I want you, Tinkerbell. I had a name for you the moment I met you.
“That was my sofa by the way. He was giving your wife oral on my sofa. I’ve sat in her pussy juices. My poor cat Barnabus sleeps on that cum couch. Fucking hell! Any STIs I should know about?” Anna asked sharply.
“None on my behalf but like I said, I haven’t been with her in a year.”
“Ugh, so now I have to get tested. That motherfucker,” Anna seethed.
Shane put his head in his hands. They now had proof. So where to from here?
“Do you want me to send you the folder so you can confront him? Where do you want to go from here?” he asked.
Anna moved her hands from the table as the waiter set down their meals.
“I’m leaving him, obviously. But I want to mess with him for a bit. See I can push him to a confession. Honesty would at least show that he has just even a little respect for me.”
“I get that. I can wait. My divorce papers will take a bit to come through. The moment one of us confronts them, they’ll know it’s over,” he warned.
“Okay. You should mess with her too,” Anna replied. “My friend Rosa has a whole list of pranks. I’m going to be queen of petty. Let me know if you want to be king.”
“Oh, I’ll be your king for sure,” Shane responded instinctively.What the fuck am I doing flirting with her? I haven’t flirted in years.Something about Anna was open and accepting. She took everything with grace, and tears of course, but he just knew she would never mock him or make him feel small or ugly.
“You’re on, King Shane. Let’s eat. Being petty requires energy and taco fortification.” She laughed and smiled at him.
The mood had shifted. They moved on to different topics, spending the rest of the night sharing stories of their past and details of their life, completely unrelated to April and Mason. Despite what had drawn them together, they were able to laugh together. Shane felt comfortable, his self-consciousness melted by her warmth and humor. He found himself not moving his head to the side to hide his scar.What the fuck was Mason thinking?
Despite feeling the inappropriateness of it, Shane began comparing Anna to April. He hadn’t had a pleasant dinner with April for some time. In fact, he couldn’t even remember the last time they went out together alone, just the two of them. Anna didn’t harass the wait staff. She didn’t complain about the quality of the wine on offer or constantly go to the restrooms to “fix her face.” She didn’t harangue him about broadening his horizons with new cuisine. She didn’t ask him to turn his face when she took a photo for Instagram so his scar wouldn’t be seen. Sure, they weren’t taking photos during this covert dinner, but he had a feeling that even if they were, she would have just taken the shot. No posing to hide imperfections.
She ate her taco with her hands, brushing shreds of lettuce off her chest without fussing about stains. She ordered extra cheese, not worrying about the calories. He loved that he could read her facial expressions clearly. She had a face that could move, eyes that could crinkle in the corners when he made her laugh. She had character.
When it came to the check, Shane immediately took out his card.
“You don’t have to pay. We’ll go halves. I may be a minimum wage earner, but I’m not on the breadline,” Anna joked.
“My wife fucked your fiancé. It’s the least I can do,” Shane said with a straight face.
“Well, my fiancé fucked your wife, so I feel like I owe you too. Why don’t etiquette books cover this situation?” Anna asked in mock seriousness. “I should start a blog on it.”
They said their goodbyes in the car park, with promises to keep each other updated with any new developments.
“Well, oddly enough, I actually had a good time tonight, even with that terrible porn,” Anna said easily. She reached over and gave him a hug, putting her arms around his neck. He grabbed her and held her tightly, surprised at the ease of her affection. She’d hugged him on instinct, her naturally warm and friendly personality prompting her to thank him and give him comfort. When the duration of the hug moved to a point beyond social politeness, Anna began to pull away. He held onto her a beat longer than he should have, then released her, but it was too late. A sense of awkwardness grew at the unexpected interaction.
“Bye Shane. Thanks for a nice night,” Anna said in forced cheer and friendliness.
“Bye Tinkerbell. Look after yourself. And maybe burn that sofa. Say the cat pissed on it,” Shane winked at her as he walked to his car.Fuck, this is messy, he thought.
Chapter 10: Anna—Naughty cats and Ponzi schemes
Anna’s phone buzzed as she left work on Saturday. Mason. She’d had brief messages from him over the past few days, but nothing revealing. It was becoming more and more difficult to respond in a cheerful tone. She’d begun leaving kisses off the end of her messages, but if he realized, he didn’t say anything. Mason had tried to call her the night before, but she’d been busy eating chocolate mousse and doing anything that didn’t involve speaking to him, so didn’t answer.
Mason: Can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Special night in? Dinner and *eggplant emoji*?
Fucking gross, she thought. She no longer found him charming. Just entitled. Disappearing for a week to fuck his mistress and then hitting her with game weaker than that of a horny 16-year-old. Had she been blind? Or had he changed so gradually she hadn’t seen it?
Anna: Ugh, no eggplant please. Real meat for me thanks.
Mason: You know what I mean *winking emoji*
She sure did. And her response still stood. He could keep his weak-ass eggplant breakfast sausage.
