The Loyalty Text - S01 E06

Story 4 months ago

The Loyalty Text - S01 E06

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 6

Episode 6: The Loyalty Test

The next morning arrived with a gray and heavy sky. The sun did not look bright like it usually did. The light coming through the windows felt cold and thin. Inside the house, the air felt very thick. It felt like a big storm was about to break at any moment. You could almost hear the silence screaming. Nia had stayed awake all night. She had sat in the kitchen until the moon went away and the light of the morning started to show. Her eyes were red from crying, and her heart felt like it was being squeezed by a very large and very strong hand. She felt like she could not catch her breath.

She heard a sound from the bedroom. It was a sound that made her stomach turn into knots. It was the sound of a zipper. Zip. Zip. Zip. Nia stood up and walked slowly to the bedroom door. She saw Andre standing by the bed. He had a small blue suitcase open. He was taking his shirts and his pants from the closet and folding them. He was doing it very carefully, but his hands were shaking. He did not look at Nia when she walked into the room. He just kept packing. Each shirt he put into that bag felt like another piece of Nia’s life was being taken away.

"Andre, please," Nia whispered. Her voice was very small and very weak. "What are you doing? Why are you packing a bag?"

Andre stopped moving for a second. He gripped the edge of the suitcase until his knuckles turned white. He still did not look at her. "I am going to a hotel, Nia," he said. His voice was very flat. It sounded like he had no more feelings left to give. "I need to stay there for a few days. I need to think. I cannot be in this house right now. Everything here feels like a lie."

Nia felt like she was going to fall down. She reached out and touched the wall to stay steady. "Please do not go," she begged. "We can talk about this. We can fix this. I love you so much, Andre. You know I do." She wanted to run to him and hold him. She wanted to tell him that everything would be okay. But the look on his face told her that everything was not okay.

Andre finally looked up at her. His eyes were full of a deep and sharp pain. "Why should I stay, Nia?" he asked. His voice cracked in the middle of the sentence. "Why should I stay with a woman who writes mean things about me? You have been keeping a book of secrets. You act like you do not trust me at all. You have been treating me like I am a bad person when I have done nothing but love you."

Nia shook her head very fast. "No, Andre! Those notes were not what you think. They were about my own fears. I was feeling scared and I wrote down my bad thoughts so I could get them out of my head. I was not mocking you. I was testing myself."

Andre let out a sad and angry laugh. "Testing? Is that what you call it? Kate told me everything, Nia. She showed me the proof. She showed me the pages where you said I was not good enough. She showed me how you really feel. She was the one who was brave enough to tell me the truth while you were busy playing games."

Nia realized right then how smart and how mean Kate had been. Kate had taken Nia’s words and turned them into weapons. She had used Nia’s own honesty against her. She had made Andre believe that his wife was his enemy and that a stranger was his only friend. Nia tried to explain again. She tried to tell him that the pages were torn and that Kate was a liar. But Andre was too hurt to hear her words. He felt like his heart had been broken into a million tiny pieces, and he did not want to listen to any more stories. He just wanted to get away.

He finished packing his bag and zipped it shut. The sound of the zipper was like a final goodbye. He picked up the bag and walked past Nia. He did not even brush against her shoulder. He walked down the hallway and toward the front door. Nia followed him, her tears falling onto the wooden floor. She felt like her whole world was walking out the door.

Just as Andre reached for the doorknob, the doorbell rang. It was a sharp and loud sound that made Nia jump. Andre opened the door, and there was Kate. She was standing on the porch with a very concerned look on her face. But Nia saw the truth in her eyes. Behind the concern, there was a look of victory. Kate was wearing a pretty yellow dress that made her look like a ray of sunshine. She looked like she was there to save the day.

"Oh, Andre," Kate said in her sweet, honey voice. "I saw your car and I thought I would check on you. I heard you were having a hard time. Are you leaving?"

Andre nodded his head. "I am going to a hotel for a while, Kate. I just cannot be here."

Kate looked at the suitcase and then she looked at Andre with a soft smile. "Do not worry. You should not be alone right now. I have my car right here. I can drive you to the hotel. We can talk on the way, and I will make sure you are settled in. You need a friend who understands you."

Andre looked at Kate and then he looked back at Nia for one last time. He saw Nia crying on the porch. He saw her reaching out her hand. But then he looked at Kate, who was smiling and offering him a way out of his pain. He chose Kate. He walked down the steps and followed her to her car. Kate turned around and looked at Nia over her shoulder. She did not say a word, but she gave Nia a very small and very mean smile. It was the look of someone who had won a game. She thought she had finally taken everything that belonged to Nia.

Nia stood on the porch and watched them. She watched as Andre put his bag in the back of Kate’s car. She watched as he sat in the front seat. She watched as the engine started and the car began to pull away. She stood there until the car was just a small dot in the distance. She stood there until she was all alone in the quiet morning. It was the lowest and the saddest moment of her life. She had hired a woman to test her husband’s loyalty, and now that woman was driving away with him.

Nia went back inside the house. The house felt very empty now. It did not feel like a home anymore. It just felt like a building with white walls and cold floors. She walked into the living room and sank down onto the floor. She sat right in the middle of the room and put her head in her hands. She did not want to move. She felt like she had lost everything because of her own fear.

She looked up at the walls. There were photos of her and Andre everywhere. There was a photo of them at the beach, laughing while the waves hit their feet. There was a photo of them at their wedding, looking at each other with so much love. They looked so happy in the pictures. They looked like two people who could never be broken apart. Nia looked at those happy faces and realized a very important lesson. By trying to see if Andre would leave her, she had actually been the one to push him away. She had been so afraid of losing his love that she had stopped trusting it. And without trust, love cannot stay.

Nia stayed on the floor for a long time. She thought about Kate. She thought about the sharp, cold voice on the phone and the sweet, fake voice at the door. She realized that Kate was a very dangerous person. Kate did not love Andre. Kate just wanted the life that Nia had. Kate wanted the beautiful house and the kind man. She did not care about who she hurt to get what she wanted. Nia knew she could not let Kate win. She could not let a liar destroy her marriage.

She stood up slowly. She wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked tired and sad, but she also looked determined. She realized that she had been wrong to play a game. She had been wrong to use a trick. But she also knew that Andre was a good man. He was just very hurt and very confused. He was being tricked by a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Nia knew that she had to find a way to show Andre the truth. She had to show him that Kate was the one who had torn the pages. She had to show him that Kate was the one who was being dishonest. But she also knew that she had to be the one to admit her own mistakes. She had to tell him exactly why she started the test. She had to tell him about her fear and her doubt. She had to be 100 percent honest, even if it meant admitting how wrong she had been. It was the only way to earn back his trust.

The game was over, and the real battle was beginning. Nia did not have a plan yet, but she knew she could not stay on the floor crying. She had to be brave. She had to be the woman Andre fell in love with. She had to fix the broken pieces of her life before Kate could throw them away forever. The suspense of the morning was gone, and now there was a new feeling. It was the feeling of a woman who was ready to do whatever it took to save her home.

Nia watched Andre leave with Kate. Do you think Andre is making a big mistake by trusting Kate so much right now?

If your partner left you because of a misunderstanding, would you chase after them or let them go so they can think?

Nia realized that her fear was what pushed Andre away. Do you think it is possible to love someone too much and still not trust them?

What do you think Nia should do first to prove to Andre that Kate is the real liar?