“Please don’t leave like this,” I pleaded with him, but his icy stare didn’t waver.
“Goodbye, Samantha.” He pushed past me and stormed off without a glance, slamming my front door behind him. I wasn’t choosing Marc over him, but I could tell by his reaction that was exactly what he thought. I wanted to run after him, throw my arms around him and make him believe me, but this was my best chance to finally be free of Marc. It was more important than ever to get his signature on those papers tonight.
I walked into my bedroom, grabbing my copy of the papers in my top dresser drawer. I took them out, found a pen, and walked into the living room.
I picked up the remote from the seat next to Marc and shut the TV off. I sat on the other end of the couch and looked at the man I once thought I loved enough to marry. He wasn’t always the creep he was today. I couldn’t forget the awful way he spoke to me over the past few years or the rumors and signs I chose to ignore. I needed to move on from Marc Christensen. Whether he signed or not, I was going to make sure that happened rightnow.
“Pretty boy left, huh? Just as well; you couldn’t be enough for a guy like him, long term. He’s probably still got women following him around everywhere he goes. I’m sure he’s not gonna be sleeping alone tonight. I could never stand that self-righteous prick, but I did envy how he always seemed to be knee-deep in pussy.”
In just a few words, Marc told me I wasn’t good enough to keep a man like Lucas and made me think of women like Nicole and the girls in school who always seemed to fall at his feet. Marc’s harem comment wasn’t inaccurate in the least bit.What if he didn’t forgive me?No.Marc wasn’t getting in my head tonight. Lucas and I would be fine. It was Marc I needed to deal with.
“I told him I wanted to speak to you alone. He’s very protective of me—and Bella—and, well, he really hates you. That’s why he left angry. We’re in love and would probably be married by now if you realized when you’re dead, you’re supposed to lie down.”
Marc rolled his eyes and looked at me. “I know this is all because you got mad I left. It’s really okay. I don’t hold it against you. You always were sensitive like that. It’s annoying as fuck, but I get it.” He reached for the remote to turn the TV back on. I took a deep breath. As much as his backward thinking made me want to spit in his face, I couldn’t lose focus of what I was trying to do.
“No, Marc, I wasn’t mad you left. I was happy. Ridiculously, stupidly happy. Ecstatic even. I didn’t have to worry about what kind of mood you’d be in when I came home from work, and I didn’t have to hear all the rumors about who you were really with when you said you were out with the guys all night. Don’t mistake my silence for ignorance—just because I looked the other way doesn’t mean I didn’t know what was going on.”
Marc looked at the floor and put his face in his hands. He wasn’t making excuses or blowing me off. I’d finally found the guts to bring up the elephant in the room that I’d ignored for longer than I wanted to admit.
“Marc, what did I ever do to you to make you hate me so much?”
Marc let out a long sigh and scratched the back of his head. The obvious indifference he walked in with was replaced with apprehension.
“I wasn’t ready for this, Samantha.” His words came out in a rush.
“Ready for what?”
“This. Marriage. A baby. All of a sudden, there were all these … expectations. It was all about the baby, you being tired, giving me an attitude when I wanted to see my friends. You weren’t the Samantha I first knew. It was always nag, nag, nag. Maybe once in a while, I’d have too much to drink, and things went a little too far. If you’d made yourself available to me more, I wouldn’t have had to go elsewhere.” I shook my head—acting like a wife and mother was grounds forlooking elsewherein our marriage? He had to be kidding me.
“So, whose fault is it you felt you had to sleep around? Mine, Bella’s, or both? We talked about kids when we got married. Bella was unplanned, but she wasn’t a total surprise. You felt pressured? Well, I felt alone. Since Bella was born, I’ve been a single parent. Do you know she hasn’t asked for you since you left? Not even once in a year. You’re her father, and she never missed you. I’m ashamed it took me that long to tell you to leave. Not for me, but for her, too.”
Marc leaned back on the couch and put his hands on his knees.
“What do you want from me, Samantha? I’m trying to be a stand-up guy here.”
I handed him the papers and clicked the pen I had in my hand.
“You want to be a stand-up guy? Let me move on. We’re over, Marc. I know you know that. In fact, you only got pissed when you heard I was with someone else because ofhowyou heard. You were embarrassed. Now you know how it feels. Sucks, doesn’t it?”
He took the papers and the pen from my hand and looked them over. I held in a breath. Was he really going to do it?Please, Marc.Sign the damn papers.
“The red X’s at the bottom is where you sign and date it.”
“Would I still get to see Bella?”
It surprised me that he even asked about his daughter, considering he hadn’t contacted her once in all the time he was away.
“I would have full custody; I wasn’t anticipating a fight from you. I am asking you for child support. But seeing as you haven’t sent me a cent since you started working again, I’m not holding my hopes up terribly high. If you’re serious about actually spending time with her, I won't keep you from seeing her. But, you need to be consistent. It’s all or nothing. You see her when you say you will, or you don’t see her at all. I would rather Bella have no father in her life than a bad one. Understand?”
Marc nodded, looked for his name, and signed. My signature was already there, so as soon as Robyn got into the office on Monday, Marc and I would be on our way to divorce.
“I guess you’re staying with your parents.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about Bella seeing the father who had been absent all this time sleeping in the same house she was. I didn’t want her to get confused or have Marc ignore her. She was only five, but I had first-hand experience knowing those types of awkward moments could mess with a child’s head long after they became an adult. I also was a little miffed at Marc’s mother for being sneaky about why she wanted Bella tonight. I had no problem getting into the car and bringing her home.
“Yeah, for now. I may go have a drink with some of the guys on the way home so I won’t see Bella until the morning.”
I didn’t like it, but he was still her father. If I made a big deal about Marc to see her, it may make things worse. She had her grandparents in the house so she wouldn’t be alone with him.
“When you talk to her, do not make promises to her, you don’t intend to keep. Mark my words, you do that even once, you will never see her again.”
