Guilty (BWWM)

Nothing But Trouble

Past

Wednesday, October, 3, 2012

5:15 p.m.

The walls of the bathroom seemed to be closing in as Corrine helplessly sat on the toilet frozen in time. She didn't know if she should be happy about this or not as she stared, wide eyed, at the positive pregnancy test in her hand.

Her reaction would be much different if she hadn't recently uncovered a possible fling that Richard might have been pursuing. She hadn't even confronted him yet. Now in one breath, she was going to have to scream and shout obscenities at him, and in the other, she'd have to tell him about the baby that was on the way. To top everything off, work was stressing her out to the fullest extent. She couldn't have been pregnant at a worse time.

"Cori," Richard called from downstairs.

"I'm in the upstairs bathroom, babe." She called back.

She quickly wiped away her tears of frustration before standing up straight. The door swung open revealing an exuberant Richard, grinning brightly in his officer uniform. Corrine loved it when he smiled at her and had she not discovered his secret, she would've been smiling along with him.

"Baby, I have some amazing news-" he started, but paused as soon as his eyes laid on the pregnancy test in her hand. Without a second thought, he snatched it out of her hand.

"When were you going to tell me?" His mood had done a complete one-eighty.

"I just found out myself." She replied entirely caught off guard at his reaction.

"But the fact that you even took a test to begin with means that you were suspicious about it. You couldn't have told me?" His voice grew.

"How could I when we don't even see each other anymore? And why is that, Richard?"

"I've been busting my ass at work trying to get this promotion, that's why." It wasn't entirely a lie. He had been trying to get a promotion. He was tired of his wife being the bread-winner. It made him feel inadequate. When she told his mother that she didn't need him, she'd unknowingly emasculated him.

Believing that was a sound enough answer, he tossed the pregnancy test in the trash and left the bathroom. Corrine was not buying any of his bullshit. She followed him down the stairs.

"That's a fucking lie. Don't play with my intelligence Richard."

There she went again, throwing her education in his face like she was so much better. He turned around facing her. "Why do you always have to say shit like that? I get it, Corrine, you've got your little degree, but goddammit you don't have to throw the shit into every argument we have."

Corrine had been taken aback by his tone, but he was not about to get out of this that easily. "Those words never once came out of my mouth! Don't try to turn this shit around on me. Only the guilty do that."

"What exactly are you insinuating?"

"I'm not insinuating anything. I'm telling you that I know the truth and I'm giving you a chance to confess."

A small part of him knew that he'd been caught, but he was determined to deny, deny, deny, until he couldn't anymore. "I just told you the damn truth. What more do you want me to say?"

Corrine folded her arms, scoffing at him once again doubting her intelligence. "You mean to tell me that all this time you've been doing nothing but working?"

"Yes," he responded confidently.

"Then who is Jessica?" Her left eyebrow arched, daring him to lie again. I