Chapter 7

Laynie

Once we got home and Jared settled on the couch, I walk over to the kitchen to start dinner. Partly because Jared and Alan should be hungry, and partly because I really need to keep busy. Being back here where this whole thing transpired, has enraged me with mixed emotions. When we first walked in the door I noticed all the blood was cleaned up and the furniture arranged back to where it belonged. It feels good to be here and not be belittled or beaten for any little thing but at the same time I'm walking on eggshells. What if the real him comes back in the middle of the night? What if he just turns into him mechanically again? What if he is just being truly genuine to me? I burry myself in making curry and rice.

One thing I wanted more than anything in the world was to one day have my own restaurant. I have my culinary arts certificate and was a sous chef when we were back in Minneapolis. Jared had his contracting license and a job working with a buddy's father. we were doing well. We were not as wealthy as we are now, but we were happy. Then one day at a celebration of my twenty-sixth birthday, Jared proposed in front of our friends and family. I was so in love with him and infatuated by him that I said yes. Six months later, I came over to Jared's house by his request and saw all of his stuff in boxes. He told me about a great opportunity in New York and that we should just go to the court house, get married, and move.

I was shocked. I was one of those girls that fantasized about her wedding. Jared knew this. He also knew that I hated New York. I didn't know what came over him or why the sudden hurry, but I could see it made him happy. He wouldn't have bought a house behind my back nor moved to a place I hated, if he didn't think it was best for us and our future. The next day I put my two weeks in and within a month we were in New York. I hated saying goodbye and leaving my job for him, but I loved him. Again, I was infatuated with him. On day one of us moving in, I was carrying a box of something that had the word fragile on it, when I tripped on the front step. Now, Jared would usually run up and make sure I was okay, even if it were a paper cut. Instead he ran up, looked at the box then at me, and picked me up roughly by my shoulders, ran me into the wall and started screaming.

"You stupid Bitch! Do you not see that it says fragile? Use your fucking brain!"

He then shoved me harder into the wall, backed up, and walked away. That was the first time he was ever rough with me, the day our lives were supposed to start. He wasn't always physically abusive with me, but emotionally there was always something snarky to say to me. When he came home on a particularly bad day I was cooking in the kitchen. He came in and told me that my food isn't very good, that I'm not going to get anywhere with my career, and that I should just stay home and make sure the house is clean and that he has dinner right at 5 pm. I was enraged. It felt like someone picked a dagger up and started openly slicing my skin. He knew I was always insecure about my career. My mother was always ashamed I wasn't a lawyer or a doctor.

My anger got the best of me. He had been coming home in such a bad mood every day and I was done. I wasn't one to curse too much, but the way he was acting towards me and treating me, I had to say something. I told him that he was a worthless piece of shit and just because he sucked at his job didn't mean that I would. His fist connected with my jaw and everywhere else soon after. I had never experienced something so painful. He beat me for what felt like hours then left me there. When he returned a few hours later I was still in the same spot crying trying to reach the phone. I had no idea how long he was gone. Anger coated his features and he immediately reached for the phone and threw it against the wall. He lifted me up, and with shallow breaths and blacking in and out, I felt him taking me to his car. He rushed me to the hospital that night where they determined I had a broken jaw, a broken rib, and two black eyes. I was told to tell them about the apparent mugging I had outside the grocery store. I never did go back to work. And I never did tell anyone.

"Your quiet over here." Alan says startling me out of my current thoughts.

The curry was ready so I added it to the rice and started plating it. I looked back at Alan and gave him a false smile.

"Yeah, just thinking." I said.

He smiled back with the same false smile. Very unlike Alan. He was a goofball, a funny guy, a charmer. I was always surprised he never went to a fraternity when he was in college.

"Jared passed out on me. The drive must have really gotten to him." He says.

"Yeah, it's been a long day." I say back to him.

Again, both smiles, fake. When he comes closer to me he bends his face just inches from mine, my cheeks burn a bright red. I was always a pale girl so I know my blush is in full affect right now.

"I forgot to give you back your phone." he says in a whisper.

I had totally forgotten that he grabbed my phone earlier. I need to call my father and let him know Jared and I are fine. If his work weren't so significant he would have been out here when he heard we had a break in, but as the towns best and only lawyer he had to stay there and work on cases. It took some talking down and a conversation with Alan to get him to not hop on the next flight to New York. I love my dad. I look back at Alan still wondering why he is so close, when he lifts it and hands it to me keeping his bright green eyes on me.

Alan is what you might call gorgeous. He has blonde hair down to his chin but is always pulled back. He is long and lean but has muscles in all the right places. His calm demeanor and funny personality has always made him a lady's man but my eyes have always been for Jared. I lifted the phone up, getting ready to thank him when I notice a have a few unread text messages and missed calls. One of the unread text messages is from Anna and it reads:

Hey girl. You're really worrying me. Last time we spoke you told me you were unhappy with the way Jared was treating you, and now all of a sudden, I can't get a hold of you. I just want to make sure you are alright. Call me or text me back.

When I look back at Alan he is leaning his hip against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed, He looks at me eyebrows drawn downward. He steps forward again and leans into to me.

"I'm not one for going through chick's phones. Lord knows my sisters would kill me for even attempting, but I want to know what that message meant Laynie." He declares.

Alan has four sisters, all younger than him. He is fiercely protective of woman because of his sisters and mothers influence. I think I know where this conversation is headed so I need to steer him in a different direction.

Before I could answer, we both turn at the sound of a throat clearing. Jared is standing right before the kitchen only feet away from us. From his view, our standings may look inappropriate. I look back to Alan who is giving Jared a confused look. Jared's eyes are bright blue. I used to memorize his faces. His eyes were always so expressive to me. I know when he is happy, sad, angry and downright pissed. This look that he has now is the last emotion and I am petrified.