Chapter 2
The sound of the shower echoed,
masking the noise of my movements,
as I packed a small overnight bag.
I grabbed my passport,
along with my most valuable jewelry,
and hid them in the bottom compartment.
I was not going to stay here,
sleeping next to a man who betrayed me,
but I needed to play a temporary game.
When the water finally stopped running,
I zipped the bag completely shut,
and pushed it under the bed out of sight.
Kevin walked into the bedroom,
drying his hair with a white towel,
smelling like the soap I had bought for him.
He looked at me in the mirror,
trying to gauge my emotional state,
still worried about what I might know.
I sat on the edge of the bed,
pretending to read a magazine,
keeping my facial expression entirely blank.
He sat down next to me,
reaching out to touch my shoulder,
which made my skin crawl with disgust.
I pulled away slightly,
blaming it on a sudden headache,
so I would not have to feel his hands.
He sighed like a patient saint,
telling me we would try again soon,
referencing our failed fertility treatments.
Hearing him use my pain,
manipulating my grief for his cover story,
made me want to scream in his face.
Instead,
I nodded slowly,
telling him I was just very tired today.
He crawled under the heavy blankets,
turning off the bedside lamp,
plunging the room into absolute darkness.
I lay awake for hours,
listening to his deep breathing,
hating the rhythm of his chest.
I thought about my sister,
holding the baby in her hospital bed,
laughing at my desperate ignorance.
I thought about my mother,
praising Sierra for giving Kevin a child,
while calling me a useful financial tool.
The anger inside me changed,
shifting from a hot burning rage,
into a cold and calculating glacier.
I waited until the sun came up,
watching the gray morning light,
filter through the bedroom curtains.
I got out of bed quietly,
making sure not to wake him,
and pulled my hidden bag from the floor.
I left a note on the kitchen counter,
written in my usual neat handwriting,
so he would not suspect a single thing.
The note said I had a sudden business trip,
which would take me away for a few days,
and that I loved him very much.
Writing that word felt like poison,
but it was a necessary deception,
to buy me the time I desperately needed.
I grabbed my car keys,
locking the apartment door behind me,
walking into the cool morning air.
I drove straight to a luxury hotel,
where I checked into a corner suite,
using a credit card he did not know about.
I dropped my bag on the plush carpet,
looking out over the city skyline,
feeling completely free for the first time.
My phone buzzed in my pocket,
showing a text message from Kevin,
who had just woken up and read my note.
He told me to have a safe trip,
adding a little heart emoji at the end,
which proved how easy it was to fool him.
I tossed the phone onto the bed,
May you like
opening my laptop to start the real work,
knowing today was the day I took everything.
