A Life More Complete

---Chapter 15---

When I roll over the next morning with a killer headache and gritty eyes, my answer is still the same. Yes. I’ve wanted nothing more than to marry Tyler since I was fifteen. I decide to finally give into years of want. Some may say I settled, chose the option that was the easiest, the safest and maybe I did. Or they may say I rushed it, that I gave absolutely no time to get over my breakup with Ben. But for once in my life I’m not going dwell on it and obsess over it. All I know is that I’ve wanted Tyler for so many years and this is the answer. None of it matters now, not the cheating, his first marriage, our arguments or even the fact we are adults now and I know so little about his life. I love our past, it’s what binds us, but I also love our present and eventually I will grow to love our future.

Tyler arrives home a few minutes after I wake with the hangover from hell. I should have seen it coming, but whatever. Dear Tequila, I hate you. He kneels next to the bed and pulls the most beautiful ring I have ever seen from his pocket. It’s a stunning emerald cut halo ring set in platinum and the diamond itself is so large it looks like a Jolly Rancher. It’s almost obscene. He slips the ring on my finger and smiles at me.

“Is your answer still the same?” he asks.

“Yes. How about you? Any second thoughts with the rising sun?”

“Nope, but just to clarify, I wasn’t the one who was drunk and giddy last night. I knew my answer wouldn’t change.” I giggle at him and he kisses my nose. “Let’s have some breakfast. I got muffins and coffee.”

“Okay, but I don’t drink coffee,” I say slightly annoyed that he doesn’t recall my severe dislike of coffee.

“Really? What do you drink then?”

“Usually just water, sometimes chocolate milkshakes.”

“You still drink chocolate milkshakes in the morning? I always found that habit disgusting,” he says grabbing his coffee from the counter. He hands me a muffin as he walks out on to the balcony. I roll my eyes and take the muffin. I fill a glass with water and join him.

Just as I’m taking my last bite of muffin Tyler pulls a joint out of the pocket on the front of his shirt. He asks if I want to celebrate and I tell him I don’t smoke weed anymore.

“Seriously?”

“Yep, seriously. I’m twenty-eight years old. I gave it up after college. I now find the habit disgusting,” I say quoting his words back to him. He glares at me slightly.

“I’m going to let you be crabby, because I know you’re hungover. I’m sorry I said your chocolate milkshake habit was disgusting.” He tucks the joint back in his pocket. He grabs my wrist and pulls me onto his lap. “I know this is still new, but we’ll get there. I love you and I want to make you happy. Whatever it is you want from me, I’ll do it.”

I push his hair out of his eyes and lean down to kiss him. “I love you, too. Sorry I’m crabby. Judging by the way I feel right now I might consider smoking with you. Maybe it’ll take away this nausea wave that won’t stop. I feel like I might chuck.” He laughs at me. “What time does your flight leave?”

“I think seven, but I’ll have to check. Do you want me to come here when I get back on Monday?”

“I thought I made that clear last night. My speech might have been slurred but I think you heard me.” I mock myself asking him to move in with me, slurring my words intentionally.

“Just checking.”

I grab him a key to the house and my extra garage door opener. I can’t help but think about where he will stay while he’s in Chicago. Will he stay with her? It is still his home. Will he sleep in the same bed as her? Will he stay in a guest room or at his parents’ house? A hotel?

“Where are you staying?” I ask.

“Tomorrow?” he questions. “At the Ritz in the city. Why? Did you think I was going to stay with Charlotte?” He sounds astonished that I would have even thought it. I nod my head. “My marriage to Charlotte has been over for months. We were sleeping in separate beds and we hadn’t even been married three months. I wouldn’t even consider it.” I breathe a sigh of relief and I ask the question I probably shouldn’t.

“What’s she like? You obviously married her because you thought you loved her.”

“I thought I did love her, but it wasn’t love. It never was. I think I thought it was the next step. I saw my parents loveless marriage and just assumed that mine and Charlotte’s relationship was as good as it gets.” He shrugs his shoulders. “I felt pressured into it by her. I know that’s a lame excuse, but that’s the reason I proposed. When we first met, she was fun. She laughed a lot and we had a good time together. She was a nice distraction from you. But the longer we were together the more serious she got. Maybe she always was, I don’t know. She stopped being fun and by that time I was too far gone to leave. We lived together and her parents were crazy obsessed with us getting married. She constantly brought it up until I finally just asked to shut her up.”

“Did you ever think about calling it off?” I ask.

“Sure, plenty of times. My mother hated her with a fiery passion. Even more than she hated you, so I should have taken a hint from her and ran.” He laughs slightly. “Charlotte refused to sign the prenup for months and that took a serious toll on what little was left of our relationship. There was not a chance I was marrying her without a prenup. She became greedy and had it re-drafted so many times it was ridiculous.” He shakes his head as if he’s recalling the memory. “It always came back to the same thing. She wanted more money if we were to divorce. It was out of hand. I told her I wasn’t going to marry her unless she signed the original agreement and for some reason she signed it that night. What was done was done, though. She was miserable from then on, so I filed for divorce six months ago.”

“So what happens now? You have your hearing on Monday? Will it be officially over?”

“Yep. Done. She gets only what we agreed upon in the prenup and I get to walk away. She gets our house in Wrigleyville and gets to keep her car and that’s about all. I get the contents of the home, my law practice and my car. Any joint money we had gets split down the middle and her hands stay off my trust fund.” He makes it sound like a business transaction as opposed to the end of a marriage, but I guess that’s really all it is at this point. “It was never meant to last and I should’ve been smart enough to realize it from the start. If I hadn’t dealt with this bullshit though, I’m not sure I would have realized how wonderful you are.” He smiles at me and whatever doubts I have about us fade away.

While Tyler showers I clean out a few drawers in my dresser to make room for him. I clear out the extra bedroom closet and hope that it gives him enough room for his stuff. He said he gets the entire contents of the home and my house already has its own entire contents. I’m not exactly sure where the hell we are going to put all his shit, but I try not to dwell on it too much.

“Hey, Ty? I yell as he gets out of the shower. “What are you going to do with all your furniture and stuff?”

“Um, I haven’t really thought about it. I get everything, but I think I’ll probably just let Charlotte have most of it. There are a few things I really want, so I’ll just put them in storage until we can decide what to do with them.” It’s the “we” in that sentence that gets me. The “we” is finally him and me. It makes me excited and I hop my way to the bathroom to tell him how much it pleases me. I stop short when I see him holding the picture of Ben and me. Shit, should’ve hid that better.

“Who’s this?” he says, looking at me strangely. Tyler knows my hatred of pictures, so I’m sure one being in my bathroom drawer with my toothbrush baffles him.

“That’s Ben, my ex.” I grab it from him and toss it in my closet as he follows me. I can feel my heartbeat increase and my cheeks flush. I don’t want to talk about Ben. The connection is still there. It won’t be like talking about Tyler’s ex.

“Sorry. I made you uncomfortable,” he says coming up behind me. “I’m not used to seeing you with someone else. I’m jealous.” He wraps his arms around me and pulls me back against his chest. I reach behind and entwine my arms around his neck.

“It’s okay. I have a confession. I’m jealous of Charlotte.” He turns me to face him.

“No reason to be. I never wanted her.”

I lie and tell him the same thing about Ben. But he should be jealous of Ben. If there’s one person who can make me question my loyalty to Tyler it’s Ben. I reach up on my tiptoes and kiss him and as I press my lips to his I feel the urgency move though my body. I need to forget Ben and Tyler pressing against me is the best way to do that. We move to my bed and all is forgotten as he climbs on top of me.

While we are lying in bed, I decide to take a nap. My hangover is still with me and I have that stupid event tonight. Tyler kisses me and begins to leave the room to catch up on some work.

“Wake me in a few hours. I have to be in L.A. by five,” I say. “So make sure I’m up by two.”

“No problem. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” I smile and say, “It never gets old.” He agrees and leaves me to sleep.