by S M Mala
The whole house was in darkness and she wheeled the buggy in, before picking the baby up then walked up the stairs. She glanced at the Christmas tree and all the lovely presents for Amelia.
This was going to be the last time she would spend it with Harry.
Something then weighed heavy in her heart knowing the split was going to cause all amounts of pain for them both.
The light was reflecting through the window as she got to the next level.
Then she heard it.
A knocking sound.
Not knowing what it was, and automatically thinking that it was an air lock in the central heating, she walked further down the corridor.
The sound was coming from the nursery.
In two minds on whether to put her daughter down, she walked towards the door then pushed it open.
Harry was fucking someone from behind on the baby changing table.
He hadn’t seen her looking and Sophie didn’t know what to think.
Then she flicked on the light.
It was Onya.
Gasping, she looked at the two naked bodies, trying to hide for cover but her eyes were then locked with Harry.
There were no words to describe how she felt but the look on Onya’s face showed more terror than shock.
‘What are you doing home early?’ Harry said, putting on his jeans and running his fingers through his hair.
He seemed unsteady on his feet.
Sophie couldn’t speak.
The site had shocked her into silence.
Then she looked at Onya, hurriedly getting dressed while turning her back.
‘That’s why you were so unfriendly because you were fucking my husband,’ she said quietly, not wanting to wake her baby. Glancing at Onya, she couldn’t hide her look of disgust. ‘Get the fuck out of my house.’
‘It’s my house and I can have who I please here,’ he angrily replied. He was pissed from how he staggered about, and Sophie didn’t know what to do. ‘Why don’t you fuck off out of here and take that little bastard with you!’
Not wanting to show she was still reeling from shock, Sophie stood her ground and stepped back.
‘Did you want me to find out? Is this how you want the marriage to end?’ she asked, shaking her head and trying not to choke through angry tears. ‘Fine. I’ll go.’ Taking a deep breath, she turned to look at Onya. ‘How could you do this to Jonah? He’s a good man and deserves better than this. He’s taking you away tomorrow and this is how you thank him?’
‘Please don’t tell him!’ Onya pleaded, stepping forward. ‘This is a one-off.’
‘Times one hundred,’ Harry said, turning to look at Sophie. ‘If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that my wife has a crush on your boyfriend.’ He let out a little laugh. ‘Oh Sophie, when will you ever learn? You’re so gullible.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘All he had to do was keep you out of the way while I got some alone time.’ He looked at her as if she was stupid. ‘I’ll give him credit for never letting it slip out. He has been very loyal to me.’
‘Alone time?’ Her heart sank on hearing Harry’s words but she wasn’t going to be deflected.
‘Fun time that I haven’t had with you since you got pregnant with that!’
‘Don’t raise your voice. She’s sleeping.’
‘I don’t care!’
‘You’re a poor excuse for a man, do you know that? You stink of booze half the time and when you touch me, my skin crawls. You have no love in your heart and you’re half the man Jonah is, and could ever be. I sometimes think you only wanted him to be around me because you wanted him more. I’ve seen the way you behave. Like a love struck school girl. Nothing would surprise me and-.’
The slap was sudden and it stunned her, as her head flung back and reverberated off the door frame.
Sophie felt a sharp pain on her face and head, before realising she couldn’t stand.
All the time aware the baby was in her arms, she slowly sunk to the floor.
In the background, she heard Onya screaming at him before running out of the house.
Petrified to move just in case he tried to attack her and the child, Sophie sat perfectly still, trying to hear her child breathe.
‘You made me do it!’ he screamed, stomping around. ‘You think I want to hear about Jonah again and again? Can’t you see, you stupid bitch, he was playing with you. He needs my help to make him successful. Me, that’s right. Not you! He doesn’t care that I’m screwing his girlfriend. It’s all about his work.’ Harry stopped and looked down at her. Sophie closed her eyes so as not to make eye contact. ‘He wouldn’t want you. No man would! You’re too fucking fat to fuck, do you know that? Do you think I wanted a baby? It’s fucking horrible being tied to that and you. I hate it and I hate you!’
It was when he put his hands either side of her head and banged it against the door frame very hard. Sophie thought she was going to die.
And he was going to kill Amelia.
She held on tightly to her baby, feeling her brain and body start to go numb.
Then she heard him march off and the door slam shut.
All the time, she felt her heart and soul crumble, seeing she had been made a complete fool of.
Both by Harry, and now Jonah.
The only thing she cared about was sleeping in her arms.
‘My head is all over the place!’
As soon as he went through his front door, he told Ross everything about what happened. He couldn’t hold back how happy he felt and that he wanted Sophie, and she wanted him.
‘Slow down,’ laughed Ross, sitting next to him. ‘You’re catching a flight with Onya tomorrow. How’s that going to work?’
‘I thought about it on the way home. I don’t want to hurt her, so we’ll go ahead as planned. I’ll find a way of telling her that it’s like a final goodbye.’
‘And you think that’s a good idea?’ Ross rolled his eyes. ‘Sophie is Harry, your agent’s, wife. Why couldn’t you pick a waitress?’
‘He didn’t even turn up for the christening, can you believe it? I don’t want to go away. I want to start my life with her right now!’
‘Oh shit! That’s a bad sign.’ Ross touched his shoulder. ‘Take a deep breath and think about this properly. This man holds your future in his hands. He can make or break you. Knowing his wife might have fallen for you isn’t going to help matters. You seriously have to slow down.’
‘I know, I know. But I can’t!’ he said, laughing out loudly. ‘Two weeks away and then I know we’ll be together. I feel it.’
‘Kay, help me.’
Sophie was slumped holding her baby in her arms. She looked down and there was blood dripping on Amelia’s head, the child still sleeping.
Shaking, she grabbed her coat sleeve and wiped it off, checking she was still breathing, then kissing her gently, inhaling her innocent scent.
The knock had been hard. Her head was spinning and she felt like she might pass out at any time. Sophie was petrified she would then suffocate her baby, but she couldn’t get to her feet, still stunned.
‘What’s wrong?’ Kay asked, sounding pissed.
‘Call an ambulance for me. There’s been an accident.’
‘What the fuck!’
‘Please help me. I’m at home. Harry hurt me.’
Sophie took the sleeve of her coat and wiped her bloody nose, all the time checking on the sleeping baby in her arms.
Still her house was in darkness and she didn’t want to sob out loudly.
That would wake the child.
Her head was dazed and she must have passed out for a couple of seconds.
There was a massive pain on her face and she wanted to die.
Everything had happened so quickly.
She remembered his hand coming towards her face, the nasty words then feeling the pressure of his palms on her cheeks, while he smacked her head against the side.
Right now she realised what and w
ho Harry was doing, and more importantly why he got Jonah to look after her for all these months.
Sophie wasn’t going to forget Onya in a hurry.
Suddenly it all made perfect sense why the woman had been hostile.
Onya witnessed Harry hit her and did nothing, only run out scared.
His anger was terrifying as she felt the full throttle of it on her skin and bone.
Then she thought about Jonah.
The man she was close to declaring her love for; who she would have gladly left her husband to be with, was really only friends with her because of his duty to Harry.
Not for spending time with her, but so her husband could see other women.
It was an open secret.
The only person who didn’t know was her.
And Jonah was particularly stupid for not realising Harry was fucking his woman.
All she felt was hurt and betrayed.
Not about Harry.
But with Jonah.
And scared Harry would harm her and her child, who she gently protected in her arms, especially when he admitted how much he hated their baby and her.
Sophie’s heartbreak was too much to bear.
‘Can I stay here?’
Harry had turned up on his doorstep, looking dishevelled and upset. Jonah didn’t know what to do. As for Ross, he was stumped. ‘I can’t stay another minute in that house with her!’
Both the younger men looked at each other and then at Harry.
‘Sure,’ Jonah found himself saying, suddenly filled with guilt. ‘Why weren’t you at the christening?’
‘Because of bloody work. Now Sophie is completely unhinged,’ he said, running his fingers through his hair. ‘Today I don’t know what happened. Her behaviour was erratic.’
‘She seemed fine when I left her.’ Jonah noticed Ross’s suspicious expression as he went towards the door and put on his jacket. ‘Where are you going?’
‘Got to run a few errands,’ he said, flicking a frown towards Harry. ‘I’ll see you later.’
Watching Harry walk about, Jonah immediately wanted to call Sophie to see what had happened. She obviously hadn’t told her husband about kissing Jonah, or he wouldn’t have been there.
‘Can I get a drink?’ asked Harry, looking quite shaken.
Jonah walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of scotch, taking one glass back. He poured it out when he got into the room and handed it to Harry.
‘Aren’t you having one, Jonah?’
‘I’ve got to catch a flight tomorrow afternoon, or have you forgotten?’ he replied, sitting next to Harry, who knocked back his drink, then filled the glass again. ‘Why did you come here?’
‘I wanted to make sure,’ he whispered into his drink, sipping it slowly.
‘Sure of what?’
‘That Sophie hadn’t called telling tales.’
‘Why would she do that?’
‘Because when I left, she was spouting nonsense. I don’t want you to get involved.’ The looked Harry gave him was a warning. ‘I appreciate the time you’ve spent with my wife but I think you should step away.’
Warning bells were ringing and Jonah didn’t know what to say or ask.
‘Is there something I need to know?’ Harry asked glaring at him. ‘Has she said anything? Have you to her?’
‘About what?’
‘About me? What I get up to when you’ve been keeping her company?’
Jonah took a deep breath before shaking his head from side to side in response.
‘You’ve never said anything to her?’ he continued to question.
‘Did you want me to?’ Sitting back he noticed the serious expression now crossing Harry’s face.
‘The future holds many good things for us, for you,’ Harry said, sipping his drink. ‘And I’ve worked hard to get you noticed. Right now, I think, all things considered. I’d prefer it if you didn’t waste your time with Sophie.’
He didn’t know how to take the comment but though best not to react.
‘One minute she’s all over me, the next she turns aggressive and it’s hard to deal with. Sometimes I have to be very firm. I think she needs to see a doctor as she has been out of sorts for ages.’
‘What happened today?’ he asked, his elation over Sophie subsiding, as he started to hear about a side of the woman he’d never encountered.
‘I don’t think she’s stable.’ Harry looked straight into his eyes. ‘She came home in a vile temper, shouting and screaming. Something must have upset her.’
It didn’t make sense what Harry was saying because when Jonah left Sophie, she looked really happy.
‘She was fine this afternoon.’ Then he hesitated. ‘Could be she was upset about you not being at the christening. Where were you really?’
‘Out,’ he said, looking at him. ‘Have you spoken to her since then?’
‘No.’
‘Well don’t.’ Putting down his glass, he looked at Jonah straight in the eye. ‘Sophie will manipulate your affections, make you feel sorry for her when she doesn’t deserve it.’ He angrily pushed his hand through his hair. ‘Things are going to change between her and me.’
‘If you’re unhappy, then leave.’ It was the mortified expression on Harry’s face that confused Jonah. ‘Why not?’
‘My wife might make out she can move on and be independent, but that’s bullshit. She needs me and I have to do my duty and stick by her side. I must have put you through the mill with her erratic behaviour.’
‘Soph has always been fine,’ he said, wondering who this woman was Harry was describing.
It wasn’t Sophie.
‘Thank you for covering for me,’ whispered Harry.
‘I didn’t want to,’ Jonah said defensively.
‘I have to fix things at home.’
‘You screw around behind her back. How do you think that would make her feel if she ever found out? It’s wrong to stick together if it’s going to make one or both of you eventually unhappy.’
‘Right now I know she hates me, but I can work through that. It was her fault, the whole thing. Sophie forced my hand, and she knows it. She needs time to cool off.’
Something didn’t add up.
Harry seemed anxious and guilty.
Jonah was looking at a man who was agitated in his anger.
‘Did you have a quarrel?’ Jonah tentatively asked.
‘She won’t forgive me. I could see it in her eyes.’
‘For what?’
‘A mistake.’
‘What actually happened?’
‘Just stay away from her,’ he sharply said. ‘I don’t want you to get involved.’
Little did the man know, Jonah was already involved.
He was in love and that was more than enough to make sure he would never keep away.
‘Is she all right?’
Over and over again Sophie asked the same question.
Kay had tried to remove Amelia from her arms when she got to the house but Sophie wouldn’t let go. All she did was check to see if the baby was breathing because Sophie’s head was throbbing and she was confused.
And her body shook furiously due to the shock of the assault.
The nurse was examining her face and the baby was looked at separately in a cot bed.
‘She’s perfectly fine,’ another nurse said, smiling at the child. ‘She needs to have a lovely bath and get her clothes changed.’
‘Are you sure?’ Sophie asked again.
Kay gently squeezed her arm. She could see the fear and concern in her friend’s eyes.
‘You’re going to have some bruising around your face and a lump on the back of your head,’ the nurse said, looking into her eyes. ‘As you weren’t severely concussed, we’ll let you go once we’ve cleaned up your face, but you’re going to have to be monitored for the next 24 hours.’
‘I can do that,’ Kay said, on the verge of tears. ‘Leave her with me.’
There was a throb in her
lip, where it had been cut when Harry slapped her.
She could still taste the blood.
Looking up at Kay, Sophie didn’t know what to do.
‘You’re not going back there,’ whispered Kay, leaning down. ‘You have to report him to the police.’
Shaking her head, slowly from side to side, Sophie was aware all that would entail and she couldn’t face it.
‘I don’t want to be with him anymore,’ she said, tears streaming down her face as the other nurse put Amelia in her buggy. ‘I have to leave.’
‘Why did he hit you?’
Blinking back the water in her eyes, Sophie didn’t want to say.
It was too horrible to speak about in front of Kay, let alone with the two other people in the curtained off area.
‘They made me look like a fool. I don’t understand. He was so angry; so very nasty about the baby and me. It’s like he wanted me to find out; wanted to hurt me to show that he could.’
‘Sophie, tell me,’ her friend gently asked.
‘I think he was pissed and high on something,’ she whispered. ‘Or someone. I told him-.’ She couldn’t easily repeat what she had said, knowing the web of lies that had been weaved. ‘I said Jonah had been more of a father to Amelia than he ever could be. Then he got very angry.’
‘Where was Jonah?’
‘He escorted me to the top of the road and then left. Harry wasn’t supposed to have been there, but he was.’
‘What aren’t you telling me?’
‘I’m so ashamed!’ Sophie burst into tears but her face and head hurt when she cried. ‘How could he have done this?’
‘We’ll go to your home and-.’
‘I can’t go back in there!’ she gasped, shaking her head furiously. ‘Not if he’s around.’ Then her eyes noticed the tinsel around the lamp by the bed. ‘It’s nearly Christmas. I have to sort this out.’
‘Come and stay with me.’
‘I can’t,’ she replied, gulping hard and watching the nurse look at her sympathetically. Taking a deep breath, she knew she had to go back to the house to get her things. ‘Can Pete come with me? I might need some help. I need to do it tonight.’
‘I think you should rest up,’ the nurse said, shaking her head. ‘You’ve had a bit of a shock and shouldn’t be rushing about. You need to make sure you don’t feel sick or there’s any sign of delayed concussion.’