"I will fight for you if I have to! He can't hurt you no more!" Keith screamed as he held Jessica's hand. He pulled her closer towards him, and kissed her. Slight tears curled up in Jessica's eyes. She blinked it away before it escaped. She pulled back to look at Keith's handsome face staring down at her.
Why didn't I meet him before? Jessica had often wondered. Where was he couple of years back when she really needed him? Jessica's memory flashed back to the first day she had met Keith. She was alone in a corner of the bar sipping a beer when he had walked towards her. By the first conversation itself they had really clicked. Jessica found that it was easier to talk to Keith about anything she wanted. They had spoken about various things and had a laugh together. It was after many years that Jessica had truly laughed from the heart. Her heart was full of pain, but she always managed to cover it up with a smile. However Keith could see her through. After a couple of beers together Jessica had stood up to leave.
"My husband will be looking for me," she had told Keith that night, and watched his expression change.
"You're married?" Keith said in utter disbelief. Jessica felt her heart burn but she had managed to stay calm. She was surprised when she saw Keith smile.
"What is it?" she asked.
"You're married to a man you don't love," he said. "You're not happy. You keep smiling but you have a heart full of pain."
"How can you say that?" Jessica had asked.
"Trust me!" Keith said. "I know! I can read people; their expressions; their reactions. And you are nothing but hurt deeply."
Jessica had not waited to respond. She had runaway as fast as she could. She knew that Keith was right. Her husband, Rob, was not the ideal lover. At first when they started going out they had been a happy couple but when things started to go wrong Jessica had figured out he was not the right one for her. She had tried to break up with him, and leave, but he had somehow managed to hold her back by threatening her. He had somehow managed to force her into marriage. Jessica hadn't had a choice but to marry him.
But now... She had met Keith out of the blue. A complete stranger who just happened to have a beer with her, and he knew more about her than anyone else. Maybe he knew her even more than she knew herself! Jessica had continued to keep in touch with Keith. They had met in the bar regularly and had their own conversations, sometimes happy conversations, sometimes about her pain, or about him and his own problems. Whatever they talked about Jessica finally felt that she was accepted for who she was. She was not forced into anything. With Keith around she felt like she was finally free to be herself.
One day when Keith walked into the bar Jessica had seen a slight shadow of pain written on his face. She was worried when Keith silently sat down beside her without his usually hyper mood. That night Keith had confessed that he was in love with her. He was in love with a Jessica, who was already married to Rob. Jessica had cried all night long after she had reached home. All her life she had been looking for a guy like Keith but when she finally found him, she was not in a position to accept him. She already belonged to someone else.
Eventually Jessica found herself tossing and turning in bed wondering how Keith was. She had found out that it was absolutely impossible to stay away from Keith. She knew she had to leave Rob. She decided that she would run away from home. She wouldn't tell Rob or Keith anything of where she was going. She would come back to Keith later, when the situation had calmed down. But before she left she needed to see Keith one last time.
That was when they had decided to meet in the park. Keith had kissed her, and Jessica had felt all her problems vanish into the thin air. Keith didn't want Rob to hurt her anymore. She knew that he felt for her and loved her.
After coming home that evening she decided to pack her bags. She had to do it before Rob came home from work. But her luck stood across her way. Just as she walked towards the door with the luggage in her hand the door opened, and her husband stood there, staring at her in his usual angry look.
"What exactly do you think you're doing?" he asked her as he locked the door behind him and walked towards her. Jessica opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. Run, a voice inside her spoke.
"I need to leave! I'm done with all your nonsense!" she shouted. Rob stared at her for a while and suddenly started laughing.
"You want to leave me?" He laughed. "Like I'd let you leave! You're not stepping out of the house!" She watched as Rob drew a gun out of him pocket.
"Where did u get that from?" Jessica asked, as her eyes widened.
"I bought it," he said. "Just when I found out about you and that filthy boyfriend of yours!" The fear in Jessica's heart rose as Rob pointed the gun right at her.
"Don't worry!" he said. "I have license and I am allowed to use it! So, any last words?"
Jessica closed her eyes. She could see Keith's handsome face, shattered with worry. She imagined him waiting for her in the bar. Her greatest fear was losing him, but she was ready. It was her fault. She had married the guy she couldn't love, and loved the guy she couldn't have! She was ready to die! She opened her eyes and tears started rolling down her cheeks.
"I'd rather die than live with you!" she said. "Shoot!"
Rob stared at her, surprised, but pleased with himself. He held on to the trigger and aimed at Jessica's forehead.
"Shoot!" Jessica screamed. "SHOOT!"
With a loud bang Rob pulled the trigger as he watched his wife fall down lifeless.
