𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄

chapter three

Clayton blinked hard and shook his head slightly before turning to Nina briefly.

"What? What was that?"he asked having not heard her while deep in thought. His right hand changed gears and his brown eyes focused back onto the San Diego street.

"I asked if you enjoyed the party..."Nina repeated in a quite voice. She had decided to break the silence since it became suffocating after a while. She was still trying to wrap her head around her encounter with Alexandra Cohen and everything that she had said.

"It was fine,"the 29 year old man responded taking out a loose cigarette from his pocket. The party was a disaster on his part and his father would definitely let him know soon.

"Are you seriously going to smoke in the car? You know I d-"Nina began disgusted that he wanted to smoke once again.

"What Nina?!"he asked raising his voice. Her complaining and chatter was annoying him. It would have been best if there was just silence.

"Nothing,"she replied looking out the window. This was normal behaviour of Clay and now that she thought about it, it was quite sad that she had become used to it.

Clay turned his head toward her and felt guilty for raising his voice. He would never admit it but he frequently took out his anger on Nina and that wasn't fair to her. He sighed throwing the lit cigarette out the window.

"There happy?"he sighed running his hand through his dark hair. They had a complicated relationship, him and Nina. Their families were close associates and they frequented the same social events. Before Clay knew it everyone seemed to think they would make the perfect match and soon enough they were dating. Clay couldn't even remember how long they were together.

Nina let his words swim around in her mind. Was she happy? She had everything a girl could want so being unhappy would make her really ungrateful. Wealth, family, boyfriend and everything else a girl her age could ask for. But she was still so sad and unfulfilled.

Their apartment was cold as they arrived, Nina locking the door behind them. Nina never felt at home there. It was full of greys and navy blues which screamed bachelor pad. She once tried to add a feminine touch but she learned the hard way that Clayton hated change.

The couple barely spoke and if they did it was to people on the phone or Nina's cat, Meredith.

"Yes dad I know. I'll be at the office tomorrow so we can get everything ready. Okay fine. Alright,"Clayton sighed and ended the call with his father. He was in bed with his laptop going over office stuff that Nina read to fall asleep.

Nina sat her vanity, able to see Clay in its reflection. She combed her hair once more before climbing into bed. She wanted to say something to him, anything really. She loved him so much but he just saw her as a liability.

"Goodnight. I love you,"Nina smiled sadly and kissed his cheek. It felt like an eternity for any sign on his face.

Clayton was caught off guard by the sudden display of affection. He wasn't affectionate unless he was very horny so this behavior from Nina was different. He was never the romantic guy but that's what she wanted. He looked at her face with a relaxed expression and wondered why she stayed with him when he treated her like crap. He hated how passive she was. How easy to persuade she was. How insecure she was. But most of all he hated how forgiving she was, because he could never be that way.

"Goodnight Nina,"he replied softly. She returned the smile and let her eyelids fall. Some part of her wanted to believe that he would act that way with her from now on but deep down she knew she had just caught him at the right moment.