As Frankie’s footsteps receded down Main Street, I felt my chest expand, gave myself space to breathe deeper. Frankie wasdown at his office now, waiting for me to process this, but I had done all the processing I needed to.
“Thank you, that’s a very kind offer. I would like to get all Frankie’s things out on the porch and some of them are very heavy. Could you help me with that?”
CHAPTER 9
Frankie
Of course I couldn’t get shit done at work, and my Office Manager Jeremy Standing Bear tried to stop me on the way in.
“What’s all this I hear about?—”
“Can’t talk, so sorry!” I yowled, hopping in my office and slamming the door.
The walls seemed to close in on me as I paced from one side to the other.
Panic was short-circuiting my brain.
Divorce?
Such a horrible word had never entered my brain, never entered my fantasies.
What had I expected to happen?
Whatever I had expected, it wasn’t this. Never this.
“What about getting in a quickie now?” Christabelle asked, opening my office door and strolling in like she owned the damn place.
But suddenly, even though I could see every curve of it, her body didn’t seem quite so enticing.
“It sucks that your wife found out this way,” she added, sliding onto my desk. “But isn’t it better that she’s finally found out?”
“Found out what?” I snapped.
And I finally realized the truth.
I hadn’t wanted Jillian to find out at all, ever. Yes, in myheadI had played around with awhat if things were differentscenario.
I had been thinking about it way too much lately, immersing myself in the fantasy, but now that it was real? Now that my wife knew about my past?
I didn’t want it at all.
I didn’t want to go back to Christabelle.
I just wanted to fix things with my wife.
“I’m not leaving my wife! I told you that!”
Christabelle’s smile wavered, but only for a moment.
“But—Frankie, we’re twin souls! You said so!”
“Shut up,” I said distractedly.
If Christabelle and I were twin souls, would I be this upset and horrified about Jillian?
“Maybe this is the opportunity we need, Frankie,” Christabelle said, plucking at my sleeve. “To start fresh now that we’re wiser and more mature. Without the burden of school or your wife.”
“My wife is not a burden!” I yowled in a hyena screech.
