A/N
AJ Mackey as I read your last review, I could not help but smile and think that you had been peeking over my shoulder. I tell you the truth. You HAD to have been reading my mind! That 'picture clear' image you saw after reading chap 8 is almost exactly what I had in mind. Honestly!! It is and you will see that as you read chap 9. I hope that I don't disappoint you. Oh and by the way, I had planned on taking this story all the way to Alex's birth. I only hope you all will enjoy the journey.
Happy reading!!!!
As Evelyn stomped up the stairs, she imagined Rick's head nicely perched in the center of each step. She found a small bit of satisfaction as she visualized crushing his head with each step she took. He was sloshed worse than Jonathan and on top of that he had the audacity to come home to her with lipstick on him. Red lipstick!
Not only was Evelyn irate with Rick but she was furious, absolutely furious with the hussy Jezebel that had the temerity to touch what belonged to her! Evelyn's fingers itched to see the floozy so that she could scratch her eyes out.
After slamming the bedroom door and locking it, Evelyn began to pace angrily back and forth from the door to the foot of the bed and back again. For a moment she wondered why she was not sprawled across the bed crying her eyes out. After all, her husband had come home drunk and covered in lipstick. Red lipstick.
'Because he said he had not be unfaithful. And you believe him' a small voice spoke.
At the present though, Evelyn did not want to think about the fact that she believed him. If she did, she would throw down her pride, high tail it down the stairs, tell him how much she loved him, forgive him for having lipstick, red lipstick on him and beg him to forgive her.
She was not, however, in a forgiving mood and she certainly was not about to throw away her pride and beg for HIS forgiveness. Not when he was drunk and covered in red lipstick.
Evelyn's mood was not pretty. In fact it was quite ugly. It was mad, incensed, enraged. She wanted to give him the knee right between his legs, clock him a few good ones and then scratch his eyes out so he would never look at another woman.
Why had he even let that loose woman's lips come within in 5 feet of him? Why? The woman certainly did not overpower him and force him to accept her kiss. Surely he was strong enough to divert her advances. So why didn't the imbecile do just that? Why? That was a simple task that even a man could handle. So why didn't he handle it?
"oooohhh!!!" Evelyn stomped her foot, again wishing that Rick's head was beneath her foot.
Evelyn then reached down and took off one shoe and threw it at Mr. Huggy, who was sitting in the chair, and who, all of a sudden, looked exactly like Rick. Evelyn reached down and took off the other shoe and before she could think about how ridiculous she was being, she threw that one, hitting poor Mr. Huggy square in the face.
"Blasted man!!" Evelyn spit out.
Mr. Huggy was the first gift Rick had given to Evelyn. When they fled Hamanaptra after she woke the mummy and made it safely back to the Fort, Evelyn immediately went to her room. After she bathed and put on fresh clothes, she began pulling out books in hopes of finding an answer to their mummy problem. If only she had not read from the book, everything would be fine. But she did and now the entire world was in danger. And then she thought about poor Mr. Burns and guilt washed over her. She was the reason he was now eyeless. She decided to go and see how he was doing under the circumstances. After returning from her visit with Mr. Burns, her guilt was increased and she absentmindedly picked up one of the books she had gotten out and walked over to the window. What if they were not able to stop the mummy? The whole earth would be destroyed because of her. As her mind thought of the end of the world, she heard a knock and turned. It was him.
Rick had awkwardly presented her with the bear and she gladly took it. Soon after giving it to her, they had their very first fight. He, in his 'I'm in charge. I'm the boss. I'm the BIG man' attitude, informed her that they would be leaving and she informed him that they would be staying. It became obvious that he had disregarded her words when he went searching through the closet and emerged with her suitcase.
Evelyn became incensed at his high-handedness and felt as if she were being treated like a child. She tossed the bear down on the table and told him he could take his old silly bear back. Again he disregarded her words and went back inside the closet and came out with his arms full of her clothes. She tried to reason with him but he would not listen and their disagreement escalated. When he finally realized she was not going anywhere until they found a way to kill the mummy, he reluctantly spit out a 'Fine!' before taking the bear and storming out of the room. Evelyn thought he was a cad for actually taking the bear. After all, she did not mean it when she told him he took take the bear back.
Rick did, however, to her immense pleasure, give the bear back. The night she said 'yes' to his marriage proposal, Rick had come back and knocked on her door after they said goodnight. He teasingly told her that he wanted to be sure she had said 'yes' then presented her with the bear. Evelyn's smile was brighter than when he had given it to her the first time and she fell in love with the stuffed animal then and there. So why was she now abusing him so?
"Stop looking at me like that!" Evelyn snapped.
Mr. Huggy was looking up at Evelyn with his beady little eyes. Not only did Evelyn feel silly for attacking a stuffed animal but now she began to feel a tremendous amount guilt. Mr. Huggy was, after all, the innocent in this entire mess.
"It's not you Mr. Huggy. It's that… that blasted husband of mine!" she said as she walked over to the chair and picked Mr. Huggy up. "He let some trollop kiss him!" she said as she lovingly squeezed Mr. Huggy. "Can you believe that?!"
She explained her ire to Mr. Huggy, who listened intently, as she continued her pacing. When she ran out of words to say, she simply paced and held Mr. Huggy close. Evelyn was pacing toward the door and stopped when she heard the doorknob turn.
"Evy?"
Evy? The audacity of that man! Did he really think that trying to woo her with that pitiful sounding voice would make her heart melt?
"Evy, open da door pleeze."
Surely he did not think he was getting into THIS bedroom! Into THIS bed! With her!
"I luv you…"
Instantly, her eyes began to water. Damn her melting heart!
"evy… Open da door."
A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away, angry with herself for wanting to open the door simply because he said 'I luv you'. Against her better judgment, she took one step, then another until she reached the door. Evelyn reached up and laid her hand on the door, her heart wanting to open it but her head deciding against it.
"The lips…tick…" Evelyn heard him say and slowly fell down to her knees.
Evelyn knew he was about to tell her where the lipstick had come from and she did not think she was really ready to hear the truth. He said he had been faithful. But what if he lied? Could she handle hearing him say he had been untrue to her?
"Didn't mean anything. Not one damn thing! I was stew… pid! And mad. I was mad Evy. And hurt."
Evelyn's tears began to silently cascade down her face as she heard the pain and regret in his voice. Her heart began to sink as she prepared herself for the cataclysm his words were about to bring.
"Hurt cause I thought you wanted to leave me. I didn't know what else to do so I went to get drunk. I know I promised I wouldn't drink anymore but I didn't know where else to go. You were gonna leave me Evy and it hurt bad, real bad. I wanted to hurt you for that. I wanted to hurt you as bad as you hurt me."
Evelyn laid her forehead against the door and a sick feeling washed over her as she waited for the stone pillar to fall and crush her heart. If only she had stopped him from leaving after she said she wanted a divorce. If only she had not been so hasty in thinking a divorce could solve their problem. If only they had discussed children before they got married. If only they had not fallen in love. If only they had never met. Then her world would not be one confession away from shattering. Evelyn's heart pounded loudly in her ears and she waited with baited breath for Rick to continue.
"I called her over to my table… … … …"
Evelyn's breath caught in her throat and she bit her bottom lip to hold back the anguished cry that threatened to escape.
"I called her over and… and she sat down. I knew what she was offering… and I took her up on it."
Evelyn's breathing became labored and she held her churning stomach as her world began to crumble piece by agonizing piece.
"I followed her up to her room…"
Her heart pounded even louder and Evelyn felt as if she were suffocating. Her ears began to burn. 'I followed her up to her room'. Evelyn closed her eyes tight as she tried to shut his words. 'I followed her up to her room'. She did not want to hear this. 'I followed her up to her room'. This was far worse than her worse nightmare. 'I followed her up to her room'.
Evelyn shook her head in denial. This could not be happening. She could not be sitting there listening to her husband admit that he had been unfaithful to her. She couldn't, she just couldn't listen to any more.
But she had too. Evelyn had to know what happened between Rick and this other woman. She had to know the truth regardless of the cost. The cost was great, more that she could ever bear but nevertheless, Evelyn had to know. She had to know the truth.
"But all I could do… was think about you."
Evelyn could not hear those words because 'I followed her up to her room' loudly replayed over and over in her mind as a flood of tears pushed pass her closed eyelids.
"I wanted to hurt you Evy, hurt you bad cause I was hurtin'. You don't know how it felt to hear you say you wanted a divorce. It felt like my guts were being ripped out."
Evelyn felt like her heart was being ripped out.
"I hurt so bad."
Evelyn hurt so bad too.
"And I wanted you to hurt."
Rick had accomplished his goal. More than he would ever know.
"But when I looked at her, all I could see was you. I didn't want her. I wanted you. I wanted to hurt you so bad Evy… but I couldn't cause I luv you so much. Nothing happened cause I walked out on her. I went and got some more Vodka and left. I went by the convent but I think everybody was sleep. After I left there I drove home, parked in back and finished gettin' drunk."
Evelyn's breathing came a little easier because 'I wanted you… I luv you' had broken through 'I followed her up to her room' and had found its way to her ears and then to her heart. The chokehold she felt around her neck began to loosen. Her world was not as dim as it was a moment ago.
Rick had not been untrue. Evelyn's heart believed it with all its being.
He had gone looking for another woman. Her head reasoned with all its logic.
He only did it because he was hurting. And she was the cause of his hurt.
But she would never hurt him simply because he had hurt her. She loved him too much.
And that was why she would forgive him.
But how could she forgive him when he set out to hurt her?
But he remained faithful, he remained true to his vows. Because he loved her.
But he WANTED to hurt her.
But he didn't. He couldn't. Because he loved her.
But that could not excuse his intent. His intent to hurt her.
"evy? Will you talk to me? Pleeze. Talk to me. Say something. Anything. Yell at me if you want. Just talk to me."
Evelyn could not talk to Rick. Not now. She could not or would not let go of the nagging fact that he had gone to another woman for the expressed purpose of hurting her. How could he do such a horrible thing if he loved her?
"I luv you Evy. More than anything. And I'm sorry" he said. "Pleeze say you forgive me."
Evelyn sat on the floor and leaned against the door. She did not know if she could forgive him. What would he do the next time they had a fight? Would he go seeking another woman just to get back at her? How could she trust him with her heart, knowing he was capable of intentionally hurting her? What would she do now? Where would they go from here? Would there be a future with Rick?
Evelyn did not know the answer to any of the questions that now plagued her.
"I do luv you Evy" she heard him say. "I swear it."
And she loved him too. She loved him with all her heart. But would that be enough to mend the sore rift between them?
Yet another question Evelyn did not know the answer too.
AJ Mackey as I read your last review, I could not help but smile and think that you had been peeking over my shoulder. I tell you the truth. You HAD to have been reading my mind! That 'picture clear' image you saw after reading chap 8 is almost exactly what I had in mind. Honestly!! It is and you will see that as you read chap 9. I hope that I don't disappoint you. Oh and by the way, I had planned on taking this story all the way to Alex's birth. I only hope you all will enjoy the journey.
Happy reading!!!!
As Evelyn stomped up the stairs, she imagined Rick's head nicely perched in the center of each step. She found a small bit of satisfaction as she visualized crushing his head with each step she took. He was sloshed worse than Jonathan and on top of that he had the audacity to come home to her with lipstick on him. Red lipstick!
Not only was Evelyn irate with Rick but she was furious, absolutely furious with the hussy Jezebel that had the temerity to touch what belonged to her! Evelyn's fingers itched to see the floozy so that she could scratch her eyes out.
After slamming the bedroom door and locking it, Evelyn began to pace angrily back and forth from the door to the foot of the bed and back again. For a moment she wondered why she was not sprawled across the bed crying her eyes out. After all, her husband had come home drunk and covered in lipstick. Red lipstick.
'Because he said he had not be unfaithful. And you believe him' a small voice spoke.
At the present though, Evelyn did not want to think about the fact that she believed him. If she did, she would throw down her pride, high tail it down the stairs, tell him how much she loved him, forgive him for having lipstick, red lipstick on him and beg him to forgive her.
She was not, however, in a forgiving mood and she certainly was not about to throw away her pride and beg for HIS forgiveness. Not when he was drunk and covered in red lipstick.
Evelyn's mood was not pretty. In fact it was quite ugly. It was mad, incensed, enraged. She wanted to give him the knee right between his legs, clock him a few good ones and then scratch his eyes out so he would never look at another woman.
Why had he even let that loose woman's lips come within in 5 feet of him? Why? The woman certainly did not overpower him and force him to accept her kiss. Surely he was strong enough to divert her advances. So why didn't the imbecile do just that? Why? That was a simple task that even a man could handle. So why didn't he handle it?
"oooohhh!!!" Evelyn stomped her foot, again wishing that Rick's head was beneath her foot.
Evelyn then reached down and took off one shoe and threw it at Mr. Huggy, who was sitting in the chair, and who, all of a sudden, looked exactly like Rick. Evelyn reached down and took off the other shoe and before she could think about how ridiculous she was being, she threw that one, hitting poor Mr. Huggy square in the face.
"Blasted man!!" Evelyn spit out.
Mr. Huggy was the first gift Rick had given to Evelyn. When they fled Hamanaptra after she woke the mummy and made it safely back to the Fort, Evelyn immediately went to her room. After she bathed and put on fresh clothes, she began pulling out books in hopes of finding an answer to their mummy problem. If only she had not read from the book, everything would be fine. But she did and now the entire world was in danger. And then she thought about poor Mr. Burns and guilt washed over her. She was the reason he was now eyeless. She decided to go and see how he was doing under the circumstances. After returning from her visit with Mr. Burns, her guilt was increased and she absentmindedly picked up one of the books she had gotten out and walked over to the window. What if they were not able to stop the mummy? The whole earth would be destroyed because of her. As her mind thought of the end of the world, she heard a knock and turned. It was him.
Rick had awkwardly presented her with the bear and she gladly took it. Soon after giving it to her, they had their very first fight. He, in his 'I'm in charge. I'm the boss. I'm the BIG man' attitude, informed her that they would be leaving and she informed him that they would be staying. It became obvious that he had disregarded her words when he went searching through the closet and emerged with her suitcase.
Evelyn became incensed at his high-handedness and felt as if she were being treated like a child. She tossed the bear down on the table and told him he could take his old silly bear back. Again he disregarded her words and went back inside the closet and came out with his arms full of her clothes. She tried to reason with him but he would not listen and their disagreement escalated. When he finally realized she was not going anywhere until they found a way to kill the mummy, he reluctantly spit out a 'Fine!' before taking the bear and storming out of the room. Evelyn thought he was a cad for actually taking the bear. After all, she did not mean it when she told him he took take the bear back.
Rick did, however, to her immense pleasure, give the bear back. The night she said 'yes' to his marriage proposal, Rick had come back and knocked on her door after they said goodnight. He teasingly told her that he wanted to be sure she had said 'yes' then presented her with the bear. Evelyn's smile was brighter than when he had given it to her the first time and she fell in love with the stuffed animal then and there. So why was she now abusing him so?
"Stop looking at me like that!" Evelyn snapped.
Mr. Huggy was looking up at Evelyn with his beady little eyes. Not only did Evelyn feel silly for attacking a stuffed animal but now she began to feel a tremendous amount guilt. Mr. Huggy was, after all, the innocent in this entire mess.
"It's not you Mr. Huggy. It's that… that blasted husband of mine!" she said as she walked over to the chair and picked Mr. Huggy up. "He let some trollop kiss him!" she said as she lovingly squeezed Mr. Huggy. "Can you believe that?!"
She explained her ire to Mr. Huggy, who listened intently, as she continued her pacing. When she ran out of words to say, she simply paced and held Mr. Huggy close. Evelyn was pacing toward the door and stopped when she heard the doorknob turn.
"Evy?"
Evy? The audacity of that man! Did he really think that trying to woo her with that pitiful sounding voice would make her heart melt?
"Evy, open da door pleeze."
Surely he did not think he was getting into THIS bedroom! Into THIS bed! With her!
"I luv you…"
Instantly, her eyes began to water. Damn her melting heart!
"evy… Open da door."
A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away, angry with herself for wanting to open the door simply because he said 'I luv you'. Against her better judgment, she took one step, then another until she reached the door. Evelyn reached up and laid her hand on the door, her heart wanting to open it but her head deciding against it.
"The lips…tick…" Evelyn heard him say and slowly fell down to her knees.
Evelyn knew he was about to tell her where the lipstick had come from and she did not think she was really ready to hear the truth. He said he had been faithful. But what if he lied? Could she handle hearing him say he had been untrue to her?
"Didn't mean anything. Not one damn thing! I was stew… pid! And mad. I was mad Evy. And hurt."
Evelyn's tears began to silently cascade down her face as she heard the pain and regret in his voice. Her heart began to sink as she prepared herself for the cataclysm his words were about to bring.
"Hurt cause I thought you wanted to leave me. I didn't know what else to do so I went to get drunk. I know I promised I wouldn't drink anymore but I didn't know where else to go. You were gonna leave me Evy and it hurt bad, real bad. I wanted to hurt you for that. I wanted to hurt you as bad as you hurt me."
Evelyn laid her forehead against the door and a sick feeling washed over her as she waited for the stone pillar to fall and crush her heart. If only she had stopped him from leaving after she said she wanted a divorce. If only she had not been so hasty in thinking a divorce could solve their problem. If only they had discussed children before they got married. If only they had not fallen in love. If only they had never met. Then her world would not be one confession away from shattering. Evelyn's heart pounded loudly in her ears and she waited with baited breath for Rick to continue.
"I called her over to my table… … … …"
Evelyn's breath caught in her throat and she bit her bottom lip to hold back the anguished cry that threatened to escape.
"I called her over and… and she sat down. I knew what she was offering… and I took her up on it."
Evelyn's breathing became labored and she held her churning stomach as her world began to crumble piece by agonizing piece.
"I followed her up to her room…"
Her heart pounded even louder and Evelyn felt as if she were suffocating. Her ears began to burn. 'I followed her up to her room'. Evelyn closed her eyes tight as she tried to shut his words. 'I followed her up to her room'. She did not want to hear this. 'I followed her up to her room'. This was far worse than her worse nightmare. 'I followed her up to her room'.
Evelyn shook her head in denial. This could not be happening. She could not be sitting there listening to her husband admit that he had been unfaithful to her. She couldn't, she just couldn't listen to any more.
But she had too. Evelyn had to know what happened between Rick and this other woman. She had to know the truth regardless of the cost. The cost was great, more that she could ever bear but nevertheless, Evelyn had to know. She had to know the truth.
"But all I could do… was think about you."
Evelyn could not hear those words because 'I followed her up to her room' loudly replayed over and over in her mind as a flood of tears pushed pass her closed eyelids.
"I wanted to hurt you Evy, hurt you bad cause I was hurtin'. You don't know how it felt to hear you say you wanted a divorce. It felt like my guts were being ripped out."
Evelyn felt like her heart was being ripped out.
"I hurt so bad."
Evelyn hurt so bad too.
"And I wanted you to hurt."
Rick had accomplished his goal. More than he would ever know.
"But when I looked at her, all I could see was you. I didn't want her. I wanted you. I wanted to hurt you so bad Evy… but I couldn't cause I luv you so much. Nothing happened cause I walked out on her. I went and got some more Vodka and left. I went by the convent but I think everybody was sleep. After I left there I drove home, parked in back and finished gettin' drunk."
Evelyn's breathing came a little easier because 'I wanted you… I luv you' had broken through 'I followed her up to her room' and had found its way to her ears and then to her heart. The chokehold she felt around her neck began to loosen. Her world was not as dim as it was a moment ago.
Rick had not been untrue. Evelyn's heart believed it with all its being.
He had gone looking for another woman. Her head reasoned with all its logic.
He only did it because he was hurting. And she was the cause of his hurt.
But she would never hurt him simply because he had hurt her. She loved him too much.
And that was why she would forgive him.
But how could she forgive him when he set out to hurt her?
But he remained faithful, he remained true to his vows. Because he loved her.
But he WANTED to hurt her.
But he didn't. He couldn't. Because he loved her.
But that could not excuse his intent. His intent to hurt her.
"evy? Will you talk to me? Pleeze. Talk to me. Say something. Anything. Yell at me if you want. Just talk to me."
Evelyn could not talk to Rick. Not now. She could not or would not let go of the nagging fact that he had gone to another woman for the expressed purpose of hurting her. How could he do such a horrible thing if he loved her?
"I luv you Evy. More than anything. And I'm sorry" he said. "Pleeze say you forgive me."
Evelyn sat on the floor and leaned against the door. She did not know if she could forgive him. What would he do the next time they had a fight? Would he go seeking another woman just to get back at her? How could she trust him with her heart, knowing he was capable of intentionally hurting her? What would she do now? Where would they go from here? Would there be a future with Rick?
Evelyn did not know the answer to any of the questions that now plagued her.
"I do luv you Evy" she heard him say. "I swear it."
And she loved him too. She loved him with all her heart. But would that be enough to mend the sore rift between them?
Yet another question Evelyn did not know the answer too.