Chapter Fifteen
LAUREN
I’m typing up the notes for tomorrow’s meeting when my keys drop on my desk with a big clank.
“Never a-fucking-gain.” I look up at him with a smile on my face, which is wiped away the minute I see red lipstick on his shirt collar.
“You better not have had sex in my car,” I snap at him, getting up from my chair. “You are having my whole car shampooed.” I wag my finger at him and hope that he can’t see how fast my heart is beating. The pit of my stomach burns at the mere thought of him having sex in my car.
He looks at me as if I have two heads, his brows furrowed in confusion. “Seriously, don’t you ever have sex at night?” I ask him. “It’s what normal people do.”
“I don’t even know what the fuck you’re talking about right now.” He puts his hands on his hips.
“You have skank all over your collar.” I point to the lipstick.
“Oh, that.” He reaches to exactly that spot before smirking at me.
“I thought you were at a meeting. Or does a booty call qualify as your meeting these days?” I ask, glaring at him. “Good times.”
“You wouldn’t know a good time if it hit you in the face.”
I roll my eyes and scoff at him as I cross my arms over my chest. “Ok, whatever you say.” I look past him to see that our fighting has drawn a bit of a crowd. Peeking around the corner is Carmen, along with Steven and Barbara, who is standing there watching us over the glasses perched on the tip of her nose. “You had sex in your office and now my car. Jesus. Can’t you control yourself?” I grab my keys off my desk while I lean down to grab my purse.
“Are you always this uptight?” My body stills while he continues, “Maybe if you loosened up a little, you would still be married.”
The minute the words leave his mouth, I hear a gasp from Barbara, but that isn’t what gets me. What gets me is the fact that he is right. Maybe if I weren’t so uptight, I would still be married. Maybe if I lived a little, Jake wouldn’t have cheated. I don’t know what hurts me more, the fact that I’m questioning myself or that he thinks these things of me. All I know is that my heart just hurts.
I place my purse on my desk as I gather my things. I do not make eye contact with him or acknowledge him in any way.
My coffee cup, my Post-it notes, the picture of my kids that I put next to the computer all get tossed into my purse, overfilling it.
I grab my keys off the desk and walk away from him, never once looking at him. Not once giving him the satisfaction of knowing that he hit his mark and hurt me. All the pranks in the world couldn’t have come close to hurting me as much as the words he just spoke did.
“Lauren,” he says softly, right when I’m about to turn the corner. “I didn’t—”
I turn around, the hurt now mixed with anger. “You didn’t what, Austin? You didn’t mean to insinuate that I’m uptight and that’s the reason my husband had an affair and left me? Well, good job, Austin, you guessed it in one,” I hiss at him, trying to keep my voice from cracking.
“Lauren, I didn’t mean—” He walks up to me and reaches out with one hand to touch me.
“No, no, it’s fine. And you’re right, that’s what happened.” I side-step him and use my hands to block him from touching me. I hear the elevator ping and turn to hurry around the corner to slip inside the open door right before it slides shut.
The last thing I see before the elevator door closes is Austin turning the corner quickly, racing up to the door. He’s too late, though; it closes in his face, right before I hear what I assume is his hand slapping the closed door.
I press the button for the lobby repeatedly, ridiculously hoping it will make the elevator go faster than it is. I know it won’t work, I know this, everyone knows this, but I keep pressing the button anyway.
The door opens to the lobby, and I’m thankful that it is empty. I run toward my car and don’t look back. Austin parked it exactly where I left it this morning. Thank god for small favors.
Opening the door, I throw everything inside as I rush to get in the car, get going, and get the hell out of there before I can allow the first tear to fall. Because it will. It’s just a matter of time.
My eyes fill with tears, blurring my vision. Starting the car and making my way out of the parking lot, I pull up Penelope’s number on my phone.