the lighter the berry, the bitter the juice.|MJ Fanfic|COMPLETED

|5|•the lighter the berry

A good marriage requires time. It requires effort. You have to work at it. You have to cultivate it. You have to forgive and forget. You have to be absolutely loyal to one another.

Continuing from previous chapter...

MICHAEL
I had to let all my emotions flood out. I could not bare looking at Ray any longer knowing how much I have betrayed her trust more than once and did the absolute worst less than a year of our marriage. I promised myself I wouldn't be like Joseph and I may have not slept around on my wife, but getting oral from another woman felt just as if I did. It was just as worse as going full term with sex. I honestly regret that day so fucking much, and everyday it eats me up inside. Parts of my heart is slowly being eaten by that regret. And, God knows if I ever found out Soraya did something like that to me I probably would have wanted to kill her and divorce her the same day. If she had done what I did to her, I wouldn't be able to take it.

She would be another Lisa in my eyes, but she wasn't. Here she is, putting her feelings towards me to the side once again to comfort me as I cried on her shoulder. She just held me as I kept apologizing to her, rubbing her hand soothingly in small circles on my lower back and whispering comforting words to me in my ear. Her touch alone helped me to control my breathing and get it back to normal. If she hadn't followed me out, there was no telling what I could have done. I will forever be thankful for her.

Finally calmed down from my tears, she pulls away to look at me and I lock my eyes with hers. "You okay now?"

I nodded with a sigh. "Yeah. I'm sorry you had to see that. I wasn't expecting you to follow me out." I softly say, sniffling.

"At the end of the day, you're still my husband and I know you're hurting just as much as I am over this mess."

I just look down at my feet, feeling the shame once again take over me. "If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't be in this mess and you and Nina would be at home with me," I set my eyes back on her wearing an apologetic look on my face, "I am truly sorry, Ray."

"Look, let's go back in so we can finish our session for today. You'll have plenty of time to apologize when we cross that bridge."

I shook my head at her words. "No, I need to now as I have been all these months. I'm truly sorry."

Disregarding my apologies once again, she says firmly, "Come on, Michael." She grabs my hand and lead the way back to Dr. Smith's office.

Entering back into the room, Dr. Smith flashes a smile at us both as she was still seated in her chair, patiently waiting for our return. Soraya had by then let go of my hand and took a seat in her chair and honestly, I didn't want her to let go. Just her simple touch made me feel happy. I felt warmth and hope. I took a seat in my chair as Dr. Smith began to speak.

"Are you doing okay, Michael?" She asks me politely.

"Yes. I just needed to let some emotions out. Thanks to my wife for coming out and comforting me when she didn't have to." I say this as I glance over at Soraya.

"Well, that's an obvious sign that Soraya still loves you and cares deeply about you or else, she wouldn't have done what she done. Am I right, Soraya?" She looks to my wife.

Letting out a soft sigh, she replies, "That is true. I do."

"Now, that's progress between you both. Comforting one another," she looks between us then sets her eyes back on me, "are you ready to continue where we left off now?"

Nodding, I answer, "Yes, I'm ready."

"Okay. So, we did the list of the bad, which gave me insight of the fact it plays a major factor in how things turned out on the left side for you both. Now, we're going to continue on where we left out with you, Michael, about your relationship with Lisa Marie Presley. We stopped at when you said that the night you asked Soraya to be your then girlfriend that she asked you if you and Lisa had any sexual intercourse but you answered no," I nodded confirming she was correct and she continued, "why not just tell her the truth then?"