The cars honking gave Sarah a headache, so she closed her eyes.
"The light's green you idiot!" Jake yelled at the car in front of him.
"What's wrong?" Sarah said not bothering to open her eyes.
"Someone wasn't paying attention."
"That's frustrating."
"It is. Hey Sarah?"
"Hmm?"
"You said David's house is number 472?"
"Yep."
"Then we're here."
Sarah opened her eyes and looked up at the brick building. Although it looked the same as all the other buildings on the street she felt like she was coming home. Sarah smiled softly at the Christmas lights still hanging on David's front porch. Jake set her bags to the side of her as he said, "Do you want me to stay?"
"No, you can go. Thanks for everything."
"You're welcome," Jake said tipping his hat then left David's home.
Sarah picked up the key hidden under the welcome mat in front of the door. As she began to unlock it she was surprised to see Rose standing there. Rose wore a beige knitted cardigan with a pine tree colored top and a set of matching leggings. "Hello...oh hey, Sarah."
"Rose...what are you doing here?"
"David said I could come over. It gets boring at my apartment. Plus I told him I'll make him an early dinner. Sarah are you alright?" Rose noticed Sarah's puffy eyes and reddened cheeks.
"No, I'm not. Did David call you?"
"I'm not sure. My phone is dead and I just plugged it in to charge. Come on in, I'll grab your bags."
"Thanks," Sarah whispered as she walked passed Rose and into the house.
The three bedroom condo was, so spacious when she compared it to her and Chris's one bedroom apartment. She sat on the living room couch adjunct from the roaring fireplace. On the mantle, there was a photo of her and David from when they were children. She remembered that trip out to the mountains. They overlooked a waterfall as they stood on a wooden balcony.
"Sarah...Sarah?"
It took a moment before she realized Rose was calling her name. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"Where do you want me to put your bags?"
"I can put them away don't worry about it."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. Then while you put them away I'll make us some tea. I brought some orange flavored loose leaf tea, would you like some?"
"That sounds lovely, thanks."
"You're welcome."
Sarah picked up her bags and headed to the guest room. It's cranberry colored walls and simple decor provided her with a comfort she didn't know she needed. Sarah was glad David put a small table in the room. She didn't know how long she would be there, but she wanted to get work done. After she unpacked everything, she opened the curtains. A few rays of sunlight flowed through the window and cascaded off the bedroom walls. Sarah changed into something comfortable and walked back into the living room. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and once again sat on the living room couch. She didn't know how she would explain to David or even Rose for that matter, what had happened.
. Cheese on crackers nothing fancy." Rose chuckled and carried the wooden tray with the food and drinks and set it on a coffee table in front of the couch.
"Thanks again. You didn't have to do all of this."
"No need to thank me."
Sarah sipped her tea, unsure of how to begin to talk to Rose.
"So what happened?" Rose said stretching out her legs as she sat on one side of the L shaped couch.
"Do you want the complicated or simple version?"
"You can tell me as much as you feel comfortable with."
"Well...Chris and I had a fight." Sarah said then pulled the blanket that hung on the couch onto her lap.
"That's normal all couples fight from time to time."
"I know. Chris and I rarely argue. I mean we have disputes, but they're resolved rather quickly. This time I don't know how this will mend." Sarah blinked her eyes forbidding the tears to fall.
"What do you mean?"
"I...umm...I slapped Chris. I don't know what came over me. One minute I was going to leave his office and the next thing I know I hit him across the face."
Sarah wasn't surprised Rose didn't respond. She was always one to not give her opinion and wanted to hear the person out. Sarah ate a cracker and it soothed some of her queasiness before continuing, "I never thought I-"
The front door of the house opened stopping Sarah from continuing her sentence. Sarah turned to face where the noise came from and was shocked to see David drenched in water from head to toe.
"What happened?" Sarah said as Rose grabbed a towel from one of the bathrooms and handed it to David.
"It's a mess out there. It's like a mixture of sleet, snow, and rain. It started about five minutes before I got here."
"I can't focus on anything other than the sound of my own voice running through my head," Sarah said taking another sip of her tea.
"Can you tell me more about what's going on?"
"Why don't you change into something dry?"
"And I'll make you some coffee. Looks like you need it." Rose said turning on the coffee maker in the kitchen.
"Yes I do, thanks," David said walking into his bedroom.
Sarah stood from the couch and grabbed her phone from the guest room she was staying in. A notification for a voice mail popped up on her phone, so Sarah sat on the cushioned bench near the window. She watched the raindrops slam against the window pane. She put the phone to her ear as she listened to the voice mail, "Honey...it's me. Sarah, I'm so..."Chris began to weep then continued, "I will never touch you like that again. I hope you're doing okay and I'll talk to you soon. I love you."
The voice mail ended and Sarah held the phone to her chest. She began to cry because she knew arguing with her husband in the way she did may not have been the best. David and Rose whispered to each other on the couch as Sarah walked back to the living room. "Am I interrupting something lovebirds?" Sarah said with a smirk.
"No," Rose said turning to face Sarah.
"I'm ready to talk to you both," Sarah said sitting on the couch.
"We're ready to listen," David said popping a cracker into his mouth.
Sarah told them all that happened during her counseling session with Victor Waterstein. She talked about how the angriest she had ever gotten before today was crying when she was angry. And even that scared her. By the time Sarah finished, she was an emotional roller coaster. Going from whimpering one moment to dead silence the next. The doorbell rang and David said, "I'll get it."
Sarah could hear him arguing with someone, but she didn't hear a response back.
"Sarah?" she looked up and saw Chris standing in the living room.
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