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“Oh, I’m thinking about it,” he said as I ducked out of the room.
With his wife working away on the other side of the office building, John began thinking about me. At least, that’s what he told me despite the fact the framed publicity clip hanging above my desk declared Kate and John Nelson were “Mr.and Mrs.Incredible.” TheColumbus Monthlymagazine article by the front desk read:John and Kate Nelson started EventCo with a big idea, long hours behind the computer in their first apartment in Columbus. Today, it’s the world’s biggest online eventcompany. How did they do it? It’s an incredible story. They’re our own local superheroes. And they’re still in love after all they’ve been through.
So when John made his move eight months after I started working at EventCo, our flirtation had been going on for months. I never thought anything would come of it. I wanted someone like him. Not him. I knew it would be a huge challenge with John. See, it wasn’t like I was just replacing the first wife. This was an empire to divide and conquer. I had to become more vital than a superhero to John.
It turns out I did have an in, a superpower I didn’t know I possessed. I understood Ashlyn and had an instant connection with her. Teenage daughters, something I’m quite familiar with personally as I recently was one, can be big trouble, a lurking villain in a superhero household. And Ashlyn was playing her role to perfection, the little monster. John and I became close because I could help his relationship with his daughter.
John confided in me shortly after I started working at EventCo, hands on his hips, a worried frown spread across his handsome face. “Maybe you can enlighten me, Tish. I just don’t get Ashlyn. We give her everything and yet, she treats her mom and me like dirt. All I asked was that she get a summer job. But ‘nobody does that,’ she tells me. I’ve raised an entitled, spoiled brat, that’s what I’ve done. And Kate protects her as a way to get on her good side since she feels mom guilt about all the time she spent working while Ashlyn was growing up. Of course, Ashlyn just walks all over her mother. Always has. As for me, Ashlyn and I used to be so close, but now, who knows?”
You see, the crack had formed before I arrived. Ashlyn was a little ice pick chipping away at their relationship at home. Meanwhile, at the office, there was more than just me with the chisel. But let’s stick with Ashlyn.
“John, why don’t you let me talk to her? I could come over, maybe hang out with her?Babysitisn’t the word, but I can, you know, try to relate. How old is she?” I asked, but I already knew the answer. The brat had just been given a shiny new BMW for her sweet sixteen.
“She’s sixteen, going on thirty.”
“I’ve got this. I’m almost twenty-one.” I watched as the shock washed over him.
“What? You’re not even legal to drink yet? I had no idea.” John shook his head, no doubt thinking about the company picnic the weekend before. He and I had bonded over a couple of glasses of rosé.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell on you for providing booze to an underage girl.” I winked. Oh, give me a break. It worked in the moment.
“Sure, yes, why don’t you come over and hang out with Ashlyn. See if you can talk some sense into her. Kate and I fly to California this weekend. It’s Kate’s high school reunion. Not sure how long I have to stay, but I do need to make an appearance like she did at mine. Quid pro quo.”
“I would rather die than attend a high school reunion.” In fact, I wouldn’t be caught dead in my hometown ever again. “But go enjoy. I’ll watch Ashlyn. We’ll have fun.”
John nodded his agreement and said, “Kate will be relieved. She didn’t want to leave Ashlyn alone. I’ll go tell her. Thanks so much for the favor.”
Kate may have been relieved then. But that’s because she didn’t realize what was happening right under her nose. And now I face the same threat. I don’t know how John thought he could keep things from me. He knows I read his texts, have his phone password. I am watching his every move.
Just now, John and I walk side by side when he stops, puts his arm in front of me, and points at the trail. “Stop! Snake!”
I jump back, my heart pounding in my chest, as an eight-foot-long brown snake with an intricate diamond pattern down its body crosses the path in front of me.
“That’s a rattlesnake,” John adds helpfully.
Danger lurks around every turn, as they say. Nice of John to save me just now, wasn’t it? Not smart, but nice.
CHAPTER 8
JOHN
It’s a relief to be back in the bustling heart of Telluride instead of trapped in the condo with Tish or alone on the trail. And I cannot believe I almost told her that this isn’t working. I can’t be in this relationship anymore.
It’s the truth. I must tell her. Soon.
We’re eating outside at the Chop House, a restaurant on the patio of the New Sheridan Hotel. This place has been in business more than one hundred years. If the walls could talk, I bet they’d say they’ve seen a domestic dispute or two. That’s the thing. Tish and I aren’t having outward obvious fights, no name-calling; no plate throwing is going on. That’s not my style, though if you asked me right now, I would tell you it’s hers. I can feel her rage building like a summer storm. I haven’t really paid much attention to us, to her, not with everything else that’s going on.
But I feel it between us now like a live grenade. I don’t know what will happen if one of us pulls the pin.
I don’t like it. Not at all. Kate and I were never like this. I take a bite of my Cobb salad. Keeping my mouth busy chewing right now is for the best. For both of us. I don’t want to start a discussion here that won’t end well. No, that’s best left for when we get back home toColumbus. And I have it worked out. I just needed some clarity, some help. And I got that. It’s the juxtaposition between what I had with Kate and what my life has become with Tish. The difference is stark, once you see things clearly. And I’ve put some things in place, just to be safe. But I still need to do the right thing.
This is not working.
I’ll sell the house we share. I’ll give her half. She can keep her car and the jewelry, and she’ll be set. With the stock I’ve given her, she’s a wealthy woman. She’s young. She can start over. She has plenty of options.
As for me, I just want to get away from her. Sad, isn’t it? How love can so quickly turn to something so painful. Kate and I, we fought, sure, but it was to be expected. We had a teenager, the stress of the business. We didn’t take care of our relationship. This thing with Tish is something much worse. I don’t have a name for it, but it makes you feel like there’s a vise around your chest, and it’s being tightened minute by minute. It’s silent and far more deadly. We don’t yell at each other, we simmer. It makes you want to run away, far away.
“How’s your salad?” she asks, watching me closely. Ever since I saved her from that rattlesnake, she’s been nicer. I guess we just need to come across a snake every few hours to keep things on an even keel.
