She arrived home and carried Christopher up to his room. She refused to let any of the staff do it. Once she was done, she informed the kitchen that they’d be the ones cooking dinner till she said otherwise. She could tell from the puzzled looks on their faces that her request was odd given how she was before:
She’d just moved in after her marriage to Logan and was getting to know the staff. She’d ask for all of Logan’s favorite dishes and decided to cook them for dinner that night. At the dinner table, she waited anxiously as he tried the food. “Mmmm.” He moaned approvingly, “This is really good.” “You like it?” She asked him her face lighting up. “Gosh, Marybeth, this is exquisite.” He said in response. And since then she’d always made sure she cooked his dinner “But madam, that means you won’t cook dinner tonight.” One of them said. “Yes, that’s because I’m really tired. Plus, I doubt it would make any difference to him, so don’t worry. Just make it. If he says anything” Though she doubted that he would, “You can tell him I insisted that you guys cook it.” “Very well madam.” They nodded their heads in agreement. Dinnertime came around, and this time so did Logan, but he wasn’t alone. With him came Christa dragging a suitcase behind her. “Logan? What’s going on?” Marybeth asked, her eyes darting from Logan to the briefcase to Christa. “As you know, Christa just moved back and she doesn’t have anywhere else to stay so I decided it would be no trouble for us to take her in for some time, till she gets her feet up.” “Why wouldn’t she have anywhere to stay? Didn’t she live here in this city before she went abroad? She can go back there instead.” “She can’t go back there, that place is unkempt.” “Hire a cleaning service then. I don’t see why she has to stay here.” “Marybeth!” Logan’s voice rose, his tone threatening, “Don’t get on my last nerves tonight” He wagged his finger at her. “No. If you want to play Good Samaritan, why don’t you send her to a hotel or something? I’m sure there are a lot more options than her having to stay here. Just find-“ Pa! The sound of hand meeting cheek echoed through the room. Marybeth’s face turned red, and Logan stood in front of her, hand still raised. “I dare you to say something more. This is my house and I can bring whoever I want to bring into it.” “Daddy?” Christopher’s voice was heard at the top of the stairs. He stared down at the scene before him, eyes wide with shock, his brain unable to compute what had happened and why his father had slapped his mother. “Why did you hit mommy?” He asked, running down the stairs to stand before his mother, hands spread wide in a protective stance. “Christopher, the grown-ups are talking, you go back upstairs,” Logan said in a cajoling tone. But Christopher was not having it, “No!” His tiny voice yelled, “Daddy bad! Bad man! You hit Mummy! You’re not supposed to hit Mummy!” “Now, child,” Christa said, trying to approach him, “You should listen to your daddy. Your mommy did a very bad thing and daddy was just teaching her a lesson.” “Don’t you fucking talk to my son.” Marybeth said, finally finding her voice and pulling Christopher behind her, “He doesn’t need a snake like you spewing venom in his ears.” “How am I a snake when I’m only telling the boy the truth?” Christa asked blinking her eyes innocently, then she clung to Logan, “Logan, do you think what I did was wrong?” “No.” Logan huffed out, then he turned to Christopher, “Chris, remember what we talked about this morning about mommy and how she was not smart? Well, she tried to do a very not smart thing and that was the only way to correct her. You understand, don’t you, son?” Christopher peeked out from behind his mother and shook his head, “You’re wrong, Daddy. In school, they taught us not to hit girls, and mommy is a big girl, so it’s the same thing.” The words of such a little boy had the room frozen in shock and Logan suddenly felt embarrassed that his five-year-old son was schooling him on violence. He turned towards Marybeth, “I apologize for hitting you,” he apologized reluctantly, “I’ll find somewhere else for Christa to stay tonight.” Christa turned to him in shock, but he ignored her. “I apologize about dinner.” “That’s ok. I was not the one who cooked anyway.” She responded flippantly carrying Christopher and walking up the stairs. Her back was turned to him so she did not see the look of surprise that came over his face that he was quick to hide. Logan and Christa left the house- albeit reluctantly on Christa’s side. Together they got back into Logan’s car, and then Christa turned to him with a huge frown on her face. “Find me another place? I don’t want another place. Why can’t I stay at the house? It’s not like you guys need all that space anyway.” “My wife didn’t cook dinner.” He said in response to her. “What are you blubbering on about? She didn’t cook dinner so what?” “You don’t get it, ever since we’ve been married; she’s never not cooked dinner. It’s almost like a ritual for her. No matter what happens between us, she always cooks dinner.” “That’s what has you looking so worried?” She rolled her eyes at him. “She didn’t cook dinner, so what? It’s not the end of the world.” Logan suddenly remembered what Marybeth had promised after he’d first tasted her cooking. “Gosh, Marybeth, this is exquisite.” He had said to her and the meal really was exquisite. “I’m so glad you like it.” She said eagerly, “I’ll always cook dinner for you from now on.” “Really?” he asked raising a brow. “Mhm, if ever I don’t cook for you, it would only mean you’ve done something that really hurt me.” He shook his head at the memory. It was a long time ago, and there was no way she’d remember making such a promise; it was all probably just a coincidence that she decided not to cook tonight. There was no way her attitude towards him would change no matter how badly he treated her. She had stuck around for seven years already, so why would now be any different? Back in the house, Marybeth was tucking Christopher in for the night. “Are you ok mommy?” He asked, his small hand stroking her cheek that was still red from Logan’s slap. “I’m ok, don’t worry. Also, Toto, you were so brave today. You protected mommy like a knight.” “That's because I’m mommy’s knight.” He said drowsily already drifting off to sleep. She gave him a peck on his forehead and quietly left the room. She stood on the staircase, gripping the railing to steady herself. Logan struck her, for the first time in seven years he struck her. Was that enough grounds for a divorce? She asked herself.“I couldn’t care less about whether she would be happy about this or not.” He said firmly..Christa chuckled at that, happy that her plan to drive an even deeper wedge between Logan and his wife was working. Still, though, she was prepared for her plan not to work. That Logan could abandon his wife and son on the side of the road just so he could get to her obviously meant he loved her a lot more than he was willing to admit to himself and that made her extremely happy. But if the husband was unwilling to admit his true feelings shouldn’t the wife have realized it already? Woman’s intuition or whatever it was called.Christa was hoping that this incident- Logan abandoning Marybeth would be enough for Marybeth to finally leave Logan and if it wasn’t… Well, she was always willing to take more drastic measures.Logan glanced worriedly at Christa, she had gone quiet after a while and wasn’t moving as much, but once he saw she was only asleep he sighed in relief.He had almost lost her tod
Logan was driving as fast as he could, or rather as fast as the snowy weather would allow him to drive. His mind was consumed with worry and the worst scenarios ran through his head about what could have happened to Christa. It was funny.It was only Christa he cared about; he didn't care about his wife and son, whom he abandoned just then.It took him an hour to get there. He called her phone.“Christa!” He yelled into the phone, panic in his voice, “Where are you? Tell me, so I can come get you. Are you ok?”“Logan.” She whimpered, her voice trembled as she spoke, “Please help me. I found somewhere to hide but I think those men are still following me!”“Alright. Just send me your location. I'll come to you.” He said to her.He ended the call, and within a few minutes, his phone dinged with a message from her. He checked it, it was her location, and he saw he wasn't that far from her, so he ran to where she was.It was near an abandoned alleyway, and the falling snow gave it an eerie
The woman had left, leaving her to her thoughts. Her son ran into her, ramming himself into her body.“Mommy, inhaler!” He wheezed. She quickly collected herself, giving him the inhaler and directing him on how to use it.“Good boy!” She applauded him and he gave her a wide grin before running back to keep playing. She stared at her son, her mind reeling with this new discovery, Logan wanted Toto to be older before he got rid of his mother. Insane, the audacity of this man.After a while, she decided they had spent enough time at the park.“Toto! Come now we have to get going!”“I'm coming!” He yelled back, running and yelling bye to his friends. “Ouu, you're so stinky. I'm gonna give you a bath when we get back.” She carried him, trudging to her car. “No baths, Mommy. I'm not stinky I promise.” He whined.“Yes, you are,” She responded, giggling. “No time to waste.”Meanwhile, back at the house, Christa was alone and she used that time to move around the house, imagining herself as
Christa had been in her home for two weeks now and it was terrible, Marybeth thought as they all sat at the dining table, she and Christopher on one side while Logan and Christa were on the other. To an outsider, they presented a happy family, but if one looked closer, they'd notice the cracks. How Logan and Christa were icing out Marybeth, how Christopher was playing with his breakfast and not eating it with enthusiasm the way he usually did, and how Marybeth was ignoring the two people in front of her who were shamelessly cozying up to each other. Or maybe the more obvious signs like how the two sides of the table had two different dishes for breakfast. The Renfry home was in shambles.Logan glanced at Marybeth from the corner of his eye to check if she was watching them, but she wasn't; instead, her attention was on trying to get Christopher to eat, but he was refusing. Christa fed him a berry which he ate, making exaggerated noises trying to get Marybeth’s attention.“Christopher.
Logan paced the guestroom his head turning to the door periodically. He was waiting for her to co.e to him and apologize like she always did. He waited for an hour and she still didn't show up. He frowned at the door, looking at it like it was the cause of the current situation. She had refused him.. She'd never once refused him before, heck, she was the one always instigating. Why was she acting so differently now? Was she really that and at him for forgetting their son? It wasn’t a big deal, the boy was okay now and was fast asleep. It's not like he got traumatized or anything. In that moment, his phone rang, he glanced at it thinking it was Christa and was ready to ignore it, but it was his uncle, Ryan Renfry. He cleared his throat before he picked up the phone.“Hello, Uncle.”The voice at the other end of the line was a deep baritone voice “Hello Loahan, how have you been?”“Very well Uncle.” He paused a bit, “To what do I owe this honor?”“I've been informed that Christa is ba
“Ma'am.” He began trying to reason with her, “You have to understand that this isn't the first time a child has been left at our establishment. Parents come with their kids and drop them off, going off to do whatever it is they have planned for the day, but they always come back for them before the day is over. So we assumed this was simply the case. It is not uncommon to see parents who don't wish to parent here in New York, ma'am.”“Wow, so you had no sense of urgency? What if something had happened to his father or to my son while he was under your roof?!” She demanded.“Then we would have called an ambulance.” He responded simply, “In my opinion, madam, I think it would be more productive for you to turn your anger towards your husband, who felt it was alright to leave his son here without saying a thing about where he would be going to you.”The manager was right. She knew that. But she needed an outlet for her anger and Logan wasn't around. She decided to keep her anger; she'd r