Page 32 of Ever After

“What’s going on?” Jays asks

I stare straight into her eyes. “Would you like to tell him or should I?”

She shrugs her shoulders, playing dumb. Lindsee walks over closer to Jay. “I don’t know who you are or why you are here. We were having a nice evening together, and you rudely interrupted us.”

“Oh, did I?” I ask sarcastically as I look over at Jay. “Was I being set up this whole time?” My mind is going in circles. How could this be? This can’t be a coincidence. The room is spinning. I can’t keep up with all this bullshit that keeps happening.

Jay moves closer to me. Reaching for my hand. I don’t reciprocate. “Lilah, I really don’t know what you are talking about. How would I have set you up?” Jay asks.

“This is the bitch that Aiden slept with when we were in Hawaii.” I point toward her.

“What? It was Lindsee?” Jay looks over at Lindsee. “Is this true?”

“Ugh. Why does it matter? We weren’t together, and he said he was single.”

I knew she knew who I was. What does she mean by theyweren’ttogether? Did she come over here to get back with Jay? Are they talking about getting back together? I thought she was in the wrong place, but maybe it’s me in the wrong place. My chest tightens. Tears threaten, the familiar feeling stinging my eyes, but I hold them in. I don’t want to cry in front of this bimbo.

“What is she talking about, Jay? Are you guys getting back together?”

“Yes,” Lindsee quickly says.

I look over at both of them, and she is trying to grab his hand.

He pulls his hand away from her and says, “What? No. She came over to get some papers that got mixed up with mine during the move.” Jay lifts the papers up to show me. “I didn’t know if any drama would start if she came and you were here, so I had her come when you were out.”

That makes it sound like he was trying to hide something. Not knowing what to believe and trusting Jay so fast makes it harder to think. I trusted one man for so long and got screwed over by him. I should’ve kept my guard up and saved myself from all this trouble. Why did I put myself in this situation?

“What were you doing in Hawaii, Lindsee?” Jay turns to her.

“Jay, I love you. I want you back. My life hasn’t been the same. I can’t eat or sleep. I’ve been so depressed and—”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” he says, cutting her off.

“What do you think I was doing? I was trying to get you back.” she says.

“You’re a homewrecker, Lindsee. You ruined Noah’s family, ours, and now Lilah’s. I don’t want you back after everything you’ve done,” Jay says.

“But I learned my lesson after Noah. I regret what I did.” Lindsee walks closer to Jay.

It’s all three of us in this little circle in front of the front door. I debate if I should walk out or not, and they can sort all this out. I back away a little.

“You didn’t learn your lesson because now you wrecked another family. Hers.” Jay points to me.

“Who is she to you, anyway? If I slept with her so-called husband, why is she here?”

“That is none of your business,” Jay says.

She is right. What am I doing here? I can’t do this. This reminds me of some rom-com movie. I can’t be in the middle of this. If they were done like Jay said they were, she wouldn’t be here like this. There is no room for me to talk. I’m still married. My own life is messed up. Realizing that I cannot defend myself in this situation, I head upstairs.

“Where are you going?” Jay asks.

I ignore him and keep walking. I hear Jay tell Lindsee that they are through, and it will never work. Once I get to the room, I lock the door. Tears stream down my cheeks as I finally allow myself to cry, somehow feeling even more lost than I did when I walked in on Aiden. That woman is such a homewrecker. I grab my phone and find an Uber to come get me. It says it will take forty minutes. That should give me enough time to pack.

I grab my suitcase and throw it on the bed just as a knock sounds from the door. I stay quiet.

“Lilah, please open the door,” Jay pleads. “Can we talk? Please?”

I wipe my tears from my face and open the door to let him in. After all, it’s his house. Not letting him into his own room doesn’t feel right.

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