Page 64 of The Teacher
I toss all my shoes back in the closet, except for the Louis Vuitton pumps that I wore on my birthday. I slide them onto my feet, then I head downstairs.
Nate is in the living room, peeling off his black coat. He plucks the beanie off his hair and runs a hand through his thick locks quickly to smooth them down. As I descend the stairs, I can’t help but think back to the first time I laid eyes on my husband and how handsome I thought he was. It was love at first sight—or so I thought. I always believed we would be together forever.
I was so stupid.
“Hello.” It’s only after the word comes out that I realize my speech is slurring slightly. I should not have had that last shot of vodka. I need to be clearheaded for this. “You’re home.”
“Uh, yeah.” He hangs up his coat in the hall closet. “Did you get dinner started?”
“No.” I grab on to the banister to keep from swaying. “I need to talk to you.”
“Okay.” He loosens his tie around his neck and squints at me. “Have you been drinking?”
This is not exactly how I wanted the conversationto go, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not waiting one more minute to discuss this with him. It needs to end tonight. I step toward him, grabbing on to the sofa this time for balance. I don’t know how to begin this conversation, but I plow forward anyway.
“I know about you and Addie Severson,” I blurt out.
Nate’s hands freeze on the loop of his tie. “Excuse me?”
“I know,” I repeat. I have to focus to keep my words from slurring, but he needs to know how serious I am. “I know what you’re doing with her. I know that’s why she was outside our house the other night.”
“That’s…that’s crazy!” He laughs. “Come on, Eve. You really think I would do something like that? WithAddie?” He shakes his head. “Where would you get such a silly idea? I think you’ve had a bit too much to drink. Do you want me to make you a cup of coffee?”
Oh, he is good. My husband is smooth. If it were simply a rumor I heard, I would probably be dismissing it right now. Then again, I always knew he was a liar.
“Isawyou,” I spit at him. “I saw you kissing her. In your classroom during fifth period.”
“Oh.” The easy smile drops off his face. “I see.”
“What do you have to say for yourself?”
Nate tugs at his tie until it comes loose, then he drops it on the floor. He hangs his head. “I don’t know what I can say. I made a massive mistake. Addie had a crush on me, and I thought I could handle it, then today she kissed me. I let it go on a second too long—I know I did. It was stupid, and I’ll never let it happen again. I’ll make it very clear to her how inappropriate it was.”
I clench my fists—I want to pound them against hischest until he’s bruised and bleeding. “No, I saw it.Youkissedher.”
“You weren’t there. You don’t know what happened.”
“I saw it!”
A vein pulses in my temple. It feels like there’s a very real possibility that it will burst and kill me before we complete this conversation. Before my husband admits to me that he did the thing I watched him do. Part of me wishes it would happen.
But another part of me wants him to suffer.
“Did you tell Higgins?” Nate finally says.
“Not yet.”
“Have you told anyone else?”
“No.” I did tell Jay, but I’m not going to mention that to my husband.
“I see.” He frowns, his entire forehead crumbling. “Will you?”
“I’m not sure yet.” I rest back against the arm of the sofa, because my legs feel wobbly. “I haven’t decided.”
“Is there…” He takes a step toward me, one arm partially outstretched. “Is there anything I can do to convince you not to?”
I look down at his arm like he’s offering me poison. “If you touch me ever again, I am going to scratch your eyes out.”
