Sharp Edges (7 page)

“
Okay,” I said.

Darcy pulled up as he stepped off my porch
to answer his phone. The smile on her face spoke volumes.

“Wow, wha
t’s up with super stud?” she whispered. “Don’t tell me you’re already planning your revenge with the hunky neighbor?”

I grinned
, wickedly. “No, but don’t give me any ideas.”

I then told her about Scott’s emails and her lips curled
under with disgust. “I tell you what, after hearing that story, I’d definitely
do
your neighbor if I were you. In fact,
do
him until you can’t walk the next day. That will get your mind off of the other pain in your ass.”

I threw my head back and laughed
. “Oh, Darcy, what in the hell would I do without you?”

“You’d lead a dull and boring life, my friend. Now, let’s go put
this bottle of wine on ice, order a pizza, and cut tiny holes in all of Scott’s socks.”

Darcy tried her best to keep my mind off
of Scott, but after drinking two glasses of wine, he was all I could think of. How much I hated him, how much I loved him, how much I wanted to murder him and bury his penis in the back flower garden under a rock.

“He’s probably with those whores right now,”
I slurred.

She pushed her
blonde hair behind her ears. “Oh, honey, I’m sure he’s at his parents’ trying to figure out how he’s going to win you back,” she said. “He has too much to lose.”

I finished my glass of wine
and stood up, swaying slightly. “Well, he screwed up. He’s already lost me. I’m
never
taking him back.”

“
Hmm…I think we should skip the last bottle of wine,” she chuckled after watching me attempt to open it. “Nothing’s worse than a wine headache the next morning.”

I waved that
ridiculous notion away, removed the cork, and re-filled my glass. “I just can’t believe the nerve of that bastard. Here,
I’ve
been sitting at home like a good little
wife
, pining for him in every way possible, and the entire time he was living it up and screwing not just one woman, but two,” I said, holding up my fingers while I tried not to tip over.

Darcy nodded. “He’s certainly enjoying his cake.”

I snorted. “Cake? He’s enjoying his cake and his…his…skank pie!”

She chuckled
. “So, how was your sex life the last month when this was going on? Was he coming home and giving it to you, too?”

I choked on my wine.

“Sorry,” she said, cringing.

“
No, it’s okay,” I said, clearing my throat.  “Well, last night was the first time we’d had sex in over a month.”

“
Was that normal?”

I shrugged. “
Not really, I just thought he was working too much and exhausted. I guess I was right. He was definitely working
hard
. Just not the kind of work I was aware of.”

She tapped her long manicured nails on the end table.
“Since you’re not taking him back, what are you going to do about money?”

“I haven’t even thought about that. It sounds like we’re already strapped financially.”

“Yeah, but you mentioned he’s getting a large bonus?”

“
Supposedly. But I can’t count on him and I’m certainly not asking
him
for anything. Especially now that I know how he earned it.”

Her eyes narrowed.
“Bullshit, he owes you.”

I shook my head.
“No, I’m serious about that. I don’t want anything from him.”

“Well, y
ou’ll need to get a job then,” she said, leaning back into the sofa.

“
I know.”

She sighed.
“I’m sure you’ll find something.”

“I hope so, but, honest
ly, look at me. I’m in my early thirties, I haven’t had a job since high school and I certainly don’t look like you.”

She raised her eyebrows. “L
ook like me? What does that have to do with anything?”

“You’re just so polished and professional
looking. Your entire look says ‘career woman’, my look says, ‘housewife’.”

She grinned. “
Oh, sweetie, we can certainly take care of that.”

“Right
.”

Darcy leaned forward
. “Seriously. I’m personally bringing you in to see my hairdresser, and as far as clothing goes, I’ll loan you the money until you can pay me back. Problem solved.”

“I can’t accept that,” I said. “It’s too much.”

“It’s
not
too much. Quit being so stubborn and accept my offer. I know you’re good with paying me back.”

Tears filled my eyes. “Darcy, I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re such a good friend.”

She squeezed my hand. “Honey, it goes both ways. You’ve been there for me and I’m just returning the favor. That’s what friends do.”

“Well,
” I nodded. “Thank you.”

“Now,” she said, grabbing the television remote. “Let’s watch some sappy movie, gorge ourselves with pizza, and pass out before the clock strikes midnight.”

I wiped the tears from my eyes and smiled. “Sounds like our old slumber parties.”

She nodded. “Except both of us still believed in prince charming and living happily ever after.”

I turned towards the television and sighed. “I won’t make that same mistake twice.”

Darcy left early on Sunday while I shuffled through the house, trying to find ibuprofen for my
scorching headache. Finding only one capsule left, I chugged it down with water and tried to rest. Fortunately by the time the kids came home, my headache was somewhat manageable.

“Where’s dad?” asked Jeremy
while I made them a quick lunch. “Working again?”

I took a deep breath. “Actually, h
e’s staying with grandma and grandpa for a while.”

“That’s
kind of weird, why?” asked Regan.

I smiled
, sadly. “Your dad and I are having some issues. We thought it was better if he stayed with his parents for a while.”

“
What do you mean by
issues
?” asked Regan with a frown. “What kind of problems could you two possibly have? You’re like the perfect married couple.”

“E
veryone has problems,” I said. “Although ours is a little too personal to discuss right now.”

“Personal? Like
as in sexual?” asked Jeremy.

“Oh, God
, that’s gross,” shuddered Regan.

A little surprised by his directness, I said, “
The truth of the matter is, we are having problems about
honesty
.”

“So, d
ad lied to you about something?” he asked.

I
closed my eyes and rubbed my temples, my headache coming back in full force. “I can’t talk about this right now. Let’s just say your dad and I are having problems and that it’s nothing to concern yourselves with. Both of us love you dearly and this separation has nothing to do with you.”

“Separation?” squeaked Regan. “Are you two getting divorced?”

“I really don’t know what’s going to happen. Just don’t worry about it right now, honey, please?”

“They’re getting divorced,” said Jeremy, matter-of-factly. “Separation almost always leads to divorce between couples. So does infidelity. Mom, did dad cheat on you?”

He’s not even thirteen! How in the hell does he know about infidelity and divorce?
I wondered, staring at the intellectual Martian disguising himself in my son’s body. I chose to ignore his question, however, especially seeing the horrified expression on Regan’s face.

I stood up straighter.
“As I was saying, it’s about honesty, and frankly, I don’t know if we are getting divorced. I’m still trying to get a handle on it myself.”

“Well…”
said Jeremy.

“
Kids, let’s not worry about it right now, okay?” I said. “Please, just… drop it.”

“But,” stammered Jeremy.

“Jeremy, enough,” I warned. Then I handed them both their sandwiches and escaped out of the kitchen.

“They’re getting divorced,” echoed
Jeremy’s voice as I padded down the hallway in my pink fuzzy slippers.

***

Thankfu
lly, Scott stayed away from the house the following week, although he tried calling me several times. When I ignored him, he began calling the kids’ phones. 

“Dad wants to talk to yo
u,” said Jeremy, handing me his cell phone.

Dammit
.

“Hello?”
I muttered.

“Why aren’t
you answering your phone?” asked Scott.

I walked into my bedroom and shut the door. “Did it ever occur to you that I didn’t ans
wer it because it was
you
on the other end?”

“What, now you’re not talking to me?”

“Actually, to be frank, I’d prefer not to.”

He sighed. “When can I come home?”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

He pa
used. “This is ridiculous. It’s been a week, let me come back.”

He sounded like a child.
“You honestly don’t understand why you can’t just come home? Seriously?”

“
We went over this and I explained why I did what I did. I know it doesn’t make it right, but I was doing it for the family – to keep us off the streets.”

I rolled my eyes. 
“Do you honestly think that’s acceptable?”

Or that I’m that naive
?

He sighed.
“No, but dammit, I love you! And I don’t want to lose what we have.”

Time to bring out the big guns.
“I found the deleted emails.”

He didn’t say anything.

I tapped my foot angrily, waiting for his response. “Scott, did you hear me?”

He cleared his throat. “What, now you’re going through my stuff?”

I laughed, bitterly. “What did you expect?”

“Lindsey, those emails mean nothing.
They’re just words and pictures.”

More lies. Every time I
turned around, there seemed to be one more, just hitting me in the face. I wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. “Oh, really, is that so? I loved
your
responses, by the way – how horny these women made you, and how you couldn’t wait to be with them.”

“I know what it says but I didn’t mean any of it.”

“It’s bad enough that I caught you scre
wing around on me, but the lies – you just can’t stop, can you?”

“I love
you
, okay? I made a mistake and I’m willing to put it behind us, if you can.”

I groaned.
“I can’t just sweep this under the carpet, Scott, and I definitely can’t forget about it. I mean, Jesus, I walked in and saw it actually happening. It’s etched in my mind.”

“Counseling, we can go to counseling.”

I sighed. “I can’t see how a counselor is going to erase the images of your dick in someone else’s mouth.”

“Just don’t
give up on us, Lindsey. I love you,” he whispered, hoarsely.

“I have to go,” I said
, feeling like I was about to start crying all over again myself.

“Wait, how about dinner
, tomorrow?” he pleaded.

“No. In fact,
don’t call me for a while. If you want to speak to your kids, that’s fine, but I need some space to mull things over. Please respect that.”

I hung up be
fore he could tell me any more lies.

The following Monday, nine days after I’d kicked Scott out, Darcy decided to intervene.

“
You need to get on with life and if you’re not going to accept money from Scott, you need to take charge and get a job.”

“But…”

“Listen, I made a hair appointment for you. Tonight. Don’t argue,” she said when I began to protest.  “You can always pay me back later.”

I sighed. “Okay.”

“I’ll pick you up around six. We’ll get that out of the way and then later in the week, we’ll go shop for clothes.”

“You know, I just can’t thank you enough
, Darce.”

“You can tha
nk me by introducing me to that hot neighbor of yours, unless you really do have your sights on him,” she giggled.