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It’s hard to watch as his fingers pick clumsily at the phone like a toddler, and his head tilts to the side. I wonder what he said before I caught him. Whatever it was, I’ll deal with it later.
“Here, let me help you.” I cut a bite and put it on the fork. Together we guide it into his mouth. Captain of industry, really?
I watch closely as he chews and swallows. It’s time for another. Where’s the bib?
“Thanks,” John manages as he takes another bite. He leans back in the chair, midchew.
“Hey, wait, chew that. You’ll choke.” I slap his cheek.
John barely responds. I’m worried he’ll fall asleep before he swallows his bite. “Hey. Hey!” I push his shoulders forward from behind, and he wakes up. “Chew, John.”
I watch with relief as he does what I say. I can’t have him die choking on a chicken enchilada on the deck. How embarrassing. Ashlyn would kill me.
As I watch him chew, I think more about little Ashlyn. She was a teenager when I met her, a spoiled only child. Meanwhile, I came from another world. I couldn’t imagine the kind of gilded childhood she had. The organic packed lunch and a ride to school every day, even though school was just a block away. The kind of childhood where you earned ribbons just for being there, where praise flowed like a river, and the real world never intruded with problems like bad teeth or too-short pants.
There weren’t any ribbons in my bedroom, but to be honest, I never really had a room to myself. There was a curtain hanging between my mom’s bed and mine. It didn’t seem to mean anything, not to anyone. A curtain isn’t a locked door. It’s something to be pushed aside, ignored.
I shudder. No, I can’t blame Ashlyn for becoming the teenager she became. For being the woman she is today.
But you shouldn’t blame me for who I became, either. We’re all creatures of our environment. I’m the type of person who figures out how to get ahead. And it worked out for both of us. Ashlyn needed alittle real-world experience, and I needed an ally in the office. So when I say that her little internship was all my idea, believe me, it was. If it weren’t for me, Ashlyn would have spent another summer lying by the pool at the country club, flirting with the boys, and perfecting her suntan. It’s too bad she turned on me once she started working at EventCo.
Shit. John’s head is on the table. He’s literally passed out on our deck. I cannot have anyone zipping by on the gondola seeing this. I mean, he’s in the news now, with the IPO. This is unacceptable.
“John, John, wake up!” I shake him, but there is no response. OK, deep breath. I can handle this.
John moans. He’s in there. I just need to activate him. He’s drooling on himself. Ugh. His face is pale, but that could be the moonlight.
“John, look, we’re going to go to bed. I’ve got you. Stand up.”
He’s doing it. We’re walking inside. He’s heavy, leaning on me with all his weight. It’s all I can do to get him to the couch. I’ll just let him rest here. That’s what I’ll do. I make sure he’s settled across the couch and then cover him with the blanket.
He just needs to sleep it off. I wipe drool off his face. Nice, John.
While he’s resting, I clean up the kitchen. I carry a tray out to the deck and clear all the glasses and dishes. I rinse everything in the sink with soap and pop it all in the dishwasher, setting the cycle to pots and pans. I like dishes extra clean, extra sanitized.
I didn’t even know that was a thing until I married John. We never had one of these fancy dishwashers.
With the kitchen all tidy, I look around to see if anything else in the condominium is out of place. John’s phone is on the kitchen counter. I put it on the coffee table in front of the couch where John has passed out. I’d rather have him in the guest bedroom, in case the cleaning crew comes tomorrow. I’ve expressly asked them not to come tomorrow because of our romantic weekend. But you can never be too sure. Sometimes people just don’t do what you want them to do. They lie. They cheat. I shake my head and look over at John.
The thing is, a lot of guys pass out on the couch watching sports or something on TV. I find the remote, and the screen flickers to life. I have no idea what channel has sports, or even what summer sports could be. I find two women playing tennis. Perfect.
John fell asleep while watching a tennis match. Happens every day. No one needs to know that he isn’t a tennis fan.
I kiss him lightly on the forehead. It’s slimy with sweat. I wipe my lips on the sleeve of my shirt. That was gross. This is gross. All of it.
I hope it’s almost over. I look at his phone where I put it on the coffee table and see a text from her. How sweet! She wants John.
Call me when you can get away.Rather demanding, isn’t she? And she’s violating our private time by texting him. I feel my hands clenching into fists. I want to punch someone, something.
She thinks she’s won. She thinks he canget awayfrom me.
I drop the phone back onto the coffee table.
She’s so wrong.
CHAPTER 12
JOHN
