Page 63 of Do Not Disturb
I watch his expression through the lenses. He’s smiling at her. He looks happy in a way I haven’t seen him look in a long time.
And then he leans forward and kisses her.
My heart sinks into my stomach as I watch my husband kiss another woman. And he’s not just kissing her. They’remaking out. This isn’t the first time, either. You can just tell.
I drop the binoculars on my lap like they’re burning.
I take a deep breath, my hands trembling. That bastard. That absolutebastard. He’s going to be sorry for this.
I fumble for the binoculars again. I look through Christina’s window, but they’re gone. At least, they’re out of my line of sight. Which means they’re probably on the bed.
I’m going to kill him.
It’s an hour later when I hear his keys in the lock for the front door. Anhour. Whistling again as his footsteps grow louder up the stairs. A vein pulses in my temple.
“Hey, Rosie,” he says as he comes into our bedroom. “What’s up?”
I want to punch him in the face.What’s up?He knows very well what’s up. He knows all I’ve done is sit here all day, so why would he ask me that? He’s the one who was across the way,having sex with another woman.
“Get out,” I say.
He freezes. “What?”
“You heard me.” I look him dead in the eyes. “We’re done. I want you out.”
“Rosie…” His eyes dart around the room. “What’s wrong? Why are you so upset?
“Are you serious?” I spit at him. “Are you really going to pretend like you’re not fucking a guest at the motel?”
His mouth falls open and all the color drains out of his face. “You…”
“I saw you through the window, you asshole.” I fold my arms across my chest. “Get out. I never want to see you again. Go spend the night with yourgirlfriend.”
To his credit, he doesn’t deny it. “I didn’t have sex with her. I just kissed her. That’s it.”
“Oh, that’sit?”
“Look,” he says, “you and I haven’t… I mean, not in ayear…”
“You’re absolutely right. Our marriage is over. And now you’re free. Congratulations.”
“Rosie…”
“I said, getout, Nick.”
I don’t know what I expected Nick to do, but what I don’t expect is the way his eyes fill with tears. I’ve never seen him cry before. He even kept it together in front of me when we lost the baby, although I caught him with bloodshot eyes a couple of times. But now I’m scared he might lose it.
“Rosie.” He sits beside me on the bed and runs a shaking hand through his hair. “Please don’t do this. Iloveyou. I made a huge mistake. Don’t do this.”
“I’m sorry. My mind is made up.”
“But…” He looks down at my legs on the footrests of my chair. “What will you do?”
“I’ll figure it out. It’s not your problem anymore.”
I have a very specific plan for what I’m going to do after Nick leaves. I have a lot of medications in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. I can just barely stand well enough to reach them. My plan is to take all of them.
It will be a relief to be done.
