Page 15 of Missing Pieces

Chapter Nine

“Shit girl, ya sure got a lot of books. You might need to get a bookshelf for this place.”

We’ve been unpacking boxes for the last hour and can’t believe how much I was able to fit in my car. I placed a few knick-knacks around the bedroom and living room to make the house feel more homey. My closet is full of clothes. I stare at them for a while. Half of them are pricey dresses that I used to wear to Drew’s executive parties and social events. I sold a lot of them to get some extra cash before I left. I run my hand down one of my favorites, a champagne sequin number. It’s short, maybe just a little too short, with three-quarter length sleeves and a deep back that ends a few inches above my butt. I had to sell the shoes I wore with it because I knew I would get two hundred dollars for them used.

“That dress is gorgeous.” I feel Ivy standing behind me. “Hey, why don’t we take a break and open that wine. You look like it’s time for it.”

I turn to look at her and she hands me a tissue. I hadn’t realized I was crying. I knew unpacking was going to be hard, but I thought that all I was going to feel was anger, not sadness or regret. Maybe my mother was right. Maybe I should have sucked it up and kept up the façade. I loved Drew, I still do. I know there are so many marriages that have one-sided love. Maybe that was my fate too. I spent so much time alone when we were together. I should have stayed and made the most of the situation. Maybe found someone on the side too. At least I would still have my dog if I had stayed. I wouldn’t be stuck in this shitty situation and miserable all the time.

Suddenly I feel my hand being pulled and me being dragged out of the room. I snap to and see Ivy pulling me into the living room where she has set up two glasses and a bottle of wine. “You’ve got to get out of your head Harper. It doesn’t do any good to think about it. It’s gonna break you. And you can’t let him break you. If he does, then he wins.”

I grab my glass of wine and drink the whole thing in three giant gulps. “It’s hard.”

“Ain’t no one said it was gonna be easy darlin’.”

“Everything I look at, touch, smell. All of it reminds me of him and our life. I thought we had it all. Drew was a huge ad exec. He was one step away from running the company. He was considered a genius at such a young age. He just did what all the others couldn’t do. And that led to money. Lots of it. I’m sure you can tell I didn’t really have to worry about paying for things.” She nods so I continue. “It was the life my mother always wanted for me. I was a socialite. We had events every week. Everything we did was watched. Everyone paid attention to every detail, so it was so important to look perfect around people. I guess we let that become our marriage. We let it look perfect and I think it was a lie we both believed. I didn’t take it all for granted. I knew I was one of the lucky ones. But I grew up that way. Me being here is kind of a shock to my system.”

Ivy laughs, “Honey, I think everyone in this damn town can see that. City girl. Small town. It can be a shock.”

“Do you think everyone knows I am some stupid rich person who lost everything? I don’t want to be that person. I mean I’m not that person. I don’t think.”

“I didn’t know you had money. You don’t act like someone who won’t lift a finger. You have no problem doing dishes and cleaning half dried syrup off the tables at the diner. Even I hate doing that. But I couldn’t tell until I started helping you unpack. Those dresses gave it away. Just because I’m from a town with probably fewer people than live on a city block, I still know something about fashion.” She gets a small smile from me. I’m happy I don’t look like a stupid rich girl. “Plus, you drive that shitty ass car. Ain’t nobody with money gonna drive around with a taped on bumper and rusted doors.”

I shrug and refill my glass. I’m glad I bought three bottles. I feel like I’m going to need them.

“So, what happened? If you don’t mind me asking.” I knew the question was inevitable and I’m comforted it wasn’t the first one she asked. If we are going to be friends, which I feel like I need at least one while I’m here, she needs to know about me and what happened. I need to have some sort of support system and she seems more than willing although I have no idea why.

“Well you know about the cheating.” She nods so I continue. “Sad thing was when I caught him it wasn’t the first time he cheated. My friend Marcie had told me she saw him kissing another girl at an event I couldn’t make it to because I was sick. I didn’t believe her at all even when she showed me pictures of him leaving a hotel room with some blonde skank. I asked him about it and he told me he ran into her in the lobby. Some client he had at one point or another that had a business lunch there. So, I brushed it off. But a couple months later, on his birthday no less, I went to surprise him at the office. I even did that cheesy thing of wearing lingerie under a trench coat.”

“Ooo I should do that with Trace, he will flip out. Sorry, bad time for interruptions. Go on.”

I try to hide the hurt on my face when she said that but can tell it still showed, she grabs the wine and tops off my glass before finishing the bottle off in hers.

“I get to his office and his secretary isn’t at her desk, so I just walk in and find a woman spread eagle across his desk with his face between her legs. We hadn’t had sex in months and I thought the whole trench coat thing would reignite a flame. But I guess he didn’t need me because he had this girl screaming his name like she had never come so hard in her life.”

“Was it the secretary?” Ivy asks, perched on her knees on the couch.

I shake my head. “No, it wasn’t that cliché. It was some girl that worked in the PR department. Anyway, I got kind of angry and started screaming. I broke a glass vase that was sitting on a table. I tried throwing it at his head but missed. I ripped some pictures off the wall. Threw a chair. And he just stood there, waiting for me to finish my tirade. When I stopped my destruction, he asked if I was finished then said get out.” I slam my glass on the table, breaking it at the stem. Reliving the hurt was making me so angry. “And then, you probably won’t believe this, whipped his fucking dick out and started fucking the bitch like I interrupted his dinner and he needed to get back to eating.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“God he was, is such a scumbag. I can’t believe I loved him. I went home after that and called a lawyer to file for divorce. Of course, this is after I pulled a Carrie Underwood and smashed the windows to his Mercedes in the parking garage. And because of my dumb, rash decision to break shit I’ve ended up here. His lawyer said I was using him for his money and obviously had no respect for his property, or his life, and should be denied any monetary compensation except for those I earned with my own income. Which wasn’t much especially since I had lost my low-paying job at the beginning of the year.”

I thought Ivy would be staring at me like I grew a third head, but instead, a look of understanding fills her eyes. “I hate lawyers. Fuck them all. I can’t believe he left you nothin’.”

“The divorce isn’t finalized yet. But I doubt things will go my way. But that is pretty much my life in a nutshell. Oh, and during the whole divorce thing I found out he was also screwing my friend Marcie. Oh, and he took my dog. Of all things that he could care less about he took my damn dog from me because he said I couldn’t afford to keep him!”

Ivy stands up from the couch and grabs the wine bottle. “Well, you don’t look like you just had the rug pulled out from under you. You’re hanging in there. That’s all that matters. And hey at least you only broke a few things. The whole reason I moved to White Creek was because I found my ex had cheated on me and I set his house on fire. I can’t believe he took your dog!”

She walks away into the kitchen and I am left on the couch with my mouth hanging open.