"Where have you been?" he asked me...

I knew where this question was going. Every night I knew where it was going to go.

I was never one to upset him because I've seen how ugly things could get. I closed the mahogany door behind me as I looked up at what the time had read. 11:26 PM...

"Well? Am I talking to myself?" I shook my head. He got up from out of his chair and took about a few more steps closer to me.

"So...where the hell were you? You do the same shit every night! You leave at 6 and don't come back til 5 hours later!"

"I...my boss had called me in to do some extra paperwork for the patients at work and-"

"Bullshit!" I jumped at his harsh tone. His brown eyes burning my skin as he was seething with fury. This time I was actually afraid of him. But I was going down without a fight tonight.

"I'm not lying! I'm sick of arguing with you!"

"Jholine, don't make me have to get a step closer because-"

"Because what? You're afraid of hurting me? Afraid I'll leave?" He took a step closer...his face only centimeters from mine. Then I fell silent.

"Don't forget what happened last week because as I remember, you were begging me not to throw you off that balcony. And don't think for a second that I will have remorse of actually doing it." I felt a familiar burning in my throat and my eyes started to sting and well up with tears. He backed away from me and noticed a tear slide down my face. My skin burned as he tried to wipe it away, as if he actually had a compassionate side, a side that I haven't seen since the day I said 'I do'. I am Jholine Portman and I'm living in Hell.