“Something funny, Bose?”
He shook his head silently, and his lips spread into a full grin.
Melanie rolled her eyes.
“I’ll give you five minutes and then you are going to leave.” She insisted.
“Okay.” I agreed.
“Give me the room. Wait in the hallway.” Her voice softened as she addressed her family, and they all stiffened at her request.
“Mel…” Mr. Walsh started to say.
“Dad, right outside.” She assured him. His jaw twitched, and his eyes bounced between us before he sighed and nodded.
“Wha- NO!” Kyle sputtered.
“Let's go.” Mrs. Walsh said firmly to her son and tapped his chin to pull his eyes down to her. “She’s an adult.” She murmured. He growled something, and she shook her head. He shot me a disgusted look and pointed a finger at me.
“If you make her cry, I’ll end you.” He threatened and stomped out of the room.
The others followed her silently with varying looks of disgust thrown my way. Once the door closed behind them, I hurried to the chair that Mrs. Walsh had vacated.
“I won’t touch you.” I said hurriedly when she started to raise her hand again. “I’m just going to sit.”
She gave a wary nod and told me my five minutes had started.
“First, I’m so sorry for everything.” I rushed to say, and she rolled her eyes. “Second, what happened why are you here?”
“I fainted. I went to long without a meal and let myself get a little dehydrated. I’m fine.” She insisted with an adorable scowl.
“Are you sure?” I leaned forward and looked for signs of injury.
“Yes, I’m sure.” Her voice hadn’t softened.
“Okay…” I nodded and tried to figure out where to steer the conversation next.
“If that’s all you can go.” She pushed.
“Melanie, can’t we fix this?” I pleaded. She scoffed and stared at me with more disgust in her eyes than I’d ever seen her direct at anything.
“Are you kidding me?” she asked, her voice low and trembling. “Ben, you have NO idea what you’ve done… At first, I thought all you did was cheat on me, ruin our marriage, break my heart, and destroy my self-esteem.” I flinched.
Oh, is that all…
“But no, it’s so much worst than that. My grandmother died carrying your secret… she died letting me sleep next to a liar and a cheat. She died ashamed of herself. Your inability to keep your dick in your pants left me feeling betrayed not only by you, but by her.” Melanie’s voice cracked as the tears started to trickle down her cheeks. The devastation on her beautiful face left me feeling cold.
“I know… I know.” I whimpered and pushed to my feet. The chair tipped over backwards with a clang, and Melanie jumped. I hurried to pick it up and then paced by the foot of the bed. Far enough away where she didn’t feel unsafe, but close enough where I didn’t feel like I was suffocating. “She told me in her letters. God, Mel… She was so disappointed in me. I can’t- you know she was the only grandmother I ever had, and it kills me to know that she hated me in the end.”
“What did you expect to happen?”
Such a simple question. A logical one. The answer was just as simple, but I was embarrassed to admit it.
“I didn’t think I’d ever get caught.” I whispered. I could tell she heard me when her nostrils flared. Then she started to laugh.
“Of course you didn’t. Little naïve Mel.”
I hated the self-deprecating tone she used when it hadn’t been her fault.
