“It means I just fucked your wife better than you ever could, you asshole,” Harvey said, disdain in every word. My eyes widened, and I covered my mouth in horror. Greg looked at me with a pained look and then pulled his arm back and swung. I was too slow to stop it, and his fist punched Harvey’s jaw, throwing him backward onto his car. Greg swung his hand around, undoubtedly in pain, and I yelled for them to stop. Harvey pushed himself off the car and ran at Greg, both of them taking a hard fall to the ground. I couldn’t tell who was hitting whom anymore as both of them wrestled, cursing at each other, not listening to my wild pleas for them to stop.
By this point both of my parents, Mrs. Garrett, and several neighbors were outside. My father and Nick, our neighbor, stepped in and pulled them apart. I was trying to hold back the tears, but I yelled at Greg to leave. He had blood under one eye, but I didn’t care. He could take care of it himself along the way. I went inside, absolutely humiliated, without even looking at Harvey. How could he have provoked Greg that way? If I had any doubts about it having been revenge sex, I didn’t anymore. He had timed it perfectly, somehow, to throw it in his wife’s lover’s face that he had slept with his own wife. I was so angry that I began to pace my room.
Without knocking, Harvey barged into my room. “Audrey, I’m sorry,” he said.
“You men are all the same. Doing something stupid first and then coming to beg for forgiveness. Well, I’m done with it, and I’m done with you. You said you had to go back to the restaurant, right? So go. I don’t need any more of this,” I yelled. He looked at me, his face already turning black and blue in two spots. He ran his hands through his messed up hair and sighed. Then he turned and left. I didn’t see him again before he left town.
Explaining what had happened was a little difficult. My parents and Mrs. Garrett wanted to know what had precipitated the actual fight, and Harvey left right away without giving them a reason for the fight. At dinner that night, as we sat outside around the barbecue, I had to lie and say that Harvey was upset about his wife’s betrayal with Greg and that it had all culminated into an argument and then a fist fight. They seemed to buy that. I felt bad lying, but there was no way on Earth I’d tell my parents the real reason for the fight.
The next few days were spent finishing cleaning up around the yard, with Mrs. Garrett pitching in. A roofer gave us an estimate, but told us it would be at least two weeks to start because of all the other jobs he has lined up. We then helped Mrs. Garrett with her insurance company, which had unfortunately turned into a real hassle. I never spoke to Harvey, but I caught my dad talking to him on the phone several times, discussing what the insurance company had said this or that time.
Mrs. Garrett would stay with my parents for just a few more days and then she would move to her friend’s house. She didn’t want to impose on one family’s generosity for a long period of time. My mom tried to convince her otherwise, but she didn’t budge. I finally had to get back to work and arranged for a flight back on that Wednesday.
While I wasn’t sure what my long-term plans would be, I still had this job where they were counting on me. Plus, all of my things were at my house, and I had to get them sometime. The decision to be made now was whether I would stay in town, come live with my parents (which we already know I did not want to do), or move somewhere else entirely.
The first thing I did after getting an Uber to my house was to move all the things I would need to the guest bedroom across the hall. I didn’t want to sleep in my own bed because, honestly, I didn’t want to be around anything having to do with Greg. Being in the house itself was bad enough, but it was a necessary evil for now. I started doing research (now that I finally had power to use a computer) and bookmarked several apartments for sale. I also searched for jobs in other cities, seeing if something caught my interest. An associates degree from college didn’t leave you open for many higher paying positions, I noticed. I researched universities as well, trying to come up with something I could study that would give me a good income. Wishing I’d done this years ago, I looked up student loans.
When Greg got home that evening, a fading bruise on his left cheek, he was surprised to see me.
“I’m here until I find another place,” I said, as I finished cooking dinner. “You can have some of this,” I said, pointing at the salmon.
“Thanks,” he said, putting his stuff down and sitting at the counter. “Where are you going to move?”
“I’m looking at apartments nearby. I’ve also looked at going back to school, so my options are open,” I said. He gave me a sad smile.
“You should do that party planning thing,” he said. Every time I hosted a dinner party at our house, the guests gushed over my detailed planning, and Greg would proudly tell them I did it all myself. He had told me a few times to go into that, but I never took it seriously. Now I wondered if I should.
“Hmm,” I said. “That’s something to look into. Thanks,” I said.
“You’re welcome.”
We continued the civil act for the rest of the night, sitting down and watching something together on TV. Then I went to my new bedroom and prepared my clothes for work the next day.
Tammy was insatiable. I didn’t leave any detail out, and our lunch break was over, but she still kept asking me questions.
“Have you talked to Harvey since? I mean, you’re back in the same town now, so what are you going to do?” she asked eagerly.
“I’m not going to do anything. We were there to give each other comfort and blow off steam, and we fulfilled that purpose. Things are too messy for us to be friends, and it’s best this way,” I said. Tammy gave me a pouty face and then a hug.
“I’m so sorry you’ve had such a horrible month. What can I do for you? Can I take you out?” she asked, her eyes lighting up.
“Yes, I think that would help,” I said, getting a little excited.
“Great! Friday night after we get out let’s do happy hour and then go out Saturday night?” she suggested.
“Sounds like a plan,” I said, and we hurried off to go answer phones.
I met with a lawyer that evening after work, and after that meeting, my mind was spinning. The cost was astronomical, and I spoke with Greg first. With great sadness in his eyes (which pained me but didn’t move me), he agreed to an amicable divorce with one attorney handling everything, that we would sell the house and split everything, and that he’d pay the attorney’s fees. If for nothing else throughout our marriage, I thanked him for this, which would save me so much headache and give me a real start.
