Page 22 of Ever After

“I’m glad we met and spent this time together. It’s been a huge eye-opener for how unhappy I’ve been.”

“If you were this unhappy, why didn’t you leave him before?” Jay asks.

“We’ve been together so long I thought it was normal to go through these phases. We both let too much time go by, and by the time I tried to fix things, it was too late to get us back.” I zip up my suitcase and walk over to the bed and sit down. Jay continues packing. I sit up and rest against the headboard. “I got married so young and everyone told me to wait. They said I was too young to make this decision. Part of me feels like I didn’t want to prove everyone right,” I say.

Jay stops packing for a moment and looks at me. “Don’t blame yourself for it not working out. If you felt like it was the right thing to do, then it was for yourself or both of you.”

I shake my head and agree with him. It is something I felt was right. I shouldn’t let everyone else’s opinion get to me.

What’s going to happen when I get home? Will Aiden be there? I told him not to be. What is going to happen with me and Jay? Are we still going to talk? There is chemistry between us, but we have said nothing about it. I don’t want to lose contact with him, but does he feel the same? I don’t want to ask. How is that going to look on me? Well, I guess at this point it doesn’t matter. I stayed with a man for a week that I didn’t even know.

Jay comes and sits on the bed in front of me and clears his throat. I look up at him, confused.

“Would you like to take more time for yourself before going home?”

I nod. Definitely. Where is he going with this? Does he want to stay in Hawaii longer?

“Would you be interested in potentially flying back to my house to stay with me? You can stay for as long as you want.”

Given our situation, I was not expecting that. I don’t think people should know about us right now. I don’t even know about us. Am I crazy if I say yes? I ended up doing this spontaneous thing, staying with him in Hawaii, so what’s to lose…?

“That’s sweet of you, but it’s best if I stop hanging onto you and face my problems. I’m going to have to face them eventually.” What would his friends and family think of me? That I’m some gold digger or something?

“It’s no problem. I love your company. We had a pretty great time here. It’s only been a week since all this happened. Giving yourself more time won’t hurt anything.”

It may not hurt anything, but I’m falling for him. What if I get hurt all over again? I sound crazy. I shouldn’t even be in this situation…liking someone else while my cheating husband is at home. Why can’t Jay just tell me how he feels? I don’t want to be the one to bring things up.

“What would your friends and family think of all this?” I say.

“I don’t care what they think. They don’t have to know anything. I’ve been keeping to myself lately after everything that happened, and I’ve been busy. I would suggest we stay longer here, but I have some work I have to get back to.”

“Are you saying I would be alone at your house?”

“No, I can do a lot from home. There are a lot of meetings that I have to attend. I love your company, and I’d really enjoy spending more time with you. I thought of this on a whim. Maybe it would help you, and I’d definitely enjoy you being around, too.”

Jay gets back off the bed and starts folding more of his clothes. I continue watching him, contemplating my next move. Is it crazy for me to want to see where this goes? He’s a nice guy. Even if we were to stay good friends, I would like his friendship. But then again, that would be hard with all the sexual attraction I feel for him. Friends with benefits could work. No. I can’t do that. Jay isn’t like that either.

“Before I say yes. Let me check with my boss and see if he’s fine with me taking more time off,” I say. I grab my phone and send a quick text over to him.

“I wonder if we’d even be able to change my flight.” I say. Jay stays silent like he did something that he shouldn’t have. “Jay?”

He looks up at me. “I already called this morning to see if it was something we could do before I suggested it.”

“Oh.” I get a ping on my phone. “My boss said it’s fine. It’s been slow, anyway.” I look at Jay again. He looks like he needs to say something. I squint my eyebrows, confused. “What is it?”

“I’m glad you said yes, and I’m really happy your boss was fine with it because I already changed your flight this morning.” His face looks like he’s caught red-handed doing something bad. This is the end of the road for him. It looks cute how scared he is.

“How did I not know this?”

“Are you mad? I saw your boarding pass sticking out of your suitcase while you were still asleep and called.”

Laughing, I say, “No. I’m not mad. I guess I’m more surprised.” Relief lifts from my shoulders. To be honest, I was not ready to face whatever I have to face when I get home. Jay is right. It has only been a week. More time is what I need. I was at least lucky enough to stay on vacation with someone. I’m sure many people who get cheated on don’t get this kind of luxury. They have to face it right away.

“There is one more thing,” Jay says.

I look up at him. Oh no, what did he do now? “You’re full of surprises right now.”

“I asked one of my friends to pick me up since he dropped me off at the airport. I didn’t want my car sitting there for two weeks racking up a bill. We can call an Uber to pick us up.”

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