My first published fanfic. There will only be 3 to 4 parts to this story.
Please review, all comments welcome
Disclaimer: I own no characters I this story, just the plot.
Chapter 1
It's always the same. She wakes up to blinding sunlight and the empty space next to her. She thinks she should be used to it by now but that doesn't make her feel any better. She sits up, stretches, and just sits there for a while until she decides to get up. She makes her way through her house to her kitchen to make a cup of coffee.
She thinks about how it all started and how it's all about to end. For the thousandth time, she remembers the mornings she would wake up to him just staring at her from his side of the bed. He had told her he just liked how peaceful she looked when she slept. She remembers the days they'd sit on their small back porch in their little chairs with coffee or tea, depending on the time of day and just appreciate the trees and how they never looked the same as they did the day before. Some days when he was just home and free to spend with her, they'd just curl up on their not so comfortable couch and watch stupid movies that neither of them really payed any attention to. And for the days that he did have work, there was always a kiss to her cheek and an 'I love you' to look forward to.
Little moments like that turned into nothingness over an all too short period of time. Those moments that they spent together were a distant memory now. Because nothing lasts forever and that's just reality.
She thought they could at least squeeze a few more years out of their short-lived happiness but of course her hopes were spurned and thrown to the wind.
Suddenly, he stopped looking at her in the mornings and the trees all looked the same to him. The coffee was a little more bitter each day and the chair next to hers on the porch was covered in the trees' discarded leaves and small bugs.
She started to notice the signs but tried to ignore them because he would never do that to her. She could rationalize the staying late at work and the mixing of smells from his shirts. There are always people near him so he just happens to pick up all the smells. And sometimes there's too much work to do during regular hours. Some overtime is expected. She knows she still loves him and she has faith in him that he still loves her. She trusts him not to hurt her.
Then came the not so subtle signs that made it harder for her to explain to herself. The lipstick on his shirt, not on the collar but close enough. Maybe he hugged a coworker in heels and she turned her head at the wrong time. Not the best explanation but it was possible, right? And maybe he went to the bathroom and washed his hands and forgot to put his ring back on? No need to be suspicious because she loves him and he loves her. She believes in him.
Before she knows it, half the day has passed and she needs to start dinner so he can come home to a nice warm home cooked meal. She's not the best cook but everything she makes for him has her love and her appreciation in it. She hears the house phone ring but is too late to answer it so it goes to the answering machine. She hears the person begin to speak and stills when she hears a feminine voice drunkenly say her husband's name.
"I miss you," the voice said. "When are you coming back to me? I'm tired of being your secret. You even left your ring this time. Your wife's gonna be pissed," and the voice begins to laugh and the machine cuts off. The voice makes her imagine the tinkling bells she used to hear in her summers as a child. She tries to think of something to ease her now racing mind, trying to think of answers to her questions that won't break her heart. That won't cause her to have a breakdown right now. Her mind tries and tries but eventually she realizes that none of these answers satisfy her because they aren't the truth. The smoke alarm begins to blare but she can't hear it over the sound of her heart fragmenting.
She now has no choice but to admit that her husband, the love of her life, the keeper of her heart, has been actively breaking it for a while now.
Chapter 1 End