“Fine.” She scoops up Tank in her arms, who’s still rumbling and huffing at Archie. “I’ll take the baby for a walk.” As she passes Archie, she glares up at him. “You hurt her, and I’ll skin you alive and make jerky out of you.”
Archie laughs as Char storms off down the hallway, and he regards me with a soft, loving expression until the front door slams, signalling Char’s departure.
“Where the fuck have you been?” I ask.
He sighs, his shoulders slumping in that stupid way they always do when he’s done something he shouldn’t have. “Babe, look-”
“Stop calling me babe. Where have you been?”
His smile drops ever so slightly, and he takes a few sauntering steps towards me. “Mia, I know you’re angry-” He cuts off as his eyes narrow. “What happened to your head?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes it does, oh my god.” He takes a few hurried steps towards me, but stops short when I back away. He scoffs. “What, you scared of me?”
“I don’t want you touching me.” I fold my arms over my chest. “Now, tell me where the fuck you’ve been.”
“I thought you’d be happier to see me.”
I slam a hand into the counter, wanting to throw anything I can get my hands on across the room at his stupid face. “You’ve been gone for weeks! Not a word, not a text, fucking nothing!”
His mouth shifts into a crooked smile. “Were you worried about me?”
“I swear to god, if this is how it’s going to be you can get out, I do not give a singular fuck. I am not doing this.”
He holds his hands up and sighs. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry. I was in Spain.”
I tap my fingers on the counter and shrug. “Right. And?”
“What do you mean, and?”
“What were you doing in Spain?”
Archie rubs the back of his neck. “I… I was trying to build a better future. For us, babe.” He gives me a shy smile. “I was thinking of you the whole time.”
I laugh bitterly. “Oh yeah? That’s nice. What did the big-titted slag who likes red lingerie have to say about that?”
Archie’s face drops, and I can practically hear the rolodex of excuses flipping over in his brain. “Mia, listen, that was a mistake.”
“A mistake?” My head starts to throb, and I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You’re such a bad fucking liar.”
“I’m not lying! I promise!” He makes to move closer to me again, and I duck out of his way, around the kitchen counter. “Babe, come on.”
“You know what, I don’t even want to know what happened anymore, because I don’t care!” I hold my hands up to ward him off, and shake my head. “I don’t fucking care, you hear me? You’re going to come back here and play fucking games and not tell me where you’ve been, spin some story aboutmistakesand fuckingfutures.No, I’m not doing it Archie. You can fuck right off and get out of my house."
“Mia, please.”
“My father fuckingdied!” Angry tears burn my eyes, and I do not want to cry in front of him, I don’t want to give him the satisfaction. “Do you hear me? Hedied, and you weren’t here!”
“Babe, I’m so sorry.”
“No, you’re not!” I dash the tears away with the back of my hand before they can fall. “You’re never sorry, not really, you’re only ever sorry for you.”
“And there it is.” Archie runs his hands over his head with a strangled laugh. “You just cannot resist taking a dig at me. Even when you’re saying you’re sad and upset, all you can think about is taking me down.”
“I want a divorce.”
Archie’s face betrays genuine shock. “You don’t mean that.”
