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Bristling, I threw back the last drops that were in my cup and got up to make another.
Shit, I knew it would be hard to stop once I got started. Paula had a tendency to drive me to drink.
“No,” was my firm answer.
“Do you have feelings for her then?” she asked. “I mean, as nice as the vigor of youth is, I know what a bibliophile you are, and that…what did you call it? Zombiphelia? Liking brains or something?”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Sapiosexual, Paula.”
“Yeah, right, that. Kind of hard to believe a twenty-something has more brains than your forty year old wife. Should I be insulted?”
“It’s not just about intelligence,” I murmured. “It’s about how a person thinks, more than anything. You’re smart. You have a degree and a successful career, but our conversations were never stimulating in the way that I needed them to be. It was a me thing, not a you thing.”
“Still sounds like I’m the idiot here,” she said with a tired sigh. “Anyway, I’d like to meet her. Maybe we can get my parents to babysit for a night and we can double?”
“A double date with my ex-wife?” I deadpanned.
She shrugged.
“Well, yeah. I mean, if she’s sticking around, then it’s only right that I get to know the girl who will be spending so much time with my kids.”
“So now it’s about the kids?” I raised an eyebrow at her. “I thought this was about your fucked up curiosity.”
“Fucked up or not, indulge me,” she drawled.
“I’ll ask Mia,” was all I offered to that.
Hopefully she’d say a resounding ‘no’ so I didn’t have to be the bad guy this time.
“You know, when the kids got home from school on Monday, they couldn’t stop talking about her. ‘She’s so pretty’ this, ‘she’s such a good cook’ that.” Paula waved her hands around as she spoke animatedly. I just watched the odd jealousy with amusement. “Even Charlie likes her, and he doesn’t like anything anymore.”
“Mia’s pretty easy to fall in love with,” I admitted.
Paula just pouted about that.
“Well, as much as I hate to admit it, you look happy, Owen. Happier than I ever made you.”
“You know this is not about—”
“I know, I know. It’s not about me.” She waved off my comment. “I’m just saying, I’m glad you’re happy. You know, we were married for fifteen years, and all I ever wanted was to see you happy. And to be happy myself.”
“And are you?” I asked.
She nodded.
“As weird as it is to have a relationship with someone so much younger, I am. Jamie fits my soul, you know? After experiencing this, I just think maybe we got caught up on the little things, like looks and sex, and we didn’t really stop to think about what kind of partners we’d be for each other.”
I nodded.
“Mia is a writer, too. She understands my need to sit down and purge. Hell, most of the time she gets out her laptop and we share the desk, doing it together in silence.”
Paula nodded.
“Right, and Jamie understands my need to go and do things, to move and experience new things. He’s perfect for me in that way.”
“But what are the drawbacks?” I asked.
She shrugged.
