Chapter 3 (3/6/16)

I'm posting early because I have two posts ready to go for this week!  Come back around Wednesday for the next chapter!
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          I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far.  There's a lot more crazy to come!
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          Luckily, I got an almost immediate response from Erica: “Dinner, then drinks at my house? John is out playing poker tonight.” 

“Yes!” I sent back. 

A few minutes later, my phone buzzed again.  “I’m in.”

We picked a restaurant and settled on a time.  I trekked back into my bathroom to dry my hair now that I was going out.  I did my hair and makeup and picked out an outfit, then settled back in front of my computer to wait until Kelly arrived to pick me up.

When she texted me that she was out front, I shut my laptop and jogged up the stairs.  I almost ran right into Kevin, and he leaned against the wall in the hallway and watched me pull on my knee-high boots.  “Where are you going?” he asked curiously.

I snorted and didn’t respond.  When he repeated the question, I said, “Sorry, you’ve lost your right to that information.  Have fun with your whore!” and disappeared out the door. 

I breathed out a sigh of relief when I climbed into Kelly’s passenger seat.  “Is he really having a girl over to your house?!” she shrieked in disbelief as she pulled away from the curb.

“He really is,” I responded.

“I might kill him,” she warned me.  “We’ve got to get you out of there.  Why don’t you come stay with me until you find something else?”

I frowned.  “Thank you, but I just couldn’t,” I replied.  “It would be weird.”

“Weirder than living with your ex-husband?  Your ex-husband who thinks it’s okay to bring other women home to your shared house to fuck?  Come on, Jen, it doesn’t get much weirder than that.”

 She had a fair point, and as satisfying as it was to take potshots at him like a child, I knew my life would be better when I had my own space and didn’t have to see him (and the evidence of the way he’d torn my life apart) every day.  “I know, and I appreciate your offer, but I need to do this right.  When I move out, it’s going to be into my own place.  Maybe I should find a realtor.”

By this point, we’d arrived at Erica’s house and our conversation paused as we both got out and slammed the car doors shut behind us.  Once we were inside the warmth of Erica’s house, Kelly said, “My brother-in-law is a realtor.  He’s good too.  I’ll give you his email later.”

“Does this mean you’re finally really trying to get out of that house?” Erica asked, looking back and forth between us. 

“Yes,” I replied, nodding. 

“Thank god!” Erica exclaimed.  “I don’t know how much more of his bullshit I can manage.”

“That makes two of us,” I said, rolling my eyes.  “Can we go?  I’m starving.”

We made our way to the restaurant, which of course had a 40-50 minute wait.  There were a couple random open stools at the bar, and with a little eyelash batting and finagling, we managed to get three open stools together to sit and enjoy a drink while we waited for a table.  One drink turned into two, and then three.  I had just gotten a fourth drink when we were alerted that our table was ready.

We stood, and I immediately stumbled over my own feet and bumped into Kelly.  “Maybe you should cool it, Jenna,” she said, steadying me.  “We haven’t even been here an hour yet.” 

I grumbled in response and followed them to our table.  We ordered appetizers right away and I drank a glass of water before I finished my drink.  Once I slowed down and got some food in me, I settled into a nice buzz. 

When we finished our dinner, we went back to Erica’s house.  She opened a bottle of wine for her and I and brought out a beer for Kelly.  We flipped through the channels until we found a terrible Hallmark channel Christmas movie to watch while we chatted and drank.

When Erica’s husband, John, got home at 11 with a sour look on his face, Kelly and I quickly decided it was time for our departure.  I was glad Kelly was driving me home, because I certainly wasn’t in any state to drive myself. 

Kelly dropped me off at home and I didn’t see any unfamiliar cars parked around our cul-de-sac.  I breathed a sigh of relief, assuming that meant that Kevin’s “friend” wasn’t here anymore. 

I was certainly surprised when I walked into the house and discovered Kevin and a tall, thin brunette half-undressed on the living room couch.

“Shit!” Kevin exclaimed, grabbing for the nearby throw blanket to toss over the girl on the couch.

“I’m going downstairs,” I replied quickly, already on my way down the hallway to the stairs to the basement. “I suggest you go upstairs!”  I heard him mutter something, then heard the higher pitched tone of the brunette’s voice answering.  Then I heard footsteps across the living room towards the stairs going up to the second floor.

Once safely downstairs, I started getting ready for bed.  I put on my pajamas, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and got into bed with a book.  I was there for about 20 minutes before I decided it was far too cold in this room for my liking.  I knew there was a space heater stored in the closet in one of the extra bedrooms upstairs, but I wasn’t sure if it was safe to go up and get it. 

I decided not to risk it and stayed in bed until I heard people clomping around.  Then I heard the door to the garage open, and then the garage door.  I waited until the garage door shut, then got out of bed and made my way upstairs.  At the top of the stairs, I ran right into Kevin. 

“Shit!” I yelped, startled.

“Goddamn it, Jenna,” he replied.  “Sorry.”

I shrugged and continued through the hallway and to the second set of stairs.  Kevin trailed me up the stairs and into the spare bedroom.  He leaned against the doorway and watched me dig through the closet.  “What are you looking for?”

“The space heater,” I said.  “It’s freezing downstairs.”

“Oh, it’s in my bathroom.”  I turned and gave him a “what the hell?” look.  He shrugged and said, “Alyssa said it was too cold in there.”

“Oh, poor Alyssa,” I muttered.  “Okay, thanks.”  I started to walk back downstairs.

“Wait, Jenna.  You can have it, just let me grab it.”

“I don’t really want it anymore,” I said back.  “I’m just going to go to bed.”  He reached for my arm as I pushed past him and I snatched it back.  “Don’t touch me,” I snapped.  “You don’t get to touch me anymore.”

He held both hands up in surrender.  “Look, I’m sorry you had to see that.  I don’t really know what to say, but I am sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I snarled.  “Seriously, Kevin, walk away.”  His lips formed a hard line, and he stepped out of my path so I could walk downstairs. 
          I stomped back down the two flights of stairs and fled into my room.  I slammed the door shut behind me and curled up in bed.  As if it wasn’t bad enough that his stupid whores had ended our marriage, I now got to see him mid-hookup on the couch when I came home from a night out.  Despite my best efforts, I started to cry.  I had to get out of here.