Page 62 of Sex. Love. Marriage.
Scratching the side of my face, I laugh. “Yes, a woman, but regardless, he’smarried.”
There’s an expression that crosses Jason’s face, but he’s quick to blink it away before he straightens his posture. He exhales a breath before whispering, “Shitty.” A tall blonde passes by the bar. Jason glances over his shoulder, checks her out, then turns back to face me. “Has he always been like that?”
I take a drink of my beer and then set it down on the bar. “What was that look for?”
“What?” He motions with a nonchalant head nod to the woman who’s now sitting with a group of girls looking like they’re here on their lunch break, judging by their attire. “Just seeing what’s on the market these days.”
Jason glances down at his cell phone.
“No, I mean when I said he was cheating on his wife.”
“Nothing.”
Part of me wonders if infidelity was the reason behind him and Kate splitting, but it’s none of my business, and frankly, I don’t want to be involved in that drama too. “I probably should have thought about it more before I quit, but something snapped inside me.”
Jason nods and sets his phone down. “I know a guy who has a shop for rent about a mile from here. We could go check it out if you want.”
“Yeah, okay.” I don’t have a lot of clientele around here, but I’m sure I can work something out. I also don’t know what I’m going to tell Kelly when I get home, but if I’m drunk, it might be easier.
Jason’s interested in his cell phone for a few minutes and then looks over at me when I’m on my third beer and feeling better about my decisions. I’m sure when this buzz wears off, I’ll feel differently. “I think we’re going to dinner tonight.”
My eyes snap to his and I nearly spit my beer out. “Huh?”
He shows me his phone and it’s a text message from Kate.
Dinner at 7. Parents’ night out.
I swallow. “I was supposed to take Kelly out tonight on a date.”
He tucks his phone in his pocket. “Looks like plans change.” Then he laughs. “Kinda like you having a job.”
“That’s not funny.”
“It kind of is.”
I smile. “Okay, a little.” I haven’t looked at my cell phone in an hour, but when I do, I wish I hadn’t. It’s Kelly and she’s wondering where the fuck I am.
Kelly: Dude, you quit and didn’t tell me?
I turn my phone to Jason. “News travels fast.”
Leaning in, he nearly falls off the stool he’s on, catches himself against the table and laughs. He reads the message and raises his eyebrow. “Did your brother tell her?”
“Probably.”
“Maybe you should tell his wife what a piece of shit he is.”
Okay, maybe infidelity isn’t the reason for their split because why else would he have said piece of shit? Clearly, beer makes me overanalyze shit I shouldn’t give a crap about. What I should care about is how I’m going to explain this to Kelly.
Wish me luck.
REMEMBER WHEN Isaid wish me luck? I need that luck because judging by the way my wife is looking at me, my fate isn’t lookin’ too good. This look, it’s something similar to the time she told me she was pregnant with Mara, which was in fact, when Oliver was only eight weeks old. If you’re doing the math in your head, yes, we fucked before the six-week mark. That time frame is hypothetical if you ask me. Kelly’s vagina handles force a lot better than most. Clearly. Wink, wink.
Back to the situation at hand. With this said look, I’d think maybe she was pregnant again, but that’s not possible because I had a vasectomy right after Fin was born. So it’s not pregnant. I’m going to go ahead and go with “dude quit his job and didn’t tell me.” That’s definitely the look.
She waits, her hand on her hip, kids running around between us while Ella is in the family room with Fin. I don’t say anything at first. I guess I’m waiting for her to yell at me, and I know it’s coming. I’m our only source of income, and I quit today without telling her.
“Before you freak out, I have something lined up,” I tell her, a way of breaking the ice.
