“Please, Kate. You got the house. Please let me buy my shares back.”
“It was my aunt’s house. It was always my house. I suggest you go have lunch with your wife and kid and leave me the fuck alone,” I tell him.
He glares at me, and it feels good. As he storms over to the table, his wife looks hurt and confused. I don’t hate her as much as I hate him, she’s young and stupid, and shackled with his kid. But she had to know he was married, and she didn’t give a shit. But Will is truly the only one to blame. He made me a promise, and he’s the one that broke it. Not his doe-eyed new wife who, according to her LinkedIn, took a long break from work. I’m sure Will loves having her stay home, making his lunches, and never asking more of him.
Cheating wasn’t the only problem, and I know that now. Neither of us were giving each other what we wanted. Will wanted a traditional wife. He told me he was fine not having kids, but that was clearly a lie. He didn’t understand why Iwanted to be a professor, why I didn’t stop after my masters and needed a doctorate in fine arts. He thought it was stupid, that adding additional degrees was frivolous.
He wanted me to cook more; he wanted simple, and I wasn’t a simple woman and I never would be. I was complicated, messy, something he loved but at some point that changed. Just like I wanted someone who was attentive, open, and not as stringent.
We grew too much. We’re different people now, honestly I don’t recognize him anymore, which is sad as it is eye opening. He isn’t the boy who pieced my heart together when I moved to Tampa. He isn’t the man who was there when my aunt died and he became my everything. Nor am I that broken girl anymore.
Part of me wonders if he lost interest when he realized there was nothing left of me to fix. When he realized I didn’t need him. Part of me wanted him, wanted to make our marriage work, but that died a long time ago.
“Wow.” Chelsea breaks my thought process as she tips back her mimosa.
We’re going to need to get an Uber back to my place after this.
“So, do you have some maniacal plan of what you’re going to do with his company?” she asks.
I shrug. I didn’t know what I was going to do with the shares. They were rightfully mine. I invested a lot into Will and his business. My aunt would have rolled around in her grave if she knew what I did with my money. But I think she’d be incredibly satisfied with how I’m using it now.
I smile to myself. She would have loved the idea of me being free and finding myself.
“I’m not sure yet. For now, I’m holding on to it to torture him a little,” I admit.
Chelsea grins at me, which I return.
“I think this is the best version of you,” she says, refilling our glasses with champagne and a splash of orange juice. We clink our glasses and I realize, I agree.
I’m kinda in love with this version of me too.
5
BAD SHIT
“Where’s Gavin?”Penny, my cousin slash sister-in-law, asks. Though they’ve been married for five years, it’s truly time to stop giving them grief for that shit, but I think I will till the day I die.
“He drew the short stick. He’s driving a bachelorette party boat tonight,” I reply, and Penny rolls her bright blue eyes.
“I’m sure he’s devastated. Here, take Brynn,” she says, handing me my three year old niece as she holds their one year old, Hudson. They really took the Carlson tradition of names ending in ‘n’ very seriously.
I hold my niece as she pinches my cheek. “Uncle Benny, snacks?” she says.
It’s my job as the funnest uncle to give this child whatever she wants, especially if it makes my older brother Lincoln’s life harder.
“Of course, my precious little angel, that I get to return to my cousin-sister-in-law.”
“I swear to fuck Ben. If you teach her that I’ll kill you.”
“Kill you,” Brynn repeats, nodding her head.
“I’m not the one teaching her bad shit.”
“Bad shit,” Brynn repeats with another nod.
Penny glares at me as the baby cries, so I take mercy on her and carry Brynn outside of my parent’s house. I grab the largest chocolate chip cookie, hand it to my niece, and plant her on the outdoor furniture overlooking the lake.
I’m still not sure how to keep a three year old entertained. I love her, and my nephew, but the best part is the fact that I get to return them when it gets to be too much. Lincoln and Penny are endlessly happy in their marriage and being parents. I’m beyond happy for them, though I can’t imagine it for myself.
