The sky had long since dimmed and faded from a blue to an orange. And now it was pitch black outside, and Jaxon was a no-show. Ruby was curled up in the same spot on a chair in the living room, and she didn’t know how many hours had passed since then.
She’d been crying for hours too. Her eyes were puffy and her vision was temporarily blurred. She had even run out of tears and was sniffling quietly.
How could she have been so stupid? Why had she decided to believe Kim? A thousand and one thoughts ran through her mind as she recalled what had gone down between her and Jaxon. Why didn’t she trust him?
And now the relationship they had both suffered for was in shambles. She didn’t even know where they stood anymore.
Kim had told her that she had slept with Jaxon and fallen pregnant, and as naive as one could be, she had foolishly believed her without a second thought. She didn’t know or even think that Kim would possibly lie to her.
And she had been quick to paint her husband bad and she’d called him a cheat and accused him of betraying her.
She couldn’t see the clock from where she was sitting as it had gone dark but she knew it was quite late.
Jaxon still hadn’t come home and she had started to get worried. She didn’t think to call him because it would hurt her if he didn’t answer. Which would probably be the case since he was upset with her.
She contemplated on what to do when a door opened.
She turned towards the door and saw Jaxon stagger into the room. She gasped at his very drunken state and wondered where he had gone. He wobbled further into the room and then collapsed on the chair closest to him.
“Jaxon,” she called softly but he didn’t respond. He didn’t even act like he’d heard her.
She watched him place a tired hand on his neck and loosen his tie before tossing it to a random corner in the room. He opened two buttons of his shirt and then leaned back on the chair with his eyes closed.
“Jaxon, where were you?” She said and tried once again to get his attention. He still didn’t respond and she thought he might have slept off. She got up from the chair she’d been curled up on and approached him slowly.
“Jaxon, can we talk? I know you’re not asleep,” she told him when she got closer and saw his face. She reached out to touch him when he suddenly sprang to his feet and moved away from her.
“I’m busy.” He said, finally acknowledging her presence and Ruby thought he said it as though he was dismissing her. Busy? Was he going to start making up excuses that didn’t make sense? He looked ready to pass out from all the alcohol he had taken, yet he was telling her he was busy.
“Jaxon, please, we need to talk; hear me out.” She pleaded.
“I don’t want to talk.”
“You don’t have to. I can do the talking and you’ll listen. Please?”
“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say either.” He told her. He turned away from her and left the living room.
“Jaxon,” she called out desperately.
“Don’t follow me.” He demanded as he went up the stairs. Ruby ignored his words and followed him up anyway. She had to at least try to get him to hear her out.
“Jaxon, we can’t just ignore what happened,” she said from behind but Jaxon didn’t reply. Instead, he increased his pace and only slowed down when their bedroom door came into view.
She saw him enter and then heard a decisive click, and she hoped it wasn’t what she thought it was. She reached the door and knocked several times but there was no reply.
She tried the handle, and as she thought, the door was locked. Jaxon had locked her out of their room. She pressed her ear against the door but she couldn’t hear anything. And with a sigh, she glided down the door and sat on the freezing ground.
Ruby felt everything and nothing at the same time. She was in a state where she didn’t know what to think or feel. But on the other hand, she felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest and shredded into pieces.
With nothing left to do, and no way of entering the bedroom, she dragged her body up and went in search of one of the guest bedrooms to sleep in. She found one. She climbed the bed and cried herself to sleep.
When she woke up, the sky was bright and she heard the engines of cars from outside. She felt around for her phone and her eyes went round at the time. How did she wake up so late? She glanced around the unfamiliar room she was in, and for a second, she couldn’t remember how she had gotten there.
It didn’t take long for memories of the night to rush into her mind, and she shot out of bed to go find Jaxon. She went to their bedroom first, and thankfully, it was open but Jaxon wasn’t in there. She rushed down the stairs where she met a very sober Jaxon who was fully dressed and about heading to work.
“Jaxon we need to talk.” She panted, a bit out of breath from all the running around she had been doing. He didn’t respond. He brought out his phone and held it against his ear as though he was taking a call. He turned away from her and acted as if she wasn’t standing right there.
“I don’t see why we need to.” He shoved his phone back into his pocket and said with a closed-off expression.
“But I do.” She told him. He regarded her for several seconds then adjusted the tie around his neck.
“Well, I can’t listen to you, or I’ll be late for work.” He didn’t spare her another glance and left the room like she hadn’t just tried to talk to him.
Ruby heard the door slam, and a few minutes later, a car engine roared. She hadn’t moved from the spot he left her in. She just stood there silently as tears rolled down her cheeks.