Chapter Seven
TW: Some cursing and yelling. “Where should we go now, babe?” Jayden asked, while driving down the busy road. Isabella smiled, feeling jovial of the wonderful time Jayden and her spent together today. After going out for breakfast, shopping for a while at the mall, eating ice-cream, walking inside a pet store to view the adorable animals for sale, and stopping by to pick up the check for her monthly apartment rent, Isabella could happily say that today was such a great, fun day. Glancing at the time in phone, she saw that it was now three PM in the afternoon. “Um, I was wondering if we can go out to eat?” She asked, her stomach growling, feeling famished. “Of course, babe. I forgot that you eat a lot since you’re eating for two.” Jayden smiled, referring to their unborn baby. Isabella softly chuckled, while rubbing her belly. “Yeah I-” “I guess it makes sense why you’re getting a little chubbier now compared to how you used to be before the whole pregnancy.” Isabella’s smile quickly faded away after hearing his words. Maybe Jayden didn’t mean his words to come out in such a negative way to her, but she couldn’t help but feel hurt. Did she really get fatter? Was she ugly now that she was expecting? What would Jayden even say when she’ll have stretch marks and extra fat on her body after delivering their daughter? “Oh..Yeah, I know. I know that I’m gaining weight because of how much I’m eating now and I’m sorry, but I’ll try not to eat a lot, okay?” Isabella tried to muster a genuine smile up at her boyfriend, but it was hard when she didn’t feel like smiling after the harsh words he keeps throwing at her about her body. Jayden smiled, grabbing her hand and gently kissing it. “You can eat as much as you want, but just try to watch the portion sizing, okay babe? I just want you to maintain that pretty body you used to have before.” Isabella awkwardly chuckled, removing her hand from his grasp. She slightly smiled, nodding her head at his ignorant suggestion, not wanting to keep this conversation going any longer. Sighing, she leaned her head back, staring out the window, lost in thought. “Is it okay for your significant other to constantly be belittling you?” She couldn’t help but constantly have that thought lingering in her mind most of the time. “But Jayden does love me and I love him. Maybe he’s just trying to help. He probably just wants the best for me. I understand his point of view. But what if I’m not good enough for him anymore? Am I also getting ugly as well?..” Biting her lip, she grabbed her phone, trying to distract herself from her perturbing thoughts. As she scrolled through Instagram, she was suddenly reminded of all her insecurities. She didn’t have a pretty body anymore and she didn’t look as pretty as the people she saw in her recent content. Now she looked exhausted most of the time, her dark circles much more evident under her eyes from the lack of sleep and mental exhaustion she has recently faced. Her arms and legs had extra fat and she hated wearing shorts, dresses, and short sleeves nowadays unless she really had to. Her once slim face was also more chubbier and even though Piper loved squeezing her chubby cheeks, she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed of them. “I was thinking of the many options we have to name our daughter. I want her name to be something pretty like Emma or Diana or something like that”, Jayden spoke up. Softly smiling, Isabella put her phone away before responding. “I don’t really have any name options yet. Naming a child is a very important thing to decide on because it will be their name for the rest of their life. Unless of course, they hate it so much that they legally change it.” She joked making Jayden laugh. “You’re right about that. Luckily, we still have a few months left to decide on the perfect name for our daughter.” Isabella nodded, her stomach suddenly grumbling a little too loudly, making her close her eyes in disbelief. “I know you’re hungry, babe. Do you want to go eat at your favorite place? Subway?” Isabella bit her lip, unsure if this was a trick question or not. “Um.. I mean if we can?" She said, her heart racing expecting Jayden to laugh and tell her off again for wanting to eat so soon. “Sure. There’s one on the next block. We’ll go there.” “Oh, okay.” She couldn’t help but smile while staring out the window, seeing all the different stores and restaurants they passed by. A few minutes later, Jayden stopped in front of the Subway. Turning off the engine, he made his way out of the car and towards Isabella’s door. Warmly smiling, he gently grabbed her hand as she stood up. “Can you grab my purse?” She pointed to her purse that was on the floor of the car. Jayden nodded, grabbing the purse and handing it to her, while closing the door behind him. “Let’s go now, babe. Ooh let me guess, you’re going to get the chicken sandwich again?” He asked, locking the car before they both walked hand-in-hand inside the Subway restaurant. Isabella quickly shook her head. “No, not today. I’ll just get the rotisserie style chicken salad.” “What, why? Isn’t the sandwich your favorite?” Isabella wanted to laugh out loud at his nescience, but she smiled. “I want the salad instead today.” “Are you sure? I mean-” “I’m going to go to the restroom. I’ll be back.” She removed her hand from his, before making her way inside the clean smelling restroom. Taking out her phone, she saw new messages from Piper. Clicking on it, she saw today’s English and Social Science notes. Furrowing her eyebrows, she noticed the different handwriting shown in the images. This handwriting was pretty, with delicate cursive writing. She couldn’t help but wonder when the heck Piper’s handwriting improved dramatically. “Yo, here’s today’s notes.” “Good luck copying all these down. I almost smacked my head on the desk, because I was falling asleep in class.” “Also, these notes are from Maria. She didn’t want me to send mine because they were “too unreadable and sloppy”. Maria is lucky I love her because I was seriously about to throw hands (ง'̀-'́)ง ” Snorting at what she read, Isabella sighed gaily. “Thanks. And tell Maria that I said thanks and that I send her a high-five because she’s right ¬‿¬” After checking her pleasing appearance in the bathroom mirror, she made her way out to her boyfriend. She made her way towards him, seeing him scrolling through Twitter. “You’re back.” He smiled up at her once she sat down. “Yup, here I am again. What did you order?” “I got the Steak and Cheese sandwich like always. Babe, I’m surprised that you didn’t want your favorite sandwich.” He slightly pouted, making Isabella playfully roll her eyes. “Isn’t a salad better? It doesn't have much calories and it’s healthier, no?” “Did you not want it because of what I said before?” Taken aback by his sudden question, Isabella quickly shook her head. “No no, of course not. I just didn’t feel like eating the sandwich today. Your words didn’t affect my choice or anything like that.” “Okay, great. Because I don't want to seem like the bad guy here.. Oh, the food’s ready. I’ll go get it.” Nodding her head, Isabella slumped down in her seat, hoping the salad would be good. Suddenly, Jayden’s phone start ringing. “Oh shoot. Who is it?” Jayden mumbled coming from behind her with their food. Handing Isabella her food, he grabbed his phone, and Isabella saw that someone was calling him. Instead of picking up like she thought he would, he softly exhaled before declining the call and putting his phone on vibrate. “Who was it?” Isabella asked curiously, while opening her salad bowl. Slightly smiling, he sat down. “It was no one important. Let’s just eat now.” Isabella nodded, not wanting to ask anymore questions and be annoying, as she bit into the steamy hot chicken from in her salad bowl. She was actually surprised that the leafy green veggies and the chicken included all tasted delicious. “Is it good, Bella?” Nodding her head in response, she plucked up some green veggies, tomato, onion and chicken all coated in the delicious creamy ranch, and smiled at him. “Here, try it. It’s actually really good.” Smiling at her cute dimpled smile, Jayden leaned in and ate the food from the fork. “It’s good, no?” Nodding in agreement, he smiled at her, while pointing at his sandwich. “You want a piece?” Biting her inner lip, she shyly nodded making him chuckle in amusement at her adorable smile. He cut a piece and handed it to her, a ‘thanks’ received from her end. As the two continued eating their delectable food items, they talked about random everyday things. Jayden exhaled in content after finishing his sandwich, sipping his Coke to wash everything down. “I’ll be back. I need to go to the bathroom.” He said, wiping his mouth on a napkin as he got up. Isabella nodded as she watched his figure disappear around the corner and into the men’s restroom. She smiled to herself, continuing to eat her shared piece of sandwich and salad as well, feeling content that this satisfied her. Then, she heard Jayden’s phone start constantly vibrating. She leaned her head closer, seeing his phone light up as well as new messages. “Hmmm, I wonder who’s messaging him. It sounds urgent.” She said to herself before leaning over, and grabbing his phone. She tapped on it being met with a pitch black wallpaper. She was also met with four messages from someone named Julia. Furrowing her eyebrows, she scrolled through the messages on the homescreen, unable to click on them due to the fact that Jayden had a password. “Hey.” “I’m going to miss you.” “I’m sad that you’re not coming to work today.” “I’ll just see you tomorrow at our usual spot “What the actual heck? Who is this?” She whispered to herself, trying not to think of bad scenarios of what this could mean. “So I was thinking of ordering some... Wait, what are you doing with my phone?” Isabella looked up, her eyes meeting the intense gaze of her boyfriend, as he stared back at her. “I- um. Nothing. I just-” “What the Isabella?! You know that you’re not supposed to be looking through other people’s phones!” Jayden loudly exclaimed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration, as he glared at her. There was silence for a few seconds. Isabella was unsure of what to say as she felt the many eyes of people around her intensely stare at her. “B-Babe, I’m sorry. I heard-” “We’re leaving. Now.” He roughly spoke, grabbing his jacket, and angrily walking out. Isabella stayed in her spot, hearing the various whispering voices of the customers and workers around her, feeling utterly embarrassed. She felt her heart race, as she stood up, and threw away their leftover trash. She quickly grabbed her bag, her face red and hot due to shame as she exited the restaurant, following close behind Jayden as they made their way to the car. Biting her inner lip anxiously, she opened the passenger door, making her way inside. She heard Jayden sigh in exasperation, before he too made his way inside his car, slamming the door behind him. The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes, Jayden’s loud breathing being the only sound heard. “Jay..I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to snoop. I heard your phone vibrating and I just wanted to see who it was.” Isabella spoke up, holding his phone towards him in a way so he could take it. She still had that burning question in her thoughts. She heard him scoff, roughly grabbing his phone out of her grasp, before letting out a low chuckle. “Babe, I don’t think it was any of your business. You didn’t have to be nosy and check. You can really be so annoying at times.” Jayden scoffed slightly, before starting the engine. “Who’s Julia?” Isabella swore she suddenly heard him stop breathing for a split second, but he then quickly chuckled, amusement present in his voice. “Again, not that it’s any of your business, but she’s just a coworker at my job.” Biting her lip, she stared at his arrogant smile, some lingering thoughts in her mind. “But why did she say she’ll miss you. It sounds like you have a special relationship with her...” Isabella trailed off, seeing him roll his eyes, before he fleered at her. He grabbed her wrist roughly, pulling her close to him, his eyes flashing with anger. “What the <basement> are you saying Isabella?! Are you implying that there’s something going on with me and her? Is that the <rubbish> you’re telling me right now?!”
Feeling her eyes widen in shock, she stared at his off face. She felt scared due to the frightening way he yelled at her, as she felt her head pound and heart race. “Jayden, you’re hurting me.” She meekly said, feeling his hand tightly grasp her wrist, his burning touch against her skin. “Do you seriously think I’ll be with someone else when I’m with you? You’re so dumb if you think that!” He harshly spoke, releasing his grasp on her wrist, before deeply exhaling. “I..I don’t think that Jay. I just feel like your drifting away from me these last few weeks. I know you’re not a cheater but-” “Get out.” Jayden said, making Isabella stare at him confused. “What are you-” “I don’t want to argue with you anymore. I need some space right now. Just go away.” “And go where? My apartment is twenty minutes away from here. Babe, I’m sorry. Just please-” “Just get the <fuzzy teddy-bear> out! God <super> it!” He shouted at her, his loud voice echoing in the closed car. Isabella silently hoped he was just messing around with her, but when she say the way he clenched his hands around the wheel until they turned white, she knew he wasn’t joking. Slightly scoffing, she opened the door, getting out and closing the door behind her. She felt a single tear drop slide down her check, hearing his car screech as he drove off. When did their relationship suddenly go downhill to the point where everything is all her fault and now she’s walking home alone, while pregnant? 
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Edited by luvkeylinn, 20 January 2022 - 03:24 AM.
