Their conversation floated up the staircase.
"Jimmy, I came over earlier. There was this crazy dark-skinned girl who told me that you two were married and were having a baby together. It was insane."
"She's not crazy. That's my wife."
There was silence.
"Your wife? But she's...so...fat. And short."
What a bitch.
"She might be kind of short, but you shouldn't call her fat. She's having a baby."
"How do you even know that the baby is yours? Did you get a paternity test?"
Jimmy said, "No, and I am not going to ask for one. I trust her. I know her.“
"Jimmy, you have a lot of money. How do you even know that she's not making this up so that she can get a share of your company? Did you get a prenup."
"I don't need a prenup. Her dad gave me a billion dollars' worth of stock to marry her."
My heart plummeted straight into the ground. No.
"That explains a lot." They stopped talking. I put on one of Jimmy's shirts. I didn't want to be naked, but I didn't have the time to go into the bathroom and choose an outfit. I needed to talk to Jimmy pronto. I got down the stairs just in time to see the two of them kissing.
I felt like a lightning bolt struck me in the heart.
"Oh, sorry, didn't see you there." Mary Jo's voice cut me like a knife. I clutched my heart, which had a big hole in it.
"How could you?" I whispered. The two of us had been just about to go at it upstairs, and now he was downstairs with her. "We've barely been married, and you're already cheating on me."
"I didn't have anything to do with it. It was her. She jumped on me."
Mary Jo laughed. "Don't even pretend that you didn't want it, Jimmy." She gripped his dick. "I know that you did."
I blinked and ran out the back door. I heard Jimmy run behind me, then there was a scuffle. I ran faster.
The cold air hit me in an icy blast, but I kept running outside. That's all I was. My dad had traded me to this stupid guy who fucked me and knocked me up. Totally. I guessed that I should be flattered that I was worth this much money to him.
It was the company. I felt my breath coming in harsh gasps. I had exercise asthma, and the cold Wisconsin air was not helping.
I headed towards the old house. At least in there I wouldn't have to look at Jimmy's stupid face.
I heard pounding footsteps behind me, and I tried to run, but it was hard. The cold grass seemed somewhat frozen, and it was hard to run on it. It was hard, but it also gave. Jimmy caught up with me.
"Hey. Hey. Let's talk about this."
My breath came out in gasps. "I can't talk right now."
"We can figure this out."
I put my hands on my thighs and gasped. "I actually can't talk."
He realized that I was fighting for breath. "Oh my god!" He threw me over his shoulder. I closed my eyes. This was nothing like when he had taken me up the stairs earlier, when I thought that we were going to make love. This was pure survival. I let my body go limp on his, and I let him carry me back into the warmth.
When he put me down inside of the mansion, he demanded, "Are you insane? Do you have a death wish?"
"No. I just have asthma."