chapter 1: not an ordinary couple
“Is that all ma’am”
“Yes”
“That’ll be twenty dollars”
I reach in my purse and take out my wallet. I give the cashier the twenty dollar bill and she gives me my book. Right after I leave the store my phone starts ringing. When i look at my phone screen, it’s him. I pick up quickly.
“He-hey”
Don’t sound to nervous Isabelle he’s going to notice.
“Where are you?”
“I just got out of the bookstore”
“Okay”
There’s a long silence at the other end of the phone.
“Come home quickly. Okay?”
“Yeah I will”
“Okay, I love you”
“Love you too”
I hate saying those words to him. I’m lying to him, i don’t love him i never have, but i need to deal with it. I get in my car quickly and drive off, to a place called “home”.
When I get to the house I see him standing near the kitchen counter. I take off my coat and hang it on the coat hanger. I walk past him but he grabs my arm.
“Aren’t you going to give me a kiss?”
I give him a quick kiss on the lips.
“What book did you buy?”
I show him my book and smile at him. I turn to leave but he grabs my arm again. He presses his chest on my back and starts kissing my neck. I try to relax but I can’t. He starts taking off my shirt slowly and my breathing starts escalating. He starts biting my shoulders, and I hate that so much. I want to tell him to stop but I know he’s gonna get mad, and I don’t want that. He turns me around and gives me a dark look. He takes my hand and leads me to our room. He lays me on our bed and takes off his shirt. When he’s about to kiss me I say…
“Stop”
“What?!”
He gets on our bed so that he’s on top of me.
“Please stop. Don’t do it”
He doesn’t stop. He tries kissing me but I don’t let him. He then stops. His head is on my chest and he’s breathing hard. That’s when I notice the tears on my face. He looks up and looks at me. He stays there looking at me. He closes his eyes and lets out a sigh. He then slaps my face. I stay there stiff, not moving one muscle. I look to the side where the window is. If only I could be free. He takes off his belt and his pants. I don’t look up, I look towards the window. He takes off my bra and my pants and he fucks me. Don’t look Isabelle just look at the birds.
When I open my eyes the first thing I see is him. He’s asleep. He gets to sleep with pleasure and I get to sleep with pain. I get out of the bed quietly and go down to the kitchen. I start making breakfast to distract myself from the pain.
“Good morning”
He says, and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek.
“I thought I said I was going to do breakfast today”
“It’s okay”
He grabs my face so that I face him. He looks at the bruise on my face.
“I’m sorry”
He whispers.
“It’s okay”
I try to hold back my tears but I can’t. I look to the side and wipe my tears. He lets out a sigh and walks past me. I look at him to see if he’s mad or if he’s still in a good mood.
“I have to go to work”
He says.
He puts on his coat and grabs his keys.
“You’re not going to eat breakfast?”
I ask.
“No I’m running late”
And then he leaves. He leaves but I stay. I stay here with the pain. I look towards my book, with just the perfect love story. She finds him and he finds her, they fall in love and have this perfect wedding. Why can’t I have that? Why do I have to stay here and they get to be happy. I turn off the stove and go upstairs to my room. I put on some clothes and leave. I go to the only happy place I have. The bookstore.