CARMEN“Is something the matter?” I jumped as Jasper caught me on the way to the bedroom reading the note that came with the plane ticket in shock.“Oh, it’s nothing too serious. I just got a birthday package from this aviation company that I was looking to get into a collaboration with soon, and they want me to test something out for them. It’s fine,” I lied with the fastest thing I could come up with, putting the note out of his sight.“You’re planning a collaboration?” He laughed. “How come you didn’t tell me about it? What aviation company?”“Oh, you wouldn’t know it. We’re working confidentially, so I can’t reveal even the tiniest detail about them until we’re sure about the entire thing.” I waved him off, turning around and making my way to the bedroom.“But I’m your husband. I’m not someone off the street. I’m not going to take your business and talk about it in public when you don’t want me to. Let me see, just to make sure you’re not getting scammed—”“Scammed?” I frowned, fa
CARMENI wouldn’t have believed that the ex-girlfriend of my husband was the same woman standing in front of me if I hadn’t raised the phone to my ear with her on the other side of the phone.I recognized her voice, and I felt a sudden pang in my heart after she introduced herself. If she looked like that and Jasper treated her that way, I didn’t want to think of what he would do to a person like me.“It’s very nice to meet you, Emily,” I greeted with a smile on my face that I was very unsure of. I turned to Jasper, who was looking at me with caution as if warning me to desist from something that I would regret when we were back alone.“Did you invite them, Jasper? It was nice of you,” I said, a tight smile being pulled on my face as we all took our seats. The waiter returned to us, finally sharing the menu and waiting for us to make our orders.When our orders were taken, we all started to bond, everyone getting introduced to everybody else.“So, Carmen, how’s marriage to this one tre
CARMEN“Carmen!” Jasper caught me downstairs before I could find a cab and leave for the house. “Carmen, why are you doing this?”“I don’t think you understand this; I don’t like it when you get controlling and manipulative—”“Manipulative?!” He raised his brows in shock at my words. “You’re calling me manipulative? I wanted to apologize and ask you to come back with me since everybody is here for you, and you choose to call me manipulative? When have I ever made you feel that way?”“We shouldn’t be fighting about this out in public,” I said, looking around in worry that we could be found out by strangers and passersby.“Let’s go back upstairs. I’m not going to force you if you don’t want it, of course, but it would really mean the whole world if we celebrated your birthday without a fight. We can do all of this tomorrow. We can talk about India, and we can talk about trusting each other more. You don’t want me sitting there all alone, do you? Besides, your food is there…”I sighed in
CARMEN“I don’t think we should be doing this, Jasper,” I suggested, pulling the shot of vodka which he held firmly in his hand and refused to let go of until I gave up and took my hand away. “I just don’t think we should be getting drunk. You drove us here, remember?”“Oh, that doesn’t matter much. We can always get a taxi. I can make a call for someone to come over and pick us up if we’re ever too drunk. Besides, I trust that Dave won’t be getting drunk, we can ask him for a lift home. Right, Kate?!” He yelled as he looked at Kate, who barely heard a word that he said.“What? Yes! Oh, absolutely.” She nodded, going back to the cocktail she was having and taking large gulps of it.“Come on, Carmen. It’s your birthday. If you’re sceptical that I’m going to do anything…” He paused as if to read the expression on my face and figure out if that was it. “You don’t trust me.”“Let’s not start this conversation once again, Jasper,” I pleaded.“I’m not going to lay a hand on you, Carmen.” He
CARMEN“I don’t like how you’re staring at me, Jasper,” I expressed cautiously, standing in the spot where I had stopped and going no further. “I thought we already resolved this back at the restaurant.”“No,” he slurred, standing up and staggering towards me, but I stepped away from him with each step he took closer to me. “We’re not done. I told you we would talk about it back at home, remember?”“Please, step back or just stay where you are if you can. You’re drunk, and it makes me uncomfortable and nervous. It’s late at night. We shouldn’t be having a talk like this. When you sleep it all off, we can talk tomorrow,” I suggested calmly, but he didn’t listen to a word that I said.Instead of doing what I had told him to, he walked towards me and trapped me in a hug that smelled of vodka and the perfume that Kate always wore. He grumbled and mumbled, but I
CARMEN“Save me,” Jasper’s mother told me before sighing and sinking back into the bed as if nothing had happened. It suddenly felt as if the room had turned fifty times colder, making me completely uneasy.“Mariah?” I called, taking her hand and raising it to my cheeks. “Please just…tell me what exactly it is. I don’t know what exactly I’m supposed to be saving you from. Is it Jasper? Maybe Terri? Is it the drugs you’re taking that make you move once in a while?”There was no reply from her, save for her squeezing my hand to let me know that she was still there and listening to me. I knew it took almost all the energy she had to speak, but I really wished there was more I could work with.I tucked her in properly and walked out of the room, where I found Jasper standing with his back leaned against the wall and his hands folded.“Jasper!” I gasped when my eyes landed on him
CARMENJasper collapsed on my body, rolling over until his back hit the bed and he was facing the ceiling as he took deep and satisfied breaths. I could almost hear the triumphant smile on his face with each breath that he took.“You said you would pull out,” I reminded him, even though I knew it was not going to lead to a place where I would be able to win the argument if it led to it. At the end of the day, he had done what he wanted, and I was the one left to bear it.My neck stung in the spot where he had bitten me on the neck, and it burned as if a fire had been lit on it and I was now living in the aftermath of everything that had happened.“I know, Carmen. I’m sorry,” he apologized, turning over to kiss me on the side of the head, but I was not having any of it, so I sto
CARMEN“I really think it would be much safer if I just drove you and dropped you off. You’re making this harder than it ought to be,” Jasper argued with me that morning after I had just lied to him about why I was leaving for the countryside.“You just said you had a lot of work to do. I don’t understand why you would want to drive all the way there,” I argued, placing my bag over my shoulder and walking out of the house as he trailed behind me to the garden, where Terri and Mariah sat.“Don’t make a scene in front of them, Carmen. I’m going to drive you out of the state, and that’s final,” he said into my ear. “Maybe this time, I’ll find out what this aviation company is that you have been telling me about and I’ll hold someone accountable if something happens to you all the way in India.”“You know what? Suit yourself.” I raised my hands in surrender. “If you want to drive me, no problem.”I figured that I would find a way to lose him when we reached the stop that Dave had told me