stomach.
Before he advanced, his wife retaliated in fear.
"I'M PREGNANT." She sobbed, "I-I'm pregnant.." Her gasps for air could be mistaken for hyperventilating, however, this sentence stopped Gray in his tracks. The predator was taken back, eyes widened and almost catching himself out of his previous rage. Chantelle repeated herself for good measure.
Gray questioned himself as he took a moment, looking over his shoulder and processing the information he heard. An array of panic crossed his face, while his hands crawled up his neck, elbows erect. He drew his breath out. The couple were both collecting themselves, for two completely different reasons. Believe it or not, Gray let out a sigh that signified happiness, despite the traumatic and disturbing events that had just taken place. Turning around to face his wife, who was barely coping herself, Gray's shocked expression twisted into a manic grin. He looked insane. The deep eyebags, the dishevelled hairstyle, the smell of alcohol on his breath. Pure insanity. Flowers would dry up and crumble at the sight of him.
"T-This is exactly what we needed!" Still recovering from his anger, Gray's happiness felt estranged and out of place, he was too excited, given the circumstances.
Chantelle stared at the person before her. It wasn't the Gray Atkins she married. She didn't know who stood before her. And she was confused, her fear did not go away, it simply increased.
"Y-You know that right?" His grin was unsettling; in fact - he specifically resembled a psychopath. There was no other description for this. It was the look he carried at this moment. Insane.
Stepping towards her, Chantelle winced a little, not knowing her husband's next steps. "Th-Thank you.." Gray uttered, grabbing his wife's hands.
Chantelle's eyes welled with tears as he caressed her cheek, she felt sick, and was disgusted by the sequence of events. How fast his mood changed. He breathed another 'thank you', before kissing his wife on the lips.
Revulsed and overwhelmingly disturbed, Chantelle let out a little sob, it sounded more like a groan but Gray was almost blind and deaf to his wife's reaction, completely enthralled with the news he had heard. They shared a hug, or more accurately, Gray wrapped his arms around Chantelle in a one sided engagement, resembling some type of embrace.
His wife could do nothing, she had yet to process everything that was happening.
"I'm gonna be a dad again!" The mania prevailed in his smile, but not as harshly as before. This didn't mean that the circumstances still weren't off. "I'm gonna be a dad!" He spoke gleefully, catching his breath from the altercation previously.
Despite this couple both knowing about the new addition to the family, this home was no place to bring life to fruition. Nestled under the foundations of this dark place of residence, a giant black hole was continually sucking the life out of everyone. Like dehydrated petals, sharp thorns and unkempt roots, Gray Atkins was the black hole. Desiccating all life behind these closed doors.