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“Ah.” I had no other words to say watching the interplay between us awkwardly.
“Well, since you won’t need me. I suppose I should have my driver come back and take me to the Inner Harbor Hotel. We can have lunch this week while I’m in town.” Mariska grabs her things walking toward the door.
“Hmm. Lunch” I mock leading Milo to give me a look I don’t know how to interpret. I mean geez, I didn’t invite the international supermodel ex to come over.
“Let me walk you out.” Milo says when I reach for his towel.
“Might want to put pants on, love. You know how Mrs. Kelly gets when you pick up the paper nude.” I fake smile turning back to the counter seething.
“Right, be right back.” Milo reaches for me kissing the back of my head and I ignore him picking up the recipe card I was about to work on. Damn it, I was going to make him bread his mother makes for him and tears sting my eyes. It’s the flour, it has to be the flour because I can’t possible be upset that my husband has a past that didn’t include me in it. I can’t possible be having feelings for him, can I?
“Toodles!” I hear the ex say walking out the door as Milo jogs after her in shorts and a t-shirt.
“Fuck off ho!” I mutter dumping flour into a bowl adding salt.
I hear the door close and Milo walking back in.
“I’m guessing you want to talk about it?” He says resting his hands on the counter.
I glare at him with silent but deadly eyes. Talk about it? I was still in murder mode and needed a moment to stop myself from going nuclear. I slam my hand down on the counter upending a cloud of flour coating the kitchen and myself. Unbelievable. I think I love him and I don’t know why I’m so mad at him.
10
Milo
“Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend waiting for you?” Piper yells across the kitchen island slamming dough down onto the wooden board. I wonder what she is making with all the flour and items scattered on the counter looking like a baker’s dive into hell.
I pick up an apple from the bowl ignoring her comment biting into the red skin snapping it back and letting the juice slide down my throat. “What are you making?” I ask instead. I didn’t want to have to hash out why Mariska, a blast from my past showed up on our doorstep offering her services on a Sunday mornin
g.
“Are you fucking kidding me Milo? I’m asking about the woman you were supposed to be marrying showing up and you’re asking what I’m cooking?” Her cheeks blow out puffs of air and she wipes her brow leaving a mark of white powder streaking it. It’s adorable and I grunt adjusting the rise in my shorts. How she can be so pissed off and I want to lay her out on the counter is amazing to me.
I sigh. “I married you, isn’t that the point.”
She slaps the dishtowel against my chest stalking down the hall. “No it’s not the fucking point.” I hear a door slam and wonder how long this snit will last. The kitchen is a disaster but I can’t leave Piper stewing like this. I was never going to marry Mariska but explaining that to Piper would have fallen on deaf ears.
I walk back over to the counter and read the carefully written out notecards in my mom’s handwriting. Piper had all the ingredients set aside preparing Khachapuri. My favorite cheese bread. Shit. I really fucked this up didn’t I. I rolled my neck back staring at the ceiling. Why couldn’t all aspects of marriage be easy?
My cell phone rings stopping my thoughts and I fish it out of my pocket. “Hello?”
“Mr. Lazare? This is Agent Todeski.”
Ah the person handling my immigration case. I leaned over the kitchen counter mentally exhausted. As if we need this one more thing to deal with.
“How can I help you?”
“Well I wanted to do a home visit but I thought maybe coming to the office for an interview with your new wife would be better.”
Fuck.
“Yeah, sure. When would you like us to come by?” This is the last damn thing I wanted to do right now. I have to fix shit with Piper not force her to endure and interview with an annoyingly nosy agent who probably doesn’t give a shit about my job and will be just as happy to send my ass back from whence it came.
“This afternoon would work for me.”
“Great. See you then.” I hang up wondering how I am going to broach this subject with Piper. Time to put on my man pants.
I knock on the door hearing nothing from the other side. “Piper?” I call out thinking maybe she’s in the bathroom. No noise is good noise right? I crack the door open and slip inside. I have no idea why I’m being so quiet. It’s my house. Correction, our house. It wasn’t like I had anything to hide.
