Page 23 of Chasing the Other Woman

We need to talk.

Leaving like this isn’t going to fix it.

That one’s horrible. I hate myself for it.

Can I call you?

Better but still terrible.

The bubbles never come. No evidence that she’s sitting there pondering what to say to me. Nothing to show that she’s even considering giving me a second chance.

My brain says I don’t deserve one. My heart hopes for one more than it wants the next breath.

I know she’s at Petra’s, which means she’s likely at The Funnel Cloud. Petra is no doubt plying her with coffee, food, and a list of ways to make my life miserable.

I’d tell Petra that my life is already miserable, but that would just egg her on.

The bandage on my arm reminds me of every stupid call I made the other night. There’s an ugly bruise running down my ribs that’s turning yellow at the edges. Sam would probably say it looks like its own supercell if she were here.

I wish she were.

Sam told me to cut south.

What had I done?

I’d asked Luci.

I drag my hand down my face, wishing like hell I could turn back time.

Sam just needs space. She’ll come around, and by then, I’ll have figured out exactly the right thing to say to fix all of this. Sam runs hot when she’s hurt. She needs room to cool off. Time to let Petra take care of her while calling me the biggest idiot she’s ever met.

She’s not leaving me. She can’t.

“Boss?”

I turn and see Tony standing just inside the equipment bay door.

“Yeah?”

He hesitates, one hand on the frame like he’s not sure if he’s welcome. I want to tell him he’s not. I want to tell him that every time I look at him, I see his hands at my wife’s neck, and all I want to do is choke him.

He clears his throat. “You heard from Sam?”

You can’t punch the man, I tell myself. I try to remember whose idea it was to hire him.

“Why?”

“Just asking.” He shrugs, as if he didn’t just come in and ask a man about his wife after everyone on the team knows she’s not around and what that could mean. “She said once she likes to go to The Funnel Cloud when she needs to get away. Wonder if…”

The thought comes without warning: What the hell is Sam doing telling this man where she goes when she needs to get away?

“What do you wonder, Tony?” I ask. The words come out with a bite.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” he says, backing out of the equipment bay. “Forget I said anything.”

Too late for that.

I look down at my phone after he’s disappeared. Nothing.