“Sara, where you at, bitch? We’re drowning in customers and—” Lexi stopped talking for a moment. Then she came at my side and held my arm. “Why are you crying? What the fuck happened?”

I didn’t have to answer her. She followed my gaze and gasped, tearing the phone from my hands to get a better look. “What the fuck? Is that Jaxon?” When I didn’t respond, her anger mirrored mine. “Do you want me to fuck that boy up, Sara? I’ll do it. I’ll do it now if you want me to!”

“What’s going on? We’re super busy,” said Tracey, coming in to join us. She appeared stressed, her blonde hair not in its usual immaculate condition. “I need you guys. I’m barely getting around as it is.”

“I’ll take over for Sara. Give me two seconds, Trace.” Turning to me, Lexi stroked my back. “If shit goes downhill, you can come and stay with me, alright? Go home and tear that guy a new asshole.”

“I can’t believe this,” I bit out through my chattering teeth. “He cheated on me, Lexi. He cheated!”

“Girl, I know what it’s like. Trevon was all promiscuous and shit in the beginning. Kissing girls had been the least of my worries. Jaxon’s still young–”

“He cheated!” Now it was fury pushing me out of my pitiful state. I grabbed my purse and shrugged on my coat. “That fucker! That stupid fucker!” I was too engrossed in my own anger to thank her for looking after my shift. It was going to be a tough few hours for Tracey and Lexi without me there. But they were damn good friends like that, and I’d intended on repaying them.

I was glad I took the car to work that day. I didn’t have class on Fridays, so when that fucker came home from work I was still kicking around and took the car.

I don’t even know how I got to the apartment. I could hardly concentrate let alone formulate a thought without feeling like my body was going to explode amidst the ocean of anger I was drowning in. My chest was tight and breathing was a mission. Thank God it was hardly a five minute drive away or else I’d never have made it home.

Home? I scoffed. What a joke. That place wasn’t home anymore, not when I was living with a cheating prick.

Cheating. Oh, my God. He cheated.

How many women had there been? I quickly went over all the times he’d supposedly been hanging out with Trevon knowing it was probably a cover up so he could dance behind my back with some stupid slut.

When I parked the car, I stared down at the photo and pure, unrepressed rage boiled from within. This was good. This was better than heart break – though I knew that feeling would rear its head eventually.

I heard the television from within the apartment as I shakily unlocked the front door. I was a wild mess of adrenaline and fury, but I somehow managed to walk inside looking relatively calm. I saw the smiling fucker sit on the couch next to Trevon, each with a controller in their hands, playing some shoot ‘em up game.

I somehow made it to them, standing beside the edge of the couch, glaring at Jaxon with a look that could kill fifty baby kittens. When he turned his head to glance at me, he broke out into a huge grin. “Hey babe, you’re home early.”

I clenched my cell phone tightly, distressing the plastic cover. “Has my unexpected arrival ruined your plans?”

He instantly stopped playing upon hearing the edgy tone of my voice. “What plans?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe fucking some girl behind my fucking back?” I spat out. My anger felt like rolling waves, moving like a tsunami throughout my body.

Trevon’s eyes popped open wide. “Shit, man, I should head off.”

We didn’t acknowledge him. Jaxon stared at me, dripping in shock. God, the fucker can act.

I barely registered Trevon’s hurried exit out of the apartment. The temperature in the room went up and up, much like my anger.

“What are you talking about, Sara?” Jaxon asked gently.

Oh, so he was going to be a soft spoken liar, eh? Cue the deterioration of my relatively calm state.

“You lying fuck!” I shrieked, and then I was pointing at him, screaming out words and curses. “How could you sit there and fucking lie to me right now? You cheating piece of shit! I trusted you!”

Now he was up on his feet, panic sweeping his face as he rushed to me. He went to grab my arms, but I stepped away. “Don’t fucking touch me!”

“Sara, I don’t know what you’re talking about–”

“STOP LYING!” My vocal cords ached as I unloaded my hysteria.

“I’m not lying, baby.”

“Don’t fucking call me that ever again! I am not your baby, and I never will be, you cheating piece of shit!”

He raked his hands through his hair, tugging on it tightly as his panic rose. “Sara, I’ve never cheated on you!”

“Too much of a pussy to come clean, huh?” I scoffed at him in disgust. “Pack your fucking shit and get the fuck out of my life!” I didn’t realize I’d been crying until I tasted the saltiness of my tears in my mouth.

“Why the hell would you think I cheated on you?! Tell me! I’m not fucking lying. Holy shit, Sara, I’m not lying to you!”

“You fucking prick. Lie to me after this!” I threw the phone at him as hard as I could, and he barely dodged it as it crashed onto the coffee table with a sickening crack.

I saw him reach for the phone, but I didn’t want to be around him. I hurried to the bathroom and shut the door, locking it and taking a seat on the toilet. I closed my eyes and cried, shaking like mad from the anger and pain.

“Sara, open this door! You’ve got it all wrong, baby. Open this door,” he pleaded on the other side.

“Go the fuck away!” I roared, feeling the ache in me run so deep, I began pulling on my hair as hard as possible to displace the pain from my heart.

“Let me talk, Sara. I didn’t cheat on you. Open this door.”

“Still lying through your teeth.”

“I’m not lying, I’m–”

“Go away!”

“Just let me explain–”

“There’s nothing to explain! Pack your shit and go!”

“I didn’t cheat–”

“Go away.”

“Fuck’s sake. Stop interrupting me, Sara, and let me talk!”

I got up and whipped the door open, glaring up at his concerned face. “There’s nothing to explain because you can’t explain that.”