AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?” Michael’s voice rose more with every word. “Is there another man in bed WITH MY WIFE?”
“Michael, I’m sure it’s not as bad as it looks,” Mother tried to say. “Maybe a misunderstanding—”
“What kind of misunderstanding could there possibly be?” Michael thundered. “They’re both naked in the same bed! Seems pretty straightforward to me!”
“Michael, I’m so sorry—” I started to say.
“Not a word from you, Alicia,” Michael cut in. “There’s nothing you could say to make this better. And you”—he turned to my mother—“you were gonna try to cover it up. Unbelievable!”
“Now wait just a minute,” my mother begged. My skin itched to hear the pleading in her voice. She’d rather plead to a man not even related to her than to try to understand her own daughter. “I’m sure we can fix this.”
“Oh, we’re gonna fix it,” Michael said. “Effective immediately, Alicia and I are no longer together. We will get an annulment. And the business deal is off.” Michael turned to me, a sneer on his face.
“When you’re done getting dressed, make your way to my apartment. You have three days to get your stuff.”
Mother followed Michael out, probably to try to talk him off the ledge. Andrew stayed and slowly got dressed.
I could tell when his moral compass kicked in because he sat on the edge of the bed, closing his eyes. Judging by the tightness in his jaw, I could tell that I wasn’t the only one having trouble stopping the train of irrational thought from running us over. It looked like he was counting.
After a while, he caught my eye. “I’m sorry. That should have never happened. You’re married, and I got caught up.”
“Yeah, you did. Leading me off the beaten path.” He frowned at the slyness in my voice. I frowned, too. “Too soon?”
“We can’t do this, Ace. You’re married. Like actually married. As in, legally, and two days away from being spiritually tied, too.”
“You heard Michael. He wants an annulment. I hardly think I’m gonna be walking down the aisle in two days.” I snorted. “But you’re right.” I repositioned my scarf on my head. “We should stop.”
“What are you gonna tell Michael?”
I startled, my head rearing back. “What?”
“You’re planning to get back together with him.” He turned to face me fully. “You were planning on telling him something, right?”
“What should I tell him?” I snorted. “That I cheated on him in a brief act of insanity? That this meant nothing and was a quarter-life crisis? I think he already knows that.”
“Really, Alicia, you’re gonna joke right now? Do better.”
“What do you want me to say, Andrew?” I threw my hands up in frustration. “I realized that my life as I know it is deeply unfulfilled?” I rolled my eyes to mask the storm of emotions roiling within me. “Give me a break. Like you so kindly pointed out, I’m married. You said it yourself: what we did was a mistake. Chalk it up to bad decisions made after a long night of drinking and forgetting.”
“Forgetting that you’re married?”
“Yep.”
“So that’s what you’re going with?” he asked again. “That this was nothing?”
Like always, I knew there was a double meaning in his question. With Andrew, one question is always two, or three, or several, like a seven-layer dip with nothing but bad surprises and regret.
But I just didn’t have the time nor inclination to figure out what he meant. I knew that telling him that I was in love with him would yield nothing but my own broken heart, and I had no desire to relive the pain that caused. So, instead of reaching for him like I longed…instead of telling him I’ve been in love with him for years and I feared that I would never love anyone else, including my husband, the way I loved him, I let the dust settle over our shared moment and prepared to lie.
“Yes,” I said. “This meant nothing to me.”
The hurt in his eyes doubled, and I could see him take a sharp inhale. His mouth became small, pinched, as he looked around without seeing, held his body taut without knowing.
Finally, he shook his head and started putting his socks on. I could see a muscle tick in his jaw as he slowly, methodically finished getting dressed and stood to look at me.
“Call it whatever makes you feel better, Ace,” he said. “Mistake, misplaced passion, a shit show. But when you’re ready to have a conversation about what this all really means, you know where to find me.”
* * *
