my heart sinks as I watch her smile, looking at them all. Beside the small group of baby pictures she’s sitting closest to, all the other photos are of her and Ben. Young, newly married and happy. This isn’t the woman I know. Not only would she never be caught dead in her pajamas in the middle of the day but she’d never let her house become so undone. She’s broken—he broke her—and the longer I watch her sit in her pool of memories the more I start to boil.
Ben’s selfishness completely decimated the two women I care most about in the world and I’ve been trying to stay out of it but after seeing her like this… I just can’t. Carefully, I step toward Della taking care not to disturb any of the photos.
“Listen,” I say, being forward and kissing her forehead. “Xia will be here soon. I’m going to go now. I have a few things to do but I’ll stop by again soon.” It takes her a few moments to look up at me but when she does fresh tears pool in her eyes. Without a word she stands and walks me to the door.
“I’m sorry about what happened,” I say, giving her another hug. “But I’ll stop by again in a few days to check on you.”
“Thank you,” she says before shutting the door.
Twenty minutes later I find myself back at the school and storming down the hall toward Ben’s office. I know this isn’t the time or the place but I can’t seem to think straight right now. I just keep seeing Della, hearing Xia’s cries, and knowing it was him that hurt them. The hall is pretty empty and I pray he hasn’t left yet. Relief washes over me when I see his door is cracked.
"Ben, what the hell man?" I push into his office slamming the door behind me. He’s sitting at his desk looking down at his computer but is clearly startled when I walk in.
"Excuse me, son?" His eyes narrow. “You need to lower your voice.”
"How could you do this to them? Xia is wrecked, your wife is losing it, did you plan to fuck to your whole life with this girl or were you just thinking with your dick?"
"You need to watch your tone with me, boy. I don’t give a shit how pissed you are, you better remember your place.”
"My place? Yeah. My place was going to pick up your daughter who spent three days crying her eyes out because her father couldn't keep it in his pants."
"My situation is none of your business. You don't know what you’re talking about."
"If it has to do with Xia, then it's my business. I’ve never seen her so hurt, so… broken.” I say, pacing his floor. “Now she's barely talking to me. You did this to her. "
"No,” he says, slamming his hand down hard on his desk. “I did this for her. Everything I’ve done has been for her and Della, this whole fucking nightmare."
His tone is pleading but there’s no way I’m going to let him pass with this backwards ass power grab. He fucked up, I don’t care how he tries to spin it. "For her? You cheat on her mother then lie about everything for God knows how long … but that was for her? Makes a lot of sense."
"Actually, it does, but my reasons are none of your damn business. Now if you give a shit about your senior year here you'll leave my office right now." Anger burns in his eyes as he holds me in his gaze.
"You threatening me, Ben?"
"You may be like a son to me, but you've just crossed the line and you're asking for it. There are specific policies I’m supposed to follow in times like this. Know your place. I rank high at this school and I can't have a student come to my office talking to me the way you just did. Now turn around and walk away."
I hold his gaze as he glares back at me. I feel like I could hit him and not give a fuck about the consequences. I’m just so pissed that he could be such a dick. He had a family. Xia had both her mother and her father; something I wish so badly I could have again. And now he’s gone and fucked everything up. My fists are balled tightly at my sides and my breathing is deep as I try to