Stranger In My House

“Gav?” Monique asked as she answered the phone in excitement while putting down the groceries.

“Sorry to disappoint you Mo but its only me” Lisa laughed.

Lisa had been Monique’s best friend since grade 9 and the two of them have been inseparable ever since. Lisa was Monique’s maid of honour and Monique is the god mother of Lisa’s son Michael.

“Hey Lisa, how’s your day been?” Monique asked.

“Hey girl, you know my boss got on my nerves again today. He doesn’t appreciate the time I put in that damn place. I swear, if Trevor passes me up on one more promotion, I am out of there. I already got offered to leave them and my dumb ass chose to stay. Anyways, that’s my day. How’s it going over there?

“I can’t lie, its actually going amazing. Gavin has been busy with work so I have been spending more time on my art and enjoying some me time.”

“Shoot its about time!!! You know you’re going to kill the art game when you actually decide to put a price on your talent”

Monique rolled her eyes and contended “You always coming with that but it’s my safe space away from the world and I don’t want to lose that”

“Well shoot, safe space plus tax is the way to go in my books but I hear you girl. You own your happy place. Anyways, what else you up to?”

“Nothing much. Gavin is back tonight so I am going to whip up a nice shrimp alfredo with some red wine for us and I have to clean up before he gets home.”

“Uh huh, I bet you do. Clean up so you can get dirty later” Lisa laughed

“Oh stop it girl, even though you know that’s right. A 5 star meal with some 5 star loving tonight”

Both ladies chuckled.

“Alright babes, I also have to go start dinner. Mikey brought a guest tonight so it’s dinner and pester your date night over here.” Lisa mentioned

“Oh gosh, leave him be and Don’t poison the girl”

“I won’t make any promises”

“I’ll take that. Talk tomorrow girl and you can update me then”

“Okay, enjoy tonight. Bye!!!” Lisa said before hanging up.

Just as Monique hung up the house phone and was about to get up, her cell phone vibrated. It was a message from Gavin saying he should be home at 9. Monique responded okay baby and sent him back three heart emojis. Timing couldn’t work out better for her. It was 6:30 and that gave her more than enough time to cook and clean. Since the Alfredo wouldn’t take long, she decided to attack the cleaning first. She scrubbed the bathrooms down, swept and mopped the floors, cleaned the glass around the house, reorganized the fridge and made sure the bedrooms were set up just the way they liked it. It was now 7:45 and dinner would take about 30 minutes to whip up so she was ahead of schedule as planned. She didn’t waste any time at all. She put on her chef hat and went to work. She added love and passion as her secret ingredients to Gavin’s favourite meal. The aroma in the kitchen was majestic. She tasted it to make sure everything was right and it couldn’t taste any better. Her taste buds were tingling and she instantly wanted to make a plate but she wouldn’t do that without Gavin. The wait would be well worth it. She turned off the stove and let the food sit on the warm burner. It was now 8:30. She went upstairs and changed into her “I miss you” pajamas. Whenever she wore them, Gavin knew that was his cue for extracurricular activities in the bedroom. She was more than ready for that. She decided while waiting, to lie down and put on her favourite show. As the time passed, Monique started feeling drowsy and eventually fell asleep. She woke up from her nap to realize it was 12:20 AM and Gavin wasn’t home yet. This was not normal behaviour. Gavin Turner was always punctual. He always made it home earlier than expected and the seldom times he was late, he would message in advance let her know. She instantly got worried and checked her phone. No messages or calls from Gavin. “Where could he be? “Why isn’t he home yet?” she wondered. Before she could press send to call him, the lights from his SUV came shining through their bedroom window. She let out a sigh. She was relieved and excited all at the same time. She hurried over to the blinds in excitement to peak through, while making sure not to be seen. She didn’t want to give away the surprise of her outfit or what was waiting for him. She watched as the car entered their detached garage, but something was off. He didn’t reverse like he usually does. He always reverses. “Oh well, he must be tired,” she thought. The driver’s door opened and he slid out of the front seat. There he stood in his 3 piece suit momentarily posing for his wife, even though he didn’t know it. Monique couldn’t stop thinking how handsome her husband was. She smiled emphatically. He popped the trunk and made his way around. She could see something in the trunk but couldn’t quite make it out. Her eyes beamed in on the trunk. It looked like a garbage bag. “Why did he have a garbage bag in his car?” “Did he clean out his car or something?” she wondered. Gavin grabbed for the bag and he seemed to be struggling a bit. Gavin was well built so this seemed odd. “What could be so heavy?” “What’s in the bag?” These questions ran rampant through her head. As he slowly placed the bag on the floor, her eyes widened. “OH MY GOD!!!!” She loudly whispered as she quickly moved from the window. She couldn’t believe what she just saw. She paced back and forth, trying to calm down but she couldn’t. I mean how could her husband of 7 years explain what she just saw. Gavin was the sweetest, most romantic man she ever met. He didn’t get into confrontations and hardly ever lost his temper. How could he explain this? “He’s an electrician for God’s sake, why would an electrician have a hand dangling from the bag?” she thought in confusion. She realized she had been pacing for a bit and wasn’t paying attention to where Gavin was. She quickly went back to the window to see the garage closing and Gavin headed to the door. She quickly snuck back into the bed. She could hear the front door open. She heard his shoes gently drop to the floor and him making his way up the stairs. She was trying to calm her nerves as quickly as she could, while trying to figure out a way to act normal. Remember, she had on those special pajamas and didn’t want to come off as anything but normal with him. As he entered the bedroom, she pretended to be asleep. He headed to the bathroom, which was on the right side of the room. She could hear him turn on the sink to wash his hands, washing any last piece of evidence down the drain. “Okay, let’s get it together” she thought to herself. Time was up. Gavin came to the bed and got under the blanket. He quickly noticed the choice of clothes his wife was wearing and smiled before kissing her shoulder. He then kissed her neck. She reached back for him to embrace her. She knew tonight she was going to put on a performance. He grabbed her close and she could feel that he was already excited. She turned over and kissed him passionately, hiding any feelings she had moments before. He left her lips to work down her body but he only got to her neck before she pulled him back up and put him on his back. He looked surprised. She lifted off his shirt and kissed his neck, heading down to his chest. She gently grazed over his sternum while heading for what would make him go crazy. She pulled down his pants and gently massaged the tip with her lips. She proceeded by placing his shaft in her mouth just the way he liked it. Stroking his manhood with her mouth, she could hear him moaning wanting more. She slipped off her bottoms while pleasing him. She gave it one more kiss before getting on top of him and riding him. His eyes opened wide as he felt the moistness of her insides hugging him. His mind was racing as was hers. After ten minutes of passion, he let out all his stresses and finished. She went to the bathroom for a rag and cleaned them both up. Gavin gave her a kiss and instantly fell asleep. This was her chance now. She waited to hear Gavin in a deep sleep before changing into her robe and trackpants. She quietly made her way downstairs without any sound. She listened periodically as she got closer. She grabbed the keys off the hook, making sure they didn’t dangle. She slipped on a pair of Uggs and opened the door as quietly as she could. She made her way through the side door of the garage. She went straight for the bag to confirm what’s inside. She gasped loudly. There was a body in there. Her eyes began to welt up but she had to be strong. She popped open the trunk. Inside was a suitcase zipped up. She opened it and it was full of money. There were 20 stacks of $1000. Where would Gavin get $20,000 from? She reached in the side pocket to find a small black notebook, Moleskine written down the side. She opened it to see names listed. One name was crossed off at the bottom where beside it, it said $20,000. This was all too much for her. She needed answers but how? How was she going to bring this up? She was overwhelmed and needed time to process all of this. She decided to hide the $20,000 to force a conversation tomorrow morning. She knew it would be scary to approach but she needed answers. She crept back in the house. She snuck upstairs without making a peep but when she got to the bedroom door, the bedside lamp turned on.

“Where were you baby?” Gavin asked.

“Oh, I just went to get a glass of water.”

“I thought so Mo, until I looked out the window.”

“What? Why would..”

“I didn’t know we kept our water in the garage these days” Gavin interrupted

“I – I – I also” Monique stuttered trying to find words.

“See, I thought one of our rules in this marriage were to be honest.”

“Are you being honest Gav?” Monique asked, tear running down her face.

“I am now.”

Gavin reached from under the pillow to pulled out a glock, attaching silencer on it.

“Gavin, what are you doing? You’re scaring me!”

“Sorry baby but it looks I can’t trust you anymore”

“What the F Gavin, talk to me please!!!”

Gavin lifted the gun and aimed it at Monique.

Monique pleaded “WAIT BABY, NO, PLEASE DON’T DO THIS!!! WE CAN FIX THIS”

“I’m sorry baby” Gavin calmly uttered and pulled the trigger. “BANG”

Monique gasped and jumped up abruptly, sweating profusely. She couldn’t believe it was all a dream. It felt so real. She went to the washroom to wash her face, changed her pajamas and looked at the time. 12:20 AM. “Oh no,” she thought. Lights came shining into her bedroom. She instantly got chills. “Should she go to the window?” “Was her dream coming true?” “F that” She said to herself and pulled the blanket over her head… To be continued