Aaliyah never made it to the double date that evening. Instead, she had asked Samantha to take her straight home after work, claiming she wasn't feeling well. Though it wasn't completely a lie; terror and anxiety had made her severely nauseous.
Deborah's threat had played repeatedly in her mind. She knew. She knew everything. If she didn't follow through, Nathan would find her and everyone she knew and loved would be in great danger. Maybe Deb didn't understand the seriousness of Nathan's abusive nature, and that was why she needed to use him selfishly to her advantage. She wished that she could sit the woman down and talk to her, but Deborah didn't seem like the kind of woman to sit around.
She walked in briskly to their bedroom and opened the doors to the walk-in closet. She grabbed her black suitcase and ran out of the closet as if someone was chasing her and threw it on the bed.
Suddenly, her phone rang. It was Jason.
"Shit," she said in a panicked whisper. She clicked the end button and sent it straight to voicemail. Knowing Jason, he would be worried that she wasn't picking up his calls and haul it home to check on her. She didn't have much time. She had to move fast.
As she turned to retrieve her clothes, she paused. Sitting on the dresser was the first picture she and Jason had taken together that night at the bar. The very night he came to her rescue. She reached for the frame and ran her finger over the picture. Jason was the kindest, most thoughtful person she had ever met. She couldn't bear to break his heart. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she did.
Aaliyah placed the frame back down gently onto the dresser and sat at the edge of the bed, running her fingers anxiously through her hair.
"What am I doing?" she whispered, caressing her belly. "I can't do this. Not to him and certainly not to you."
Jason's words from the day they found out they were expecting filtered through her mind. In this family, we don't run. We face everything head on.
She couldn't help but agree with his words. She was so tired of running, tired of looking over her shoulder, tired of being afraid for her life. The only way to take control was to stop running, face her fears and put her faith in the man who swore to keep her and their unborn safe.
"Okay," she let out a heavy breath. "No more running, Angeline."
Just as she was about to put her suitcase away, she heard the front door open and shut downstairs, and the sound made her start, and stop short. She hadn't expected Jason to be home so soon. Shit!
"Lia?"
Her first instinct was to throw the suitcase back into the closet, but she couldn't move. Instead, she stood frozen in her spot as he bounded up the steps to their room.
"Lia, you up here? I've tried calling, but you never answered. Samantha said you weren't feeling well and—" He stopped when he saw the suitcase lying on their bed and a fresh wave of guilt flooded through her. "What's going on?"
YOU ARE READING
SECOND CHANCES (ORIGINAL WORK)
Romance[COMPLETED] When Angeline married Nathan Snyder, it was supposed to give her the perfect life. Her dream was shattered the first time her husband laid a hand on her, showing her that the life she'd married into was going to be anything but perfect...
