I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell

Author:Jessa Maxwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2024-08-13T00:00:00+00:00

Dear Constance,

Brian and I went to a movie last night. It started off good. I wore a dress he bought me. It’s red and short and I knew it would make me cold in the theater, but it was worth it, I thought, for those few minutes while we were getting ready in front of the mirror together. I put on my full makeup. Then I stood there and watched him shave, using some sort of good-smelling shaving cream out of a fancy bottle. When he was done, he stopped and admired us. “People will think that’s an attractive couple,” he murmured, pulling me tight to him. “They’ll be so jealous.”

He’d told me to buy the movie tickets. I was trying to impress him so I picked the one that just came out by some edgy director I thought he’d like, even though the Sense and Sensibility remake would have been my actual choice. I didn’t realize until it had started that the movie was about a woman who cheats on her husband.

“Why did you want to see that?” he asked me right afterward, not trying to hide his disgust.

“I’m sorry, I thought you’d like it,” I insisted. All I’d known before was that it was some sort of thriller, and I know Brian likes them. But on our way out of the theater he was quiet like he was annoyed with me. We walked toward the parking lot in the dark and he wasn’t talking, and he’d put his hands into his pockets instead of holding mine. He asked me again why I would want to go see a movie like that.

“Do you want to cheat on me?” he asked, his eyes on the street in front of him.

“No, Brian. God, no. I didn’t even know what the movie was about,” I said, pulling on his arm, like I could make him snap out of it and bring him back to the person I know. But he just stared straight ahead like he didn’t believe me. He shook me off and started walking so fast that I had to run to keep up with him. He ducked around the corner. It was dark on the street, and I was afraid if he went too far ahead, I’d lose him. Or that he’d get to the car and drive off without me, leaving me downtown with no way to get home.

“Brian,” I yelled out, begging him to stop and talk to me. I was panicking, thinking that I made a mistake, that I’d hurt his feelings or unknowingly told him something I didn’t mean to. He was being a giant baby, I thought, but I didn’t say anything. How could I when he was so hurt? Finally, he stopped dead in his tracks and turned back to me.

“What?” He said it like he hated me. I didn’t say anything after that. I just followed him to the car. He was mad at me all night. We picked up takeout on the way home and he would barely look at me.

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