Daisy was arranging Rami's paperwork peacefully until a loud slam distracted her from her activity.
"Rami! What's going on?", she asked with worry. Rami had a dangerous kind of look on his face, one that made Daisy's legs quiver in nervousness.
"Belle.. and Roger..," he stammered as his eyes blazed with anger, pushing his shiny black hair back from his face. "They're together in Austria. Vacationing as if she was single."
"God, that's terrible. What will you do about it?".
"I don't know yet, Daisy," Rami replied, quite disoriented and confused and hurt about the fact Belle was with Roger. He was quite impressed with himself actually, because yes, Roger and Belle had a long story together, and this wasn't the first time Roger made him feel jealous, but this time it actually hurt very freaking much to imagine them together. That had not happened before, he usually felt a stinging sensation of jealousy, but nothing more. No hurt, no pain, no discomfort. But now it did. He felt betrayed and jealous and hurt. Rami wondered why it was so difficult for Roger to understand the fact that Belle was his wife, that Belle was the mother of his child. Rami came to the conclusion that Roger needed a stronger punishment to make him learn his lesson.
"Let me know when you have a plan."
"Right now, all I need you to do is to find out more information about Roger's new girlfriend. I don't remember her name, but it's all over the news. So you find out her name, find out where she works, what she does, find out as much about her as you can. I'll take my time to formulate my plan."
Daisy nodded, even though she had said she was not willing to take part in emotional sabotage anymore.
But maybe she was wrong.
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"No, Roger, that is not happening. We'll keep on seeing each other." Belle could see Roger was upset. Not because they had gotten into a disagreement again — it was because Roger was nervous about what would happen once they both returned to London. Roger didn't want Belle to leave, he wanted to have her all for himself for at least two more days; But he knew he couldn't demand her such thing. She had already made such a big sacrifice leaving little Alice with her father in London, he totally understood her wish to reunite with her daughter as soon as possible.
"I just want to be with you. For as long as I can, for the rest of my days. That's all I want." Roger's head hung low, and his primary objective was not bursting into desperate tears.
"We will be together, Roger. I promise you. I won't let anyone come between us. Nothing bad that has happened to us will happen again. We are stronger now," Belle muttered, and Roger looked at her, only to feel how her brown doe eyes brought him back to earth. Sometimes, when he looked at her, be it in magazines, television or in person, he found himself shocked by the most basic things: How clean she was, no bruises, no cuts, no scars, he couldn't believe she was the same girl he had one seen covered in blood and wounds. It was such a morbid thing to think, he knew that, but the feeling of potentially losing Belle was still fresh in his brain. God, he loved her so, so much. He would literally die if something ever happened to her.
"Don't worry about anything at all, Roger. Everything is going to be all right," Belle whispered, holding his face so he would look her in the eye. Her soft lips pressed against his, and Roger felt all the tension in his body fall away into comfort and adoration. He curled a hand over Belle's back and let himself enjoy how the kiss turned into a stronger one — their tongues entwined and fighting for dominance as Belle itched to tug the lapels of Roger's coat. His hand slid up over her sweater, stopping at the crook of her neck where he gripped loosely, just enough for leverage, thumbing at the apex of her throat.
"You know, now I can understand why Kate was so devastated to divorce you. You're such a good kisser", Belle commented as she broke the kiss so she could breathe again. She was locked against the wall, her only movement of escape being the hard twist to his hair with her fingers, but she still wanted to continue, so she kissed him again, tasting the need in his mouth until every flavor of him was in her. Belle was worried she would come across as needy, but who was she trying to fool? Roger wasn't someone she had just met, she had known him for seven years, and it was clear Roger wanted her as bad as she wanted him.
"Hmm, well, that's a nice compliment. Thank you, Gabrielle," Roger whispered, gripping her waist with both hands, feeling her fingers undo the buttons that held his coat into place. "Are you sure you want to do this?".
"Yes," Belle nodded as she indulged in it all. His mouth, his hands, his voice, his warm body pressed against hers, everything about him made her blind with love.
And she knew it would be another slepless night caused by Roger, but this time, for all the right reasons.
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Belle couldn't believe she and Roger had slept together last night, not only literally but also figuratively. In other words, she had sex with Roger Taylor. It felt so surreal to know it had actually happened.
It also felt surreal to know she was back in London again, but in a much less climactic way. She could see Rami walking to her. Instead of acting all cold and unemotional as he usually did, he looked happy and delighted to see her. There was something incredibly intriguing about this man's attitude, what was he doing? Why did he look so excited to see her? At that certain moment in time, Belle genuinely thought Rami was going to kiss her.
"Welcome back, my love," Rami said enthusiastically as he pressed a kiss on her forehead, and even though Belle was expecting something like that, she was highly confused. "How was your trip?".
Belle raised an eyebrow, but she was still willing to follow his game of playing a happy couple. "It was great, thank you. Austria is so beautiful, and I do wish I could have stayed longer, but I miss Alice so, so much. I cannot wait to see her and be with her all day again," Belle chirped, her eyes brightening at the thought of her lovely baby daughter. She simply could not wait to see and hold her again.
"Yeah, well, I bet Alice misses you as well. But I'm sure she's happy that her mommy spent some quality time with boyfriend Roger Taylor. She must be delighted."
Belle was completely and utterly shocked, yet she didn't know why. Her husband's words had immediately sent her serenity right out the window. She intently stared at the floor, hiding her face. At least Rami couldn't see that Belle looked like she was going to die of shock.
"Did you think I wasn't going to find out, Gabrielle?", Rami hissed as he grabbed his wife by her wrist, strong enough for it to hurt all week long.
"You're hurting me, Rami!", Belle looked up at him and pulled away from his thick grasp. "No, I did not think you'd find out. What about you? Did you think I wasn't going to find the pack of condoms in your drawer?".
Rami glared at Belle with too much anger and indignation, as if his poor wife was the sole cause for everything wrong in the world. He refused to say anything in return, because he really could not say anything in return. He knew Belle wasn't the only one who had cheated, so he simply grabbed her by her arm and walked to the airport's car park.
As Rami climbed into the car and shut the door, Belle turned away, subtly scooting away from him towards the door on her side. There was a pause and all she could hear was his breathing — steady and strong — and the sound of her own frantic heartbeat rumbling inside her head.
"You know.. I really believed that our marriage could have been a stable and healthy one. But well, I was wrong," Belle muttered in a deeply doleful tone.
"We should start visualising our divorce, Belle." Rami said in a brusque sentence as he started the engine and checked the metre, making sure there was enough gas for the long ride back home. Belle shifted in her seat and discreetly watched his hand rest on the gear stick as he put the car in reverse. Her eyes fell to his platinum wedding band, a line of miniature diamonds cirlcing the ring and twinkling in the early sun. She twirled her own band, staring at the intertwined design of pure platinum and diamonds, remembering the engraved date on the inside.
It burnt on her finger, her skin flaming underneath the weight of it. It sat heavy and ugly and the desire to rip it off was almost too overwhelming. It had never been a promise, only ever a burden.
"If we're going to get divorced, let's make it a peaceful and untroubled one, Rami. Let's do it for Alice." Belle's eyes moved up to rest on her husband's face and she wondered if he had ever loved her.
"I can't promise you anything." Rami pressed down on the accelerator once the car was facing the right way and the car started on down the path to the street.
Belle's vision blurred as her eyes glassed over and the tears pooled in her ducts.
His words didn't hurt anymore, they were just another weight added to the burden she carried, otherwise known as her marriage.