A Reason For Everything Read online

  “Honey, if there's one thing I've learned over the years it’s that not all people are the same. Sure he has done something terrible to you, but you look like a strong girl. You will move past this and onto something better. Trust me when I say good things are waiting for you. Fuck him, if he risked someone as pretty as you for a quick fumble then I say he ain't worth it. Now you drink up. Go get your kids and go make sure that no good bastard is out of your house. Then I suggest you change the locks and hire a good divorce lawyer.”

  She gave my hand one final squeeze as she left me alone once again.

  “Hey, baby. Did you have a good day?” I asked my little girl as she skipped out of her class and into my waiting arms, throwing her own tiny arms around my neck.

  “I did, Mama. The best day yet.” She wriggled out of my hold and I reluctantly let her go, taking her hand instead.

  “The best, huh?” I laughed, amused by her love for life. “I’m glad you had the best day, baby. Let's go get your brother.”

  Walking to where we had to get Nate, I mulled over what I was going to tell them both when we got home and they asked about their Dad.

  Nate came strolling out of his class surrounded by a group of friends. It warmed my heart to know my little man was as loved here as he is at home. He's growing up to be a lovely young boy. Turning ten on his next birthday, he already acted so much older than his years, far wiser than any of us gave him credit for sometimes.

  I'd had Nate right out of high school. He was my happy accident and I was over the moon when he’d been born. Rob and I doted on him. Sure we had it hard at first being young parents but we loved him so much. Rob’s parents were so disappointed in us. They’d wanted us to do everything the correct way around; education, marriage, buy a house then have children, but luckily we’d had my grandparents’ support and between us all we made it work. When Kaylee followed a few years later we knew our little family was complete and I couldn't have been happier. We had a great life. Rob went to work each day while I stayed at home and tended to family life. It was perfect. Well, so I thought anyway.

  Waving goodbye to his friends, Nate walked over to us. “Hi, Mom. Hi, squirt.” He ruffled his little sister's blonde curls affectionately. He grabbed her free hand as we all walked toward where I had parked the car. I listened in on their conversation about their school day. The bond that they had warmed my heart every day. As soon as she'd been born, Nate always looked out for her and in turn she grew up idolizing her big brother.

  “What do you two say to having pizza for dinner tonight?”

  A chorus of cheers for pizza rang out as I drove home, the home that would be forever changed after today. My heart broke a little more knowing that my two babies were going to suffer because of one man's mistakes. That actually had me hating Rob a whole lot right now.

  The house was quiet as we let ourselves in. “Go wash up you two while I order the pizza,” I instructed the kids as I walked closer to the dreaded kitchen. I knew Rob wasn't there but I also knew that I'd be assaulted with the memories of the act as soon as I entered the room.

  Everything was how it should be, the slight smell of bleach lingered in the air. “Well the fucker actually did as I asked,” I muttered to myself as I flung open the windows, letting the fresh air take away the smell that did doing nothing but remind me of what he did, what they did.

  Wiping away a tear that had managed to escape, I set to ordering the promised pizza, glad that it got me out of cooking tonight. That's the last thing I wanted to be doing when I am feeling like utter shit.

  Hanging up the phone I ran up the stairs, calling out to the kids. “Pizza will be here in thirty minutes. If you have any homework, meet me downstairs and we can go through it before it arrives.”

  “Okay, Mama,” Kaylee answered me right away, emerging from her room wearing her favorite princess nightgown, clutching her homework book in her hand.

  “What do you have there, baby?” I asked her as I walked into my room. I avoided looking around for the time being, instead focusing my attention on my daughter.

  “Just some spelling I have to practice before the test on Friday. I know them already, so I can just spell them out to you.”

  Entering my room, she shoved her book at me. I barely got the chance to see what the words were before she recited all ten to me, all correctly spelt in no time.

  “What a smart cookie I have, huh, baby.” I placed a kiss on her head as I gave her back her book. “You will ace that test on Friday, no sweat.”

  I started stripping down to my underwear, pulling on my favorite pair of comfy yoga pants and an old tee that belonged to Rob at one point before I claimed it for myself. Looking down at the tee I decided that I needed to start fresh, so I quickly pulled it back off, throwing it on the floor and went off in search of something else to wear.

  “That shirt dirty, Mama?”

  I grabbed a tank out of my drawer, quickly pulling it over my head. “Yes, baby. Mommy needs to wash it, it stinks!” Picking it up off the floor I ran toward her. “Want to smell it?”

  “Ewwwww, no!” Screaming with disgust she ran out of my room. I heard her footsteps banging down the stairs. I let the tee drop back to the floor the same time I let the smile drop from my face. Only then did I dare to look around the room to see if anything of his was missing from the room we shared together for years.

  Sure enough, I noticed his charger was gone off the nightstand. Rushing over toward the closet where Rob keeps all his suits, I pulled it open as a strangled gasp left my mouth. It was empty, the entire thing had been emptied. “The fucker had really left us.” The pain had me dropping to my knees, tears coursing down my face. “He really left us,” I mumbled through my tears, the pain gathering momentum in my chest feeling like it was going to split me in half.

  “You alright, Mom?” Glancing up to see Nate walking into my room, I scrambled to my feet using my hand to get rid of the tears and I tried my best to give him a smile.

  “Yes, sweetie. I’m fine.” Looking him in the eyes I could tell he didn't believe me, but I could also see he wasn't going to question me. Walking closer to me, he took my hand in his own just as the doorbell rang announcing the arrival of our food. Literally saved by the bell.

  “Come on, I'm starving.” With another forced smile I pulled him down the stairs, hoping that he wouldn’t ask me if I was okay because I didn't think I'd have it in me to lie to him again.

  After the pizza had been devoured, the kids and I called nan and the kids wished her a happy birthday. She filled them in on her birthday adventures which included going to the Simpson’s house to play cards and then over to the new neighbors to take him some cookies that she baked.

  Once Nate had put the phone down, he asked me if nan could bake since she had never baked him any cookies. I assured him that her baking for Jesse was a one off thing to welcome him to the neighborhood before mentally reminding myself to ask her if she did indeed actually bake those cookies. As far as I'm aware, my nan could not even scramble an egg, never mind making chocolate chip cookies.

  The rest of the evening flew by as we stuck to our normal routine. Only at bedtime did Kaylee ask where her Dad was. I fobbed her off with a generic “he’s working late” answer before tucking her into bed and kissing her goodnight. Nate never asked once, which surprised me a little.

  Once I settled down on the sofa with a large vodka and diet coke the silence really hit me. I was so used to Rob being here that I felt lost. Turning the television on, I flicked through the channels to see if anything caught my eye. Nothing did, so with a huge sigh I switched it off and threw the remote onto the end table in frustration.

  Trying to read a book couldn't hold my attention for long either, so after quickly downing my drink I headed off to bed. I had nothing else to do and no one else to talk to now that the kids were asleep. I had no friends I could call and have a chat with. Rob, Nate, Kaylee, and my nan were literally all I had. That thought brought me more sadne
ss than ever.

  I’m not his best friend anymore, I’m not his lover anymore, I’m not his wife anymore. So who the hell am I if I am not any of those things? I really didn't know but it's something that I'd have to work out.

  Climbing into bed I let my tears finally fall free as I cry myself to sleep, feeling so alone that I feel like I was suffocating and drowning in the sadness of it all.

  Betty kindly brought over some cookies today she'd baked especially for me to welcome me to the neighborhood. I took the platter from her excited to try one. I loved homemade cookies and I'd eagerly bit into one once she had left. It was her birthday and she wanted to get back to reading. Her granddaughter had gotten her some kind of reading device that had Betty all excited, so luckily for me she didn't stay long, but what she had baked for me were nothing like the cookies I had tasted in the past. These cookies...yeah I had no words for them apart from yuck.

  The morning after started the same as the one before, only with one added change, the absence of Rob.

  Luckily for me, Kaylee having a meltdown about a missing shoe saved me from having to answer any questions about their dad. After finally managing to locate said shoe we'd had barely enough time to rush through breakfast before hurrying off to school.

  Kissing them goodbye for the day, I returned back to my car, unsure of what to do for the day. Usually I would be running errands, dropping off Rob’s suits at the dry cleaners or grocery shopping, but I honestly didn't have the energy nor the inclination to do any of that mundane stuff today.

  Feeling a rage building up inside me, I decide to go and confront the cheating bastard. How dare he leave me to make excuses for him when it came to Nate and Kaylee. They were his responsibility as much as they were mine.

  The journey to Rob’s office took no time at all. Slamming the car into park I jumped out and ran across the parking lot. Heading in the direction of the main entrance I quickly glanced around noticing there was a construction company building on the empty lot that faced Rob’s office building.

  I rushed past Helen in the reception area calling out a hurried greeting, as I had one thing and one thing on my mind only, finding Rob. Punching the buttons of the elevator, I cursed at how long it was taking to reach the floor where he works.

  Rob worked as an accountant for a large software company, recently receiving the long coveted promotion he was after, Head of Accounts. Recalling those events a few weeks ago, I felt the pain slice through my body again, almost causing me to stumble when I finally got out of the elevator. I was so happy when he came home with the news, Everything he’d been working for over the last couple of years paid off big time and I was immensely proud of what he had achieved.

  “Hey, Willow. You looking for Rob?” Turning around I caught sight of Harvey. He'd worked for the company for a while now. I only met a him a few times but I thought he seemed like a nice guy.

  “Yeah, Harv. Have you seen him?” I inquired. As much as I liked Harvey, I didn't want to waste time shooting the shit with him.

  “He’s in a meeting. They have been in his office for awhile now so I should imagine they are nearly done. Just go on through.”

  Giving him a nod in thanks I rushed by and opened the door leading me into Rob's office. If I thought what I walked in on yesterday was bad, then what I was seeing now just took the fucking biscuit.

  Rob was in a meeting alright, one where he had all his needs serviced.

  Sitting in his office chair, Rob was currently getting his dick sucked by the person he was meant to be having a meeting with. That explained why the blinds to his office were drawn. Harvey was wrong in thinking it was because of a business meeting taking place. So fucking wrong.

  “You have got to be fucking kidding me!” I shouted out angrily as I marched further into his office.

  “Holy shit, Wills, I didn't know you would be coming in today,” Rob said calmly as he pulled out of her mouth and zipped himself up.

  “Yeah, I can fucking see that, you cheating bastard,” I said sarcastically as the girl in question got to her feet and hurried past me out of the office without even uttering a word, pulling the door closed behind her quietly.

  “Another one, huh?” I asked as I sat down in the chair opposite his desk. “Just how many have you been fucking behind my back, Rob?” I sneered as I leaned over the desk toward him, pure hatred for him filling my body. “First Heather, now her. Just how many have you had? Obviously I couldn't keep you happy for you to be going elsewhere for it?”

  Rob put his elbows on the desk and dropped his head into his hands. “Only a couple of times with Heather and today was the first time I let something like that happen with Cate.”

  “Why?” That one word exploded from my mouth, the one word that had been going around in my head since walking in on him yesterday. I needed an answer.

  “I wasn't happy, Will. We had drifted so far apart, you're always busy with the kids, running around doing other things that I felt left out. Like you had built this whole life that didn't require me anymore,” he whispered from behind the safety of his hands.

  “Are you for fucking real?” I shouted as I slammed my hand down on his desk, enraged by it all. “What I was doing while you were feeling lonely was being a fucking adult and doing things that an adult would. Like looking after our children! I am very sorry if me being a responsible adult made you feel unwanted but tough shit. You should have talked to me, Rob. You should have come to me and we could've worked through it all instead of you finding solace in between another woman’s legs! You and the kids are my world...were my world. You have no place in that now.” I stood up from my seat on shaking legs, ready to leave now that I had my answers.

  “What happens now?” Rob spoke up as I reached the door to his office. I turned around to face him. His hands were now away from his face so I could see that he was upset but I didn't feel sorry for him, not at all. He was the master of his own fate and he’d chosen the path he was now forced to walk.

  “Now, I am going to find a good lawyer. I suggest you do the same and then we will take it from there.”

  “Is that what you want?”

  Tears were now falling from his eyes, yet I still couldn't find it in me to care, maybe he had pushed me over the edge and I was now incapable of feeling anything but the anger.

  “No, it isn't what I want.” I sighed. “But our marriage was over the day you decided to fuck someone else. Nate and Kaylee will wonder where you are and I'm not sure what to tell them.”

  “Give me a few days to get my head together and I will come around and talk to them. Fuck, they're gonna be so upset,” he said, his voice breaking on that last word.

  “Yeah, well you should've thought about that before you stuck your cock in Heather.”

  With those last words I pulled open the door to his office and walked away from him. From the man I had vowed to love until the day I died. Well in part I had kept to that. I did feel dead inside and it was all my husband’s fault.

  “Nan!” I hollered as I let myself into her house, finding her usual spot in the living room empty. “Nan!” I called out again, worried that something had happened to her.

  “Bloody hell, Willow! You almost made me piss myself coming in here screaming and bawling like that,” she reprimanded me as she came into the room behind me.

  “Sorry, I got worried when you weren't in your chair.”

  “I'm not superglued to that chair, you know. I do have other things to do other than sit around and wait for you to come visit me.”

  Oh shit, I had really pissed her off. Needing to get back on her good side, I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around her, crushing her frail body into mine.

  “For heaven's sake, Will. You trying to kill me twice in one day?” she grumbled but I felt her returning my embrace. I couldn't help it, I burst into tears, wracking sobs taking over my body.

  “What on earth is the matter, child?” She was obviously puzzled by my behavior but I couldn't get a
ny words past my lips, I couldn't do anything but sob. “Shhhh, Willow. Whatever it is that has you this upset must be bad. Come now, sit down and tell your nan all about it.”

  Nodding my head I let her lead me over to the sofa and sit us both down, her arms still around me. Both of us sat in silence while she waited for me to calm down. It took a few moments to collect myself enough to tell her what had me so upset.

  “Rob,” I started before another cry left my lips.

  “What about him, child? Is he ok?”

  I could tell by the expression on her face that I had really thrown her for a loop acting this way. “I walked in on him having sex with our next door neighbor, Nan.” A fresh wave of sobbing came over me as she pulled me closer to her.

  She was silent for a moment, mulling over what I had told her. “When did this happen?”

  “Yesterday,” I muttered brokenly through my quiet crying. “I went back home to pick up your birthday present and I caught them having sex.”

  “Why didn't you tell me yesterday?”

  “I didn't want to ruin your birthday, Nan. That was your special day.” I pulled out of her embrace and wiped my eyes with my hand. My confession had really affected her, she was visibly upset, her own silent tears filling her eyes.

  “Willow, you needed me. You should have told me, birthday or not. You should have told me instead of letting it fester inside you. I take it the marriage is over?”

  I nodded my head. “Yeah, there's no coming back from this. I told him yesterday to get out and he did, never once getting in touch, not even to ask how the kids were. I was so angry this morning, Nan, over how he could just walk away without a backwards glance so I went over to his work once I took Nate and Kaylee to school,” I trailed off, unable to continue.