wine bar that offers half off full bottles that’s within walking distance of the firm, which means you can get wasted, fuck a waitress in your office, and pass out afterwards to sober up while claiming you’re having a late night.”
His gaze glances elsewhere.
“Would you like me to continue with the other evidence, or would you like to save us both some time and confess?”
“I think April’s sleeping with the pool guy,” he quietly proclaims.
“And?”
“And, she shouldn’t be!”
My head sarcastically tilts to the side.
“I handle my business,” Harrison grouses, leaning closer to the camera. “I keep a fucking expensive roof over her head. Fucking Tiffany’s on her ears. Duck, lamb, and Kobe fucking beef on the table! Whatever it is her boney little finger points out for her or our kids is provided. No questions asked.”
“What about intimately?”
He instantly sneers at the question.
“You named the things you do financially. What about intimately?”
“That is not relevant to this conversation.”
“I disagree.” My hands plant themselves firmly onto the counter space in front of me. “You can’t fathom that she has the right to cheat on you despite the fact you are constantly cheating on her, but have you considered what it is you don’t feel she’s providing for you in that department, she too may feel as though you’re not providing for her?”
His eyes twitch a glare.
“You listed things that have a dollar value. What about the emotional ones? What would it equate to? Would you consider your treatment of cuddling as well-crafted as your fucking chandelier? Would you consider your attention to her physical needs as precise as the attention you give to the cut diamonds? Are you providing her top-quality tube steak at night off the table?”
“Did you really just say tube steak?”
“Answering the questions with a question is unacceptable, counselor.”
“As is cross examining me on my marriage without the credentials to do so.”
The counter successfully seals my mouth shut.
“You have never been in a long-term relationship, Scott. You have no idea the work that goes into it or the toll it can take on you mentally and physically. You have no idea how difficult it is to constantly co-exist with another human being around the clock. You take your little bachelor life for granted. Having chicks come and go as you please. Having your dick sucked in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon simply because you can instead of because that’s the only time available between tea with the Turners or Normans and drinks with the Fosters or Bakers. Getting to enjoy sex instead of being rushed through it because the kids are waking up or the nanny’s running late so you have to give them breakfast or take them to ballet because your wife is still drunk from the night before or too tipsy to get behind the wheel of the car. You have absolutely no clue how difficult it is to balance a high-pressure job, high maintenance wife, and high social expectations for the family you came from and the family you started.”
I let a retort roll around my mouth yet don’t speak it.
“I’m outraged, Scott, not because I’m a perfect person – appalled that my wife isn’t behaving as such. I’m outraged because it’s happening in my house, and they’re not even bothering to be discreet about it. You have any idea how embarrassing it is for your neighbor to recommend a better pool company so that yours has to come over less frequently?”
The realization that this has nothing to do with actually being emotionally hurt so much as just having his ego damaged is what has me nodding and wrapping up the conversation. “Imagine it sucks.”
“Thank you!” He motions his hand towards me. “But a little reminder that there is a man of this house should suffice to shorten the number of visits being made in the future.”
“Hope so.”
If only for the sake of me not having to hear this bullshit again anytime soon.
“Really gotta go, Harrison. I want the food all set and ready for when Brooklyn gets off.”
Thankfully, he’s willing to let our time together end. “Alright. Hope she likes it. We’ll talk again soon.”
Not likely.
At least not until he’s in a happier place mentally.
I don’t need his drama wave trying to wipe me out like this again.
“Later,” I state prior to pounding the hang up button.
Returning to my project in the making, I verbally command Alexa to turn on a recently created playlist that I know will put me in a better