21 APARTMENT OF HER OWN (1)

Mary looked at Jim viciously, then collected her spirit and took the call.

"Hello," she tried to sound nonchalant but her voice was a little strained.

"Where are you?" Daniel did not even greet her. He was at home! He was at home for sure and he saw that she went out alone.

"I went out for a small walk…" Mary knew it would do no good to lie to him now. It was too late for conspiracy.

"How far are you?" it seemed he was trying to restrain his anger but Mary heard it in his voice anyway.

"Ten to fifteen minutes' walk from home…" She said apologetically.

"Then I'll wait for you for fifteen minutes." He said and hung up.

"He's furious…" she whispered.

Jim chuckle again.

"See… I don't even need those photos. Your relationship will crumble sooner or later in any case."

"It's all you fault!" She rebuked him. "It's your constant presence that pushes him too far. Can you just leave me alone?" She did not ask him but demanded it.

"No…" he looked unaffected by her demand.

"If you love me, you should wish me happiness. Then why are you doing it all to me?"

"It's exactly because I love you, I'm doing it. You'll understand one day… Now go, you're wasting your precious fifteen minutes."

She hastily checked the clock and headed home without even saying goodbye to Jim. She was so angry at him that she did not wish to see or hear him ever again. She took out her phone and added his second phone number to blacklist for it to join the first one. She decided she would do her best to avoid meeting him from now on. Today she saw sound proof that even an innocent encounter could cause a lot of trouble for her.

When she went through the apartment door she saw Daniel already waiting for her in the hall. He was very grim, and he did not speak as if fearing that nothing good could come out of his mouth.

Mary took off her shoes and stayed where she was, waiting for him to speak up. It would have been strange if she went inside ignoring his heavy gaze on her and pretending that nothing happened. Time was moving slowly, and she wished he would say something sooner, she would be ok even with him screaming at her and causing a scandal, but he was silent and she was not sure what could be his next move.

"Were you seeing someone?" he spoke at last, it seemed this sentence took a lot of effort.

"No, I was just walking." She answered him calmly. Technically it was true, she did not plan meeting Jim and she did not wish for this meeting to happen. She went out for a walk; that was all.

"I asked you not to leave the house alone." His voice trembled a little and he restrained it. "Why did you go alone then?"

And really, why? Because she wanted to go alone, that's why. But how could she tell him this was the reason?

"I didn't want to bother Marcus for half an hour walk, that's all. Next time, I'll call him, I promise."

"You promise…" He took a deep breath. "Tomorrow morning I'll send you a bracelet with GPS tracker inserted in it. And if you take it off, I'll know."

Mary hated Jim, she really hated him now. For all he has done, for the way he made Daniel feel, and for the trap she was stuck in. And the more she tried to get free, the deeper she got stuck. But if she refused Daniel now, she felt that their relationship would really crumble, just as Jim predicted. She had to agree, she believed that when time passed all would get normal again.

"Ok," she said simply.

Daniel nodded satisfied and led his way to the living room. Mary felt that their talk was not over yet…