“I never asked you for a dime, Mitch,” Emily said as she sipped from the warm mug cupped in her cold hands.
“Because you never had to, Em. I wanted to take care of both of you. I wanted the both of you to be set for life.”
“Is that what you were thinking about while you were pile-driving Callie on your desk?” Emily scoffed as she rolled her eyes.
“Can we not get into that?”
“Why? You got into that a lot, in the backseat of your car and in your office and in our own bed.”
“If you are going to hate anybody, hate me, not Callie. She was young,” Mitch said.
“Yeah, and she still is. I’m not going to sit here and fight with you about Callie. I’m over that.”
“You’ve got a funny way of showing it. You’re the one who always brings her up.”
“I’m sorry, maybe I am just a tad bit bitter.” Emily smirked as she sat her mug on the wooden table.
“All I wanted was to talk to you about Blair. I figured maybe you could talk to her? Maybe you could convince her to talk to me?”
“Mitch, you know Blair. You know she’s stubborn. She doesn’t do a damn thing she doesn’t want to do. I can’t force her. I can’t make her do anything. She’s twenty-one years old.” Emily sighed.
“I think you like it.”
“What?” Emily asked, her eyes narrowing on him.
“You love that she’s not talking to me. It makes you feel like you’ve won. It makes you feel like you’ve got her on your side.”
“Mitch, grow up,” Emily snapped, shaking her head. “Don’t sit there and blame me for her silence. This is all on you.”
“You didn’t have to tell her everything, Emily. She didn’t need to know all the details about about us and the separation.”
“What did you want me to do, Mitch? What did you expect of me? To sit there and lie? To pretend everything was OK?”
“I expected you to be adult and keep our daughter out of it. There was no reason for you tell her about the affair,” Mitch said, his jaw tightening as a small vein started pulsating beneath the center of his forehead.
“I’m not going to sit there and lie to her.”
“Yeah, because you’d rather be her best friend than her damn mother,” Mitch scoffed.
“You’re not seriously going to sit there and question my parenting, are you?” Emily asked, her eyes burning into Mitch. Who the hell was he to sit here, in her house, at her kitchen table, and make judgment calls about her?
“What parenting? You always allowed that girl to do whatever the hell she wanted. You were a doormat. And when you weren’t being a doormat, you were in the corner drowning your sorrows in a bottle of gin.”
“Yeah, and you buried your sorrows into your receptionist’s mouth. How can you sit there and throw that in my face? You know I was trying. You know how sick I was.”
“Are you still going to your meetings?” Mitch asked.
“Why is that any of your business?” Emily asked sharply.
“I’m just asking. Callie’s aunt goes and she told her she hasn’t seen you in a couple of months,” Mitch said, leaning back in the chair as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Do you see a liquor bottle anywhere?” Emily asked, turning in her chair as her eyes scanned the kitchen.
“You hid them well.” Mitch giggled.
“Have I been going? No,” Emily said, shaking her head. “I’m a lot better than what I was. I’m down to a glass of wine every week.”
“Well, that’s good. Where’s old Hank at, hammering some nails into a two by four somewhere?” Mitch asked.
“Yeah, he’s doing real work, you know, something you know nothing about,” Emily said, grinning.
“Yeah, I bet these construction jobs have a great retirement plan.” Mitch groaned, rolling his eyes.
“He’s a good man, and that’s all that matters to me.”
“Where’s the ring? Do I hear wedding bells?” Mitch asked sharply, eying her bare hands.
“Aren’t you just inquisitive tonight?” Emily said, shifting in her chair as she crossed her legs beneath the table.
“Just curious is all.” Mitch winked as he grabbed his mug and took a sip, his thin lips wrapping around the rim.
“If I call Blair, will you leave?” Emily smiled.
“If that’s what it takes.” Mitch nodded.
“God, how did I stay married to you for so long?” Emily groaned as she reached across the table and grabbed her cellphone. She scrolled through her contacts and pressed her index finger against Blair’s picture. Emily placed the phone to her ear as the robotic ring chimed through the speaker.
“Hey, this is Blair! You know what to do!” Blair’s voice rang out, blaring in Emily’s phone speaker.
“Voicemail,” Emily said, ending the call and setting her phone back on the table.
“We’ll see about that,” Mitch said as he dug into his jeans pocket and pulled out his phone. Mitch scrolled along his touch screen, tapped on it with his finger, and placed the phone to his ear. Mitch’s fingers tapped on the wooden surface of the table as Emily could hear the rings echoing from the speaker placed against his ear. “Damn it,” Mitch sighed as he ripped the phone from his ear and dropped it on the table.
“Shocker,” Emily said sarcastically as she grabbed her mug, taking a slow sip as the hot steam circled through her nose.
“I just don’t want our relationship to end up like
