“Yes he did! He should never have cheated on me, but I can’t blame him for calling me a slut. I slept with you while I was engaged to him. That pretty much makes me a slut.” I shrieked at him.
Jamieson in two large steps closed the space between us and cupped my face. His large hands were enough to soothe any sting Cain had left behind. “You are not a slut, Jenna. Nothing you have done has ever made you a slut. I don’t want to hear you say that again, do you understand me?”
His stormy blue eyes looked fierce as they searched mine. I took a small breath and lightly nodded my head in agreement.
“I’m sorry you’re hurting, Jenna, but you need to realize it’s probably for the best that things ended,” he whispered softly, still holding onto me.
“I know that now,” I said regaining my control and suddenly feeling way too close to him.
His eyes were still searching mine. It was too much having him touch me. I took a large step backwards breaking our contact. “I need to be alone, Jamieson.”
“Jenna…”
“No Jamieson, please just go. I know we have stuff that needs to be worked out but I can’t think about it right now.” I pleaded with him.
“Please, just let me be here for you.” He took a step toward me.
I could tell he was being sincere but I also didn’t trust myself. I was vulnerable and apparently when it comes to Jamieson Wellington, I have zero self-control. He needed to leave, it was for the best.
“I don’t think your girlfriend would appreciate that.” I said stone cold and with as much hatred as I could muster.
He stopped his advance and raked his hands through his hair. “She is not my girlfriend.”
“Okay. Well I don’t think your fuck-buddy would like that much.” At some point pure hatred is the last thing you can cling to in hopes of self-preservation and Lord knew I was clinging to a mountain of hate towards Jamieson Wellington.
“She’s not—”
I cut him off immediately. “She’s not what? Not your fuck-buddy? Well if she’s not your girlfriend and she’s not your wife? Then who the hell is she?”
He didn’t answer he just glared at me.
“Exactly. Goodnight, Jamieson.” I said walking to the door and holding it open, indicating it was past time for him to leave.
He conceded and started out the door but when he got outside he stopped and turned to face me. “This is not over, Jenna. It’s far from over.”
I scoffed at him and hurled the door shut in his face. I may be an absolute mess right now but I definitely didn’t need to complicate matters by getting myself sucked into the toxic world of Jamieson Wellington again. No, that chapter was hopefully going to be sealed shut just as soon as I could secure a quickie divorce.
“Okay do you want the good news or the bad news first?” Audrey asked while sipping her drink in the corner booth of our favorite happy-hour bar, Teds.
I had been holed up in my house for nearly three weeks. I had only emerged to go to the grocery store and to the gym in the middle of the night. Thanks to Cain and his family’s deep ties to the legal community in Huntsville, I was unceremoniously fired from my job the next day after my boss cited the morality clause of my contract. In less than a month my entire life had imploded. My friends have been my only saving grace. I had of course told them about my painful confession to Cain and his equally painful response. Olivia had immediately responded that she had never really liked him and vowed that karma would catch up with him one day. Audrey handled things differently as I imagined she would. Audrey took Cain’s betrayal hard. She sat on my bed with me and cried. It made sense; Cain had been her friend along with mine in law school. His true colors were a hard thing to process but curiously not hard to believe. Both my friends had been checking on me every day, making sure I hadn’t quietly faded into insanity. They had been trying for weeks now to get me out of the house but each time I had refused until this evening when they gave me no choice.
“The bad I guess…I mean how much worse can it really get?” I asked sucking back my second whiskey sour of the night.
“Okay, so here is the deal….Elgin said the soonest the divorce can be finalized is ninety days.” I watched as my two best friends braced for my reaction to this news. Little did they know, I already knew this shitty piece of news. I had done my own research and found the ninety day time requirement. Thanks to the great State of Alabama I had to be married for at least ninety days before I could even attempt to dissolve my sham of a marriage. I appreciated Audrey contacting Elgin though. She had asked me who I wanted to use from our pool of classmates and Elgin was an easy choice. He had a large divorce practice in Huntsville and I knew he would be discreet, as he still owed me a favor from law school. I had saved his butt once in contracts class and he had never forgotten it.
“Great, that means I will get to celebrate my birthday by filing for divorce. So what’s the good news?” I knew I was freaking them out with my unfazed attitude.
“Uh yeah…Elgin also thinks you can get a large settlement from Jamieson. He thinks his people will want to keep this as quiet as possible.”
That did surprise me. I hadn’t considered asking for a settlement; in fact the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t want one thing from Jamieson, especially his money.
“I don’t want it,” I blurted out sternly.
“Jenna, don’t you think you should at least think about this? I mean Jamieson can afford it, you know he can. This money could give you an opportunity for a fresh start. You could travel for a bit before you have to figure out your next move.” Olivia countered.
“No. I don’t want any of his money. I don’t want anything from him, not anymore,” I told them resolutely.
“Okay.” Audrey said acknowledging my determination.
“Have you told you parents yet?” Olivia asked me.
“No I plan on telling them tomorrow. I’m supposed to go over there for Sunday dinner.” I had been avoiding my entire family since I returned home. I didn’t want to tell them what happened with Cain and I also really didn’t want to have to tell them I was in fact married, to Jamieson. I knew there was no way around it though, I had to tell them.
“Do you want us to go with you?” Livy offered.
“No, I’ll be alright. I’ve already told my Mom that Cain and I are having problems so it’s not a complete shock to her when I tell her we called off the wedding. The shocking part will be when I tell her I’m already married to a fucking Wellington. So cheers to that!” I said holding up the last of my drink and chugging it back.
My friends looked more than a bit concerned. I don’t blame them. I was pretty much self-destructing before their very eyes.
“Where to next, gals?” I asked trying to change the subject and sound upbeat.
“Gossips?” Audrey asked.
“Let’s do it.” Olivia announced placing enough cash down on the table for all of our drinks and then some.
Gossips was packed like usual. The house music thudded through the speakers amplifying my buzzed state. I had downed two tequila shots when I got in the bar. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
“Let’s shake it, ladies,” Olivia led us all to the dance floor.
Iggy Azalea’s Beg For It was playing as Livy led the way to the front of the bar toward the stage. It was a ritual for us to dance on the stage at Gossips. Once we waded our way through the large crowd of people packing the stage, we settled into a spot on the right of the DJ. I watched as my friends easily began swaying to the beat of the music and I followed along. I was hoping that some drunken dancing would finally take my mind off the fact my life had been turned upside down and I had no idea which way was up anymore.
About a half an hour into dancing a group of good looking guys infiltrated our little dance party. I was now fully feeling my alcohol consumption enough to make a bold choice and begin provocatively dancing with one of the guys who was very tall dark and incredibly handsome. He was a good dancer and I enjoyed the way he was making my body feel. I guess that’s why I didn’t panic when he guided me back against the wall caging me in. I knew I was drunk, I knew I was past the point of making smart choices, but I also knew I didn’t care. I just wanted to feel something other than the pain from my reality.