Page 50 of Just Desserts

My parents stepped into the house and I closed the door behind them. As we stood awkwardly in the foyer, I frantically tried to figure out what to say to them. So caught up in my own thoughts, I hadn’t noticed the atmosphere in the house.

Far too late, as if everything was in slow motion things started to register. The low music playing from the bedroom, the dining room table set up for a romantic dinner, not to mention the half naked woman currently bent over giving my parents an eyeful up her skirt.

All hope of smoothing this over with my parents flew out the window as my mothers ashen face registered and she let out a horrified gasp. Alyssa swung around in shock, something dropping out of her hands and hitting the floor. All eyes turned to the ground and the silence magnified as a hot pink feather duster rolled towards our feet.

Chapter 35

Jonathan

I felt like I was underwater, my parents yelling, my own voice sounded distorted to my ears. I couldn't process anything, this was a nightmare! Alyssa had the decency to scurry up the stairs but that only provided more room for my parents' vitriol.

"You're cut off. And we're no longer paying the mortgage. You're going to pack your shit, move out of this place and sell it. Half will go to Isla, you can keep whatever is left over after you pay us back for the amount we've covered the last four years."

"What! You can't be serious!" I yelled. If I had to pay them back I would be left with barely any money, and that didn't take into account the amount of debt I currently was under. I wouldn't even have enough money to pay rent on a new place.

"I'll be homeless! You want me out on the streets?" I yelled, looking between my parents. How could they abandon me so easily?

"What about your tart upstairs? You thought it was a good idea to bring her into this house, I'm sure she has a place you could stay at instead." My father said drolly, making it clear he was not backing down from his decision.

"Can't you see she's crazy! She snuck in here! I don't even know how she got in! She means nothing, I love Isla!" My arms were waving manically as I tried to get my parents to listen to me.Why was I the one getting the brunt of everything? Where was Alyssa?

"Oh trust me, we saw more than enough. None of that changes the fact you invited her into your marriage with Isla, way before this moment. You have to live with the decisions you made, the repercussions. Do not contact us, we will reach out when emotions have calmed." My father said sternly, steering my mother towards the door. She stopped to look at me then up the stairs, her face falling.

"Leave Isla alone, she's ready to send a restraining order. You've hurt her enough." Mom said with a sigh.

"You need to take a good look at your life, son. We expected more from you, Isla expected more from you, and I think above all, you expected more from yourself. Take care, Jonathan." She said before slipping out the door, my fathers large frame exiting behind her as the final note of this horrible conversation.

The door swung shut without my help and the slam caused me to jump. The house was silent, only the echoes of my misdeeds ringing in my ears. Belatedly, I remembered Alyssa was still here.

"Crazy tart huh? That's rich coming from a homeless divorcee." She said smugly, an ugly look on her face. I wanted to let loose, I wanted to scream in her face, tell her she ruined my life but the words were locked in my mouth. My fathers statement about moving in with Alyssa rearing its head.

"Hmm, had a lot to say before but now that I'm right here, you can't say it to my face? Figures. How pathetic, holding up the divorce in some false hope that Isla is gonna take you back. How much of your life is a lie Jonathan? Your marriage clearly was, you got Daddy paying your bills. Who is the one really atrisk of losing their job right now, me or you?" I didn't reply, my jaw felt soldered shut. The words were coming up from my throat, ramming at my teeth but not coming out.

"I can see you have a lot to think about, and some packing to do. I'll talk to you soon enough I imagine." Alyssa bent down and kissed my cheek, I had to hold back the cringe as her perfume invaded my space.

"How long do you think you can hold out before you come crawling back to me? Sharing my bed never looked so good." With that parting jab, she slithered past me and walked out the door.

I finally gave in and collapsed to the ground. I screamed, I ripped at my hair, I tore through the house like a wild beast. I spent the night on the cold floor of the foyer, remembering the early days of my marriage.

Carrying Isla over the threshold, the love shining from her eyes. That all seemed like a fairytale now, a memory of a forgotten life. In the pre-dawn light, I looked around my empty house. What had I done? Oh god, what had I done? Isla, my wife. All I wanted was my wife.

Alyssa

I felt frozen in this terrible tableau. Jonathan and his parents across from me, their faces varied from surprise to horror before settling on disgust. My pulse pounded in my ears and I darted up the stairs as fast as I could in these ridiculous heels. I slammed the door to the bedroom behind me and leaned against it.

My breathing was out of control and my body was swinging from hot to cold. Embarrassment oozed through me, slow and thick. I felt like a duck caught in an oil spill, I couldn't move orshed the shame now coating every inch of me.

I stripped out of my outfit, nearly tearing it at the seams. I dressed in my regular clothes and grabbed my jacket and keys before pressing my face against the door to listen. Were they still here? What were they doing here? How would I ever recover from this? I could hear deep voices arguing, clearly Jonathan and his father.

"Can't you see she's crazy! She snuck in here! I don't even know how she got in! She means nothing, I love Isla!" Jonathan's familiar voice echoed over me.

I rolled my eyes, he was pathetic. Always the same old song. It meant nothing, he loves Isla. But it didn't stop him from sleeping with me when they were together and hasn't stopped him in the months since. There were some more murmurs too low for me to hear until Jonathan's father's voice rang out clearly.

"Cut off. No more money from us and no more holding up the divorce."

What did he mean, holding up the divorce? I wasn't under the delusion that Jonathan loved me or would genuinely leave Isla for me. I did not, however, expect him to go out of his way to hold up the divorce. He continued to fight it even while he had me with him.

I stood in the bedroom with the door cracked open, shamelessly listening to the fight play out. Jonathan was good and fucked. Doesn't sound like he has a dime in his name. Go figure.

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