I let out a short nervous laugh, but I couldn’t stop crying. As hard as I tried to repress my sobs, the tears were falling faster and faster and my chest was heaving uncontrollably.
A waiter stopped by and cleared his throat. “Um, sir? This is a nonsmoking café.”
“My wife is f**king her husband.” Barry snapped. “I can smoke wherever the f**k I want today.”
The waiter’s face turned bright red and he dashed across the room.
I wiped away another stream of tears and stared at the photo that had fallen in my lap, the one of Ryan tucking a strand of hair behind Amanda’s ear, the one of her leaning in close for a kiss from his lips.
“Can I keep a set of these?” My voice cracked.
“Of course you can. I made four copies. One for you, one for me, and two sets for my lawyers.”
I nodded and slid the stack of photos back into the envelope. I was too numb to say anything else. I needed to be alone.
Standing up, I walked over and hugged Barry—knowing that I wouldn’t see him again for a very long time.
He hugged me back and used his wrinkled sleeve to wipe my face. “You’re going to be okay, Claire. Don’t let what they’ve done to us ruin you. You’re an amazing person and you’ll bounce back from this...”
He said a few more things, but I couldn’t make out any of the words. I was too busy focusing on the drive home, too busy wondering what the hell I was going to say when I saw Ryan face to face.
I dragged myself out of the hotel lounge and into the rain—not bothering to put up my umbrella. The valet brought my car around and offered to give me a towel for my seat, but I slipped inside and sped off.
“I love you, Claire...You’re the love of my life...I’m going to make sure our anniversary is the best one we’ve ever had...”
I sniffled as I remembered him saying those words to me—last night.
“You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved—and you always will be...”
I pulled off on the exit that led to our suburb, shaking my head at all the beautiful memories that were playing in my head—knowing that no matter what I said to him tonight, our so-called “fairytale” was long over.
I drove around our neighborhood until my gas needle hit “E,” trying to come up with something to say, but I was too numb, too hurt. After deciding that I would let the pictures say it all, I drove my car into the garage and sat at the wheel with my head in my hands.
The two of us were just shopping for new kitchen countertops last week—he wanted wood and I wanted granite. We were just planning our fifteen year anniversary, and even though he’d been vague about the plans, I was sure he was taking me to the Panama Canal—the place I’d always wanted to go.
A round of thunder roared in the distance and the rain began to pelt even harder, so I closed the garage door and slipped out of the car.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly twisted the doorknob and stepped inside the house.
“Hey, Mom!” “Why are you so late today?” Caroline and Ashley didn’t look up from their homework.
“Hey babe.” Ryan pulled me into his arms and kissed my forehead. “Are you okay?” He raised his eyebrow, lowering his voice and asking why my face was “so red...like [I’d] been crying.”
I didn’t answer his question. I just stared into his eyes, wondering how he could act as if everything was normal—as if he hadn’t just f**ked Amanda in our bedroom yesterday.
“You’re drenched...” He ran his hands against my soaked blazer. “Did you lose your umbrella?”
I swallowed, shaking my head.
He smiled. “Well, go dry up. Whatever’s bothering you—whatever it is, we can talk about it after dinner. Okay? I ordered pizza from the girls’ favorite place and it’s ready now.” He kissed my cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
I heard him whisper “I love you” into my ear before he walked away and disappeared into the garage.
As soon as I heard him revving up his car and heading down the driveway, I turned to face my daughters.
“Mom?” Ashley tilted her head to the side. “What’s wrong with you?”
Caroline lifted her head up and frowned. “Mom? Why are you staring at us like that?” She looked at Ashley and shook her head. “Why isn’t she talking?”
“I need you two to go to your room.” My voice cracked. “I need to...I need to talk your dad when he gets back. Alone.”
They exchanged confused glances, but they put their folders away and hugged me before heading upstairs.
As soon as I heard their door close, I took the envelope from the inside of my blazer and sat down at the table, thinking about how I was going to present the photos to Ryan.
All of a sudden, my phone vibrated. A text. Amanda. “Hey Claire! Just texting you to remind you about that jazzercise class we signed up for tomorrow morning! I’ll pick you up at nine!”
Is this bitch serious?!