“Harper…don—”
He doesn’t get to finish his sentence before I launch my arm full of crap, sending it sailing through the air, before landing across the yard. It’s then that I hear a satisfying crunch as whatever it was breaks. I should feel bad, right? I am throwing his belongings on the front lawn like the crazy person you see in movies. But in light of what I’ve just learned, I get it.
I totally fucking get how someone could be so livid, they just wanted to get rid of every single thing that belongs to the person.
It almost feels cathartic doing this. I knew something was off with the relationship, but I always debunked it to comfortability. We were both more irritable, but we always made up in the end. I thought nothing of it.
On the other end of the spectrum, I feel so unbelievably stupid. How could I have missed something like this? How could I have missed that this person, who I have spent so much of my life with, was fucking the receptionist at his job? I scoff and shake my head, silently berating myself for my stupidity in not noticing sooner.
“—Harper! I’m fucking talking to you!” Dalton bites, snapping me out of my own thoughts.
I glare at him as I respond angrily. “What?” He stares at me in disbelief, throwing his hands up in the air as he begins collecting some of his things and muttering to himself while he brings them to the trunk of his car. Tears prickle at the back of my eyes, and I look up in an effort to blink them away.
I will not cry.
Nope, I will not cry in front of him right now. I will keep it together, and the moment he finally leaves, I will go to my kitchen and make the strongest fucking drink there is. And only once I have that drink will I allow myself to cry.
He stomps back up the front lawn, throwing his hands in an exasperated movement. “Well? Are you going to tell me why the fuck you’re throwing my things on the front lawn right now?” Hebends down to grab another armful of things, and then a disgruntled noise comes from Dalton’s mouth.
“My snow globes! They’re shattered!”
A snort laugh escapes before I can school my emotions. I quickly slap my hand over my mouth as he turns, shooting daggers my way. Let me tell you, if looks could kill someone…
“I’ll get a garbage bag.” I quickly turn on my heel and rush back into the house, snickering to myself. I fucking hated those stupid snow globes. They were the tackiest things ever, but he insisted he needed them every time we traveled somewhere. When I heard the crack, I was hoping that it would be those things. My little moment of triumph was interrupted when I could hear the stomping footsteps coming up behind me. I continued to the sink and opened the cupboard underneath grabbing a garbage bag, when he started berating me again.
“Harper, what the fuck! Why is all my shit over the front lawn?!”
I stand up quickly, back tense. I turn around slowly and lean up against the counter. Looking him in the eye, I cross my arms and raise one eyebrow when I reply, “Are you really that dense, Dalton?”
He looks blankly at me and waits.
The silence is deafening before I straighten myself and finally speak. “Ask Chloe.”
His face pales, before he tries to hide his reaction. But he isn’t quick enough. I see it. There’s rage in his eyes before he huffs. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“Oh, really?” I scoff, pushing off the counter. I brush past him, leading into the living room, passing down the hallway into my bedroom. Snatching the tablet from the bed, I make my way back to find Dalton standing awkwardly in the living room as Winnie is standing by him, sniffing around. Dalton's nose scrunches up as he regards Winnie. As I enter, he notices me. His eyes see the tablet in my hand, and I see his jaw tighten.
“Yeah, you forgot to disconnect your messages from my tablet.” I explain, unlocking the screen. The conversation is still where I left it, myeyes scanning over the conversation quickly before continuing. “Do you talk to everyone you work with like you do with your receptionist?” I toss the tablet down onto the couch before heading to the patio door to let Winnie out. “You know, it all sort of makes sense now. The late nights, the cold attitude Chloe always gave me when I was at the office when we used to go out to lunch. The distance.”
“You’re sounding crazy. Chloe was just a friend from the office nothing more—” He goes to continue, but I cut him off before he even has a chance to spout off whatever bullshit he was about to say. I walk back to the couch and pick the tablet up, scrolling until I get to the part I want to share.
“Chloe: When do you think you’ll be able to get away from that leech? I got something from your favorite store today and I want to show you.” I cock my head and rest a hand on my hip. “And don’t get me started on the pictures of her modeling said things from yourfavoritestore.”
A look of panic quickly washes over his face when he finally realizes he’s been caught. Dalton sputters, and I can see the wheels turning in his head as he tries to come up with something to cover his tracks. I literally have the proof in my hands. One of the perks of being together with someone for so long is that you can read them like a book. Granted, maybe I don’t know him as well as I thought I did.
I knowthisthough. He always gets angry when things don’t go his way.
“Well, what the fuck were you thinking snooping through my messages? It’s not my fault you found something you didn’t like.”
My head snaps back at theaudacityof this man. You’ve got to be kidding me.
“You know what Dalton? I…” I sigh. “I just don’t care anymore. It’s over. You clearly moved on well before that was even decided. I just … just get the rest of your shit, and go.” I plop myself on the couch and rest my head on the back of the couch, closing my eyes. So much has happened in the last week, I honestly don’t think I could take any more bad news.
I hear barking coming from the patio door, so I get up and let Winnie in. He is instantly at my side, nudging my hand. When I look down at him, I smile. I’m so glad I found him, he’s exactly what I needed in my life.
If Dalton could do one thing right, it would be to shut up and leave.
But this isn’t a perfect world, so really I shouldn’t be surprised when he ruins the moment.
