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Jenna dropped the documents she had been holding in shock when Jonathan barged into her office angrily. She watched as her husband narrowed his brown eyes at her dangerously before she stood up from her seat and walked up to him in concern.

"What is it?" She asked in a calm tone while Jonathan shook his head in disbelief.

"Can you give me one valid reason why you hate Vera?" He asked, his voice laced in anger. "Can you at least let me know why? Because I don't understand why you have been having this hatred for my best friend when you know she doesn't pose any threat to you or even our relationship. Why are you this way?"

Jenna looked the fuming man up and down, walked back to her desk, picked up her documents and turned around to face him with an incredulous look on her face.

"Is that the reason you walked into my office like a lunatic? Because of that bitc-"

"Hold it right there, Jenna," he warned and pointed his long finger at her. "Don't you dare insult her if you're going to speak about her. Simply answer my question without slut shaming or anything."

Jenna hissed. "What does that mean? Why are you defending her?! What the hell?"

She walked up to him and poked his hard chest repeatedly before speaking;

"Don't you dare defend that two faced human being in my presence. Wait, so you chose to support her instead of you to wonder why your wife is like this? Absolutely loving," she said and backed away with her hands holding her face. "Oh, my God."

Jonathan frowned. "You know that's not what I meant, Jenna. She's my best-"

"Best friend, I know! She's your damn best friend! But what kind of a best friend touches their married best friend so inappropriately? Why can't she respect herself around me and don't even start with that bullshit of you two not having anything to do with each other."

Jonathan's anger intensified as he digested what his wife had ranted on. He clenched his fists then closed the small gap between them by holding her arms in his tight grip.

"Listen to me very carefully, Jenna. You have no right to talk rubbish when you know that I will never hide anything from you. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

Jenna pushed him off her body and laughed drily for a few seconds. She crossed her arms over her chest then sat down on her work desk with a smirk. She couldn't believe how Jonathan was reacting to the issue and how he chose to defend someone that made it clear in her body language that she had bad intentions towards their marriage.

Men will never be observant, she thought and chuckled.

"Tsk, tsk. There is enough evidence that proves that you at least find her attractive. Tell me something, Jonathan. If we never met and got married, wouldn't you have been with Vera by now? I mean, you two have known each other for years now and there is absolutely no way that a guy and a girl can't catch feelings if they are too close," Jenna said in a simple tone, all the while staring at the brunette who looked confused rather than angry.

"Stop insinuating things and listen to me because-"

"I don't want to know! If one person is acting all touchy feely to the other person, it simply means that the other is giving them the green light. If you love me, Jonathan, break every stupid ties you have with that woman because she will be the down fall of this marriage we have," Jenna stated in an authoritative voice, picked up the documents again before she left the office.

Jonathan gritted his teeth, and ran his fingers through his brown hair. He blew out a relieved air from his mouth then turned around to leave, only to bump into Gloria who walked in at the same time.

"Oh, sorry."

Jonathan nodded. "Yeah. Sorry."

"I overheard your voices. This is the first time such is happening and it isn't good for this company. The manager has asked me to let you out the doors if you can't take matters calmly," Gloria said and gave him a reassuring smile.

Jonathan licked his lips then stared down at Gloria who was shorter than him. He kept his gaze on her for a moment before shifting it to their feet. He nodded then walked away.

Gloria sighed with a shake of her head.

"These two," she said and left the office.

__••__

"She said that about us?" Vera asked immediately after Jonathan had narrated everything to her. She always knew that the woman hated her for no reason, especially when she was so close to Jonathan. When Jonathan had texted her half of what happened, she felt her emotions drain and called for a brief meeting.

They were currently sitting in a slightly busy restaurant and in a corner where people could not see them, just in case Jenna or someone who knew Jenna was around. The duo stayed quiet, Jonathan's attention out the window and Vera's attention on the cup of coffee in between her hands.

"I mean, she's right though," Vera said in a saddened tone after thinking about how she acted around Jonathan.

Jonathan snorted. "Please don't. Don't try to concur to her whims, please. She's just been too delusional at this moment and we both know that there's nothing going on between the both of us. And we both know how jealous a partner can get when it comes to things like these."

"I know, Jon. But she's your wife, you need to understand where she's coming from. Maybe we've done something wrong in her sight and we don't know it. We can't sit here and assume that everything will turn out better in the end. I mean, this problem has existed for some time now," she said and took a sip out of her coffee.

Jonathan nodded. "I understand, Vera. I really do, but I can't afford to lose you and also lose her. You two mean a lot to me and throwing one away will not make me satisfied but only guilty. I can't toss years of friendship just because someone doesn't understand us."

Vera blinked her eyes when tears pricked them. She bit her bottom lip then gasped slightly when Jonathan took both of her hands in his. He squeezed it softly then raised their hands up, leaving their elbows propped on the smooth table.

"But no matter what, the relationship we share cannot be changed over night. You've been there for me when I needed hope and I can't betray you like that," he said and dropped her hands then offered her a smile, which she did not return until he scooped some frosting off the cup cake in front of him, and smeared it on her nose, making her laugh.

"You idiot," she said with a chuckle.

"I know and this idiot is your best friend and this idiot, loves you," he said and bit into his cupcake while Vera wiped the frosting off her nose.

"Well, I don't love you. I hate you more."

"Keep telling yourself that, Vera," he said with a smirk.

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Jenna had been feeling bad ever since she came home from work, she felt bad for speaking to her husband in such a manner that proved to her that he must have felt that she did not trust his love for her. Which was why she had hurriedly started to prepare his favorite meal as a means of apology.

Being half Nigerian and American, she knew a few of her mother's culture, from foods, dressing and all other things. The few months Jenna and Jonathan had been dating, she had cooked one of her traditional dishes for him and since then, he had taken it as his favorite meal.

"I know how much he loves Egusi soup. I just hope he accepts this peace offering," she spoke to herself as she chopped the vegetables on the wooden board. The doorbell rang and she quickly dropped the sharp knife, rinsed her hands and walked out of the kitchen to the front door. She peeped through the hole and saw the person from his back and hesitantly opened the door.

"How may I help you?" She asked and the man turned around with an envelope.

"Someone says this belongs to you, ma'am," the man in a black coat and baseball hat said while handing the envelope to a perplexed Jenna who took it, and shut the front door after he left her porch.

Jenna walked towards the living room while staring at the large paper envelope in curiosity. On one side of the envelope was her name and address, while the other side remained blank with no information about where it was coming from. She sat down on one of the couches, her gaze still fixed on the brown envelope.

"Who would send this to me?" She asked under her breath and tore the envelope open. She put her slender fingers into the opening and pulled out a bunch of pictures.

She furrowed her eyebrows as she turned them over to where the images were, and immediately, her eyes darkened in anger as she saw images of Jonathan and Vera sitting in a restaurant; smiling, laughing, holding each other's hands and looking like the perfect couple.

Jenna clenched her fists around the pictures, her eyes beginning to brim with tears and her heart beating fast in shock and anger. She absently stood up slowly and walked to a spot close to a window in the living room

"It's nothing, Jenna. It's absolutely nothing. Don't get worked up. You trust your husband," she said with a broken voice and teary eyes, trying to tame the rising rage within her system. "There's nothing to worry about. Calm down, take deep breaths and forget about these pictures. It means nothing."

The door knob jiggled and the door was pushed open, making Jenna wipe her cheeks before she hurriedly put pictures in the elastic of her sweat pants and covered them with her shirt. She turned around and put a smile on her face the moment her eyes met his brown eyes.

"Welcome," she said and walked over to Jonathan who was standing confused. She wrapped her arms around him in a brief hug. She pulled away and took off his suit jacket, forcing a fake smile on her face while holding herself from bawling her eyes out.

Hold yourself, Jenna. He's not cheating on you. He wouldn't cheat on you. He cannot cheat on you. Hold it in, she thought as she hugged his suit jacket to her body while her eyes remained glued to his face.

Just as her eyes ran over his face and neck, her eyes flickered over to the collar of his white shirt. There was a fading lipstick stain on the spot where his collar ended and it leveled up the anger she already had but chose to ignore it and pretended like she had not seen it.

"Are you hungry?" She asked through gritted teeth and feigned another smile when he shook his head. "Of course, you're not." She muttered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, I'll get your bath ready," Jenna said then walked away up the stairs and ran through the hallway then ended up in their bedroom.

Once she locked the door, she pulled out the rumpled photographs and stared down at it with a raised brow. Her heart hammered in her chest as the feelings of hurt and betrayal moved through her being. She didn't know how long she could tolerate everything they did.

"Talk about tolerance," she whispered and dropped his suit jacket carelessly on the floor and walked over to their bed and sat on it. "Don't give me reasons to be hurt or regret this marriage, Jonathan. I love you too much to hate you."

Her fingers traced the outline of his shape in the picture then traced Vera's body. She clenched her hand over the picture and slowly tore the picture into halves. She crumpled Vera's side of the picture and kissed the other half where Jonathan was.

"I love you so much, Jonathan," she whispered against the picture, and pressed it to her cheek. "Please, don't hurt me. I beg of you."

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