“Why did I marry you?” I repeated.
She held my gaze and nodded her head slowly, waiting for an answer, waiting to pounce.
“Well . . . well . . . lemme see, you know, because . . . uh . . . well, you know,” I stumbled, trying to act cool while choosing the correct words and holding her angry gaze.
“I’m asking you an easy question, Michael. Why didyoufinally askmeto marry after I waited six years for you to ask?”
“We’ve been together for twelve if you count high school,” I rushed to point out, buying time by remarking about a fact that didn’t matter in regards to her question.
“Twelve, six, whatever, but why did you finally marry me?” she pushed.
I was out of answers. I didn’t know why the fuck I’d asked her to marry me if the truth be told. “Because you told me to?” I asked, knowing immediately that I just failed the test.
She rolled her eyes at my answer. “I think it was because you finally realized he wasn’t coming back,” she revealed, catching me way off guard.
“Jesus,” I responded. “That’s ridiculous. What are you inferring here?”
“I’m inferring that if Cooper had lived, you and I would not be together, Michael. I’m not angry with you actually. To be truthful, the letter answered many questions I’ve had about us.”
“You’re my wife,” I stated. “You’ve lost your mind over a joke.”
“We haven’t made love in six months, Michael.”
Michael, Michael, Michael.I hated the way she spoke my name. My blood pressure was elevated and my face was on fire. Like a live lobster in a pot, I was cooked and she knew it.
“You’re mean sometimes and I don’t feel close to you,” I sputtered, grasping for straws. “I don’t think I live up to your high standards.”
“I don’t push you and you know it. I reserve my criticism for me and my goals, not yours, so how about we start telling the truth?”
“I don’t want to move to California,” I admitted. “I like it here in Seattle.”
“The house has sold. You signed off this morning, so you’re a tad late on that announcement, Einstein.”
I stood and pointed at her. “See? You’re mean. You belittle me and mymom and you act like I’m the enemy these days.” I stomped toward the fridge for a beer.
“Get an extra bottle this time and save yourself another trip,” she taunted.
Her tone of resentment had been evident for months, but today’s taunts tipped the scale of how to be bitchy to your husband. I popped the cap off my beer and leaned against the kitchen island. “You want some truth?” I asked, taking a long cool drink of my favorite hydration these days. “I don’t like you anymore. I love you but I don’t think I like you.”
I thought my remark would at least get afuck youout of her. But no, she was silent as she returned my stare. After an uncomfortable moment of silence she asked again. “So tell me please, why exactly did you marry me?”
“Because I was alone,” I blurted. “Cooper was dead and he wasn’t coming back,” I confessed. My jaw started trembling and my eyes began to fill as I fought the war I’d been fighting for a decade. Somehow I knew that today’s battle would be the last one with my wife. “I miss him, Jen.” The tears fell and I gripped the edge of the island. “I’m not happy with us, and honestly, I don’t know why I married you. Were you ever happy?” I asked. “Was this what you wanted to hear?”
“Actually, no, it’s not what I wanted to hear, but you needed to voice it, Michael,” she began, standing and heading straight for me. I wondered for just an instant if she’d slap me or stab me with a kitchen knife, but of course, that wasn’t who she was. Classy chicks like her don’t end up in prison because of love. She was much too evolved to be that woman.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, tears cascading down my face, splattering on her expensive floors.
She wrapped her arms around me and let me weep, not once ridiculing my manhood or minimizing my feelings. After two or so minutes she pulled back, still holding my arms and gently smiling through her own tears. “And I’m truly sorry for your loss, Mike. We all loved Cooper, but I understood you loved him more. If I could give you anything, I would bring him back.”
Her kind words caught me off guard. “So what now?” I asked.
“I’m going to California and you’re staying he. . .” She paused before completing the wordhereand looked into my eyes. “Well, I don’t actuallyknow where you’re staying, but we’ll divorce, split the money, and move on with our lives,” she answered in typical Jennifer takes control fashion. “I suggest you dig deep and figure out what Cooper meant to you. He isn’t coming back but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a person you truly love.”
“So that’s it?” I asked. “Just like that?”
“You’re not in love with me, Mike, and both of us are far too attractive to miss out on real love, so yeah, we’re done.”
CHAPTER THREE: Mike
