Cheaters Never Win

They had nothing to say to each other.

Five minutes before he’d come over, she’d been in a rage. She’d wanted to scream and shout. Maybe even break something or throw it at his pretty little head. The hideous vase that had been a gift from her grandma looked perfect. She’d wanted to inflict all the pain she felt onto him. He deserved to suffer just like she was suffering. Five minutes ago, Bella was a not a woman to be messed with.

Now she had nothing to say.

He’d come over and Bella had let him in her apartment without a word. He walked over to her, but she turned her face away. Her body language clearly said ‘don’t touch me’. He got the message and moved away, standing awkwardly in the living room.

Bella walked over to the window and pressed her hand against the glass. It was cold mirroring her emotions. She was no longer angry. Inside, Bella was as frozen as the snow on the ground. Her breath clouded over the window. “What did you come here for?” she asked finally.

He was silent for minute, most likely figuring out which words would sound best and upset her the least. “I thought maybe we should talk about what happened.”

That should have been the moment where she picked up the hideous vase to throw it at his head. Instead Bella just turned her head slightly to look at him. “I’m not sure we have anything to talk about.”

She could see it in his expression. He hadn’t expected her to be this calm…this composed. Maybe he’d wanted to watch her break down. “Why don’t you come sit down and we’ll act like adults.”

Bella stayed at her position by the window. She was afraid to take her hand off the window. The cold anchored her. The longer she kept her hand there, the more the coldness seemed to seep into her body. It spread from her fingers directly to her heart. “No I don’t think I will.” Bella’s mouth twisted into a sneer. “I don’t think you should be telling me to act like an adult. You’re the one who cheated.”

Now he really looked taken aback. Was it her bluntness he didn’t expect? Or the terrible look she knew graced her normally pretty features?

“Bella. Please it was never supposed to happen this way.”

“Oh you mean I was never supposed to find out?” He treated her like she was so naïve. Bella had parents and older siblings to look out for her and treat her like a little girl. She’d had that all her life. Bella didn’t need from anyone else. They were supposed to be equals.

She watched his reflection in the glass while he tried to make excuses. Behind his phantom picture, the snowflakes were dancing in the spotlights from streetlamps. A few people hurried around outside bundled in their winter coats. Bella had been afraid of being alone on cold winter nights. Now the idea didn’t seem so bad. It was starting to appeal to her.

Bella spent years getting walked on by everyone. The word ‘doormat’ might as well have tattooed on her forehead. Looking outside, she suddenly realized she couldn’t let that happen anymore. Bella’s fingernails scraped the glass as she made a fist. It was a sign of determination.

“Get out of my apartment,” she said. “Don’t come back. We’re through. I need to do what’s best for me and you are a big negative in my life. I deserve to be treated better.” Bella pointed to the door.

There was fierce look in her eye that made him do as she said. He looked back at her once before closing the door. Bella’s firm expression was unwavering.

The door closed and he was gone from her apartment…from her life. Bella felt her body relax for the first time. She collapsed onto the couch. Her heart had been ripped out and stomped on. And she’d never been more at peace.


© Rachel Ruppel 2006