One handsome man

Maria's tough love was exactly what Laila thought it would be, tough. But it was the words she needed to hear. After agreeing with Maria and telling her that she wanted to hear what she knew, Maria really took off and told her all that she had discovered these past few months. Her tone of voice and her choice of words, showed her clear discontent with Jake. Not a single swearword was spared and not an ounce of passion was left out.

Once Laila had heard all that her friend had to say and had seen all the pictures and conversations with other people in their circle, Laila had seen enough. Both her head and heart were hurting from all that she was hearing and she was ready to call it a night. She thanked Maria for looking out for her and said, "I will sleep on it. I will let you know once I decide what to do." After that she grabbed her purse and headed outside, despite Maria offering and almost insisting she stay the night at her place. But Laila needed the cold sea air to clear her head and let all that she had heard and seen to sink in.

When she arrived home after a relaxing walk, she saw that the lights in the master bedroom were on. This could only mean one thing. Though Laila wasn't sure if she was ready for the confrontation she was about to face, her body moved forward on its own. Laila slowly walked inside and up the stairs. Each step feeling heavier than the one before. With lead in her shoes she reached the second floor and she walked the hall till she reached the door leading to her bedroom. When she opened the door to master bedroom, her husband Jake was standing in the middle of the room. He was loosening his tie and hadn't noticed her, so Laila stared at him from the door opening for a while.

She looked at his long legs, his broad back and his beautiful curly hair. After finally noticing her presence, he slowly turned around, the image of which was being played in slow motion in Laila's mind. She saw his strong jawline, the soft tan on his face, the trace of dark circles under his eyes from the late nights at the office and finally her eyes landed on his beautiful piercing blue ones. In her mind she was thinking, 'You can say a lot about Jake but you can't deny that he is one handsome man.' As he began walking towards her, she got lost in her own thoughts and his stunning features. Taking her back to an otherwise long forgotten past.

It were these features along with his abundance of confidence that had drawn her to him in the first place almost fifteen years ago. She was fourteen and Jake was fifteen at the time and he was hands down the most handsome guy in their school and she was quite popular herself. For some reason, Jake took an interest in her as well, despite having plenty of girls going after him. Both younger and older.

Their whirlwind romance started after she had made her interest in him clear like most girls that age do, by staring, giggling and having a friend ask him what he thought about her. After that first step, he made it no secret that he reciprocated her feelings. With a charming smile, playful invites, along with the plentitude of gifts that he could give her as the only son of a wealthy family, it was hard for her to not be completely swept off her feet once he started courting her. For any girl for that matter. So, when the question came if she wanted to be his girlfriend, the answer he would receive was clear to both of them before the words had even been said. And honestly speaking, the first few months of their relationship were amazing. They spent every second with each other and he told her the words that every girl that age wants to hear. He even made her promises of marriage and told her that he would give her the life of a princess. But of course this didn't last.

Sadly, his powers to woo a girl weren't only a source of fond memories for Laila. It was also the source of many fights, tears and worries. It was because of his charming ways and him always being able to tell her the words she wanted to hear, that she was able to forgive him all those times he had been in the wrong before. The first time being only three months after the start of their relationship and it would be the first of many.

The pattern would always be the same and only now could she see that it was a toxic one. It would always start with a rumour, a picture or a glimpse of a message on his phone. He would first deny having cheated on her at all, he would call her paranoid and accuse her of not trusting him. Then he would show her his phone, where he had of course either deleted all the evidence or maybe he just had the conversations hidden in a secret folder. All she knew was that he would make her insecure with his actions and he did nothing to make sure that he didn't create a situation that was easy for her to misunderstand.

Once he had her doubting what she had heard or seen, he would throw in the guilt and shower her with sweet gifts. All while saying, "If I was cheating on you, would I think to buy you this?" That was when he would reveal something she had mentioned weeks or months before. Something she had already forgotten she had mentioned, let alone it being something she thought he had remembered. Like that she would begin to doubt herself and his charming looks would take care of the rest. At a certain point he had her so brainwashed about it all, that she would defend him whenever someone else accused him of cheating on her or showed her pictures of him doing so. She would think of the craziest explanations instead of the one that was staring her right in the face.