Page 26 of Marrying My Ex's Boss

“Bless your heart; you are so fucked.”

‘She wish!’

* * *

The rest of the week was a blur. I went to work while the babysitter watched the kids, but the only time I did any work was that Thursday when I was asked to go down to the daycare area and see the progress and tell them what I wanted changed, if anything.

I couldn’t believe that he was going through with it. I mean, I believe it, especially after my talk with Monique on Monday, but it all still seems so farfetched to me. I kept waiting for the prank to be exposed or to wake up and find out I was in a coma or something and this was all just some freaky dream.

I don’t play the lottery; Paul plays the lottery, even with as much money as he makes, because he wants to be a millionaire. But when you have a wife, three kids, a mortgage, car payments, and college funds, along with everything else that comes along with life, that’s easier said than done.

The plan was for me to go back to work after the youngest started school; then, we would’ve been a real power couple because the salary I was guaranteed to make would’ve been more than his, and together, it would’ve been enough for our little family of five. I guess Paul got tired of the dream and decided that he and Melanie stood a better chance of him having the life he wanted.

I say all that to say that I’m not in the running for the big win. If you don’t play, you can’t expect to win. But this man, the man that just miraculously walked into my life, is like winning ten lotteries.

‘That’s right, and I know just how we’re going to keep him on lock as soon as we give him a taste. Did you start doing those Kegels like I taught you? Maybe you should try cracking walnuts with your cooch or something, just for the practice.’

Stifle yourself, Justice. I’m not taking advice from you.

‘See, that’s why my ass disappeared right after college. You are no fun. You done wasted the best years of my life on that asshole, and his stank bitch gave you crotch rot.’

Oh my goodness, it wasn’t that bad.

‘I know our Daddy clean. As much traveling as he does, he gotta get a lot of injections and stuff, so he ain’t got nothing.’

‘Make sure your shit gets cleared up before you get into bed with him, you hear me? We don’t do condoms; we allergic to that shit. We want at least one of his scruffy ass kids because then we’d be set for life.’

Justice is that one girlfriend that would sell you down the river. She’s always talking you into shit but never around when it hits the fan.

* * *

I still hadn’t heard from Paul and hadn’t seen him since that Monday in the conference room. That Friday as I was leaving, he came out of nowhere all smiles as I was about to get into the car. When he saw the driver, his face fell.

“Whose car is this?”

“Why? What’s it to do with you?”

“I’m still your husband; I can’t ask you a simple question? I’ll be by sometime this weekend to pick up some of my stuff, and I want to see my kids.”

“I never stopped you from seeing your kids.”

I got in the car because I was done with the conversation and then saw his woman slither out from her hiding place to stand next to him and watch as the car pulled away.

* * *

MELANIE

* * *

“So, I thought we were going away this weekend.”

“We are. I just want to make sure she doesn’t go anywhere. Let her sit at home and wait for me to show up.” I wasn’t sure how to take that. What difference did it make to him if his ex-wife was at home or not?

I didn’t say anything, though, because we’d been fighting a lot lately. It was mostly due to my anxiety, but ever since Marcus came back to the States, my anxiety has been off the charts.

The last time he was here, I was only twelve, but I never forgot what he was like back then. I remember him yelling at his dad and the way he’d looked at Mom, and it had stuck with me all these years. I used to wake up in the night screaming for months after he left.

I can’t remember all of what he’d said, but it was bad. After he’d been gone for a few years and it didn’t look as if he was coming back, Mom got the bright idea that maybe I could become the heir to the company and family fortune.

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