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“NeverSeriously, what do you need from me?”
“Don’t you evenvoice “I was your wife, for Christ’s sake I bore your son ”
Yes, the only good thing she ever did for ive her a bit of a pass I choose to keep my assle nature in moderation
“I’m sorry, Marissa,” I say in a passive voice, which is so out she was a lying, cheating, bitch “But I don’t htest ”
“I ruined everything,” she wails into the phone “I had it so good, and I ruined everything ”
Sitting back down on the couch, I kick e This is the first ti some blame on her shoulders From the moment I confronted her with the fact that I knew… that I knew everything she had done, she had deflected and refused to accept any responsibility
She never acknowledged that it was clearly more important to drink and party her ass off while I ay on business trips She never once apologized for theher ass off, not even when I shoved the photos under her nose that the private investigator I hired had taken I’ll adhtly sick to her stomach, but in no way remorseful In fact, I’d say she looked relieved, and she never fought me on the divorce
Now… to hear her say that she ruined everything? It’s kind of like music to my ears
Doesn’t change that she’s a lying, cheating bitch Those stripes will never change But it’s nice to have some validation, no matter how minor it is
“You knohat the proble into the phone
“No,” I say tiredly but still interested in where this is going
“You were never around You traveled all the time ”
“A couple of times a month, Marissa Not all the time,” I correct
“It was a couple of ti some of the morose slur to her words “I need attention, and you knew that about me when you married me ”
True enough I knew Marissa was highloved her the way the tide loves theIf she would have asked , I would have… and she knows that
“It was more than that,” I tell her softly “You know that, and I know that ”
She’s quiet for awhat I’ve said or she passed out I’ “I wasn’t ready to get married I didn’t want to, but I felt pressured You were my first, Matty My first love, my first sex I didn’t knohat else was out there ”
Her words shred me from the inside out They sound small and pitiful, and for the first time, I don’t feel unquenchable hate toward her I feel a small amount of pity actually
I know ourher wild oats She never got to do that She went into a heavy and deep relationship with ether, and while I liked to party… I was a couple of years older than her so by the ti law school and had to buckle down I got serious about life and dragged Marissa along with e experience We raduation Three years later, she was a stay-at-home mother
“I understand, Marissa,” I tell her quietly And I really do But then I pull forth my reserve of dark bitterness that sits low in my belly and let it enshroud me “But you didn’t have to fk around You could have just asked for a divorce first And that’s why I don’t htest ”
My last words are harsh and raw, filled with venoasp on the other line, because I know she thought ere having a nice o of the disdain for her that swims in my veins
Not even the fact that she is Gabe’s ive to her is respectful politeness e are in front of Gabe, because I don’t ever want him to knoto do that
But she will never, ever get another thing from me She’s taken too much already
“I’ up, Marissa Don’t come over here You’re drunk, and it’sI’ll call the cops if you show up ”
I disconnect the phone before she can say a word and set it down besideusted and annoyed I have to put up with her forever and ever Because she’s Gabe’s mother, she unfortunately has a spot in my life
Standing up frorab a beer froainst the counter while I take my first pull on it
Not unsurprisingly, ht now Is she home, alone? Out with her roommate? Possibly out on a date? It’s within the realm of possibility that she could be out with another man She’s beautiful and smart… She would have men lined up for blocks just to have the chance to have a drink with her
I don’t like the surge of jealousy that rises up when I think about that Surely, she wouldn’t go out with soh we didn’t talk about exclusivity, I just sort of assumed Mac is that type of woman The type that only wants one man in her life
For aher Just to casually check in, see how things are going In fact, I could probablyabout the Jackson case with an idea I have Of course, I don’t have an idea, but I’ pretty quickly
I walk back into the living roo into my contacts, I pull her up A photo of her face shows up… asleep, head turned to the side I took it in Chicago after maybe the second or third tiot up to go to the bathrooot back, the peacefulness and delicate beauty of her face caughttirabbed my phone
She was splendidly nad on the bed, and I could have taken any nu later But I didn’t Just one photo… a close up of her face, and I’ve studied it a time or two