Page 121 of The Bad Husband

I have a feeling I know what she’ll say next.

“I’ll spare you the details,” she continues. “He wasn’t even like him. He was a nice guy. An engineer. Can you imagine that? He was so obsessed with her that he had to sweep her off her feet. Then he met someone else and broke up with her. It ruined her so badly, she could never go back to who she was before him.”

“Again, I’m so sorry. I can assure you there’s nothing bad in this story.”

“She said the exact same thing when I warned her that she could get in trouble.”

There’s nothing else for me to say.

“Good. Finally, you got the message,” she says. “You do whatever you wish, but keep in mind that this is not the only thing that matters in life. He might be gone from your life one day, giving his attention to someone else. Don’t believe for a second that you owe him your life, because you don’t.”

With that she moves away from me, and I check the lasagna tray again before realizing that I’ve lost my appetite. I’ll most likely go downtown and eat something at my favorite burger joint.

21

LILA

There’s a change of plans.

Well, I do stick with my original plan, yet I’m forced to make an important adjustment.

Instead of going out to eat, I go out to look for Damon.

I slip on a summer dress and sandals, spray some perfume on my wrists and neck, grab a bite in the kitchen, brush my teeth and my hair, put on some mascara and lip gloss, and off I go.

I call a car outside the gate, and the driver drops me off in front of Damon’s club a few minutes later.

He might not even be here.

He could be at a restaurant, or someplace else.

He might be seeing someone, not necessarily a woman, most likely people he’s doing business with.

I pull up in front of a bouncer and tell him why I’m here. The man doesn’t bat an eyelash when I ask him to take me to his boss.

He pushes the door to the club open and invites me in.

Once we move past the rowdy crowd, we enter a quiet corridor that takes us straight to Damon’s office upstairs.

Pressing his hand against the door, he tilts his chin, signaling me to walk in and wait.

The door closes behind me as I look around. The screens are turned off, his desk is clean.

I sit behind his desk, and l leaning back, I swivel with his chair and glance around the room.

It looks like a legit business, and for a second there, I wonder whether any horrific things have happened in this room.

I check the time on my phone. It’s been about twenty minutes since I walked in.

Just as I begin to think that I’ve made this trip for nothing, footsteps ring outside.

A casual dialogue drifts through the air, and I suspect the bouncer didn’t tell Damon that I’d be here, waiting for him.

The footsteps stop in front of the door, and the dialogue goes on for a few more moments before the other person walks away, the door opens, and Damon’s silhouette fills the doorframe.

I rise from his chair and step aside.

He brings his eyes to me eventually, no reaction on his face, which makes me think he knew that I’d be here.