*Serene POV*
I boiled some water on the stove. I wanted to start the day with some tea, cuddle with my cat and try to relax. I looked over and saw my sprawling gray Russian Blue cat perched on the window, basking in the sunshine.
He looked at me with his innocent blue eyes and blinked satisfactorily. He always seemed so content and happy with himself.
“Hi Earl Gray, I’ll be right there,” I told my cat with a smile. I felt so good now, knowing that this time I would get credit for my script. I sniffed my tea happily and sat down on the couch beside my cat. He snuggled his body next to my hip and as he purred loudly, I drank my tea in bliss.
Everything was just sublime until my horrid stepmom walked in. Oh my god, how could I forget?! I still lived with my dad and his dastardly second wife at this time.
Of course, I did, there is no way I could pay for a place like this working as a hotel cleaner in Los Angeles. The home wasn’t as grandiose as the one Eli bought for me, but anything bigger than a swimming pool in this city cost an arm and a leg.
Oh lord have mercy, don’t make me talk to my stepmom! I pleaded to who knows what deity, but my pleas fell on deaf ears.
“Serene!” my stepmom, Molly, exclaimed. “What on earth are you doing at home? Don’t you have work today?”
I gazed up at her. It didn’t matter what time of day it was, this woman always had ten pounds of makeup on her god ugly face. She always smelled like powder and looked like a homeless clown. If it weren’t for her superhuman breasts, surely my father never would’ve married the b*tch.
“Hi Molly,” I answered plainly, gazing at my cat instead. “No, I don’t work today.”
“You are so lazy!” she shouted towards me, but I didn’t look at her. I pretended to be mesmerized by Earl Gray’s coat. “Look at me when I am talking to you!”
“I am not interested in what you’re saying!” I raised my voice back at her.
Her eyes grew fiery with rage. I could not believe I just said that. I remembered when I was this age 5 years ago, I would never dream of speaking to her that way. Now it just felt like a dream come true.
She immediately raced towards me and got up in my face, “Don’t you sass me, you little ungrateful worm! You think you can just stay here mooching off of your father forever!?”
“Oh, you mean like you do?” I declared, standing up. “You haven’t worked ever since you married him!”
“Well, I am his wife,” she answered me angrily. “I provide other services to him….”
“All you give him is sex, and I highly doubt that it’s hot and amusing. And I’m the one who has to clean up after your…mess.” That one was a low blow, but oh did it feel so good rolling off my tongue.
Her face went red, then white, then back to red, as she struggled to say anything at all. It was amusing to watch her breakdown like this. But, I knew the real rage was just around the corner.
“You kids are all the same!” she shouted at me, her makeup wiggling on her sagging skin.
“Jenny is out making something of herself. You, on the other hand, are not capable of doing anything but cleaning! Finish that pathetic script of yours already.”
“I am working on it,” I said flatly. She always favored Jenny, who was her real daughter. I called Jenny my cousin, even though she was technically my step sister, because I never felt a sisterly bond with her. I didn’t realize at the time that she was a conniving monster like her mother and I kinda sorta liked her.
“Will you ladies shut up already?” I heard my father’s raspy voice as he entered the room.
“Dad, you’re home?” I asked. He looked at me from where he gazed watching his coffee pour.
“You’re home?” he returned my question.
“Well, yes, I was planning to finish my manuscript today,” I said to him, trying to think of a plausible excuse that did not include the attempted suicide of a famous actor.
“Hmmm, good,” he grunted as he lifted his newspaper.
He never supported me either. He just liked to be left alone and drink coffee at all hours of the day. My heart sank at the reminder of my father’s disinterest.
“Andrew,” Molly whined at him. “Tell her she is being lazy! She can handle a pathetic job and writing at the same time!”
“I don’t really care,” he told her, as he ate a plain bagel and drank his first cup of black coffee. “As long as she finishes it.”
“Oh, Andrew!” she sighed angrily. “You know my Jenny is working so hard. Your daughter is so lazy and useless.”
I didn’t wait for my dad to stand up for me. He didn’t hate me, but I knew he thought Jenny was more talented. I stared at my dad’s balding head, with strands of gray and white hair clinging for dear life, realizing he didn’t give a sh*t about me anymore.
I still had a small pocket of my heart saved for my dad, despite how he treated me. I wished that I could prove him wrong.
“Don’t worry, Dad,” I told him with a grin. “I will outshine Jenny soon.” I walked out of the room, with the sounds of my stepmother’s whining drifting away.
I went to my bedroom and sat at my computer desk. I saw an Instax photo of me and Eli at the amusement park.
That day, he bought me a ticket to the merry-go-round. After spinning in circles for what felt like an eternity, he carried me off of the ride, in both his arms, twirling me further. “I won’t stop until you give me a kiss!” Eli teased. I had been in an awful mood that day from work, and he took me to the amusement park to cheer me up.
He had not looked at me this way in years. After our marriage, he saw me as a dole and fading housewife. I was constantly begging for his attention only to be met by an indifferent huff.
I should have left him. I should have screamed in his face when I saw that wh*re straddling him without a care in the world.
The moment he put that ring on my finger, I was another accessory for him to discard. Bile rose to my throat thinking about how terribly he treated me.
If he wasn’t downright ignoring me, we would be in screaming matches. He would blame me for being needy, for not caring about him and his projects enough, for giving him a sick child. The more I reflected, the more I knew what needed to be done.
In this life, I would put myself first. Nothing would stop me. In this life, I would be the best screenwriter in the industry.
I picked up my phone resolutely and called Eli.
“Hi love,” his sweet, sensual voice sounded over the phone. “What can I do for you?”
I froze and felt the words were stuck in my throat. I wished I knew what to say, his voice was so tempting. I remember at this time I couldn’t believe that this hunky man would date me.
Grounding myself, I remembered the scene from his office in the future where his tongue was deep in that wh*re actress.
“Eli, I know we love each other,” I said slowly and he made a noise to interrupt me, but I persisted. “But, you will not love me forever. Don’t ask how I know this, but I do. And, because I know this, I need to break up with you.”
“What the hell, have you lost your mind?” he retorted angrily. There it was, the seeds of his dismissive and careless behavior.
“No!” I shouted defiantly. “I’d be a complete half-witted imbecile to sacrifice my career for you!”
“Why would you choose your career over me, the love of your life?” he proposed, confused.
“I know what you’re planning, okay Eli,” I stood firmly. “Just stop lying to me. Move on with your life. I’m sure as f*ck going to move on with mine.”
I actually just said that?! I was saying what I always should have before I died.
“You’re nuts!” he screamed. “I am the best part of your miserable life!”
“Not anymore!” I shouted back and hung up.
I didn’t want to deal with Molly or my father, so I locked my bedroom door, turned off the lights, and decided it was time for bed.
I slept in again until the sound of my ringtone roused me. I jumped up and answered it quickly.
“H-hello?” my groggy voice mustered.
“Yes, hello. Is this Serene Jones?”