She was even
more stunning up
close. I had only seen her briefly that day I went by their house but
now being
face to face with her, I felt instantly shabby in comparison. Her skin
was flawless, her makeup was perfectly applied, and her clothes looked
like something you would see in a magazine.
“Pardon my English. I seek Amari
Smith.”
“That would be me and who are you?”
She cocked her head to the side and
gave a sly smile. “Tink you know already. May I come inside?” Her words were
spoken with a thick accent, but her body language was easy enough to
understand. She was here to fight for her man and my morning just got a hundred
times worse.
“Certainly.” I replied stepping to
the side to allow her in. I didn’t miss the once over she gave me as she
entered.
I directed her towards the living
room. “Give me a minute to get dressed and we can have a talk. Although I’m not
sure we really have anything to discuss.”
When I got to my room I thought
about calling Marcus to let him know she was here. I suspected her just showing
up like this meant she hadn’t told him she was coming. I was pissed she had
come here. She had already won, even if she didn’t know it, but now she was
here to stake some claim on him. She was wandering around the living room when
I got back downstairs.
“Can I offer you something to
drink?”
“No, but thank you. He loves me,
but only feels an obligation for you.”
So the claws were out. She was cutting right to the chase and skipping all the pleasantries. “An obligation?
Is that what he’s told you, to help ease your fears?” I asked walking towards
the sofa.
“It is obvious. You use children to
get him, but it will fail.”
I sat there shocked that this
woman, this stranger who didn’t even know me, accused me of using my children to
get Marcus back. I was going to attempt to be nice, but why? The gloves were
coming off.
“I don’t have to use my children to
get him. He came looking for me, he may love you but I think you know he has
feelings for me as well.”
“You play on his memories. What he
feels is nothing.” She spat angrily.
“If you really thought that, you
wouldn’t be here. What I think is he stays with you out of a sense of
obligation. I mean considering your troubles, he may not want to seem heartless
leaving you after such a loss.”
It was her turn to be shocked. Her
entire demeanor changed and I felt slightly bad bringing up the loss of her
babies. I had experienced that sort of grief and knew the heartache that came
with it, but she was the first to strike.
“How you know of my losses?”
“Marcus, we talked the last time he
came to see me.”
“Marc would never share something
private with a stranger.”
“Ah, but see I’m not a stranger, I’m his wife and the mother of his children.”
Florence’s
face contorted into an
angry scowl when I said that. She didn’t like being reminded we were
married and certainly didn't want to be reminded I gave him something
she couldn't. I
understood, however, how learning something so deeply personal had been
told to
the other woman would be hard to hear. I could see that this meeting was
not
turning out in the way she had hoped.I was willing to be nice and even
help ease her fears more, but she didn't want it that way.
“You are just a link to a life forgotten.”
She counted regaining her composure. “If you were so memorable Marc would not
forgotten you so easily.” She sat back with a smug look of satisfaction on her
face.
“You are so very correct Florence.”
I replied coolly. “If we were dealing with a simple case of amnesia, but we
aren’t. Which is why you are here. If you were as confident in your
relationship as you would have me believe, you wouldn’t have come here to have
this little meeting with me behind his back. So you are here to what? Ask me to
walk away? To plead your case on letting the two of you have a chance? I sent
him divorce papers, the fact that he didn’t sign them should speak volumes to
you, because it does to me.”
This time her brave face crumpled.
Florence got up and started walking around the room. I knew I had struck a
nerve and it was cruel of me to do so. She was just as innocent in all of this,
but I was tired of playing nice. I know she was scared of losing Marcus, hell I
shared her fear, but I was tired of putting everyone’s feelings above my own.
That favor never seemed to be returned to me and today she got the brunt of
that. The pain I am inflicting on her now would only be temporary. Once she
made it to his hotel she would learn she won. He signed the papers; he was free
of me and my mess. She had him, she had won.
“I think you should go now.” I said
standing. “You need to talk to him, not me.”
Without saying a word, Florence
picked up her purse and gave me a weak smile. Once she was gone I finally let
this morning’s discovery sink in. He had signed the papers, he did as I asked
of him and chose the easier life and it hurt worse than I thought it would to
lose him a second time.
