“Yes, I didn’t think you would have a logical explanation for that. I want a divorce. I’ll have my lawyer send the paperwork over to your office.”
“Alicia, can’t we work this out?”
“How? Why would I want to? You are a cheater and I can’t forgive that, Brandon. I may only be twenty-three, but I’m not naive!”
“I never said you were. You’re very emotional right now and I think if you just take a moment, you’ll see I’m right.” He reached out and placed his hands on my shoulders to try and calm me down.
I slammed my fists into his chest. “Ha! Never, in a million years, will I think what you did was right.” I grabbed the suitcases and started to wheel them to the front door. Once they were in the hallway, I went back to the bedroom for the boxes.
“Alicia, please,” Brandon pleaded.
I walked right past him, my head held high with all the dignity I could muster and walked out the front door. He didn’t even follow me and somehow, I felt relief.
In the sea of confusion, I drove to my mother’s house, as if on auto-pilot. She and husband number three were eating dinner when I walked in the front door.
“Alicia, what brings you for a visit?” she asked, surprised by my sudden appearance.
“I…I was hoping…I need a place to stay,” I stuttered.
“Where’s Brandon?” she asked.
“I left him. I caught him cheating on me.”
“Alicia, I warned you not to marry someone who was ten years older than you,” my mother chastised.
That comment just pissed me off. “Oh yeah, because you’re the expert in marriage,” I shot back.
“Don’t speak to your mother that way,” number three scolded me as if I were a five year old.
“You know what? Forget I was even here.” I turned on my heel and high-tailed it out of there. “Brilliant move,” I muttered to myself getting back into the car. Why would I ever think my mother would show me any sympathy? She never paid much attention to me as a child. Why should things be any different now?
On to plan B. There was an extended stay hotel near work, so that was going to be my new home, at least until I could figure out what the hell I was going to do next.
The room was nice. It had everything I would need: a small kitchen, a desk, sofa, and comfy bed. I turned on the TV to have some background noise while I went about unpacking my belongings. I had packed so quickly, my dresses and suits were a wrinkled mess. I set about ironing everything. It was a good way to get me mind off Brandon. Once my clothes and shoes were neatly put away in the closet, I sat down and made a list of things I had forgotten in my haste to flee the apartment. I would pick up those things while Brandon was teaching class. After that, I fired up the laptop and started searching Google for local divorce attorneys.
Three hours after I had arrived at my temporary home, I decided it was time to take a shower and go to bed. I was exhausted. Turning on the hot water, the shower sprayed out an invigorating massage over my naked body. Picking up the bar of soap, I accidentally dropped it. The weight of what had happened today; what Brandon did and how I reacted to it, hit me. The tears began to fall. I cried so hard, I slid into a sitting position in the tub and let the water wash my tears away. How could I be so stupid? How could I ever trust another man again? I sat in the tub until the water ran cold and my tears dissipated. Then I climbed into bed and fell asleep.
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A BEAUTIFUL BASTARD BY J.L. PERRY
My name is Carter Reynolds. I was born a bastard and I’ll die a bastard. I learnt it at a young age, and nothing and nobody can change that. I’m on a one-way path of destruction, and God help anyone who gets in my way. I hate my life. Actually, I hate pretty much everything.