Been There, Married That by Gigi Levangie

Author:Gigi Levangie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

* * *

A few days later, Trevor was planning an important meeting at the house, so he had Coliti-Girl call to ask (demand) tearfully that I clear out in the morning. Make myself scarce.

Trevor’s wrath had spread like an oozing sore.

Meanwhile, I’d taken to crossing off the days on the ASPCA calendar like a prisoner, except that I wasn’t a prisoner. I could walk out at any time. Except I couldn’t walk out at any time because divorce. And lawyers. And leverage. I was drinking the leverage beverage.

“You cannot leave,” Anne said. “Do I need to come down there and lock you in a bathroom?”

“Say one of us happens to can’t stand it anymore,” I said. “Hypothetically. Like, one of us keeps dreaming of strangling the other one in our sleep.” I was straining myself to summon my inner Beyoncé, but she’d given way to my inner Marie Osmond. Trevor, in the meantime, seemed to be enjoying the torture of living with me. More like living at me. We’d crossed paths dozens of times, yet he hadn’t spoken a word to me since the swinging door incident. He’d once told me his mother had given his father a silent treatment that had lasted years. A legendary silent treatment, one for the books! In my house, growing up, the silent treatment couldn’t make it three seconds; we were all about the yelling treatment.

“Your presence in that house is the only power you have,” Anne was saying. “Where would you go?”

“I’ve been looking on Craigslist. Maybe I could find an apartment without a homicidal roommate? Maybe just a kleptomaniac or petty larcenist?”

“You’ll lose your daughter. Ulger will call an emergency hearing. I’ve seen this scenario a million times.”

“Trevor doesn’t want to raise his own kid; none of these guys do.” I thought of all the rich, powerful, divorced men I’d seen over the years at parties and premieres and lunches; they’d never looked so uncomfortable and miserable as when they had to help a kid into a child’s seat.

“He doesn’t have to. He has staff to raise them.”

“Well, that doesn’t seem fair,” I said.

Anne started laughing—a light, bubbling laugh. Then the bubbles expanded and multiplied, a bubble bath of a laugh. Trevor’s assistant was standing behind me, clearing her nervous little throat.

“Gotta go,” I said, hanging up as she bubbled on.

“I’m sorry to ask, but do you think you could…” Coliti-Girl double-cocked her head toward the door.

“Oh, right. The big bad meeting,” I said. “Who’s it for? Who’s coming?”

“George Treadwell.” (She actually mouthed his name.)

“Who?” I teased.

“Don’t tell him I told you, please please please.”

“Don’t worry,” I said, but she had already gone, leaving behind an air of panic. I made a call. Fin answered before the second ring. Desperate times call for desperate measures (and backup).

“What’s up?” she asked, sounding sleepy.

“I need help,” I said.

“Get to a landline,” she said, and I was right back to the grounds of my elementary school, staring at the business end of a big girl’s fist.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.