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As I greet Elaine Johnson, sans Missy Jenkins, I notice a flash go before my eyes right down the center aisle. The man is walking quickly, not caring about who’s in his way.
It’s such a bizarre act to see in a church. Usually, people are on their best behavior.
“That’s Mr. Matheson,” Elaine whispers to me.
“Mr. Matheson?” I ask her perplexed.
“Yes, Avery’s husband. He’s never here. I wonder what’s going on,” Elaine speculates.
Realization dawns on me. Fuck. This is not good for Avery.
I hadn’t met him in person yet, so I had no clue he was the person barreling down my aisle until Elaine said something.
I don’t know if they’ve talked or not yet. Avery didn’t want to go too far into it with me last night. I understood her reasoning. We have a lot to discuss, but she wanted last night to be about us, not them.
It’s so fucked up, but I get it.
This shit is not going to be okay though. Kevin Matheson cannot be flying down my fucking aisle to harass his soon-to-be ex-wife.
“Thank you. We’re going to begin.”
Elaine’s eyes widen before she glances down at her designer watch on her wrist.
“There’s still five minutes until eleven?”
“We’re starting early.”
Because I fucking say so.
He won’t pull her out if we are rolling on with this show. I signal to everyone to begin. No one else thinks to question my course of action.
Mass begins, and I walk down the center aisle quicker than usual.
I finally get to the sanctuary and can see Avery. Her slimy husband is sitting in the same pew as her, only at the end. Someone offered to move their family down so he could sit with her, but Avery shook her head politely.
I hate that fake smile she has to plaster on here. It’s a mask. A part of her knows she shouldn’t make a scene here for her sake, but she’s also trying not to bow down to his demands.
I love the fire in Avery. She’s beautiful, brave, and hopefully, soon to be all mine.
Getting through Mass is painful. I try not to steal glances at her now that Kevin is in my church. The urge to protect her from him is overwhelming.
I will have to intervene if he starts causing her problems after Mass.
It’s not a good sign of how her divorce is going to go if he’s showing up at Mass to confront her after months of me never seeing his face.
After Mass, I begin saying goodbye to the parishioners as they trickle out of the church. Clearly, I’m not the best conversationalist at the moment since I’m trying to spot Avery in the crowd. I’m getting anxious to have her within eyesight.
That’s when I find her.
And then him.
His face is filled with rage as she looks up at him stoically. She may have been trying not to cause a scene all Mass, but he clearly gives two fucks with the way he’s talking to her in front of everyone.
Avery saunters down an aisle, causing Kevin to now be speaking to her back. He’s following closely behind as she walks toward me.
I look to the side to see Missy and Elaine, who are already watching the spectacle unfold. Of course, Elaine found Missy after witnessing Kevin’s grand entrance earlier.
They know something bad is happening. Fuck, who wouldn’t with the way he’s acting? I should have told Avery not to come here today. If only we had talked about what comes next in more detail last night.
