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“And I already said, you can go fuck yourself. How much clearer would you like me to put it?”
“I decorated it!”
“Fine, take all the shit inside. I’m gutting the entire place the second the ink dries. Frankly, it’s tacky as hell. But I’ll be damned if you own the house, my father designed for us…for me.” I correct.
“Ugh.” She scoffs. “You are so unrefined.”
“And you are such an opportunist. I have to get back to the office. Don’t you have a hair appointment or something to get to? Your roots are looking a little dark,” I snap at her, knowing that anything referring to her looks is a sore subject.
Her mouth drops open, but her expression shifts as her eyes focus behind me. I pray that it’s just an unsuspecting passerby and not Serena Mitchell. And if it is Serena, I hope that she hadn’t been present for this particularly ugly showdown between me and my soon to be ex-wife.
Jana shakes her head, darting her eyes back and forth between me and whoever’s behind me. “You’re pathetic, Landon.” She slides her sunglasses back over her eyes and then as quick as she blew into the deli she leaves, like a tornado, leaving destruction in her wake.
Serena’s quiet the entire walk back to the office. So am I, as I try to let my emotions come down from dealing with Jana. Just before we step inside she stops and it causes me to halt in my tracks. She turns to face me and looks like she’s at war with herself over what to say, her beautiful face displaying a range of emotions. She opens her mouth and then closes it again, worrying her bottom lip. Without thinking, I reach under her chin and pull it away gently. Her pupils dilate, and a dusting of a pink hue colors her cheeks. “Do…do you want to talk about it?”
“Not particularly.” I stare down at her, not wanting to move, even as people enter and exit the building on both sides of us.
“You’re not pathetic, Landon.”
I want to tell her I know that. That she shouldn’t feel the need to reassure me about something my vengeful, estranged wife said because I won’t give her what she wants in our settlement. Her calling me pathetic is the least vindictive or hateful thing she’s said to me and yet Serena is looking at me like the eight letter word somehow bruised my ego. “You’re wonderful,” she continues. And for a second, I think she regrets her choice of words. “I don’t know much about the specifics, but my dad is a great judge of character. He wouldn’t speak highly of you if you weren’t a good person. He says you’re a great dad. Maybe because you let him tag along sometimes when you do father and son stuff,” she shrugs. “You know, since he was cursed with two girls.”
“You’re the furthest thing from a curse, Serena.” And I believe that. Preston adores both Serena and her younger sister. It’s evident in the way he speaks about them both.
“You know what I mean. I just…I know you said not to believe everything you hear but…everything my father has said about you? That I believe.”
