Page 8 of Jealous Wife

Ava leaned back in the seat, keeping her eyes on the front door. Surely Rollo would come out in a couple of minutes. Surely, surely…

The next thing Ava knew, a hairy knuckle was tapping loudly against the window, waking her from a dreamless sleep.

Chapter 4

Keep your hands off my man!

“Youneedtostop!”Rolloshouted,hishandsrisingupintheaironlytoslapdownagainsthisthighs.

Ava stood with her back against the breakfast bar, her arms folded across her chest. The sequins on her dress were digging into her arms. The high heels wrapped around her feet were tight and uncomfortable, the balls of her feet already burning.

Rollo had been switching between shouting at her and ignoring her all day. Ever since he’d found her outside Zoey’s house, asleep at the wheel, he had been irate.

Nothing Ava did helped, either. She tried riding him, climbing onto his body and ripping off his clothes, but he’d just pushed her away and turned his back on her. She’d tried apologizing profusely, swearing it would never happen again, but he only grunted in reply.

Ava risked a glance at Rollo. He was standing in the middle of the kitchen, using the refrigerator as a mirror. He was bending down awkwardly with his knees, adjusting the tie around his neck.

“I honestly cannotbelieveyou,” he ranted. “Showing up to her house like that? Following me there?”

Rollo frowned over his shoulder, his eyes meeting hers. There was a fire burning inside of them as the anger bubbled within.

“I don’t know what you were thinking,” he continued, “but whatever was going through your head was completely and totallystupid.”

Ava looked down to her feet, unable to bring herself to speak. Instead, she focused her attention on her toes, neatly painted and shaped. She’d worked for hours on those, making sure they looked perfect for the company party that evening.

She couldn’t help but wonder if she’d already ruined the entire evening. Was he going to be like this while they were at the party? Was he going to give her the silent treatment all night? Would he start screaming at her in front of all his coworkers?

“You crossed a line this morning,” Rollo snapped.

He finally turned around to her. His tie was wonky, hanging off his neck at an angle and his eyes were burning. If Ava didn’t know any better, she’d think that he was looking at her with passion in his eyes instead of rage. How she wished it was passion.

“It’s creepy and weird and I don’t ever want you doing anything like that ever again,” Rollo snapped, clenching and unclenching his fists. “I think I’ve been pretty understanding about your feelings toward Zoey so far, but that stopstoday.”

“I’ll be on my best behavior from now on,” Ava said meekly, her eyes returning to the ground. “I promise.”

“Zoey will be at the party tonight,” Rollo stated. “You will go there and talk with her. You’ll see that she’s a normal college girl, just trying to get some experience in a very competitive field.”

Ava didn’t like the sound of spending time with her, but she had no choice. Rollo was livid—more angry than Ava had ever seen him before. He practically had steam coming out of his ears.

She remained meek and submissive, trying to ease his temper. She agreed to whatever it was that he wanted, and would continue to do that for the rest of the night. She couldn’t have her marriage reduced to rubble because of her damn jealousy… or whatever it was that she was feeling.

Confusion seemed to be the main thing she could feel. Was she really paranoid, or was she actually wishing it would happen? The mind seemed to work in strange ways. Maybe this was how her brain was trying to tell her what she wanted.

Rollo ushered her out of the house without saying much to her. The car ride was equally as silent. Rollo had hired a driver for the evening so they could both drink. They sat in the backseat, on opposite sides of the car. Rollo had his elbow on the door, his hand connected with his chin. He stared out of the window, deep in thought.

More than anything, Ava wanted to reach across the space between them and take hold of the hand in his lap. She wanted to touch him and heal the wounds she’d caused. Of course, she knew it would take more than holding his hand. She didn’t know how much damage she’d done, but it was bad. Bad enough for her to be worried.

The driver stopped outside the building. To Ava’s surprise, it was an apartment building. It was old, made of bricks and large, impacted windows. As Ava’s eyes drifted up the building. Lights and flashes were coming from the top of the building. She looked up there, to the very top, and saw dangling lights along the balcony on the roof.

“It’s a rooftop party?” Ava asked, barely able to suppress a gasp.

“It is,” Rollo said. “My boss’ apartment building.”

Ava didn’t have a reply for that. She was looking forward to the evening more now, though. Ava had never been to a rooftop party before. She wondered what the view would be like up there as she climbed out of the car.

Rollo joined her a second later, standing on the sidewalk. Ava tried to loop her arm through his. He shrugged her away.

Ava tried not to take it personally as they made their way up to the roof. The building was old but it had been renovated, mixing the old brick structure with the new. A polished silver elevator whisked them up to the top floor. The doors pinged open into a small lobby, where two men in black suits were standing. They looked mean, with dark shades covering their eyes.