Chapter 12

A Day To Myself

James had already left Bellmont.

By the time I woke up that morning, the room felt different without him there. His bag was gone, his shoes were no longer beside the door, and the place was completely quiet.

But strangely, I didn't miss him.

If anything, I enjoyed the silence.

James and I had spent the past few days together, talking, eating out, and moving around like we had known each other forever. I had enjoyed his company, but having him around all the time had also made me realize how much I valued having my own space.

I stretched across the bed and reached for my phone.

There was already a message from him.

James: Morning. I sent you some money. You've been inside the whole time. Go out and enjoy yourself.

I stared at the message and smiled.

He wasn't wrong.

Since I had arrived in Bellmont, I had barely gone anywhere by myself. Most of the time, I stayed indoors, watched movies, talked to my sisters, or waited for James to finish whatever he was doing.

I typed back.

Me: You really didn't have to send me money.

His response came a few seconds later.

James: I know. But I want you to enjoy yourself.

I smiled again.

There was something about James that made it difficult to be angry with him.

He was thoughtful.

Maybe too thoughtful.

I got out of bed and took a shower. I stood in front of the mirror afterward, deciding what to wear.

I didn't have anyone to impress.

That thought made me laugh.

I picked something comfortable, did my hair, grabbed my handbag and checked that I had everything I needed.

Before leaving, I looked around the room.

For some reason, I felt completely at peace.

Maybe that was what I had needed all along.

A few days away from everything.

Away from Vince.

Away from the questions.

Away from the people who always had something to say about my life.

I ordered an Uber and waited outside.

When the car arrived, I climbed into the back seat and gave the driver the first place I wanted to visit.

As we drove through Bellmont, I watched the streets through the window.

I liked being somewhere nobody knew me.

Nobody knew I was married.

Nobody knew about Vince.

Nobody knew about my problems.

Here, I wasn't someone's wife.

I wasn't someone's daughter-in-law.

I wasn't the woman everyone had an opinion about.

I was simply Amara.

And for a little while, that felt good.

I spent most of the day shopping.

I didn't go crazy with the money James had sent me, but I allowed myself to buy a few things I wanted.

I walked through different shops, stopped to look at clothes, tried on a few things and laughed at myself when I realized I had been in the same store for almost an hour.

I even bought something small for my sisters.

They were going to tease me about it, of course, but I didn't care.

By the time I was finished, my feet were hurting.

I ordered another Uber and headed back.

On the way home, I suddenly realized I was hungry.

I passed a pizza place and immediately changed my mind about going straight home.

Pizza sounded perfect.

I ordered a takeaway and waited.

The smell while I was waiting made me hungry.

I imagined myself getting home, putting on my pajamas, getting under the blanket, turning on a movie and eating the entire thing without anyone bothering me.

When I finally got the pizza, I carried the box carefully to the Uber.

I was already excited to eat it.

When I arrived back at the house, I took my shoes off and placed my shopping bags down.

Then I opened the pizza box.

My excitement disappeared almost immediately.

I frowned.

The smell was different from what I remembered at the restaurant.

It was strong.

Almost unpleasant.

I leaned closer, trying to figure out what was wrong with it.

Then my stomach turned.

I quickly moved my face away.

"Ugh."

I covered my mouth.

For a moment, I thought I was going to be sick.

I stared at the pizza.

"What is wrong with this?"

It looked completely normal.

Nothing about it looked spoiled.

It was just the smell.

And somehow, the smell was suddenly unbearable.

I closed the box and sat down.

Maybe it was just the restaurant.

Maybe something had been added that I didn't like.

Or maybe I was simply tired.

I had been travelling.

I had been eating differently.

I had been sleeping at strange times.

There were so many possible explanations that I didn't give it another thought.

I opened a bottle of water and took a few sips.

My stomach slowly settled.

"See? Nothing is wrong."

I said it to myself and laughed.

I wasn't about to let one pizza ruin my day.

I changed into something comfortable and climbed onto the bed.

I turned on the television and searched for a movie.

It took me almost twenty minutes to decide what I wanted to watch.

Eventually, I found one and settled under the blanket.

My phone vibrated.

One of my sisters was calling.

I answered immediately.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?"

"At the house."

"Already?"

I laughed.

"Yes. I'm tired."

She started asking me about Bellmont, and before long, another sister joined the call.

Soon, the three of us were talking over each other.

They wanted to know what I had bought.

I showed them some of the things I had picked up, and they immediately started teasing me.

"You went shopping with James's money?"

I rolled my eyes.

"He sent it to me."

"Same thing."

"No, it's not."

We all burst out laughing.

For the next few hours, I completely forgot about everything else.

We talked about family.

We talked about things happening back home.

We laughed about old memories.

We even started talking about relationships, and I carefully avoided saying too much about James.

I didn't want to explain everything.

Especially because I still didn't know what James and I were.

I cared about him.

I enjoyed being around him.

But I wasn't sure my heart was in it.

And maybe that was something I needed to figure out when I got home.

For now, I just wanted to enjoy my little escape.

I put my phone down after the call ended and returned my attention to the movie.

The room was quiet again.

The pizza was still sitting on the table, untouched.

I looked at the box for a moment.

For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to open it again.

I shrugged.

"I'll eat it later."

Then I lay back down.

The movie continued playing.

My eyes slowly became heavy.

I had no idea how long I had been asleep when I woke up again.

The room was dark.

The television was still playing quietly.

I reached for my phone and checked the time.

There were several messages from James.

I smiled when I saw them.

He was asking if I had enjoyed my day.

I typed back that I had.

Then I placed the phone beside me and closed my eyes again.

Everything felt normal.

Peaceful.

Ordinary.

I didn't know that my body had already started changing.

I didn't know that the things I had dismissed as nothing were slowly becoming impossible to ignore.

And I certainly didn't know that the next few days in Bellmont would change the direction of my entire life.