“Mattie, please at least look at me. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
I inhaled sharply. “Actually, Garrett, this is exactly the way this has to be. You decided that as soon you started fucking one of my best friends behind my back.”
He hung his head and held his hands up as if surrendering before retreating back to our—his—living room.
Being cheated on was never something I fantasized about. However, if Ihad,the fantasy would have certainly included Garrett crying and begging for my forgiveness. He would have professed that he couldn’t live without me and that he would die if I ever left him.
It definitely would not include him ignoring me and giving me no explanation. It also wouldn’t include me moving out the day after finding out about his affair only to have his mistress,my friend, move in.
“It just makes sense this way,” Garrett had said when I started to pack. “This way, you won’t lose any money from the lease.”
So generous of him to get me out of my lease payments. Really, what a stand-up guy.
I rolled my last suitcase out to the living room and took my key off my key ring.
Garrett got off the couch and walked over to me. “All done?”
“That’s the understatement of the century.”
He hesitated, glancing at my eyes and then back to his feet. “Where are you going to stay?”
“Don’t pretend like you care.”
“I do care, Mattie.”
I glared at him. “I can’t believe I wasted eight years on you.”
With that, I slammed the front door in his face. If I never saw him again, it would be too soon.
* * *
“You’ve arrived at your destination,”the automated voice on my phone announced.
A tan stucco home with dark brown shutters and a palm tree out front loomed in front of me. It looked like every other house on the block, except they all had slightly different features. Golf carts, every color of the rainbow, sat in each driveway. They were the preferred method of transportation for the residents here.
“You made it.” An older woman with bleached blonde hair and a permanent tan rushed toward me and scooped me into a hug. “I’m so happy you’re here. Ron, come outside and help with your daughter’s bags.”
Yes, this is what my life had come to—almost thirty and moving back in with my parents, who now resided in a retirement community.
Everything was fine.
I returned my mother’s hug, grateful to be comforted. When I called and shared the news of my happiness’s demise with them, they were surprisingly not as shocked as I had expected them to be.
“We never trusted that boy,” my dad had said.
“Any man that can’t commit to you after that long is a dud,” my mom so helpfully chimed in.
So glad I was getting all these opinions now after wasting years with him.
My dad, Ron, rushed out wearing one of his signature Hawaiian shirts and golf shorts.
“Stop yelling, Mary. You’ll disturb the neighbors.”
“Oh, pish.”
My mom led me inside the front door while my dad was left to deal with my car full of luggage.
Their house was open, bright, and airy. Exactly what you would expect to find in Florida. There were pictures of sea turtles on the walls, and the kitchen had been painted a blue that resembled the sea.
