“What the—no,” I said brusquely, trying to peel her fingers off my tie so I could find Merrie and get the hell out of there. “You’re the one who cheated on me.”
“And I apologized.” She pouted. “But you were the one who took up with that baker.”
“I’m dating her because you and I are no longer together.”
“We still love each other,” Hensley cried. “We were together all through college. You proposed to me. That means something.” She grabbed my hand and pressed it to her chest. “You mean something to me, and I mean something to you. We’re meant to be together. Don’t you see, Matt?”
“I don’t want anything to do with you.”
“I just have to remind you of what we had.” Then she dragged me forward by the tie and pressed her mouth to mine.
I was shocked for a moment. I hadn’t expected that she would be that brazen.
Really? Considering she was pretty brazen when she was cheating on you, it’s not like Hensley’s current behavior is out of the question.
Before I could push her off, she released me.
“See?” she said triumphantly. “Now you remember; I can see the love coming back. “
“Oh, uh…” Merrie was standing in the doorway, the heavy wood door half ajar. She was frozen, holding the éclair box. “I was just looking for the kitchen,” she said, slowly backing away. “I guess I’ll call an Uber.” She turned.
“Fuck you, Hensley,” I spat at my ex.
“Don’t speak to me that way!” she shrieked and slapped me.
Suddenly, Merrie was back at the doorway.
“Did you just hit him?” she yelled.
Hensley peeled back her thin lips. “He’s my future husband. I’ll do whatever I want.”
“And these are my éclairs,” Merrie hollered, taking a frosting-covered éclair out of the box and throwing it at Hensley. It hit her square in the chest, and she screamed.
“You ruined my dress.”
“Good!” Merrie shouted.
“Honestly,” my mother said, coming in behind Merrie. “You see? This is why, Matt, we didn’t want you with her. Look, there’s frosting all over Hensley and all over the carpet. This is an imported antique Persian rug.” My mother clucked her tongue at Merrie.
“Send me the cleaning bill,” I snapped at my mother. Then I grabbed Merrie’s hand and hauled her out of my childhood home.
71
Merrie
Matt was silent as we sat in the SUV. The street lights illuminated his profile as the driver sped us back toward Manhattan.
I took an éclair out of the box and nibbled on the pastry.
What now? Was Matt getting back together with Hensley?
You’re being paranoid. He clearly didn’t want her touching him.
What if it had all been an act? Maybe he was using me as payback for Henley cheating on him.
You are being crazy.
It was because I hadn’t eaten any dinner. I was a two-dinners-a-day type of girl. I needed a meal at six thirty then again at eleven. But today I had barely eaten lunch because I was so nervous about seeing Matt’s parents. The evening had, of course, gone so much worse than I had ever expected.
