Painful Deception

Jacqueline smiled to herself as she woke up encompassed in warmth. She felt Harry’s arms around her waist; one palm was spread over her belly. It was a completely different feeling from when she was with Mark, here she felt safe, warm and content. A swift series of tiny kicks to his palm gave her the idea that Gwendolyn felt the same. She had decided on Gwendolyn as her daughter’s name, after her grandmother who still brought her warm memories to this day. She was sure that Mark would not approve, but his opinion didn’t matter. He would have no say in the raising of their daughter. She had been trying to think positive the last couple of days but couldn’t help but have a lingering nagging feeling of something being not quite right. Breaking her out of her thoughts was a low deep rumble from her belly as well as the insistent pressure on her bladder. She started to shift trying to avoid waking Harry; however the arm tightened its hold on her and her to know he was no longer sleeping.

Harry woke up when he felt the strangest sensation on his hand. He came to realize that when he what he was feeling was little kicks from the child growing in Jacqueline’s womb. He stayed like that for a moment, entranced by the little being than he felt Jacqueline try to get up. “Where do you think you’re going?”, he asked pressing a kiss to her head, his voice still betrayed his tiredness. “Good morning. I was going to see what you had in your fridge and use the loo,” she said smiling and turning around so she could face him. She loved his face, his square jaw and aquiline nose and beautiful blue eyes. He had a few freckles on his nose that she loved to touch and his thin lips were always a welcome presence on hers. His jaw line and chin were rough with prickly hairs and the red hair that amused her so much with its shocking color was ruffled about on his head. “Hmm…you can’t stay in bed any longer?” he asked rubbing her thigh. “Mmm…as much as I wish I could, one thing I’ve learned about pregnancy is, it’s never convenient. Stay in bed, sleep in a bit. I’ll go and make breakfast. Enjoy being able to sleep in,” she said getting up. “I think I will take your suggestion,” he said putting his arms behind his head. Jacqueline smiled and kissed him one before she left the room. “I love you,” Harry said to her as she walked towards the door. She was beautiful at that moment, her fertile curvy body filled out her white nightgown and her curly dark hair flowed down her back. She smiled and turned her head over her shoulder as she walked out, “I love you also”.

Walking out of the bedroom Jacqueline felt as if she was in a surreal world. Her two days with him had been just like she had imagined her life would be when she married Mark, but in the irony of life, her world with Mark was exactly opposite. With all this happiness came the feeling of tension, as if some bubble was going to pop soon and all of this joy would come crashing down upon her, she couldn’t help but desire to hold on to her newfound happiness for as long as she could. But she knew from her lessons with life that things almost never go as you want them too.

Harry awoke an hour after going back to sleep, he walked around his flat and found a note from Jacqueline explaining that she had gone to the market to get some things for breakfast. When Jacqueline walked back in he was having a cup of tea, the smile on his face quickly dissipated when he saw her face.

After leaving Harry’s flat, Jacqueline proceeded to the market to get the things she needed for breakfast. Toast, strawberries, cream, eggs and sausage were the few things she put in her basket and after waiting behind a rather rude lady complaining about how crowded the aisles are, she was on her way back to his flat. When she climbed up the stairs to his door she was tired, the extra weight she had put on was causing her to become much more exerted from menial tasks. While she was fumbling with getting his key out of her bag, his next door neighbor walked out of her flat, Jacqueline spared a small smile for her and got back to looking for the key. “I understand now,” she heard the woman say. Jacqueline looked up at her quizzically, “excuse me?”. The brunette shook her head and her eyes started to water, “The reason why he’s been avoiding me and hasn’t returned my calls, he was already in a relationship with a baby on the way to boot”. Jacqueline felt her heart drop, she prayed that the woman couldn’t mean what she thought, “What are you talking about?”. “Harry and I, we had…relations about a month ago. I thought that he genuinely cared, but after he left I no longer saw him in the hallways and when I called he sent my calls to voicemail and never called back…”, the woman said tears rolling down her cheeks. Jacqueline didn’t know what to say, but she had found the key to his flat and she unlocked the door mumbling a ‘sorry’ to the woman and stepping inside. Jacqueline felt a range of emotions flow through her, first there was the hurt that he would do something like that, than the anger at not mentioning it to her. When she walked into the kitchen, he turned and smiled at her, but when he saw her face the smile vanished.

“Jacqueline, what happened, what’s the matter?,” he asked getting up and putting his hands on her arms. She started to feel her face heat up, “How can you sit here and act as if nothing is wrong?!,” she spat out. Harry looked at her, seeing her face start to turn red and tried to think about what could have possibly happened. “What are you talking about?,” he asked. She tore her arms away from his arms and took a step back. “I talked to your neighbor in the hallway, she told me that you two have slept with each other and you’ve been avoiding her ever since,” she said her voice dropping to a deadly whisper. Harry’s eyes widened and he could have groaned, she found out about his affair with Sarah. “Jacqueline, I…I don’t know what to say,” he said trying to come up with something to say. Looking at her angry face, he saw the hurt also and it made him curse himself for having sex with Sarah in the first place. Jacqueline felt her heart break at his obvious guilt, she felt betrayed and worthless. “Is there something wrong with me? Am I so horrible that every man I have been with has had the need to be with another woman? Am I unworthy of faithfulness?,” she said quietly her voice shaking as tears streamed down her face. He walked towards her and tried to hug her but she pushed him away, “Don’t touch me! Don’t you dare touch me! I trusted you; I believed you were so different from Mark, that you were good and honest. But that was all a lie wasn’t it! You’re nothing more than a cheat just like him!,” she spat at him. “Don’t say that Jacqueline. I am not just like him! I don’t go around hitting you, I don’t rape you. I do none of those things. My judgment was bad yes, but it was a mistake and it won’t happen again. I know I hurt you Jacqueline, but it will never happen again,” he said trying to plead with her. “How do I know? Can you answer that question? I’ve heard the promises before, I’ll never do this or I’ll never do that again, but I know that their rarely kept. Do you know how you are like Mark, I put trust in you both and I’ve been betrayed twice,” she said looking in to his eyes. She felt her shoulders slump, she was so tired of this, the constant abuse of trust and disregard for feelings that she experienced all the time. Harry just looked at her, he knew that he could do nothing to sway her and he knew that what he had was unforgiveable. Jacqueline sighed and went into his bedroom to collect her things, she made a phone call to her driver and headed for the door. Before she left Harry met her at the door, “Jacqueline I know what I’ve done is unforgiveable, but please remember that I have always and will always love you, no matter what,”. Jacqueline paused for a moment and looked at him before turning and closing the door. When Jacqueline left his flat Harry finally understood the notion of losing everything in one moment.

Jacqueline immediately went to lay down when she got home; the overwhelming feeling of being lost consumed her. Her bubble with Harry had burst and now she had yet another scar on her heart from the pain of being betrayed. She felt as if all the energy was sapped out of her, all of the will to live and have a better life was gone. She was just drifting off when a soft knock was heard in the room, she called a come in and one of the maids appeared to her with a worried look on her face, “Miss, the police are at the door”. Jacqueline got up immediately and walked down to the foyer, confusion running through her head. She walked up to the two men dressed in uniform and crossed her arms protectively around her belly. “Mrs. Pewter, I am Detective Basset, this is my partner Detective Roberts. We have a few questions for your husband, “he said his voice had a commanding feeling to it. Her brow quirked, she wondered what it was about. “My husband Is currently out of town for business. May I enquire about what it is you need to talk to him about?,” she asked. “We have questions about the assault of a Ms. Selene Crockett,” he said. Jacqueline’s jaw dropped, Mark would have a lot of explaining to do when he returned home.

A/N: So here's the chapter. My wonderful beta Christine has given me some suggestions, so I'll be editing some past chapters. Be sure to check out the changes later on, I'l be sure to tell you. I would really appreciate reviews. I know that people are reading the story but I dont hear anything from them. Thanks to those who have left reviews however! You guys are the best and I appreciate and listen to your thoughts. I feel like I'm really gonna be on a role with the story plot in the next couple of chapters, I hope to suprise you all. Thank you!

_Naimahfosho