Page 45 of The Awful Truth

And so, she had done nothing, except listen to him sleep, fought the urge to cover his face with a pillow, and tried to think of the best way to play this.

The conversation around her was warm and light. Charlotte and Ted were talking about one of the more memorable episodes of their show—two women, a mother and daughter, each pregnant with twins by the same man. Winslow and Mercy were laughing along as the two of them tag-teamed their way through the sordid story. Mercy shook her head and asked the questions that were on the minds of the audience members. How had they not known he was sleeping with both of them? Their bedrooms were right next to each other and he literally impregnated them on the same night!

Antonia watched her husband and their employee play off each other so effortlessly, pausing at just the right moment for the other person to take over. And the look on Ted’s face was pure bliss. How had she not seen it? She, who had spent the last several years embroiled in other people’s affairs? She had been impossibly stupid. Or perhaps willfully ignorant.

Digging her fingernails into her palms, she smiled and nodded, laughing quietly when the others did, pretending she was hearing everything even though her mind whirred so loudly that she was completely disconnected from anything happening at the table. Flashes of Charlotte yanking Ted into her room followed by her imagination filling in the two of them naked and sweaty and smiling. Her veins filled with adrenaline. Then the unbearable weight of grief on her chest, threatened to suffocate her. She forced herself to run through her routine of stopping herself from crying. Press tongue into back of front teeth. Breathe slowly. Name five things you can see. Four things you can hear. Three things you can touch…

Only this time, she imagined she could see Charlotte going down on Ted, and hear him crying out her name, and the touch would be her punching him in the throat. Whhoopppa!

Ted put his hand on hers. “Toni? You okay?”

She flinched, pulling her hand away before she could stop herself. “What?”

Ted let out an easy laugh to cover up for what had just happened. “My goodness. You’re jumpy this morning, and you’ve been so quiet.” That was his way of telling her she wasn’t keeping up her end of being half of the charming, happy couple.

He had dark circles under his eyes, which she could imagine him telling Charlotte were ‘totally worth it.’ “I must have had a bad dream I can’t shake off.”

Letting out a yawn, he said, “Maybe a nice dip in the pool would help. It’s going to be a scorcher today.”

She curved her lips upward. “That’s a good idea. Would you care to join me?”

How had she managed to get the words out, when the thought of it made her want to vomit?

“I might get caught up on my sleep,” he said. He turned to Mercy. “Do you think I’d have time for a quick nap before Travis finishes his business?”

She nodded. “Absolutely. When I left the suite, he was completely wrapped up in what he was doing. If I had to guess, I’d say he’ll be tied up until close to ten.”

Antonia’s phone buzzed, and she quickly reached down to silence it. “Charlotte, would you like to go for a swim with me?”

“I wish. I have a bunch of emails I should answer. In fact, I better get to it or I’m going to be fired,” she said with a wink.

Antonia laughed too loudly at her joke and could feel her husband staring at her. “Let me know if you need anything.”

Pointing a finger gun at her, Charlotte said, “I know where to find you.”

“Haha!” Antonia answered, pronouncing each ‘ha’ in lieu of actually laughing.

Ted got up, giving her a perplexed look before announcing he was off to nap. He yawned. “Enjoy your swim, Toni. Mercy, please tell Travis to just knock and I’ll be up and ready to go fishing in under five minutes.”

As soon as Ted and Charlotte left, Antonia grabbed her phone and swiped, revealing Enid’s message: Get somewhere you can talk and call me. I’m available for the next couple of hours. She slid off the bench seat. “Mercy, is there a quiet place I can make a quick work call? I don’t want to disturb Ted.”

“Why don’t you use the library?”

“Thanks.”

“How are you holding up?” Enid asked instead of saying hello.

Antonia glanced around the rather masculine room. For a library, it held few books. “I’m holding it together, but not by much.”

“I spoke with Danielle Updike this morning. She’s my go-to divorce attorney,” Enid told her. “She said you need to think of this first and foremost as a breakup of your business partnership. He didn’t just screw Charlotte; he screwed up your brand. He’s opened up the network, himself—and you—to a massive liability. If word gets out about this, your value will be bottom-feeder low. Obviously the timing couldn’t be worse, given where you are and that you’re about to sign a new contract.”

“Oh God,” Antonia said, fumbling around to sit down. She doubled over at the waist, taking it all in.

“I know. This sucks droopy balls, but it’s the hand you’ve been dealt, so you gotta play it. The most important thing to keep in mind right now is that the whole perfect marriage brand is dead in the water. The only question remaining is whether you die too.”

She closed her eyes and sighed. “Part of me doesn’t even care right now.”

“That’s just the lack of sleep and grief talking. Trust me, you care. And if you play this right, you can come out on top here, which is what I want for you. You’ll be like the phoenix rising from the ashes of his cold, dead corpse.”