Page 82 of Open for Negotiation
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” I shout, going down the stairs for more. “How fucking dare you come here and admit this shit to my face. You have some fucking balls on you.”
He pushes himself to sit up, but he doesn’t stand. “I’m not proud of it, all right? Why do you think I’m here?”
“That’s a good damn question.”
“I’m here because I care about Scarlett. I saw what my actions, my jealousy and anger, were doing to her. She’s miserable because of something I did.”
“Why? Why did you do this?”
“I have wanted her for years. I’ve been there for her since the moment we met, and I could never take it any further with her. No one could. Until you. She just fell right into your lap and I was angry. I hated it and I hated you. Then Miranda stepped in.” He looks up to me with tears in his eyes. “She’s very persuasive.”
“I’m very aware.”
“I got in too deep before I even realized what was happening. I thought this would be the end of you two and I could, I don’t know, swoop in and be the hero to her.” He touches his very broken nose and winces. “But then I saw how devastated she looked, and she started talking about moving back home, I just felt this pit in my stomach.”
I’m hardly processing what he’s saying to me at this point. My mind is running one thousand miles per hour.
“What were you thinking? What the fuck were you thinking? Garrett, you broke into the office. You trashed company property. You HELPED SOMEONE HURT THE WOMAN YOU SUPPOSEDLY CARE ABOUT,” I shout, and he scrambles to his feet. “I need you to go. You need to leave. Now.”
“Wait, wait, please… just wait.” He pulls his phone from his pocket. “I need you to see something.”
“I don’t want to see anything else you have.” My stomach already beginning to churn.
“I know you’re having issues with Miranda contesting the divorce…” he thumbs through his phone, “but I think this could help.”
He passes me his phone, open to his photo gallery, with a picture of Miranda bent over a table, letting a man I’ve never seen before fuck her from behind.
“What the fuck is this and why do you have it?”
“When she and I first… started… she would send me pictures of her with other men she’s been with. She said that it was fun for her to think about me seeing her like that. I don’t know. I just thought it was some kink thing she was into. Keep scrolling. There are quite a few.”
“I don’t need nor want to see more.” I pass the phone back to him. “How can this help me?”
“She admitted to me that these photos are from the past five years....”
I stand silently for a moment, letting the information swirl around in my overstimulated brain before the light bulb blinks on.
“She cheated on me.”
So I don’t have to settle at all.
The judge will simply finalize…. And it’ll finally be over.
“Throughout your entire marriage,” he says. “I’m sorry that I’m the one telling you this, but seeing Scarlett like that… I just can’t live with myself knowing I caused that, so I wanted to do what I could to make it right.”
“I appreciate you coming to me with this, but this doesn’t change what you did. This will have to be handled professionally and legally.”
“I know, I’m expecting that and will take whatever comes my way.”
“Let’s just take this moment to assume you’re going to be on administrative leave for now. We’ll handle the paperwork after the weekend.”
“Yes, sir.” He turns to leave but stops and faces me again. “You know, I do really care about Scarlett, and if you make her happy… then that makes me happy for her.”
“That may be but because of what you did, what Miranda did, she left me for good, and this, what you admitted, won’t change that part of it.”
“I know, and for that, I can’t apologize enough. I’ll email you the photos so you can give them to your attorney, and I’ll cooperate in any way you need, any and everything.”
***
