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“After all the alcohol had left your system.”
“Well, there might have still been a little—”
“Alicia, please don’t lie to me. Please. Were you drunk when you kissed him or did you know what you were doing?”
I sighed, any residual anger leaving my system and leaving me exhausted in its wake. “I knew.”
“And he kissed you back?”
I hesitated, weighing my options. It was one thing for me to confess; it was quite another to drag Andrew into this any more than he already was. I didn’t want him to get implicated. It wasn’t his fault I couldn’t control myself around him. When I met Michael’s stony look, though, I knew I had to come clean. “Yes.”
“And then you had sex.”
I stayed silent, knowing that wasn’t a question.
Michael broke our gaze and shook his head. “I still can’t freakin’ believe this.”
“I’m so sorry I hurt you, Michael.” I wrung my hands. “I didn’t realize I had lasting feelings for him until this morning—”
“Wait, lasting? What do you mean lasting?”
With a lurch, I realized that I hadn’t mentioned my feelings for Andrew, only explaining the sex. I closed my eyes as I felt more than saw Michael’s fury double in size.
“You mean to tell me you’ve been in love with the guy this whole time?”
“Yes, but I didn’t know,” I pleaded, opening my eyes. I was disgusted myself with how much I sounded like Mother. “It wasn’t until I kissed him that I knew for sure.”
“Oh, how lucky!”
“Please, Michael—”
“Please what? Not be upset that my wife is in love with another guy? What am I supposed to do with this information, Alicia?”
“Now that I know, I can fix it. I’ll overcome it!”
“How long?”
I blanched, knowing what he was asking but trying to avoid it anyway. “How long what?”
“How long have you been in love with him?”
I sighed, trying to stall for as long as possible. Finally, I said, “Since before you and I met. We had just stopped being friends when you met me.”
“You were crying over him that day, weren’t you?”
I didn’t say anything, but the silence spoke for me.
“Unbelievable.” He got up and stalked toward the building entrance.
I followed. “Where are you going?”
“I’m gonna stay with one of my buddies for a few days.” Michael stopped at the door but didn’t turn to look at me. I didn’t have to see his face to hear the hardness in his voice. “When I get back, I want you and all your stuff gone.”
“What do you mean?” Panic rose in my throat and I almost choked on it. “Where will I go? How will I get into the apartment?”
He handed me a key out of his pocket. “Here’s the spare I was planning on giving you this morning,” he said. “As for where you’ll go, I don’t know and honestly, I don’t care.” Michael turned to me, his face a mask of hardness. “But you can’t stay here. This marriage is officially over.”
I stood in front of the entrance of his building, looking at the spot he once occupied. Something in me broke, though not for the reasons I imagined. No, something in me knew that Michael and I were just not meant to be. But it wasn’t as if not being with Michael meant I was with Andrew. He didn’t want me either.
