Bitter

“Babe! I’m home!” I walk into the house after my shift. “Jake?” I call out.

I walk over toward the bedroom. I hear moaning noises coming from inside. I open the door. “Jake, are you home?”

I freeze in my tracks. “What are you doing?” I scream.

He ignores me as he continues to fuck that bitch Marley from the office right on my bed. “Jake!” I scream.

He nevers takes his eyes off her as he pounds into her from behind. I don’t understand what’s happening. Why is this happening?

I look at Marley, and she gives me that bitchy smile that she always does. The one that tells you she can take your man, and she has. I look back up at Jake with tears in my eyes. “Why are you doing this?” I scream, but he still doesn’t listen. I want to run up to them to push him off her or to run out of the room, but I can’t move. I’m frozen in place with no choice but to continue watching.

I look back at Marley, but it’s not her anymore. It’s Katie. She gives me the same smile, and I cry some more. “Why Jake? Why?”

I look back at him, but it’s not him anymore either. It’s Reed.

Unlike Jake though, he’s staring right back at me, and he’s smiling. My heart shatters into a million pieces. “No!” I scream. “No! Don’t do this to me! Please, Reed! Don’t do this!”

My eyes shoot open as I gasp for air. My chest heaves up and down as I try to breathe. My whole body is covered in sweat, and my heart is beating a million miles an hour.

I sit up in bed and stumble in the dark into the kitchen as I try to process what is real and what was just a dream. I grab a glass and gulp down some ice water. I still feel like I can’t breathe as I take deep breaths while I lean against the counter. I cover my eyes with my hand and try to calm myself.

“Wren?” I hear Reed whisper. “Is everything okay?”

I bring my hand down and find him in the kitchen with me. He can’t be here right now. Not with him looking at me with such concern in his eyes. I want nothing more than to throw myself into his arms and have him make it all go away.

I can’t rely on him for that though. It’s not fair to myself.

“Just a bad dream,” I say, trying to convince him I’m okay.

He doesn’t seem to buy it as he walks closer to me. “You’re shaking,” he whispers as he wraps his arms around me.

The tears start flowing before I can stop them. He squeezes me tighter. “Shh...It’s okay. It was just a dream,” he whispers.

His words only make me cry harder because it wasn’t just a dream. It’s my reality. I’m so confused and so alone, and I want Reed to be gone at the same time I want him to pull me closer.

I finally calm down to sniffles, and I pull back slightly and look up at him. “I can’t go back in that room.” My voice cracks a little at the end.

He nods and reaches down and grabs my hand and pulls me to his own room. I lay down, and he pulls the blankets up all the way to my neck. He turns to leave, but I don’t want him to. “Don’t go.”

He glances back at me in question, so I continue. “I don’t want to be alone.”

He takes a deep breath, but then he nods in understanding and walks over to the other side of the bed. He slides under the covers next to me, and then he pulls me close up against his chest. My body finally loses some of its tension, and he whispers to me, “It’s going to get better, Wren. I promise.”

I hope he’s right because I can’t keep relying on him to comfort me. The only way I’m going to move on though is to actually try to move on. I need to find a date for tomorrow. Whether Reed wants me to or not.