FICTION - Julia's secret - CHAPTER 3

At 5 o' clock the next morning, Julia woke up to the annoying sound of her alarm. It was one of those older types of alarm clocks that made one hell of a big noise. Still in bed, she sat up straight and stared out in front of her with droopy, tired eyes until she could focus. The night was so short, she thought. On her right side lay Tom, stretched out on the bed, taking up most of the space. He looked so peaceful, not quite like the man he has become.

Julia got up, brushed her teeth and put her work uniform on. In the kitchen, she threw on an apron and started mixing the ingredients for the cake. Seeing as it was Saturday, she knew that Kate would be sleeping late so she had enough time for baking before her shift started at work.

Her eye catches the calendar on the wall in front of her. October 6, what an awful day, one that would haunt me for the rest of my life! and before she could finish her thought, the mixing bowl slipped off the kitchen counter and landed on the floor. There was cake Red Velvet cake mixture everewhere! The sight of it reminded her of her dream and that dreadful day 13 years ago. As she cleaned it up, she couldn't help but think how much it looked and felt like the familiar feeling of blood, except this time, it wasn't warm.

What a waste! she thought while she measured off ingredients again. This time she decided to rather make vanilla cupcakes as she didn't have enough of all the ingredients for the Red Velvet cake anymore. She put the cupcakes in the oven and then started with the icing.

"You're cooking? What? I don't believe it!" said a sarcastic Tom coming into the kitchen. "Is it really necessary to make all that noise? Some of us are sleeping!"

Not up for his sarcasm that early in the morning, Julia decided to play it cool as she didn't want a repeat of yesterday's drama all over again.

"It's Katie's birthday today, I'm baking cupcakes. Did you sleep well?" she said.

Tom didn't even listen to her reply. He was too busy checking all his phone updates. Julia switched the kettle on to make coffee and then banged a few items around to get his attention.

"Tom!" she said loudly.

"What?" he said irritated while pulling a face.

"Will you please make sure Katie's birthday is a success this year?" she asked.

Tom raised his eyebrows and looked at her over his glasses the way he always does when she overstepped the line. He used to be a nice guy but for the last couple of years, he has just been very mean and grumpy, not lovable at all. To Julia, it felt like Tom hated her. Perhaps he could feel that she was hiding something from him all these years or perhaps he knew that she thought he was a freeloader. He hasn't had a job in over two years and she had been the one putting food on the table, yet, he was never thankful and didn't help around the house at all. All he did was sit around and drinking beer all day.

Julia rephrased: "All I'm asking is that you do something fun with her today, that's all."

"And all I'm asking is that you shut your mouth, that's all" he snapped back at her.

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To be continued...

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Previous chapters:

Chapter 1 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@bdmomuae/fiction-julia-s-secret-chapter-1
Chapter 2 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@bdmomuae/fiction-julia-s-secret-chapter-2

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