James
I pulled into my house's driveway at about 1pm. As I walked towards the door I noticed the envelope in the mailbox. Who the fuck still sends mail.
I opened the envelope before entering the house. On a piece of paper my name is written in cursive, and nearly choke on my breath as I see what comes after it.
Pictures of Mercedes and I flood my hands. Each one with a date and time. One of us having sex in my office, another of us at a café and more. My heart starts beating quickly and my breath quickens.
I barge into the house finding Mercedes in the kitchen. "Where's Cathy" I ask in a stern voice and she jumps up in surprise. "She went to work, why" she said with an attitude.
I throw the envelope of pictures on the kitchen counter. She turns around looking at then then looks to me. "What's this" she asked taking a bite of her sandwich. "Take a look" I said pacing back and forth.
"Calm down, would you" she said opening the envelope. Her face turned up in a smile as she looked at the pictures. "It's hot" she said dismissively, sliding it back to me. "There's a fucking pervert watching us somewhere out there and you think it's hot. He could expose us at any moment" I said angrily.
"Well it's no surprise James. You knew it would happen eventually" she said walking away. "Sit down" I said grabbing her arm. "Let go of my hand. You're hurting me" she said pulling away. I let her arm go as soon as I saw her terrified eyes. "I'm sorry" I said reaching for her hand.
"Don't fucking touch me James. You knew damn well from the start what bullshit you were getting yourself into." she shouted as she paced around the kitchen. "When I said I'm done. I meant I'm fucking done. I don't want anything to do with this anymore." she said throwing her hands in the air.
"Of course you wouldn't understand. You have nothing to lose. I on the other hand could lose everything all thanks to you" I said and I saw her face drop in disappointment. "Don't blame this all on me." she responded.
We went silent for a moment. "You know what James. I'm sorry. I don't know what to say anymore. I give up." she said as she started crying.
Mercedes
He wrapped his arms around me as I put my head on his chest. He smelt of smoke and coffee. I wonder where he spent the night.
"I'm sorry. It's just the anger talking. I don't mean it" he said. And even though I knew he meant it all and that it was all the truth I didn't want to confront him about it.
"What are we going to do" I asked looking him in his eyes. "I don't know" he said kissing my forehead. My heart warned up as I felt the familiar warmth of his lips. It's only been one day but it feels like it's been a lifetime.
I noticed the wounds on his knuckles as he took his hands through his hair. "What happened to your hands" I asked and he looked away. "James where were you last night" I asked turning his head to my direction. He looked down at me then bit his lip.
"I went to a bar" he said taking his hand through his hair again. I folded my arms waiting for him to elaborate. "With Franklin" shivers went down my spine as he said that name. "I beat his ass" he said sitting on the stool. "Why" I asked. "You seemed off after I left you alone in my office with him. And you refused to tell me what he did so I had to beat it out of him." he said.
"James" I said putting my hand on his cheek. He took his wounded hand through my hair as we stared into each other's eyes. He flinched as my phone vibrated behind him. His facial expression went serious as he read the notification. "Who the fuck is Matthew" he asked looking at me. Shit.
"James it's none of your business. Give me the phone" I said trying to grab the phone from him. After I ended things with James last night, I decided to log in to my old dating sites. I needed a distraction. "So we argue one time and you already have a new guy" he says with a look of disgust. I feel a great amount of guilt, before I take my phone.
"We? James there is no 'we'" I say with a sarcastic laugh. "What the fuck" he says looking away. "Seriously" he says looking at me. I see the pain and heartbreak between his eyes, but I have to do what's right. "I wasn't bluffing" I say in a neutral tone. He takes his hand through his hair then looks at me. His mouth twitches as he struggles to say something. He looks into my eyes then his eyes move down to my lips. "Fine. Okay" he says nodding his head before heading upstairs.
I throw my phone in the table as I hear his door closing. Fucking shit. Why can't he understand that this is hard for me too.