“Lauren’s been working on a business plan for months. This is a huge opportunity for her.”
I stared at Lauren. “You’re starting a business?”
“I’ve been sketching ideas for a design studio. Working on it at night after Caleb went to bed. I didn’t tell you because… because every time I’ve tried something big before, it’s fallen apart.”
Her voice cracked.
“Marcus reached out last month,” she continued. “He said he knew people who might back me. I didn’t want to see him.
I still don’t like him. But I also didn’t want to waste the chance. So I told myself it was just business.”
I could feel Marcus watching me, waiting for me to explode so he could be the calm one.
I wasn’t going to give him that.
“Business is one thing,” I said slowly. “Lying to me is another. Cutting me out of your life is another.”
Lauren took a step closer, ignoring everyone else.
“I was… I was trying to protect what we have while still taking this risk. I thought if you saw Marcus, all you’d remember was the worst version of me.”
“You invited him,” I said. “You dressed up for him.
You lied to me so you could stand in a room with him on your birthday, and I was supposed to sit at home thinking you were at your mom’s.” My voice was low, but I knew everyone heard it.
She shook her head hard. “I didn’t dress up for him,” she said. “I dressed up because for once I wanted to feel like more than a mom and a wife who always plays it safe.
I wanted to feel like someone who could actually build something.”
My anger wavered, replaced by something sadder and heavier. I thought about all the nights she’d fallen asleep on the couch with her laptop open, all the sketches I’d seen in her notebook and never asked about because I assumed they were just doodles.
I also thought about sitting in that therapist’s office years ago, promising each other that no matter what, we’d be honest. That if anything from that time ever came back into our lives, we’d talk before we acted.
“I going to a lawyer tomorrow,” I heard myself say. A murmur rippled through the crowd.
Lauren gasped. “You what?”
“I’m filing for divorce,” I said.
“I’m done feeling like I need to snoop to know what’s going on in our marriage.”
Her knees actually buckled. Marcus reached out like he was going to catch her, but she jerked away from him and grabbed the back of a chair instead.
“Evan, please,” she whispered. “Don’t do this.
Don’t throw us away over one terrible decision.”Continue reading…
