Reborn

Chapter 9
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Jack sat on the couch and sulked. He had attempted to confront Emma again about her behavior, but ever since they had arrived home from the grocery store she was attempting to avoid the subject. He could hear the shower running, she’d been in there for at least ten minutes.

Although he had simmered down, his ego was still bruised and he thought that reconciliation with her would be impossible. He wanted her to move out, but he was reluctant to insist upon it for fear of what her reaction might be. He had known that she was upset with him, but her actions at the grocery store had surprised him and he was no longer sure whether it was safe to be around her. For the first time in his life, he was scared of Emma.

After weighing up his options he decided that he needed to inform someone else about his concerns before the situation could escalate further. He clambered down from the sofa and crept into the hallway, before tiptoeing into the bedroom. He found his cellphone on the nightstand, exactly where he had left it. He picked up the phone with both hands and carried it back into the living room, before climbing back onto the sofa.

After unlocking the phone and accessing his recent contacts, he decided to send a message to his mother. But his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the shower being switched off and he had the sudden realization that he might only have seconds left to send the message. He scrolled through his contacts list in a hurry, but a rush of panic only inhibited his attempts to use the phone.

Then he heard the sound of footsteps in the hallway and he quickly concluded that he wouldn’t have enough time to send the message. He knew that he only had moments left to hide the phone, so he scrambled across the sofa and slid it behind a cushion.

When Emma strolled into the living room she was still naked from the waist up, with only a towel around her waist protecting her modesty. Strands of damp hair were draped over her shoulders and water droplets glistened on her skin.

“I guess we should talk,” she suggested.

They locked eyes with each other briefly, until Jack felt his gaze drawn towards something else.

“Talk?” Jack replied.

He found himself staring at her bare breasts, he wasn’t sure why, but he found them strangely alluring. Before he knew it he had lost his train of thought.

“Yeah, about us,” she clarified.

He regained his focus and looked her in the eye again.

“You said it yourself, its over,” he replied.

“But this morning you were begging me to stay,” she recounted.

Without realizing it, his gaze drifted back towards her breasts. They were well-rounded and perky, he was transfixed by them.

“You wanted me to stay with you” she reiterated.

He looked up again and blushed, then tried to compose himself.

“That was before that crap you pulled in the grocery store,” he retorted.

She smiled derisively as a contemptuous smirk played across her lips.

“Oh yeah, it’s not like you’ve ever hurt my feelings,” she quipped sarcastically.

He was starting to become frustrated by the conversation. He noticed that every time that he criticized her actions, she would simply turn the conversation back towards his own wrongdoing.

“That wasn’t the same, it was a mistake” he protested.

Emma rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. She was annoyed by his reluctance to acknowledge the hurt that he had caused her and his refusal to take responsibility for his betrayal.

“A mistake? You humiliated me, used me,” chided Emma.

“I loved you.” Jack asserted.

Her brows furrowed slightly as she processed his response and tried to work out whether he was telling the truth. She seemed taken aback, as though she hadn’t expected him to proclaim that he had loved her. Then her expression hardened into a mask of cold indifference.

“No, I loved you Jack. Even after the accident I was willing to stand by you, I felt bad for you. But you lied to me,” Emma sneered.

He knew that he had loved her, despite her claims to know otherwise. He concluded that she was clearly unwilling to forgive him and he decided to reiterate his desire for her to leave.

“I want you to move out,” he asserted.

She hesitated for a few moments as she contemplated her response, then her expression softened and she adopted a more conciliatory tone.

“I need to find a new place to live first. Besides, who will make your dinner if I leave now?” she replied.

He had to admit that she had a point, he knew that preparing his own meal would be an ordeal. He would have to pull a chair into the kitchen and stand on it in order to reach the refrigerator, then he would have to move the chair again in order to reach the microwave. He guessed that he would have to move the chair around at least three times before he would be able to eat.

Then his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of something vibrating.

“What was what?” Emma queried.

He realized that it was his phone, it was the only thing that it could be.

“Uh what?” he muttered.

“That sounded like a phone vibrating” she remarked.

He started to panic, he knew that he would have to come clean but he dreaded what her reaction was going to be.

“Oh...that, I was...was,” he stuttered, “just going to message my mom,” he added.

Emma marched towards the sofa, causing Jack to recoil in fright. Then she started methodically searching for the phone, first down the back of the seats and then down the sides. Eventually she lifted a cushion that was nestled in the corner of the sofa and discovered the hidden phone.

“So why were you hiding it from me?” quizzed Emma.

“I wasn’t,” sputtered Jack.

“Then why was it behind this cushion?” she asked.

He didn’t have an explanation, there was no way to plausibly deny that he was hiding the phone. He realized that he needed to make her understand that he was hiding it out of fear, not out of a desire to mislead her.

“Okay I did hide it, I hid it because I knew you’d react this way if you saw it,” he explained.

Emma picked up the phone and started to examine it, checking for any recent messages. Meanwhile Jack fidgeted nervously, wondering what had caused the phone to vibrate.

“So, who messaged me?” he asked.

“Just the hospital, confirming your appointment on Tuesday,” she replied.

He thought that she sounded disappointed, as though she had been expecting an incriminating message from Louise.

“See, I didn’t do anything,” he avowed.

She bit her lip and fell silent as she continued to inspect the phone, then let out a heavy sigh.

“You were going to though, that’s why you want me to move out, so you can see Louise again,” accused Emma, as she pointed her finger at Jack.

It wasn’t true, but it occurred to him that seeing Louise again would be preferable to remaining with Emma. He hadn’t been actively planning to meet with Louise again, but now he was considering it. He decided that at the very least he would feel safer in Louise’s presence.

“You’re paranoid,” he retorted, “she wouldn’t move in with me now, look at me,” he continued.

Emma laughed incredulously and shook her head in disbelief, “oh so I’m paranoid, I just imagined you cheating on me, that was all just a dream,” she replied sarcastically.

Sensing that the confrontation was about to escalate, he decided that he needed to remove himself from the situation.

“I’ve had enough of this, if you won’t leave then I will,” he asserted.

He climbed down from the sofa and started making his way towards the hallway.

“Where will you go?” she called after him.

As he reached the doorway to the hallway he stopped in his tracks. He wondered where he would go, he couldn’t go to his mothers house, she lived on the other side of the country.

“Back to the hospital,” he replied.

“How? You can’t drive,” she protested.

Jack could hear footsteps behind him and he decided to make a beeline for the front door.

“I’ll walk,” he insisted.

Emma followed him into the hallway and then stepped in front of him, blocking his pathway to the front door. Then she shielded the door with her body, preventing him from leaving.

“Don’t be stupid,” she warned, “you’re appointment is on Tuesday. If you wait until then I’ll drive you there myself,” she added.

He gazed up at the colossus blocking his exit, he had no way of getting past her. But he knew that even if he could get past her then he would have no way of getting to the hospital, it would have taken him hours to walk there by himself. He needed help.

“Gimme back my phone,” he demanded.

She extended her hand downwards and for a moment, it appeared that she was going to hand the phone to him. But when he reached up to grab it she quickly withdrew her hand and held the phone above his head, just out of his reach.

“Are you gonna make me?” she retorted.

“You can’t do this to me, take me back to the hospital,” squealed Jack.

Emma grasped the phone between her thumb and index finger, then dangled it above his head as she grinned mischievously.

“Like I said, I’ll take you back on Tuesday,” she asserted, “but first, we’re gonna have some fun,” she added.