What the @@@&&&? Tess stared in dumbfounded shock at the image that unfolded before her eyes.
Unbelievable! She stepped back, a burning sinking sensation hitting the pits of her stomach as the scene registered in her brain.
‘Is that not Humphrey that I see?’
She stared through the clear glass of the jewelry store. Watching as he attentively hooked a necklace around the slender neck of the pretty lady with him.
‘No! Her mind silently screamed.’
But his drop of a tender kiss on the cheek of the exquisite looking face and their intimate looking tête à tête was enough confirmation.
The anger pooled inside her as she hurried away. She didn’t just have the stomach for a confrontation.
‘No wonder he has been behaving like a cat on hot coals these past few weeks.’ Goddess’s voice muttered. ‘I have always been suspicious that he is too good to be true.’
‘He has obviously been tom-catting around town and here you are eating your heart out and driving yourself crazy trying to pick the perfect birthday gift for him.’
Tess gazed in annoyance at the gifts in her hands.
She had spent all afternoon and a little fortune picking out the lovely presents to give him for his birthday.
‘You better take back the presents advised Goddess.’ ‘He can’t make a fool out of you and still get your money as a thank you. No Sireee’ She continued.
‘Wait a minute, Cautious chipped in. ‘Don’t be in a haste Tess.’ There’s probably a reasonable excuse, Cautious rationalized.
‘You’ve been together for over nine months now and he hasn’t given you any reason to suspect him, has he?’ Cautious sagely reminded her.
‘Well, it starts one day and for all you know, he has just been smart about things’ argued Goddess.
The warring voices in her head gave her a headache and for several hours after she felt totally demoralized, mooning around her apartment.
Several hours later, the happy tune of her phone rang and she stared at it in uncertainty. Humphrey’s caller ID face stares at her through the phone screen.
She wasn’t sure she wanted to speak to him but she eventually decided to answer at the third round of ringing.
‘Hey Bae’, his warm tenor pulled at her.
Her curt reply of ‘Hello Humphrey’ wasn’t as warm as usual.
‘I missed you.’ He said. ‘How was your day?’
‘Really? *you lying cheat, go on, sell me another one, she muttered silently in her head* but her lips uttered a very curt and polite ‘Fine, thank you.’
‘Are you busy?’ ‘You sound distracted,’ he asked.
‘No am here.’
‘Good. You sound tired though. Just called to kiss you goodnight. Be seeing you tomorrow at the party.’ He hung up.
Tess barely slept well. Half of her night was spent tossing thoughts around in her head, wondering if she should bother going to the party or not.
She hated confrontations but she needed to get to the bottom things. The lying cheat.
To be continued…Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
I have been busy digging. Enjoy
Some posts like Claremary’s Auld Lang Syne, truly make you appreciate the gift of life
Follow Chape and maybe, just maybe, you can do this.
Sound advise from Success Inspirer.
This post from Diane made me chuckle. Yeah right!
Put yourself in the shoes of a Syrian refugee from Skinny and Single.
The poem New wind blowing from Joy gave me joy and much thought.
I agree with Rose about defining our goals.
Change succinctly said by Koko.
a cooking pot and twisted tales 
Thanks for the mention, my friend! Kiddos back in school? You’ve been especially prolific!
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My pleasure Diane. Yes they have resumed this morning. I want to push my blogging boundaries on the days that I can 🙂
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Nice, I like how it reads naturally… I am still working on that
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You will surely get there. Thank you for your words 🙂
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Any tips? (apart from regular writing)
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I will have to dig in a little deeper and come up with something concise that I can share 🙂
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Cheating is a hard topic but you find a way to sweeten it 🙂 Beautiful!
Thank you for digging so deep and mention my little challenge 🙂 I bet you can do it!
I´m looking forward to discovering what´s behind the other mentions 🙂
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It’s my pleasure Chape. I hope I can do it 🙂
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I’m sure 🙂
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Thanks for the link!
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My pleasure Rose 🙂
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Interesting start…more, please. 😋
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Thank you Van 😉
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I liked the warring that went on in her head the best. Looking forward to the next part.
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Thanks for the mention 🙂
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Thank you, Jacqueline. I love reading your stories and was happily surprised when I saw my link at the end of this one. It is much appreciated, my friend.
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This one is rich in layered detail and gave me not a few chuckles as to how we gals think.:0)
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And thank you for the link.:0) I’m glad you liked my poem and may God bless you in all the winds of 2016.
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Can’t wait for the next part! This story captured my heart.
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Poor Tess. Can’t wait to see how she gets him.
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Thank you Pamela. We will see how she fares 😉
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No, don’t go to the party. That’ll show him!
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Whattttt *weep* I feel like strangling Humphrey. URgh! What other explanation can there be, was the girl his sister??? Poor Tess is in a mess right now.
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We have to wait and see. I don’t even know what’s wrong with him 😉
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Hmm, got me in my feelings.
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