"You've been distancing yourself a lot. I'm just worried about you, that's all." Selena told Jack who had just walked through the doors though it was past midnight.
"I feel like we have this conversation at least twice a week and I gotta tell you Sel, it's getting pretty damn aggravating that I have to keep repeating myself. I'm at work." Jack threw his shirt off and lazily tossed it into the laundry basket across the room.
Selena waited until he got into the bed next to her to grab his face and make him look at her. She observed Jack's face then let go.
"Are you high?" Selena asked, her eyebrows pinching together.
Jack let out a slow and tired laugh. "No, I'm fine and I am okay. And I'm just gonna go to bed. I don't wanna argue with you cause I love you, babe."
Jack relaxed on the mattress, closing his eyes to sleep, but only a few seconds later, he let out a small laugh.
Selena shook her head. He was most definitely high. His eyes were red and hazy and when he came in, he moved around the room like a snail, then Selena had to keep reminding him what they were talking about before he could fully grasp it.
She was starting to drift off into a sleep when she felt Jack's warm and strong arms wrap around her.
He had barely touched her the past three days, and now he had to be high to show her just an ounce of love.
Selena turned around and faced Jack. She relaxed against him, resting her head against his chest.
Jack kissed the top of her head. "I love you so much. You're just so gorgeous. And you gave me the most beautiful kids in the world. I LOVE you, baby." Every word that just came out of his mouth was slow and dull.
Selena took what she could get though. And it was beyond upsetting that he had to smoke weed to just tell her this. He hasn't been upset or angry with her, just distant and emotionless towards her, and that's worse than anything.
Selena sat Indian style on one of the chairs by the fireplace in their bedroom, watching Jack move around the room, pulling a dark green shirt over his damp head and onto his body.
Jack grabbed his phone and keys from the nightstand. "I'll see you later on tonight. I'll try to make it before dinner, I'll call if I'm gonna be late."
He was barely out of the room when Selena called his name. Jack's upper half of his body came back into the room wearing an impatient look on his face. "What? I got a session. I'm gonna be late."
"Come here." Selena spoke softly.
Jack rolled his eyes. "I have to go, Selena. I don't have time for whatever it is." He disappeared out the room again, but like before, Selena called back out to him.
"Come here." She sternly demanded him, almost shouting.
Jack dropped his head and rubbed his face for a second before walking over to her, staring down at her. "What?"
She smiled softly. "Kiss me."
Jack leaned down and lifted her chin with his thumb and index finger. He gave her a simple kiss that didn't last longer than two seconds. "I'll be home before dinner. Love you."
Selena frowned as he walked out the door. She let out a huff and checked her watch, seeing that she had an hour to herself before she had to get the kids from ballet and boxing.
She turned on the tv and took a shirt out of the laundry basket, folding it then set it to the side. As she was doing so, something on the tv caught her attention.
"Frontman of The Spares and every girls dream guy, Jack Mercer, was spotted yesterday afternoon exiting his vehicle with a new mystery girl."
Selena's throat grew dry as a photo of Jack and a girl walking towards a building that Selena couldn't make out.
The girl was lightskin with long black braids and a hoop in her left nostril, but that's all she could see before the picture disappeared.
"Is he cheating on his wife, Selena, who he's been with for fourteen years? From the outside looking in, they seem happy with their two kids and their long term relationship, but who knows what's truly going on in their relationship? If we get anymore juicy details, we'll be the first to let you know."
Selena turned the television set off and continued to fold the clothes as if nothing happened.
It'd make perfect sense if Jack was cheating on her. He's always claiming he's at work even though he's supposed to be on his break because he doesn't start actually recording until next month. And they've been married for seven years, so maybe he's bored with her and wants someone new.
Her train of thought came crashing to a halt once she felt something in Jack's jeans. She fished around in his pocket to pull a small bag of cocaine that was at least a gram which was enough for about five lines.
But she knew he wasn't high off coke last night. She knew the different symptoms and he was tired and slow last night. If he was high off of coke then he would've been more energetic and not wanting to sleep.
A Few Hours Later.
Jack walked into the house which was surprisingly quiet. Usually the kids would run up to him and his wife would greet him with a kiss, but not now.
"Selena!?"' He shouted her name, but she didn't answer. Letting out a huff, he threw the keys on the table next to the door.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so what could've possibly happened?
Jack slowly walked down the hallway then into the kitchen and before his brain could even register what was being thrown at him, the sound of breaking glass rented the air.
His eyes slammed shut as his heart was the only thing that was moving. What the fuck?
He took in a deep breath then opened his eyes to see millions of pieces that were once apart of a wine bottle, on the floor next to him. The tiles were now covered from the wine. A dark red creeping outward among the shards.
Jack trained his eyes on Selena who stood on the other side of the counter with a look of anger that he seen her wear only a few times in all fourteen years they've been together.
"What in the fuck is wrong with you?!" Jack asked, his eyes flickering between her and the shattered wine bottle on the floor. "You're fucking insane! I wasn't even in the damn house for more than a minute! What in the hell could I've done?"
"I was watching tv after you left earlier and on some damn gossip show, they had a picture of you and some other girl walking into some damn building together and people are thinking you're cheating on me and I can't help but think the same thing."
A genuine look of curiosity and confusion fell across his face as his brows were drawn together and his eyes formed into slits. "What fucking girl? Kiana?"
Selena shrugged. "I don't know. You tell me." She stuck her hand in her back pocket then pulled out her phone, tossing it to Jack who caught it with one hand.
Jack took only a glance at the screen of him and Kiana, then trained his cold blue eyes back on Selena. "This is fucking Kiana. She's an artist I'm working with. I'm helping her with her damn album. We were going into the studio which is where I'm always at and I never lied to you about that."
"Why didn't you tell me you were working with another girl?"
"Because I knew you would act like this. I never lied to you about anything. God, I can't believe you think I'd cheat you. And you got the damn nerve to accuse me while the kids are in the fucking house?"
Selena formed a tight lipped smile. "Unfortunately for you, they're next door."
Jack let out a heavy sign as he rubbed his forehead. "I didn't cheat Selena and I'm not going to. Can we please move on from this?"
She shook her head and scoffed. "No." She chuckled. "Tell me why in the world you came home high last night."
Jack shrugged hard, keeping his shoulders elevated as his brows furrowed. "I fucking smoked weed. Jesus Christ, it's not that serious."
"Jack, that was the first time you touched me in days. You held me and told me you loved me and that I was gorgeous. You had to be high just to tell me that."
Jack closed his eyes for a short second before speaking. "You know I don't have to be high just to tell that."
"Whatever, Jack. You've been doing shit behind my back and I can't take this shit anymore."
"Selena, I'm doing my fucking job and having a bit of fun. I'm not doing shit behind you're goddamn back."
She reached in her back pocket then threw the small bag of coke at him. "What in the fuck is that?"
"Why are you going through my shit?"
"I was folding your laundry. I didn't go through anything. You're doing coke now?"
Jack threw his head back. "No, I'm fucking not. I tried a line the other night with the guys and some other people. After that, I told them it wasn't my thing, but some guy stuffed it in my pocket and said, 'Just in case you change your mind.' And that was all. I didn't even remember I had it."
Selena shook her head. "You know what, I don't even know if I should believe you. But as of right now, you and I are separated. I'm gonna take the kids and we'll stay at a hotel until I sort things out."
"What? Selena, baby, c'mon. We're not separating. We can work this shit out."
"We just did."
Selena walked out of the kitchen then upstairs and into their bedroom and pulled out a suitcase from under the bed. She began to open the drawers, taking the clothes out to put them in the suitcase.
Each time she would put something in the suitcase, Jack would take three things out. "You're not going anywhere. You don't ever wanna work shit out."
Selena put a finger on his forehead, jabbing him with each word she spoke. "I've. Been. Working. Shit. Out. For. Fourteen. Years."
He hit her hand away then grabbed the suitcase and dumped everything out onto the bed, leaving Selena with a dropped jaw.
"I told you that you aren't leaving, especially with my kids. You need to go outside and get some air and listen to some birds chirp because you're acting insane over bullshit."
"Over bullshit? Jack, you did coke and had the nerve to bring it into our damn house."
"I forgot it was in there!"
"And it's not even just that ; you hid the fact that you were working with another female and the only time I get any affection from you is when you were high last night. You barley spoken to me lately. I had to make you kiss me earlier before you left. You're my husband, I should get affection all the time from you."
Jack scoffed. "I show you affection, so don't even start with that. I've been busy and stressed lately and lately, all I wanted to do was sleep. That's why I've been distant."
Selena shook her head and began grabbing her clothes again. "We just need time apart."
"Let me get this straight...You're mad cause I'm distant, but now you want even more distance and time apart? You don't even know what the fuck you want."
She shrugged. "Do what you want while I'm gone Jack. Like honestly. Go and have your fun. Snort all the cocaine you want. Smoke all the weed you want. Fuck all the girls you want."
Jack let out a groan then said with a laugh, "Babe, I want you! If I didn't then I wouldn't be standing here right now. I would've let you leave. You know I don't play about losing you, I don't want anyone else."
Selena zipped up the suitcase, but Jack put an arm on it, keeping it where it was. He used his other arm to pull her by her throat and passionately kiss her.
She eventually fell into it, her fingers running through his hair, holding him close. One hand of his held onto her waist as the other squeezed her ass. He gently flipped them over and continued kissing her.
Then she realized what he was doing and that she can't give in because he thinks this will make her stay and she couldn't be weak like that.
She broke away from the kiss. "I'm not letting you have your way cause this is exactly why you never learn. Do you even think we're worth saving?"
Jack bitterly chuckled and got off top of her. "Of course I do. I do my best to keep you happy and shit, but nothing is never enough for you, huh?"
"Do you know why, Jack?" She stood up from the bed and grabbed her suitcase. "You do enough to keep me around, but not enough to make me happy and that's a problem."
"Wow."
Jack pressed his tongue against the side of his cheek and nodded slowly as if he was stuck between hurt, anger, and surprise.
"You know what, Selena...You can stay with the kids and I'll go. Take whatever time you fucking need."
Selena was relieved, but she didn't show it. She took the clothes out of the suitcase and began packing Jack's stuff. "We're getting legally separated."
"Why? So you can end up divorcing me? That shit isn't happening. I'll leave and come back whenever you're ready and that's it."
"I don't know when that'll be."
"Figure the shit out. Am I going to see the kids?"
Selena laughed. "Why is it when you're getting pushed away, you always want to come back? You haven't seen them lately either, but now you want to see them? Just, see them on the weekends."
"I'm not becoming a weekend dad. I'll pick them up from school and I'll take Nye to ballet and Dylan to boxing."
Selena zipped up the suitcase. "Whatever." She pushed it over to him and waited for him to leave.
"Did you at least pack my deodorant and toothbrush?"
"No." She simply stated, folding her arms.
Jack tsk'ed. "Can't even back a bag right." He stood up and went into the bathroom. Only seconds later, he came back out with his toothbrush and deodorant, throwing it inside the bag. "You're gonna pay for everything yourself?"
She nodded slowly then followed Jack downstairs. He stopped at the front door and turned around with an arched brow. "You're not gonna mess around with anyone, are you?"
"I don't think that's any of your business."
"It most definitely is." He dropped the suitcase on the floor. "I'm gonna stay here if you're planning to fuck with anyone."
"Get out, Jack. What I do is my business only. You can see your kids tomorrow, but for right now, leave."
Jack shook his head and picked up the suitcase. "Can't believe I'm getting kicked out of my own house." He turned around and left the house, the door slamming shut behind him.
Jack smoked on a cigarette as he sat on the couch in the studio with Kiana. They been there for hours, editing the first few songs on the album.
Kiana took Jack's lighter out of his hand. "How is it being separated?" Using her thumb, she flicked the lighter, igniting it and set the flame to the end of one of her braids.
"Boring." Jack muttered, taking a long drag of his cigarette. "I haven't seen her in days. Every time I'm there to drop the kids off from school and take them back home after what they have to do, she's never there."
Kiana tossed his lighter back to him. "Why did she want you to leave?
"Reasons."
Kiana laughed. "C'mon, I thought we were close."
Jack raised his brows. "Who told you that?"
Kiana only shrugged in response then began picking at a hangnail on her finger, biting her lip as she did so.
"I don't tell anyone what goes on in my relationship. All I do is tell them that we're okay and she's good and the kids are fine and proceed to the next question. It's not anyone's business."
"Well aren't you mature."
"I guess so."
Kiana frowned at him. "Are you okay?"
Jack nodded. "Yep." He put his cigarette out in the ashtray that sat on the glass table. "Perfectly fine."
Kiana hummed. "There's something on your shirt." She leaned closer and pointed to a his shirt.
Once Jack looked down, she flicked his nose and giggled. "Gotcha."
He smiled. "You're really a child."
Their eyes met and that was literally all it took. A spark that lasted less than a second. Then Kiana hungrily pressed her lips against his.
Her hands crumpled into the front of his shirt as he lifted her onto his lap, kissing her soft lips that tasted like sugar.
The kiss was lingering and consuming. It crowded up every atom of Jack's brain, confused about what was happening and how it was happening and why it was happening.
Kiana pulled off his shirt, her green eyes growing in amazement at how the tattoos complimented his solid chest and muscular arms. She took her time to admire him, running her hands along his hard abs, tracing his v-line.
Her eyes then took notice in something on his left upper chest, it was a small and a pale brown filled circle that was barley noticeable.
"What's that?" She asked, barley above a whisper, her eyes telling him what she was looking at.
"I got shot a few years ago."
Kiana's eyes flickered to Jack's face that held no emotion. Her bottom lip jutted out before she leaned down and pecked the scar.
Jack smiled as she leaned down to kiss him hard as he began to unbutton her shorts. Kiana removed her tank top as he tugged down her shorts.
In the matter of seconds, all material was on the floor and their skin was exposed. Kiana was ready, she was visibly nervous, but she was ready.
Kiana lowered herself down onto him, gasping loudly as her eyes slammed shut, her nails digging into his chest.
Jack sat still, letting her adjust to his size, remembering that she hadn't had sex since she was younger. "You okay?" He asked.
Kiana's teeth dug into her bottom lip as she nodded. "I'm okay. You can touch me now, it's fine."
Jack moved her braids out of the way, kissing her neck down to her shoulder as he gently rocked her against him.
She let out a whimper, feeling full with every inch of him. Burying her face into the crook of his neck, she wrapped her legs around him, meeting his thrust.
Jack pulled back to get a look at her face. She seemed shy and coy as if she wanted to hide her face again. "You're beautiful."
Blush stained her cheeks as she let out a small laugh that soon turned into a moan as Jack's fingers rubbed her.
After a few more minutes of their skin rubbing against each other's, she found herself on a wave of pleasure that she never experienced before, triggering Jack's own.
They finished with a passionate kiss before Kiana reached in her bag that was on the floor and pulled out a bag of weed and a rello.
She soon lit it with Jack's lighter. After inhaling strongly she gazed down at him, wondering why he was staring at the wall and why he was so quiet.
"Everything okay?"
Jack snapped back and nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm okay." He lied.
He knew he fucked up and he knew he took advantage of this separation. Kiana was nothing to him but an artist he was trying to promote. He screwed everything up once again.
Kiana chuckled. "Okay." She offered the blunt to Jack who shook his head. "No, thanks."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Daddy!" Naomi screamed happily as she ran into his arms. "I missed you!"
Jack laughed as he opened the back door to the Mercedes where Dylan sat, playing one of his games on his portable system. "You just seen me an hour ago, baby."
"I still missed you." She planted a kiss on his cheek. "That's how mommy kisses you." She giggled.
Jack nodded as he sat her in her booster seat. "Yeah, that's how mommy kisses me." He repeated, buckling her in. "You good, Dyl?"
Dylan nodded and continued playing his game. Jack shut the car door then got in the drivers seat, starting the car back up. "How was ballet?"
"Fun."
"That's good." Jack said. "How's your mom?"
"I saw her cry." Naomi blurted out casually without a thought.
Jack's eyes darted to the mirror to see Dylan put his hand over Naomi's mouth. "Shhh. Don't tell dad."
"Too late. I already heard."
"She only cried once. But all the other days, she was okay...I think."
Jack nodded. "It's okay. I won't tell her that you told me if you don't. Deal?"
Dylan and Naomi exchanged glances. "Deal."
Jack soon pulled into the driveway and let the kids jump out of the car. He felt ridiculous to knock on his own door, but he had to.
When the door opened, he expected to see Cherry, but it was Selena who he hadn't spoken to or seen in the last few days.
"Hey mom!" Dylan shouted as he was already halfway up the stairs.
Naomi held onto Selena's leg. "Hi, mama." She chirped with a grin on her face.
Selena smiled and picked Naomi up. "Hey baby. You have fun?"
Naomi nodded with a smile. "Yes."
"That's good babe." She then averted her gaze from her daughter to Jack. "Now say bye bye to Daddy."
Jack glared at Selena for a moment before his face softened again. "I need to talk to you."
"Tell me now then if it's serious."
"I need to talk to you upstairs." He nodded towards the stairs.
Selena eyed him for a moment then sat Naomi down who ran into the living room where Grizzly left his small bed and followed her.
"Come on." She stepped aside, allowing him to walk in before shutting the door. As she lead the way up stairs, Dylan ran past them as if they weren't there.
"Stop running!" The both of them shouted as he went into the living room as well, ignoring the both of them.
Once they walked into the room, Jack locked the door behind him, making Selena become alert. "I hope you don't think that we're abou-"
Jack sucked his teeth. " I didn't come here for that. I want to talk to you about something." He grabbed a chair by the fireplace and placed it in front of the bed where Selena sat.
He took a seat and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees as his hands were clasped together in the space between his legs. "I want to be honest with you and I know that's what you want from me, so if I'm gonna get you to trust me, then I'll tell you the truth."
Selena intently stared at him, waiting for him to continue.
He took in a deep breath, doing his best to steel himself. "I had sex with Kiana."
Selena nodded, not even taking a second to let anything sink in. "I know. That's what I knew what you were gonna do."
"Are you not mad?" Jack asked, confused as can be.
"Why would I be? I gave you permission to. It's just so funny to me that you think you could win my trust back by telling me something that I feared you doing in the first place. And I didn't stop trusting you. I just said I needed distance, but you went and made up a whole other scenario, so congratulations Jack, you lost my trust."
Jack sat up. "You told me that we weren't together and that you might fuck with someone else."
"I never said that. See that's what I'm talking about. Stop creating words I never said."
Jack ran his fingers through his hair and almost pulled it out with all the frustration that was building up. He rested his hands over his face and took a second before speaking again.
"Baby, I need you back. I can't do this anymore. I can't sign divorce papers or legal separation papers. This isn't what I want. If you want me to drop Kiana then I swear I will. If you feel the need to come with me to the sessions then come. Whatever you want me to do, babe."
"Jack, what I want you to do is -"
Both of their heads snapped to the door as they heard two loud bangs that they could feel under their feet and the sound of Grizzly barking viciously. Jack and Selena exchanged looks with one another before they both darted out of the room and down the stairs.
"Dylan! Naomi!" Jack shouted to make sure they were okay, but they didn't get any response.
The both of them noticed that the front door was wide open and an overwhelming wave of panic suffocated them.
Selena checked the entertainment room whilst Jack checked outside and the living room. They searched in the cabinets, under the tables, in the closets, their rooms, everywhere.
She began walking back into the living room until she stepped on something hard, making her hiss in pain. Reaching down to pick it up, she realized it was a gold ring with a lions head, and she almost threw up.
"Jack!"
Jack walked into the room, hoping he'd find his kids, but it was only Selena holding the ring. "This is your dad's ring."
He took it from her hand and almost exploded. He looked up at Selena to see tears began to sting the corners of her eyes. "We have to call the police."
Jack shook his head. "No, fuck that. We're calling my brothers."