I drove home at an exceedingly fast speed. James would be home any minute, and I haven't even started cooking. I pushed the pedal with a little more force – now going 83 mph when I had 55 mph speed limit.
"Thank God there are not any boys in blue out," I thought to myself.
A few minutes later I pulled into my driveway, grabbed the few groceries I had out of the backseat of my Scion tC and ran inside the house. As I walked in I sat the bags down on the marble island, completely oblivious to my angry husband sitting at the dinner table. By the time I noticed him he was sending death glares my way.
I tried to be casual.
"James, hunny, you're home early." It came out sounding more like a question than anything else.
"I know. I thought Id come home early and surprise you. Tell you that instead of cooking tonight we could go out to eat, as a reward for good behavior, only to find you weren't here." I could hear the aggravation radiating in his words while he spoke.
"Oh... I-I'm sorry James."
He disregarded my apology.
"Where were you?!" He spoke through clenched teeth.
"Grocery store…" I said timidly.
"For three hours, Isabella?!"
"I-I… I went to the library, also…" I've always been a bad liar. Well, technically I wasn't lying.
"Then where is your book, Isabella?" Shit.
"I didn't check any out. They didn't really have anything eye catching."
He scoffed. "Please. As if you would actually go to the library without grabbing something."
I didn't know what to do.
I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off.
"Don't lie to me, Isabella. Where were you?"
"I told you. Library and grocery store."
"Really?"
I stared down, afraid.
"Yes." I said, barely above a whisper.
"Then why did I get a call from Panera telling me you got the job?"
I stared at him, eyes wide.
"How many times have I told you not to lie to me, Isabella?!"
"I'm sorry James, it's just that I knew if I told you I was applying than you would've said-"
"NO! No, no, no! How many times must we have this discussion?! You cannot work! You must stay at home, clean the house, do the laundry, and make the meals, like a perfect wife does!"
I looked down; I knew I wouldn't be winning this argument. He was right, of course. He always is.
This seemed to displease him.
He stormed over to me and slapped me dead across the face.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"
I raised my head and stared at him, holding back whatever tears I could.
"Why are you crying, you pathetic little piece of shit?!"
I let the tears fall, as I had nothing to say.
"Answer me!"
He grabbed me by the collar of my blouse and lifted me up, forcing me to look into his hatred filled eyes.
"I-I… I don't know, James."
This only furthered his aggravation.
He threw me at the wall; my head slammed into it and I started to cry more because of the intense throbbing in my head.
He walked over to me, practically seething.
"Don't fucking cry!" He yelled. "You deserve this!"
He kicked me in my stomach, brutally.
My hands left my bleeding head as I grabbed at my stomach; I was in so much pain.
He stopped kicking me and knelled beside me, cupping my face with his hand.
"You know why I had to do that, don't you Isabella?" He said calmly.
"Yes" I practically mumbled.
"Tell me" He said.
I could hear the amusement in his voice.
"Because you love me. You're just trying to help me."
"That's right, beautiful. Now what do you say?"
"Thank you, James. I love you so much."
He smiled, obviously pleased.
"You're such a good learner. I love you too, baby."
With that he kissed me lightly, and lifted me off the ground and cradled me in his arms.
He brought me up to our bedroom, before setting me down.
"Go take a shower, sweetheart." He said before kissing again.
I nodded and walked into the bathroom.
I turned on the water and waited for it to heat up, stripping from my clothes in the meantime. Once it got hot enough I jumped in, and began scrubbing myself until my skin turned red. I wouldn't want to upset James by having a speck of dirt on me. Eventually I got out, wrapped myself in a towel and looked in the mirror. I noticed a large purple welt on the side of my face, one of James 'love marks'. I sighed as I walked into our bedroom and slipped into a pair of flannel pajama bottom and a tank top James had left out for me. "He's so sweet" I thought to myself. "I wonder where he went". I laid down in bed and snuggled into my blanket, awaiting him. After what felt like hours I heard him slip in through the door. "Sorry" He stated. "I was eating leftover since we didn't have any dinner tonight…" He trailed off, and I could sense him becoming angry as he remembered why he hit me a few hours ago. I immediately felt bad for upsetting and disobeying James. "I'm so sorry, James! I'll make you a big breakfast in the morning, I promise. I'll stay home all day and clean everything, I'll make sure everything is beyond perfect, just for you."
He smiled at this.
"Sounds good." I smiled too, and beckoned him over. I saw a wicked grin appear on his face before he jumped into bed, grabbed me and hungrily started placing kisses on my neck. I stifled a moan as he nibbled on my delicate skin. I felt him pull on the hem of my tank top, and I quickly lifted my arms to let him pull it off of me before wrapping my arms around his neck. He kissed me hard and passionately, and I smiled, ready to please James.