They Echo Me

14. Emma

"Are you ok? You look a little...pale. And clammy. Maybe you need to sit down..." Madelyn said, her eyes slowly analyzing my body, in a very clinical manner.

The nausea I'd been feeling this morning was coming back. Hard. And I was so tired. And still really needed to pee.

But I mostly really needed to use Madelyn's phone before Daniel spotted me.

"Yeah I'm not feeling so great," I admitted, stepping outside with her, trying to not look too obvious as I looked around for any sign of Daniel.

"I fell asleep at work and then left really late, and my husband is a little annoyed with me..." I forced a laugh, and she smiled empathetically and nodded her head.

"Aw, I'm so sorry about that. James gets a little uptight about things like that sometimes, too. He can be very rigid." She made an odd face that made question how much she actually liked James.

"Yes! My husband, too. Very...rigid... Sometimes. Um. But I accidentally left my phone at work. Do you think I could use yours to call for a ride home? I had a really long day, and I'm not quite ready for another argument." She looked at me carefully again. Too carefully, like she was picking up on something I wasn't saying. I smiled awkwardly, wondering if I had something on my face or...?

But then she finally smiled and said, "Sure. But I still think you should sit down... Do you want to come sit in my car? Or I could even drive you home? I live about 5 minutes away from here."

Home.

Why did that sound like she'd said "hell" instead? They were virtually interchangeable at this point.

I didn't want to go home. Not unless someone who wasn't afraid of Daniel could stay there with me. Or unless Old Daniel miraculously came back, and he gave me a chance to explain what happened. I wasn't trying to act out or provoke him. That was never my intention.

But as soon as I ran from him, I knew there would be no gentle talks. No moderate punishments.

No mercy.

"Umm, no maybe not just yet... We both need some time to cool off." I told her as we walked towards her car. She hurried to open the door for me and then helped me slide inside.

She walked around to the driver's side and handed me her phone. "Look, James told me...about what happened between him and your husband."

Uh oh.

"And I honestly got...pretty upset with him. For yelling at you, insisting that he should be able to reach you at any time, trying to belittle you. I know how these men can be." She smiled kindly at me. "And I'm sorry. He's not a bad guy, I promise. Just very..."

"Rigid?" I offered with a small smile.

Madelyn blushed and nodded. "Yes. He gets a little dramatic when he's stressed. And it kind of sounds like maybe your husband does too?" She grimaced. "So if you need me to drive you home or to a friend's house or whatever, I totally get it. I'm off today, but James is working. I've got nothing to do, nowhere to be."

"Don't you need to take care of your exotic fish?" I blurted, before realizing how weird it probably sounded that I was still so hung up on the fish. She rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"That fish tank was a gift from James' brother that we just received like...what, 3 weeks ago? James was so annoyed when we got it. I think they're beautiful, but he keeps insisting they're so much work. Maybe they are. He's home more than I am."

"So he must be so proud of how hard his work has paid off, then, right? He probably shares a million pictures of the fish on social media..." Very smooth, Emma.