Under A Glass Sea

Chapter 2

      Braelynne suddenly came out of her reverie. She was going to be late for work if she couldn't get her mind out of the past and focus on getting ready. She reached the bedroom door and went to turn the knob.

It was locked.

The memory of the previous night came flooding back. Seth had come home hours late as usual. Braelynne had been furious but had left his dinner warming on the stove like the dutiful wife she was. She had cleaned everything else up and headed up to the bedroom so she could read for a few hours before going to sleep. She liked reading, especially when she had the house to herself. It gave her a break from the noise she was surrounded with all day. When Seth was home, he always wanted the TV on. And if he wasn't mad about something, he usually wanted to talk...mainly about himself. That required Braelynne to wear her hearing aids so she could understand him. The constant noise gave her a headache and made her exhausted. She longed for peace and quiet, especially at the end of a long day. A good book and a bubble bath were her idea of a perfect evening. And when Seth wasn't home, she could eat what she wanted without his 'Do you really want to be eating that?' and 'You are getting fat' comments. Braelynne worked out but she didn't want to be constantly counting calories and watching every bite she put in her mouth. 

Besides, it didn't really matter. Seth had always had a wandering eye. Even when Braelynne had been at her most beautiful, Seth had openly admired and flirted with other women, even women much younger than him. Braelynne had often sat stewing in silence as Seth had teased waitresses and other young women he came into contact with, even if the girls were clearly still in their teens. He would compliment them and ask for their number, uncaring that his wife was watching him. Braelynne watched as the girls would blush and giggle under her husband's open admiration. Some of them went so far as to give him their phone number right in front of her. When she confronted him about it later at home, he would tell her to shut up and remind her of his temper. She knew he had a temper, had watched the rage bubble up under the surface when he was angry. She didn't want to find out what would happen if she triggered that rage so she would back down and go silent. She tried to make herself invisible, unnoticeable.  In the beginning, she had tried everything she could to please him and make him happy but had quickly learned that was impossible. So, she settled for trying to simply co-exist with him. She hid her thoughts and opinions and tried to ignore the times he hurt her. But sometimes the disrespect and flagrant disregard of her feelings were too much to ignore. She would confront him despite knowing the consequences. She always came to regret it.

Braelynne took her hearing aids out and changed into comfortable pajamas. She grabbed the book she was reading and prepared to lose herself in another world, a world where the heroine did brave and wonderful things and was deeply loved by the man in her life. A world that seemed completely fictional to Braelynne. There was no love in her life. She was doing nothing exciting or wonderful. She felt that if she disappeared tomorrow, no one would care. She would simply vanish, unnoticed, and unmourned. Her husband would certainly replace her with one of his many girlfriends. Maybe her parents and sister would be sad but the rest of the world would move on, unperturbed by her passing. She longed to make an impact, to change the world for the better but she had failed in doing so and feared she never would. 

Braelynne was just drifting off to sleep when she heard a crash in the kitchen. She rushed downstairs to find her husband dropping his plate full of food into the trash. His face was purple from rage. Braelynne looked at the time. Almost 11 pm. It was actually early for him. He usually arrived home much later. Braelynne didn't have time to think about it much before Seth picked up a glass and slammed it into the sink. Glass shattered everywhere.

"Seth! What are you doing?!?" she shouted. Seth turned towards her and unleashed his wrath. "Is this what I come home to?!?" he screamed. "A plate full of warmed-over slop? You can't even cook a decent dinner. You can't do anything right! I'm tired of putting up with you." Braelynne usually kept quiet when he was in one of his rages but anger filled her and the words spilled out.