Page 46 of Crashing Without Justice

“And what makes you think that you’re qualified to give anyone any relationship advice?” I shot back. “You’re still with the first man that you ever married. What do you know about heartbreak and divorce?”

“A person doesn’t need to experience divorce in order for their relationship advice to be valid, Paige,” she fired back. “Besides, I’ve known you for years, and so my advice always comes from a good place and from how well I know you.”

“Why can’t you just be happy for me?” I asked, ignoring her babble, which she was only saying to make her feel good about herself. Honestly, some people were terrified of holding that mirror to their face, for fear of what they’d really see.

“I am happy that you’ve found someone else,” she lied again. “I just want you to be careful about moving too fast, Paige. Everyone knows that rebound relationships never work.”

“Kirk is not a rebound relationship,” I snapped as I threw more of Harding’s things into the fire. “He’s the angel that God sent to me in my time of need.”

Heady was quiet for a second before she asked, “And what of his intentions? How can you be so sure that his feelings are genuine when you’ve only just met the man?”

“Because you can’t fake our night together, Heady,” I answered. “What we shared on Sunday night was the real deal.”

“Yet, even by your own admission, he hasn’t been back to see you since that night,” she replied, and it was clear that this friendship was at its end. “If that night was so special, why haven’t you seen him since then?”

“Because he works, Heady,” I bit out. “Because we both work and have lives. Not everyone can be a stay-at-home-trophy-wife.”

She let out another heavy sigh before saying, “I’m sorry that you’re mistaking my concern for criticism, and I really do hope everything works out well for you.”

Before I could remark on her fakeness, she hung up, pissing me off more. She was famous for always wanting to get the last word in, and she’d just succeeded, not allowing me to tell her what I really thought of her fake concern. Now, while I should feel saddened, I needed to preserve my happiness more. Self-care was a real thing these days, and I was a huge fan of putting myself first because others couldn’t be counted on to do that for me.

Grabbing the last of Harding’s pictures, I tossed them in the fire, feeling the weight on my shoulders lifting, slowly but surely. I felt like it was New Year’s Eve; out with the old, in with the new. I felt like a clean break was on the horizon with each item that I tossed into the fire.

As more items burned, I grabbed my phone off the end table in the den, then pulled up my most popular social media account to let everyone know how betrayal didn’t always come from your significant other.

There is nothing wrong with choosing yourself. So many times, we put up with what we don’t deserve out of timidness or misplaced loyalty, and we need to erase that terrible habit. We also need to acknowledge that romantic relationships aren’t the only ones that can be toxic. Friendships can also become toxic, and so can family relationships. Do not let your sense of loyalty turn you into someone’s punching bag, especially when that loyalty isn’t returned.

The good news is that we all have the power to walk away from the negative energy in our lives. Life is all about choices, and once you recognize that, your life will become a beacon of hope that will inspire others. While we will never be perfect or have perfect lives, that doesn’t mean that we should stop striving for perfection. Happiness should always be the goal, and that is all that I want for all of you. Love each other, and always choose your peace of mind before the consideration of others.

After I posted my latest words of inspiration, I pulled up Kirk’s account, and I couldn’t lie and say that it didn’t bother me that he hadn’t posted anything in over three weeks. Apparently, he wasn’t overly concerned with his social media presence, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. How else was everyone supposed to know how in love with me he was? How else were people going to be able to see how in love we were? How else could everyone see how happy we were together?

Switching back over to my profile, I debated whether I should change my relationship status yet or not. However, as I tossed more of Harding’s stuff in the fire, I realized that it’d look bad if I changed my status while Kirk didn’t, so we were going to need to do it together as soon as I spoke with him about it.

As the fire crackled loudly, I took a seat back down on the couch, then stared into the beautiful flames of freedom. They sounded like a symphony of peace, and my ears welcomed the calming sensation that they were creating. In many cultures, fire was considered a cleansing agent for the mind and soul, and I could see why they believed that. As the heat enveloped me, I understood exactly why fire could be both the end and beginning of something.

In fact, it was my new favorite thing.

Epilogue

Harding – (One Year Later)~

The snow was falling again, but it was hard to enjoy the beauty when the past still lingered like melted gum on the bottom of your shoe. While my divorce had been finalized months ago, and while neither Trista nor I had heard from Paige or any of her fake social media accounts or unknown numbers, the shocking news of how Kirk Nabers had died in a tragic fire wasn’t sitting well with me.

One year later, Trista and I were living together, and by all accounts, our life was a good one. The kids were doing well, Frank and I got along well enough, and even Leslie and Trista had a decent enough relationship. Our blended families were in a good place, and I had no complaints in that regard.

There was also the fact that everyone else had gotten on with their lives fairly easily. Once Paige and Kirk had become a couple, Paige had disappeared from my life completely, leaving everyone that I knew alone, and I’d never been so grateful for the peace that her silence had brought me. Everything had worked out, even if some people might still believe that I should have suffered some more.

“You can’t let it keep you up at night, Harding.”

I looked up from the hockey game that I hadn’t been watching just as Trista took a seat on my right leg. “Hey.”

I felt her hand begin soothing my back, her face full of concern. “We don’t know that it wasn’t an accident, Harding.”

“Yeah, but we also don’t know that it wasn’t,” I countered.

“Being crazy and being a murderer are two very different things,” she went on. “It’s insane to think that Paige would actually kill someone, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know what to think,” I replied honestly. “I just…it just seems like too much of a coincidence. Plus, I can’t see Paige being too keen on being divorced a third time.”

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