“How was it?” Patrick asked me as I barged into the living room. He was sitting on our black leather couch watching something on the TV. His tone of voice suggested he only asked to try and be nice, but it had a bite in it that betrayed the hurt he felt at me spending my entire Saturday with another guy.
“It was okay. I got to ride rollercoasters and play bumper cars, which was fun. David was really hurt though. I tried to fix him up with adrenaline, which worked for a bit, but I imagine he must be crying again now. He’s going through hell.”
“You shouldn’t have tried to save him Chris.” I was stunned at the remark. Where was that coming from?
“What?” I said, showing my annoyance in my voice.
“Oh, yeah cool Chris, do that alpha thing with your voice and your pheromones and all. But I’m not one of those cocky fucking alphas, nor am I a tasty defenceless omega. So yeah, try that on me, see how it works out for you.”
I was confused. What was he talking about?
“Patrick? What are you talking about?” I used a more hesitant tone of voice, not because I actually felt insecure, but because I really wanted to appear like a better person than the thing he was suggesting me to be.
“I need some air.” He said, and walked out of the apartment.
“Patrick! Talk to me!” I bellowed. Then regretted my tone a second later. I ran after him, but he just kept on walking. I followed him out of the door, until I caught up with him by his car.
“Patrick!”
“Leave it. I’m going out. See you!”
“Patrick I love you…” I pleaded, but he didn’t reply. Just got into his car and drove off.
I didn’t cry. I just stood there in the driveway feeling stupid.
I went back inside and found a pan on the stove. The fire underneath it was no longer burning, but the contents were still hot. Patrick had made us beef stew. It smelled delicious.
I hadn’t noticed how hungry I was, until the scent invaded my nose. I wanted to wait for Patrick to come back, so we could enjoy his cooking together. But knowing him, he wasn’t going to be back anytime soon...
Well, a girl’s got to eat.
I took a picture of the stew on my plate before I took a bite and sent it to Patrick, along with a string of hearts and the message: [
Patrick didn’t reply, so I put my phone away and started eating. It was thoroughly enjoyable and cheered me up, despite the fact that I was eating it by myself because I made my husband run away.
I cleaned up after eating, grabbed a beer from the fridge and called Aisha.
“Hey Chris, how are you?”
“Alright, I guess. I just ate Patrick’s stew.”
“Oh lord, why don’t you guys ever invite me when he’s cooking!” she yelled into the receiver, mock angry.
“Aisha, he left.”
“Patrick LEFT?! How, what happened? Oh god, I’m coming over!”
“No, don’t come over, he didn’t really leave me, I think… I hope. He was so pissed-off when I got home, and he yelled at me for spending the day with David, and then he left. I hope he comes back soon…”
“What?! Why did you spend the day with David?! Of course he’s pissed! Why on earth would you do something like that Chris? Do you WANT him to leave you?”
“No, no, you don’t understand. Today his boyfriend got married and he was so devastated. He needed me. So I came and took him to a theme park. We rode rollercoasters and talked. Patrick knew I had to go to him when he called. He even said it was okay!”
“His boyfriend got married?” Aisha’s puzzled voice sounded through the speaker.
“Yes. David had a boyfriend. They had been together for years, but had postponed claiming until the boy turned 21. Well, before that, he went and claimed and impregnated another omega. Yesterday they got married. David called me and well… he needed his alpha.”
“HIS alpha? Chris can you hear yourself?”
I sighed. She was right, I shouldn’t say things like that. Not ever. Especially not around either David or Patrick. But never. Why did those words come out of my mouth so automatically?
“Chris, please don’t make everything worse. I understand the boy needed a shoulder to cry on. I do. It’s fucking disgustingly sad that he had to go through that, but this is not a solution. YOU are not a solution, Chris. You’re just another alpha NOT CHOOSING HIM. He probably feels a little better with you around, but it’s like closing a wound with rusty nails: the immediate bleeding may be stopped, but it is going to fester.”
“He needed me, Aisha.” I growled, my blood boiling. I couldn’t help myself. On some level, what she said made sense, but I couldn’t accept it.
“He needs you like a hole in his head! What he needs is his parents and his friends and a nice new alpha that is NOT a complete bastard or a 29-year-old MARRIED WOMAN!”
“HE’S MINE!”
I fell silent at my own outburst. I could feel the colour draining from my face as I realised what I had just said.
“Oh shit…” I breathed into the silence that came from the other end of the line.
“Chris?” I heard Aisha’s voice after a long silence.
“I’m still here.”
“You’re not okay, Chris. This isn’t you. You need help.”
“You’re right. I ..”
“I also don’t think you should see him anymore.”
“I can’t do that. Not now.”
“I know. Running away from responsibility is not your thing. But please get your head sorted out and be the fucking perfect wife to Patrick. You were so happy. Don’t fuck that up any more than you already have.”
“What if I’ve already lost him?” I winced at the thought.
“You haven’t. He’s probably blowing off steam and getting drunk with Dennis. He’ll be back.”
***
Aisha was right. Patrick came home in a cab at 3AM, completely wasted. As I helped him out of the cab, he latched onto me tight, slurring in my ear. “You’re MY woman, you hear! MY WOMAN! I got you! Here, this ass..” he squeezed it, “…is mine.”
“It is, baby. I’m so glad you’re home.”
“IsssMYhouse!” he said, triumphantly waving his arm at the building. I smiled. Pat was adorable when he was drunk.
“Nah, hon. It’s ours. But just the apartment. We don’t own the building.”
“We own the world Chris. You’re my world.” He said, trying to plant a kiss on my cheek, but failing to aim correctly and kissing my ear instead.
I helped him back inside and put him to bed. Then I got undressed myself and slipped in beside him, squeezing myself against his back, holding his snoring body tight. I needed to do better. Be a good wife. Every attention I gave David, I should compensate for. And in time, David would get his life back on track and he wouldn’t need me anymore. Then everything would be alright.
***
However much I thought the both of us needed a lazy Sunday morning sleeping in, it wasn’t meant to be. I was awakened by my phone after only 3 hours of sleep at an ungodly 6.34AM. The dialler ID said ‘Brandon from Sales’.
He didn’t have anything to do with my company. It was my own private joke because when my little sister was still pining for him, she kept calling him that. There was only one reason he’d be calling me though, so I was immediately wide awake.
“CHRIS! She’s in labour! Saint Helen’s, ward four! She’s screaming for her mother! Come NOW! I don’t know what to do!” I could hear Brandon’s panic through the phone. I was glad scent wasn’t transmitted through phonecalls, because Patrick certainly would’ve thrown up at the smell of the panicking alpha after the night he had.
“Calm down Brandon, is everything going okay?”
“NO, ITS NOT! SHE’S IN PAIN!”
“Did the doctors say something’s up?”
“No, but SHE’S IN PAIN Chris!”
“Of course she’s in pain. She’s birthing a child, you dumbass. Don’t worry, just hold her hand. I’m coming over now.”
I hung up and sighed. Brandon was a good guy and he loved Angelica with everything he had, but right now I wished he was a little less jittery. The entire hospital must be freaking out with the pheromones he was transmitting.
I got up, only to have a half-sleeping Patrick cling to my leg.
“Baby… don’t go to that kid, you must stay with me forever…”
“Patrick, honey, Angelica is in labour. I’m going to the hospital. Brandon’s freaking out and Angie is calling for mum…”
“But I want to cuddle you…”
“Sorry Pat. I love you. I’ll call you later okay hun?”
A snore relieved me of my wife-duties, and I wrestled out of Patrick’s waning grip. I took a quick shower, grabbed a banana for breakfast and headed over to Saint Helen’s.
Comments (2)
See all