JaxonSara had been right: being home felt different. It was clear things had changed. I loved starting mornings with Sara, driving to work with her and knowing she was around if needed. But at the same time everything was the same, it felt like we hadn’t gone away at all. I still received my regular amount of paperwork and meetings. I still had to present information to the board regularly, and unfortunately I still had the same number of shady calls and texts that I needed to answer. As much as I was starting to hate it, answering that world became almost more important. Something was off and I could feel the ground under my throne starting to crumble. It was a drizzly Thursday—which made me miss the heat of the islands—when that black other-world phone rang. I saw the number and recoiled. “What do you want, Cynthia?” I growled. I didn’t mean to be so instantly hostile with her, but talking to her was the last thing I wanted. Sara said we were starting fresh and I didn’t n
Sarah Jaxon hardly looked up from his computer, much less touched the salad in front of him. I had long since ignored the work in front of me and now causally popped grapes into my mouth as I watched him. I had been staring at him silently for the better part of an hour, and he hadn't acknowledged me once. I couldn’t decide if I was more pissed or concerned. “What is wrong with you?” I finally spit out. Jaxon glanced up at me like a deer in headlights. It seemed to take him a second to find my face glaring back at him. He looked stunned as if he hadn’t expected me to be there. “What are you talking about?” “For the last few days you’ve been acting… weird. You seem like you get more uncomfortable whenever I’m here.” I wanted to keep explaining and tell him how hurt and angry I was that he was being a neglectful jerk, but I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Sarah, nothing is going on. I’m just busy at work. You’re reading too much into things, my love,” he repli
JaxonI threw back some Advil and drank the rest of the whisky cup on my desk. Even though her suspicions had calmed, it didn't feel good to lie to Sara. An omission of the truth, I tried to remind myself. Manipulative conversations and the art of practiced silence had become a mastered skill while running the underworld. It never bothered me before. It just felt necessary to do what needed to be done. It kept me at a distance from people, but there had been no one I wanted to be particularly close to anyways. But with Sara, things were different. I never wanted to lie to her or hide things from her. I felt sick and guilty. I felt like a terrible husband, a terrible person. It felt like it did when things started to get bad with Cynthia, and that brought up a raging anger. Cynthia, she was the reason I was even here at all. Her and her magnificent lie. I had to prove her a liar before anything could get back to Sara.My blood was boiling, and it was not doing me any favors to
Sara My neck is still pinched and achy from my horrible sleep the night before. I downed the Advil in my hand and swallowed them with a gulp from my coffee. The coffee at work was not as good as the one at home but I couldn’t risk running late and missing this project proposal. I pinched the bridge of my nose and willed the medicine to work faster. I glanced at my watch and realized I only had a half hour before the meeting. I took another sip of my coffee and started typing feverishly. “Have you heard about it?” one of my coworkers whispered. Despite the small walls between each desk, sound still carried exceptionally well through the bullpen. “I heard she was fighting for him,” someone else answered. “It’s more than that! She got herself knocked up!” It was clear that they were doing their best to keep their voice low but it wasn’t working well. I tried to ignore them and keep working. I typed quickly. “Wait what? How did she get him to do that?” “She says he was
JaxonSara lay on her side away from me. She seemed better but still unnerved. I couldn’t help but feel guilty. I wanted to ease whatever was going on, and I couldn’t help feeling like it was my fault. I leaned over and wrapped myself around her, pulling her close. I wanted to create a sheltered cocoon to keep her safe. “What’s wrong, my love?” I pleaded. “Nothing, it’s stupid really.” “Please, Sara, talk to me.” She turned over slowly but wouldn’t meet my eyes. She played with the hair on my chest. I waited patiently for her to speak. “There were rumors happening at work today. I’m not sure why—I don’t even know who they were talking about—but it really upset me how callously they were talking.” I swallowed a dry lump in my throat. “What were they saying?” Sara frowned and kept her eyes down. “I had assumed they were talking about someone at the company but now I realize they could have been talking about anyone. But something about a married man impregnat
SaraI curled into a ball on the bed. It had been a while since I set foot in my old bedroom. Everything was how I had left it, though it was clear that the cleaning crew had recently been in here. Every part of my body hurt. It was like Jaxon shot a poisoned arrow through my heart and it was slowly spreading. I wrapped my knees tighter to my chest and finally let it all go. My phone buzzed next to me and read a text from Jaxon. It was sweet and considerate but it only hurt more. I wanted to reply. I wanted to go to him and bury myself in his arms but I couldn’t. I couldn’t handle it. Thinking of that only hurt more. Touching him would only hurt more. I wanted to run away, hide somewhere away from shame and humility. I had never been one to let my emotions ruin my work or professional life, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to face my coworkers. Not for a while. Not until Jaxon settled this. I thought about that. I had no idea what outcome I was even hoping for. Obviously, I did
Jaxon“I just don’t understand how that’s possible!” I barked. It wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t the person I needed to lose my temper at. Everything just felt so out of control. Sara hadn’t been home in two days, and I wanted to give her her space, but I wanted to run into her arms. The gravity of the situation hit me like a bomb when I came home and found her gone. I couldn’t blame her in the least, but it set me even more on edge.“I don’t know Jaxon, I mean you were married to the woman for 10 years. It doesn’t seem that much of a stretch that you’d have a night with her or that she’d have your DNA around.” I rolled my eyes and sat exhausted in my chair, leaning forward with my eyes closed. I knew he was right, her case was not that outlandish. I didn’t have a lot to go on, but I knew that I would never betray Sara in such a way. I knew Cynthia well enough at this point to know there was something deeper going on here. There had to be. “Set up an appointment with my doctor.”
SaraI felt like I had slept in a sauna. The sweat seemed to trap me in my clothes and in the sheets like a tight cocoon. My hair was matted around my neck and my forehead as if it tried to strangle me in the night. My head hurt and I felt disoriented, but the smell of bacon and coffee was alluring. I fought my way out of the sheets until I was finally free and headed toward the bathroom. My face was red and blotchy. My eyes looked sort of swollen. I sighed. I splashed water on my face and leaned down to drink in the cold liquid. I hadn’t realized how dry my throat felt until then. I straightened up a bit before giving up and heading back out to the living room. Lauren was in the kitchen bustling around and singing some up-beat pop music I had never heard. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her a bit. Seeing her instantly made me feel better. “Good morning, sunshine. Would you like some breakfast?” She smiled as she walked over and handed me a cup of coffee. I took it from he