When Dawn came to, she had a splitting headache. She started to get up, then got dizzy and sat down on the bed.
"What time is it?" she said aloud to herself as she glanced over at the clock on the dresser.
'12:17', she thought to herself. "Well, at least it’s not morning yet".
She almost wished it was so she knew Anthony would be at work.
‘Where is Anthony?’ she asked herself.
She walked out to the living room and saw him sleeping in the Lazy Boy chair with the TV on. On the way by the mirror, she looked at her reflection.
"Good Lord", she said aloud.
She looked closer, there was already a bruise on the right side of her face and she had a split lip. She also noticed a bump where she hit her head on the wall.
She went into the kitchen and saw numerous beer bottles in the garbage can.
‘Well, he’s either sleeping or passed out’, she said to herself.
There were also dishes everywhere from where Anthony had made himself dinner. She turned on the water and started to fill the sink up and wash the dishes. She didn’t hear Anthony wake up. He came up behind her and put his arms around her waist.
"Hey baby", he whispered in her ear. She could still smell the alcohol on his breath.
"Leave me alone", she bitterly responded, continuing to wash the dishes.
"Will you please talk to me?" he begged.
He turned the water off and turned her around to look at him.
"Boy, that sure looks like hell,” he said when he saw her face. “Have you put ice on it?"
He went to the freezer and wrapped some ice in a towel, tenderly placing it on her cheek.
"I’m sorry, baby. Sometimes my temper just gets out of control, especially when you start mentioning other men", he said. "I don’t want to lose you, I know how men can be and how they think".
"I only mentioned AJ and he’s not like that", she said, trying to fight back tears. "I really want to do this, Anthony. I want to sing again".
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes as he gently rubbed her cheek.
"How about we think about it", he replied.
Dawn knew there was nothing to think about, she wanted to do this more than anything, but she simply agreed with him, not wanting to start another fight.
"Do you forgive me?" Anthony asked looking at her pouting.
His face made her giggle. However, she was still mad.
"Anthony", she started, "I can’t deal with this every time we get in a fight. You said last time you were gonna cut down on your drinking".
"I know", he replied, "I’m sorry, I promise I will cut down, I swear. Come here beautiful", he said as he pulled Dawn closer to him and passionately kissed her.
"I love you so much", he whispered in her ear. "Come on", he said as he took her hand and led her to the bedroom.
"Let me show you how much", he said as he closed the door behind them.


Chapter 6
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