Page 77 of I see you Beauty

“This is the last time I see him in my house or near you. June will finish the job with him, and then she’ll stay away from him, too. Tell her before I have to!” he spits angrily at me, crossing a line with his last threat that he definitely should never have crossed.

Snorting, I break free of his grip and push him forcefully away from me, glaring at him more angrily than I’ve ever done in my life.

"Did you just threaten our daughter?" I hiss, my voice trembling with fury. "You can take out your egotism on me if you must, but you will never harm a hair on June’s head or let her see this side of you. Because let me tell you, you won’t lose just your daughter! June is smarter and stronger than me. She’ll leave you and won’t be swayed by your apologies. And maybe it’s time I take a page out of our daughter’s book," I finish, defiantly jutting my chin out.

Nothing happens for a moment. Thomas doesn’t even make a face until he suddenly lets out an angry shout and swings his backhand so fast that I don’t see it coming. The force of his blow knocks me off my feet, and I hit my head on the kitchen counter as I fall. Dazed, I fall to the floor, and dizziness overcomes me. Everything hurts and throbs in my skull, and I struggle to focus for a moment as I see everything twice.

“Did you threaten to leave me and take my daughter away from me?” he yells at me angrily and drags me back to my feet by my hair, making me scream.

I grab my hair to somehow soothe the pain that’s pulling at my scalp. I feel like he’s going to rip my hair out in clumps as I try to stay on my feet. My head is spinning, and the dizziness from the violent blow is taking hold of me more and more.

“Never threaten me again, Cora! Or I swear I’ll forget myself! You will calm down now and tidy up here, and then I expect everything to go back to normal tomorrow. I don’t want to have to tell you again, Cora!” he growls darkly in my ear before pushing me roughly away from him so that I have to catch myself with my hands on the countertop to avoid hitting my head on it.

I don’t know how long I stood there propped up, trying to sort out my racing thoughts. The violent trembling that seizes my body won’t stop. Only when I gasp for air in panic, do I realize I’ve been holding my breath the whole time. I’m so terrified. Thomas has lashed out before, but it’s rare for him to hit me multiple times and grab me with such force.

Eventually, I pull myself together because I don’t want to upset him anymore. Besides, I don’t know when June will come home, and I don’t want her to see me like this. I don’t want to look in the mirror myself, but after I’ve tidied up the kitchen, I have to take care of my face so that it doesn’t swell up unattractively tomorrow when it will glow in every color. At least I can cover up the spots, but not the swelling.

So I hurry to clean up and then rush upstairs to our bathroom, locking myself in. Thomas sits in front of the TV, acting as if nothing has happened. I know that later, he'll climb into bed beside me, expecting me to let him hold me as if everything is normal. It's his way of apologizing for his harshness, even though all I want is to be far away from him.

I flinch in front of the mirror and jump at my appearance. My cheeks are already blue, and there’s a slight bump on my hairline where I hit my head. I immediately put the ice pack I took from the kitchen on my face and hold it on my bruised face to reduce the swelling.

I’m at a loss for how to hide the marks tomorrow so June won’t notice. I need to avoid Ezra as well, since he’s made his feelings about my violent husband clear. The last thing I need is a confrontation between them, which would only add to my troubles. After tonight, I can do without any additional conflict.

After taking care of my face and the bump on my head, I decide to sleep. I get ready for bed and am about to walk out of the dark bedroom and into my bed when I see the light in Ezra’s house. My eyes wander over to him, and then I see June and him in his bedroom and her running around the room excitedly, pointing everywhere, probably trying to gather all her ideas.

Ezra nods at her with interest and smiles kindly. Bitterness rises in me to see the two of them over there. I know it’s ridiculous to be jealous of my daughter, especially as I have other things to worry about now. And yet, I can’t help but feel this corrosive envy eating through my chest.

I can’t take my eyes off them and fear every second that they might fall into each other. Unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons. But when Ezra suddenly looks over at me, and I can make out a tiny smirk on his beautiful lips, the wild storm in my chest calms down a little. He can’t possibly see me because I’m standing in a completely darkened room and the curtains are almost entirely drawn. But the fact that he has to smile when he thinks of me warms my insides and lets me breathe a little easier.

I decide to go to bed before Thomas comes upstairs, hoping to avoid running into him again tonight.

“Mom, he’s so great. Did I tell you he’s letting me decide how to decorate his entire house?” June doesn’t stop gushing about Ezra.

“Yes, dear. You did,” I reply with a fake smile.

I don’t want to take out my feelings on her, especially since it’s not normal to be jealous of my daughter for unknowingly making me feel envious of my secret lover. I need to address these feelings on my own, not with her. So, I force a smile and help her pack her things in her dorm room with as much enthusiasm as I can muster.

Thomas wants us to take care of it this weekend and not put it off until the next, and as I don’t want to get into another fight with my husband in the next few days, we’re here now.

That’s just as well, because I wouldn’t have been able to bear it if he had tried to make up with me today by planting a hypocritical kiss on my cheek or offering some other gesture of apology. After all, he can’t bring an enormous bouquet when his daughter is there without explaining what it’s for. Even June knows her father has no sense of romance; she would have noticed something wrong.

Fortunately, Thomas did nothing else that evening. He simply climbed into bed with me without a word, and I pretended to be asleep. At least my face looks decent thanks to makeup, but what lies beneath is far from good. However, that’s none of our daughter’s business, and I’m left to deal with it alone.

“Don’t you think Ezra is so hot?”

I almost drop her bedside lamp at this question as I turn to her with a pained smile and shrug awkwardly.

“I… I don’t know, I wasn’t paying attention,” I evade and put the lamp in one of the boxes.

“Oh, come on, Mom,” June replies with a grin, wiggling her eyebrows promptly.

“No, I didn’t notice our way-too-young, single neighbor. And you should only worry about his house and not his body. After all, he’s a lot older than you,” I tell her as I clear out her bookshelf.

“He’s not much older,” she mumbles, but I leave it at that because I know June is a decent girl and knows very well that Ezra is too old.

If only he hadn’t offered her a job so she wouldn’t keep fighting with her father. Which brings us to the next problem. Thomas made it clear yesterday that he doesn’t want June or me to have any further contact with Ezra once the project is done. Now, I need to figure out how to tell June about this without Thomas getting involved. I won’t let him show her his darker side, not now or ever.

“Remember one thing, dear. Never mix business with pleasure. It’ll only get you into trouble.” I advise as I give her an urgent look over my shoulder.

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