Page 49 of Almost Paradise

“When is Kyle coming?” he asks. “I want him to sleep here.”

Just as the words leave his mouth, Nia leans against the door. She crosses her arms as if she’s waiting to hear my answer, but Carter gets distracted when he notices the toy box in the corner. He hops off the bed, opens the big wooden box, and pulls out the Spiderman action heroes I had it filled with.

Feeling proud of myself, I turn to Nia. I expect her to be happy, but all she does is turn her back and walk away from me. I leave Carter playing in his room and follow her. She walks past the master bedroom’s signature double doors. She doesn’t even look at it. There are three other bedrooms up here, and she looks inside all of them. She must find something she approves of in the last one because she goes inside and finally takes off her coat. She opens her large purse and pulls out two laptops and puts them on the bed.

“I will need a ride back to the house to get my car in the morning,” is all she says to me. “Can you let me know when your minion brings up the bag? I need to give Carter a bath and start getting him ready for bed.” She rubs both hands over her face. “Which will take twice as long tonight,” she whispers. “But as long as Drake Paradise gets what he wants, I guess the earth can continue spinning.”

She drops herself on the bed and removes her shoes. She lies on top of the down comforter on the bed and opens her personal laptop.

“I need your WIFI password,” she says without bothering to look up at me.

“It’s the same password you set all those years ago.” Her head snaps up and she stares into my eyes. She knows the password. I’m sure of it. She looks away, types something on her computer, and continues to ignore me.

“What are you doing?” I ask her. I sit on the edge of the bed next to her. She tenses before moving as far away from me as possible while remaining on the bed. “You know where our bedroom is. You’ve spent lots of time there.”

“I’m not sharing a bed with you. This marriage is a sham as far as I’m concerned.”

I dig around in my pants pocket and pull out her wedding rings. “You discarded these by the kitchen sink earlier tonight.” I take her left hand and slide them back on. “Perfect fit. And you’re wrong. This marriage is very real. You’re my wife, and I’m your husband. Those are the facts.”

I think I hear her mumble, “Fuck you and the facts.”

I take off my suit jacket and hang it in the empty closet. I remove my shoes and get in the bed next to her. She elbows me in the ribs before she tries to shove me off the bed.

“Are you trying to tickle me? You know I’m not ticklish.” I take her wrists and hold her in place. “If you prefer this room, fine. We can stay in this one even though the master is much bigger.”

“You think this is all a big joke, don’t you? You have no idea how miserable I’m about to make your life. I’m not sharing a room or a bed with you. You will never lay a hand on me again. Go home to your fiancée.”

Before I can answer her, Carter barges into the room carrying a bunch of toys. He drops them on the floor and climbs on the bed with us. Nia pulls him on top of her and he rests his head on her boobs. I used to do that.

“When is Kyle coming?” he asks again. “I miss him.” He sticks out his bottom lip and rubs his eyes.

“Baby, Kyle doesn’t live here. How about we FaceTime him? After I pick you up tomorrow, I’ll take you to the house for a visit, okay? You can call Kyle, Mason, and Uncle Ray whenever you want.” She kisses the top of his head, and that seems to calm him. I put my hand on his back, and he puts his little hand on my chest. I pick it up and kiss it.

Minutes later, I watch as she gives Carter a bath in the bathroom connected to his room. I help him put on his pajamas, and while she gets him warm milk, Carter picks out a book from the bookshelf in his room. I thought he’d pick one about Spiderman, but he grabsPinocchio.

As much as he fusses about not being tired, he falls asleep before Nia gets to the third page. She kisses his forehead, and I do the same before we both tiptoe out of there. She goes into the bedroom she’s picked for herself and slams the door in my face. I had all the locks removed from the bedrooms, but I don’t let myself in right away. I get a few things from the master bedroom first.

She’s in the middle of the bed under the down comforter. She has the blanket all the way up to her neck while she types something on her phone. She doesn’t react to my presence. I toss my pajamas on the bed and start to undress.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she asks. “Leave your clothes on.”

“Why? You’re afraid you won’t be able to stop yourself?” I ask, grinning for the first time in hours.

“Stop myself from laughing or vomiting? Probably not,” she retorts. She looks straight ahead, but I can practically see steam coming out of her ears.

“I don’t remember you doing either of those things at the sight of my naked body. You want to know what I do remember?”

“I don’t want to hear your delusions or your revisionist history,” she says before she purses her lips shut.

“Anyway,” I say, deciding to stop us from having another argument, “I’m going to bed. I hope you don’t mind, but I have some emails to read. I’d normally do it in my office, but it’s been a long few days and—”

“Get out of this room, Paradise. I’m not playing with you. I don’t want to be anywhere near you. You’re disgusting.”

My only response is to drop my pants and take them off. She gasps as if she hasn’t seen every inch of my naked body before. Not only has she seen it, but she’s touched, kissed, and licked every patch of skin.

“Disgusting? When did I become that? You weren’t too worried about it back then. I don’t think there’s anywhere on this body that you haven’t kissed, licked, or sucked.”

“I wouldn’t touch you with rubber gloves.”

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