Freedom At Last!

Sophia

I swung the door open and heard a gasp. The laughter that had been echoing suddenly stopped. I smiled, ignoring the two bodies that had quickly wrapped a white blanket around their sweating bodies as I walked into the dim lit room. I stepped over the mess of clothes sprawled on the ground and fished out his suit jacket from among the mess. I hadn’t even glanced to their direction since I walked in. I picked up his pants and fiddled around a bit until I found what I was looking for. I pulled out a key, placed it in my bag and dropped the pants back on the floor before heading back out of the room.

“What are you doing with that?” His quaking voice betrayed the immense guilt and shock he must have been feeling. I stopped and glanced over at them.

The blonde lady trembled slightly, holding the blanket tightly around her heaving chest. The mound over the blanket suggested she must have bigger boobs than mine. But who cares? I have big boobs as well and am ‘damn hot’ as one of my exes always put it. I had always been complemented for my stunning body since college. I wondered why I wasn’t enough for him. I truly felt sorry for her. She might have succumbed to his many lies which he was always good at telling.

I returned my gaze back to the dark-haired man with blonde hairs on his chest. I had always wondered why it was so. His face was drained of colour and it seemed as if I could hear his heart pounding against his chest – or wait, was it mine?

“Call Timothy and tell him the contract has been terminated,” I finally replied firmly after some awkward silent moments.

“Sophia, please wait. I can...”

“Just cut the crap, darling. I don’t want to hear any of it. Call Timothy and tell him the contract is over,” I retorted. “And by the way, Paul will bring you some documents. It’s time I set myself free from all of this.”

“Sophia, listen…”

“And sweet love,” I interrupted, addressing the scared lady on the bed. “You didn’t steal my man. In fact, you have finally liberated me. Thanks for the favour,” I said before taking out my phone and took a quick picture of them.

“Now, I have all I need. You’ll be hearing from Paul soon," I added before slamming the door shut.

I walked down the hallway feeling a sense of relief. This marriage had been a burden on me for the last five years. I thought getting married to John would mean happily ever after for me, but I had found out a few months later about his true nature. His lies kept getting worse by the day, and soon, I found out that he was a serial cheater. I had confronted him about it but he had always denied it as I didn’t have solid proof against him.

This continued for a while and after I gave birth to my sweet daughter, I decided to pour all my love on her and ignore my husband. Soon, we stopped getting intimate and we would go several months without it. But I missed the game. I was a bad girl and I wanted to let out my wild animal. He wasn’t as appealing to me anymore and I had lost complete interest in him. I longed to be free for so long, and now the time had come.

However, as I walked down the hallway, tears welled up in my eyes. No matter how many times I try to tell myself I wasn’t hurt by what my husband did to me, it remained a lie. This was actually the first time I had caught him physically in the room and it dug out from my depths a certain sadness I could not explain.

I got into the elevator and hit the button for the ground floor. I now felt sick in my stomach and knew I needed some alcohol. Thankfully, I knew that this hotel he had chosen for his frivolities had a bar. I decided to hit the button for the seventh floor, but instead of heading up, the elevator headed down instead. When it opened, a tall well-built man walked in. My eyes squinted involuntarily and shivers ran through my spine as I inhaled his strong musk perfume. His dark hair and beard had patches of white in them signaling a legacy of experience and wisdom with silent eloquence.

“Good evening,” he greeted, his voice booming within the enclosed space.

“God evening,” I managed to return.

He stood in front of me with his hands held together in front of him. I suddenly had the strangest urge to run my hand through the silver strands on his head down his muscular shoulders. What the hell was wrong with you, Sophia?

The elevator suddenly chimed.

Oops! Ground floor.

He turned and glanced at me, noticing that I hadn’t stepped out of the elevator. Awkward.

“My bad. I forgot I had hit the ground floor button. I actually changed my mind,” I said to him dispelling the awkward moment.

He smiled and glanced at the button panel on the elevator wall. I bit my lip at the slight embarrassment I felt. I hoped he didn’t think I had changed my mind because of him. I glanced at the panel and realized that he was heading to the eighth floor. Now, I couldn’t wait to step out of the elevator, but the journey back up seemed like forever.

The elevator chimed again and I quickly stepped out of the elevator, out arms brushing slightly against each other’s. Outside of the elevator, I headed to the bar. When I walked in, there were very few people seated around and a nineties classic was playing lowly in the background. I walked over to the counter, ignoring some of the stares that were now being thrown at me.

“What’s your poison, madam?” the seemingly over-enthusiastic young bartender asked after greeting.

I felt like saying: My husband.

“Whiskey, neat,” I answered.

My mind wandered off as I sat at the counter waiting. I kept thinking about what the future held for my daughter and I.

The bartender arrived soon with a glass and placed it in front of me. I stared at the amber liquid that glowed with the lights from the bar before raising it to my lips. I closed my eyes as I savoured the rich smoky flavoured drink that burned down my throat. One glass turned to two, to three and then four. I suddenly started feeling the effects of the drinks kicking. Any more and I knew I would need to be carried out of the bar. I quickly paid and headed out, my steps a bit unsteady.

I got to the elevator lobby and waited for the elevator. A funny thought flashed through my mind. What if I saw the older man from earlier? I chuckled slightly, shaking the thought off my mind. That couldn’t be possible. Or could it? The elevator chimed and opened, my eyes widening when I saw him standing inside the elevator with that devilish smile of his.