Page 21 of Crashing Without Justice

It was rather pitiful how obvious men were while not even realizing it. Instead of questioning why I’d even reach out to him, he was already offering me a shoulder to cry on, which was exactly what I’d been hoping for, but still.

Me:A beer and an ear are exactly what I need…LOL. I need someone that isn’t going to judge how I’m feeling over Harding’s betrayal.

Gil Clemens:You’re in luck. I can do beer, and I have two ears…LOL.

My grin widened as I hit the jackpot. Nothing made a man see the error of his ways faster than when another man entered the picture. It was obvious that Harding had begun to take me for granted, and it was time to show him that other men still found me worth having.

Me:Well…now that my husband’s attentions are elsewhere, I’m free whenever you are.

Gil Clemens:As luck would have it, I’m free tomorrow evening.

Me:Blackhawks always has cold beers.

Gil Clemens:I can meet you there at seven tomorrow.

Me:I’ll see you then.

Gil Clemens:See you then.

Now, while Gil wasn’t the best looking of all of Harding’s friends, he was still good looking enough. He was around six-foot, and he had dark brown hair and matching brown eyes. He looked a little like Sean O’Pry, and I’d always had a thing for guys with that chiseled look happening. Plus, he posted a lot on his social media, and I liked that. I liked that he understood the importance of having an online presence. In my opinion, only people that had things to hide stayed off social media. I mean, what was wrong with sharing pieces of yourself with others? As human beings, we were instinctively programmed to connect with each other, and social media made that possible in a way that we hadn’t had before.

Anyways, Gil Clemens was also single, so that helped a lot. While I would have done whatever I’d had to in order to get my point across, I was happy that I could do it without becoming someone else’s ‘other woman’. All I needed was to get my point across to Harding, and that was better done with someone that was single with no complications.

Gil and Harding were also baseball buddies, something that Harding absolutely loved to play when he could. They were both part of a recreational league, and though it was just for fun, they had tournaments, trophies, and everything. Harding had already been playing in the league when I’d met him, and it’d been one of the things that I had liked about him. Lots of men got lazy in their forties, but not Harding. While his hair was peppered with some silver, there was no beer gut to be seen, and he’d done his part around the house, even if he’d had a long day at work.

Closing out my messenger, I pulled my page up, ready to make Harding suspicious.

When support comes from the most unlikeliness of places, you have no choice but to see that as a sign, embracing the difference that it can make. When the people that you expect to be in your corner are there, that’s a comfort that you should never take for granted. However, when you’re surprised by just how many people really do care for you, that’s somethingspecial. With God in my corner, my faith leading the way, and a pure heart to keep my head up, there’s nothing that I can’t do.

I also realize that I’m not the only one that is going through something troubling right now, so just know that I am here for anyone that needs nonjudgemental support. The Bible teaches us not to judge, and that is especially important when you’re wading in troubled waters.

God bless you all, and with the power of prayer and love, we can get through anything.

After posting my latest inspirational thought, I grabbed my other phone, thankful for TextULots. It was a phone service that allowed you to text from random numbers, and it was very inexpensive as far as I was concerned. In fact, a lot of the sites where I’d gotten my information from had been rather cheap for all that you could learn from a person, and once you had a little bit of statistical data on someone, the rest was easy to get. You’d be amazed at how ‘helpful’ people were after you verified a few minor facts about someone’s life or identity.

Grabbing the phone, I fired off a text to Luke’s wife again, rather disappointed that her social media account hadn’t shown any discord in her marriage yet.

(555) 555-5672:Have u checked 4 secret dating apps yet?

To my surprise, I got an immediate reply.

(555) 555-9832:I know this is Paige. Keep texting me n I WILL kick ur ass

(555) 555-5672:Don’t b mad at me bcuz ur husband is a cheater!

(555) 555-9832:U really r pathetic. No wonder Harding left u 4 another woman!

I tossed the phone on the counter, anger licking at my spine. As a woman, she should have automatically been on my side. How could she side with a man that had cheated on his wife? Where was her compassion? Where was her sympathy? Women were supposed to support each other and lift one another up, weren’t they?

Well, Amy didn’t know who she was dealing with. If she came over here, I’d have no problem calling the police on her. In fact, I could probably report her for her threat. All I’d been doing was trying to help her catch her cheating husband, making her threat of physical violence uncalled for. Plus, what kind of person threatened another just for trying to help them? In all this time, Ihad always pegged Amy for being decent, but it was obvious that she needed some therapy if that was how she chose to treat people.

When my phone chimed with a notification, I saw that Gil had messaged me his phone number, and my anger quickly dissolved. Amy’s threat no longer mattered, and my stomach was full of butterflies now with the giddiness of what tomorrow was going to bring. I finally had the chance to get even with Harding, and I couldn’t wait.

Deciding that Gil might need a little more incentive, I went to the bedroom, picked out a very sexy outfit, then got ready to post one of my best pictures yet. Since I didn’t want to tip Gil off, I knew that I was going to have to use a current phone, but that’s what filters were for. Everyone used them, so it wasn’t like he didn’t know the real me might have an extra wrinkle or two.

Besides, he wasn’t going to care about any wrinkles once I was done with him.

Chapter 15

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