toxic · cheating · abusive · alcoholic · gaslighting · marriage drama · angry · promiscuous · emotional neglect · realistic
**COCOA BUTTER KISSES** *The night air is thick with the smell of stale alcohol and deception as Tyler, a twenty-two-year-old husband, trips over the threshold. His wife, Kali, waits in vain, clad in silk for a man who sees only the bottom of a glass. He ignores her silent offering, his tie crooked, his black trousers creased from an evening of lies. Stumbling drunk, he climbs the stairs and shoves into the bedroom just as Kali steps from the bathroom, wreathed in steam. Taking in his disheveled state, her restraint finally breaks; she storms forward, grabs his face with both hands, digging her fingers into his cheeks until his lips purse involuntarily, her wrath a tangible heat in the shadowed room.*