makes me laugh. The man is a saint. I hurry back inside and flush the toilet in the main bathroom and wash my hands. “You need anything?” I call to her.
“The heat bag needs to be warmed up,” she answers back.
“On it.” I hurry into the bedroom and grab it. Romeo lifts his head to acknowledge my presence momentarily.
“You know what you’re missing?” she says before I turn to leave.
“What?” God, please don’t say a man. I haven’t told her about the accidental sex I had with Samuel. I haven’t told anyone. I’m not certain how to feel about it. I’m pretty sure it was a one-time thing, evident by his lack of attempting to come over or talk to me since. Not that I’ve tried to see him either.
“A TV in here. Watching TV on this laptop sucks.” She says it and turns back to the laptop, dismissing me.
“Okay,” I agree though I have no intention of putting a TV in my bedroom.
The microwave is heating the Magic Bag when a knock at the door startles me. I hurry over to peep through the hole. I step back, genuinely shocked and scared and unsure what to do.
It’s Rod.
He knocks again.
Is he here for the separation papers?
“Is someone here?” Liz shouts at the same moment Rod yells through the door that he knows I’m here. Of course I am. It’s COVID times.
“Shit,” I whisper and then shout, “Just a delivery man. I’ll be right back.” I grab my key and fling open the door and step into the hallway before she hears him. She doesn’t get up much, but she will lose it and endanger the baby if she knows Rod’s here.
“Hi,” he says. His voice is hoarse and he appears as though he’s been crying.
I step to the side, leading him from the peephole so she can’t see if she does get up. “Why are you here?” The tone is exactly the one he deserves. He hasn’t spoken to me once since this happened.
“I fucked up, Lil,” he mutters and wipes his face. He’s being too loud for the hallway.
“Can you keep your voice down,” I mutter, glancing around.
“I want you back. I don’t want a divorce. I miss you.” He tries to walk toward me.
“What?” I practically jump away. “Are you insane? Your affair put me in the hospital, and you couldn’t even bother to check and make sure I was okay!” I blast him, nearly telling him my head still isn’t right.
“I checked on you. I came to the hospital. You were drugged and sleeping. I came. No one told you?” he asks. “I saw your doctor. He said you were fine and that I wasn’t welcome there.”
“What?” Now I’m the one being too loud. A door opens down the hallway and the head of an older lady pops out. She scowls and I wave. “Sorry. We’ll keep it down.”
She growls something and closes the door.
Rod parts his lips to speak but I cut him off, “You do not get to come here and talk to me now after all this time. I don’t care that you came to the hospital. That doctor was right, you weren’t welcome. Not then and not now. What I do care about is that you slept with Brent’s wife for our entire marriage.” My voice cracks with rage and I hate that I sound emotional. “You made a fool out of me and the life I thought we were sharing. And the worst part is I confronted you about Elaine and you gaslit me into thinking I was crazy. You told me I needed antidepressants.”
“I’m so sorry. I love you, Lil.” He steps closer but I back up farther. “I never wanted you to find out. I want to be with you.”
“That’s nice. You wanted your cake and to eat it too, huh? Listen, I don’t care. It’s a quarantine, showing up here without a mask is rude and disrespectful.” A bitter laugh slips from my lips as I warn him, “Liz is here. She’s huge and pregnant, totally at risk of getting sick. If she hears you, she’ll come out here and flip out. And she’s on bed rest. You have to go.” I point at the elevator at exactly the moment it opens.
The doors reveal Sam. He sees me and smiles wide.
My stomach drops.
My eyes draw up to the ceiling and I whisper, “Really?”
“That’s him!” Rod shouts and points. “That’s the doctor. He can tell you I came to