The Promise

by Natalie Clarke

  “First off, you’re not my wife, we’re divorced. And you lost your right to care a long time ago, then again, you didn’t care in the first place did you?”

  “I just... I miss you Zach.”

  Is this actually fucking happening right now? Like fuck does she miss me. She misses my money and nothing more. She’s always been a fucking gold-digger, I just wish I’d seen it sooner.

  “Are you listening to yourself? You wait four fucking years before you tell me you miss me? Seriously?”

  “Zach, I-”

  “What do you want?” I snap.

  “What?”

  “You must want something after waiting four years to contact me so what is it? Money? Don’t you think you took enough of it first time around?”

  “I still love you, Zach.”

  I choke out a laugh. “Oh my God,” I scoff. “You never loved me, you loved the money in my pockets. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m a little busy.” I hang up without another word and toss my phone back onto my desk.

  I bang my fist down on the desk before I slump back into my chair and press the heels of my hands to my temples, heaving out a deep breath.

  I rise up out of my chair, grabbing my phone, my keys and my jacket and storm out of my office.

  Chapter 14

  Gwen

  I’m snapped awake by a loud cough. My head is tilted back against the back of the couch, my arm draped over Lucas who’s still asleep, curled into my side with his head on my chest. I sit up straight, rubbing my aching neck as I blink my eyes open. Once my eyes have adjusted to the light, I glance up to the clock on the wall above the TV, it’s almost five o'clock.

  A tingling sensation works its way down my spine, the feeling of a presence in the room. That’s when I see a figure sitting in the armchair across from me to my left appears in my periphery.

  My head turns and I gasp, my stomach dropping when I see the occupant sitting in the chair.

  “Sleep well?” Josh asks as he sits casually in the chair, his left ankle resting across his right knee, his arms folded across his chest.

  “Get out of my house.”

  Lucas begins to stir beside me as he slowly returns to consciousness. He rubs his eyes and yawns. “Mommy?”

  “I’m right here.”

  He looks across and his gaze meets Josh. “Josh!” He jumps from the couch and leaps into his arms.

  “Hey, bud! How are you?”

  “I’m good. I miss you.”

  “I know. Listen, why don’t you go to your room for a little while, me and mommy need to talk a little bit?”

  “Okay, Josh!” He wraps his little arms around his neck and slides off Josh’s lap and runs to his room. The smile on Josh’s face soon fades as he turns his attention from Lucas, back to me. A scowl crosses his face.

  “How dare you let yourself into my house!”

  “What happened to us, Gwen? Where did we go wrong?” he asks, changing the subject.

  “Are you seriously asking me that? Josh, all of this started the second you slept with another woman.”

  “I’ve already told you that I’m sorry, what else do you want me to say?”

  “Tell me why.”

  He sighs deeply. “It was stupid okay, but... you were working all the time, setting up your company, between that and taking care of Lucas, I never got to see you. Gwen, a man has needs.”

  I choke back a laugh, rising to my feet. “Are you seriously blaming me for all this? Are you seriously saying that I pushed you into another woman’s bed? God, what the hell is wrong with you? You know what, just get out, we're done here.”

  “You made a big mistake crossing me, humiliating me at our fucking wedding.”

  “And you humiliated me by sticking your dick in another woman, no, make that five of them, that I know of. How many were there anyway?”

  “As I said, you made a big mistake.”

  “Just get out. Oh, and don’t worry about your shit you left here, I threw it in the trash already.”

  “This isn’t over.” He rises to his feet.

  “You said that already. You’re empty threats are getting a little boring.” I fake a yawn.

  His gaze drops to the coffee table and he stills, as he eyes the thick silver Rolex that Zach left behind last week lying in the center of the table.

  “What the fuck is that?” he asks through gritted teeth.

  “It’s the vibrator I used to use to get me off when you couldn’t, what the fuck do you think it is?” I say sarcastically. “It’s a watch. While you visit the clinic to check which STI you got from your little bimbos, maybe get your eyes tested too?”

  “Who’s is it?”

  “None of your goddamn business,” I shoot back.

  He strides towards me, gripping my chin between he thumb and forefinger roughly. “Who the fuck does it belong to, Gwen?” he shouts, his face just inches from mine, his lips pulled tight across his teeth.

  I can feel the anger radiating from his body. I've never seen him like this.

  My heart is thundering against my ribs so hard I can hear my heartbeat in my ears.

  “It’s Zach’s!”

  He growls. “Did you fuck him? Huh? Answer me, did you let him fuck you?”

  “So what if I did? It has nothing to do with you!”

  “Did you fuck him while we were together?”

  I remain silent, my arms folded across my chest as I stare at him defiantly.

  “Answer me! Did you fuck him behind my back?” He squeezes my chin harder and I wince.

  My hands are shaking in anger. What right does he have to ask whether I cheated on him when he’s the one who actually did?

  Zach and I happened once, before I even met Josh, in fact, Zach was the reason I met him in the first place. I was hurt when Zach rejected me after our one-night stand and Josh found me nursing a large glass of vodka, drowning my pain in alcohol. Coincidentally, Josh had just come out of a bad relationship and he too was seeking comfort in alcohol, so we decided to drown in it together.

  “Yes, I fucked him! Over and over again and it was amazing. No one has ever made me feel the way he did, not even you.” I know I’m winding him up, but if he cared for me at all, I want him to feel the pain I felt when I found those messages on his phone. “The difference between you and him... he knows how you use it. He knew how to make me come, and God, he made me come so hard.”

  The back of his hand strikes my cheek so hard I'm knocked from my feet and I land on the floor hard on my knees. My hand flies up to my face where he hit me, the sting of his strike radiating across my cheek, slowly spreading over my face, my ears ringing from the force of the blow. My eyes brim with tears as I glance up at him as he towers over me.

  “What happened to you Josh?” I ask, my voice cracking. “I don’t even recognise you anymore.”

  His chest is heaving with deep breaths as he peers down at me, his eyes burning into mine, his nostrils flared in anger. He turns on his heels without a word and stalks out of the door, slamming it shut behind him.

  I release the breath that I didn’t realise I was holding in and begin to cry. I hunch over, my arms clasping my stomach as I sob.

  A door behind me opens.

  “Mommy?” A little voice breaks the silence in the room. I look up at Lucas through the tears that blur my vision, standing in the doorway to his room. I try to smile but I can’t. He walks over to me and sits down on my lap, winding his arms around my neck. “Are you okay?” I see his little chin begin to tremble, tears swimming in his eyes.

  “I am now, baby.” I return his hug, holding his little body against me as I sob.

  Chapter 15

  Zach

  “Scotch,” I tell the bartender.

  Fuck, this place is dingy. It’s like an alcoholic’s haven. The stench of beer and stale cigarettes fill the air in the tiny bar. The mahogany bar top is damp and sticky with spilt booze. Everyone around me is dressed in jeans, most of them looking like they jus
t came in from sleeping on the streets, some of them smell like it too. I must stick out like a sore thumb in here, dressed in a suit, the sleeves of my shirt rolled up to my elbows with the top three buttons undone, my leather jacket slung over the back of my chair.

  The bartender returns with my drink and slides it across the greasy bar towards me. “Thanks,” I say.

  He nods and turns to attend another customer.

  I don’t drink, I never have, but right now I want to. The whiskey in front of me is calling to me. There’s something about that bitch that makes me want to say fuck it and turn to the bottle just to forget what a complete and utter clusterfuck my life has become.

  I thought I had it all. Five years ago I was the happiest man alive, I owned my own company and I had the woman I loved by my side, but that all changed when I discovered the whole thing was a lie. Turned out, she never loved me, not even a little bit. I was such an idiot, completely blinded by love, that I never saw it coming. She was the first woman in my life when I could actually picture what my future would look like, but that dream shattered into a million tiny pieces along with my heart.

  “Hey there, baby.” I hear to the left of me. I glance over to find a petite brunette around the same age as me, leaning up against the bar gazing down at me with a sexy smile tugging at her red lips.

  “Hi.”

  “You want some company?”

  “Be my guest, though I’m not sure what sort of company I’m gonna be.”

  She takes a seat, crossing her legs, letting her little black dress ride up her creamy thighs that much higher.

  “You seem sad,” she says, leaning in close, her hand trailing up my thigh. “Let me make you feel better.” Her hand brushes over my dick which she begins palming with her hand.

  I grip her wrist, taking her hand off me. “Look, if you’re looking for a quick fuck, I’m not your guy.”

  “But-”

  “Not interested,” I cut her off.

  She huffs, standing up from the bar, adjusting the bottom of her dress. “Asshole,” she mumbles as she walks past me, bumping my shoulder purposefully.

  I let out a small laugh, shaking my head before turning back to the bar, circling my finger along the rim of the glass. The urge to get a taste is too strong.

  I grip the glass and bring it to my lips just as my phone begins to buzz on the bar top in front of me, Kyle’s name lighting up the screen. I set my drink back down and answer.

  “Hey.”

  “Man, where the fuck are you?” The panic in his voice has my heart speeding up as I grip my phone tighter in my hand.

  “Why, what’s wrong?”

  “It’s Gwen, something’s happened. I’m heading over to her place now.”

  Panic grips me. Is she in trouble? Is she hurt?

  “Fuck. I’m on my way.”

  I end the call and jump up from my stool, leaving the scotch untouched as I hurry out of the bar. I swing open the door and head for my bike, pulling on my jacket as I walk towards the small parking lot around the back. As I round the corner, I find two guys surrounding my bike, one of them sat on the seat casually as if it’s his, a bottle of beer in his hand, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

  I was already angry before, but this? This is just adding fuel to the fire that’s raging inside me. Nobody sits on another man’s bike, especially not mine.

  “Off the bike, now,” I tell the guy sat on my bike.

  “Make me, douche,” he shoots back.

  I’m not in the fucking mood for this today. I grab him by the collar and tug him off the bike. His friend steps towards me, pulling his fist behind him ready to strike but as he swings his fist towards me I grip it, shoving the heel of my other hand up into his nose. He roars in pain as he reels back, clutching his nose which is now pouring with blood. The other guy hurtles towards me and I reach for the bottle he’s holding before slamming it into the side of his head, pieces of glass flying everywhere, the stench of beer hanging in the air and he falls to the ground.

  If I wasn’t so desperate to get to Gwen, I’d stay and finish off these two assholes, but I have to get to her, to make sure she’s alright. I swing my leg over my bike, pull on my helmet and tear down the street towards Queens.

  ∞∞∞

  I finally pull up outside her apartment building after breaking pretty much every speed limit and highway code to get here as fast as I could, but I don’t care. I switch of the engine just as I see Kyle pull up to the curb behind my bike, the tires of his Mustang screeching to a halt.

  I fly up the stairs three steps at a time and race down the corridor to her apartment.

  My fist raps at her door. “Gwen! Gwen open the door,” I shout, just as Kyle comes to a stop beside me.

  The door opens and her puffy, bloodshot eyes flick between us, her copper hair cascading down, covering one half of her face. She swings the door wide open as she steps forward, burying her face in Kyle’s chest as a sob rips through her. She clutches his shirt like it’s her lifeline and his arms tighten around her.

  I hate the feeling of jealously that grips me in this moment, wanting it to be my shirt she’s clutching, my arms that hold her.

  Kyle walks her back into her apartment, I follow a few steps behind, shutting the front door behind me before leaning up against the wall, crossing my ankles and folding my arms across my chest. Kyle sits her down on the couch and pulls her away, brushing the hair from her face, revealing a bright red mark that spreads across the whole of her right cheek. My fists clench.

  “What the fuck?” I say, my voice coming out in barely a whisper as I stare at the mark on her face.

  “Gwen, who did this to you?” Kyle tries to keep his voice steady and his anger in check.

  She sniffs. “Josh,” she breathes out.

  I let out a deep growl. “He’s dead. That fucker is dead!” I boom. I cross the room, pacing back and forth, pulling at my hair hard enough I’m sure some of it is being torn from the root, but I don’t care. Josh fucking hit her! I lean forward against the window-sill to calm myself, looking down on the street below, but it’s no use.

  My fist collides with the brick wall beside the window and the pain radiates up my arm in waves, the skin on my knuckles shredding, but the pain feels good, so I do it again, and again.

  “Zach!” Gwen pleads.

  Her voice pulls me out of whatever trance I was in and I snap my head towards her, she’s stood only a few meters from where I’m standing, her eyes full with tears, pleading with me. I look down at my fist stained red with blood, she sees it too. I can’t bear to see her like this. I close the distance between us and pull her into my body, cradling her head to my chest with one hand while the other holds her waist, my arm around her back protectively. Her arms wind around my back, squeezing me tightly. She feels so good in my arms that I never want to let her go.

  A primal instinct to protect her grips me.

  “Gwen, what the fuck happened?” Kyle asks behind us as he rests his elbows on his knees, scrubbing a hand over his face.

  She sighs and unwinds herself from my arms before making her way back over to sit beside him. “Lucas and I fell asleep on the couch, and when I woke up, Josh was sat in the chair. I don’t know how long he’d been sitting there, but we started arguing and he hit me.”

  “He’s a dead man walking,” Kyle says. “I swear I’ll kill him.”

  “Me first,” I add.

  “Has he ever hit you before?” Kyle asks.

  “No, never, he wouldn’t, not like that.” She pauses for a second. “I mean, there was this one time...” she trails off.

  “What?” I press.

  “One time we were fighting and… he shoved me back into the wall, put his hand around my neck, he didn’t full-on choke me or anything, just yelled at me before letting go.”

  “Fuck,” Kyle breathes out, rubbing his jaw. “I’m going to give a guy I know a call, get him to come and change the locks.” He stands and heads for the kitchen
.

  “He won’t hurt you again, Gwen, I promise,” I assure her.

  She nods slowly, giving me a weak smile.

  “Is Lucas okay? He didn’t hurt him?”

  Gwen shakes her head. “God no. He may be an asshole, but he’d never hurt Lucas.”

  “Like he’d never hurt you?” I snap. That came out harsher than I intended. “Fuck, I didn’t mean it like that.”