Page 2 of After Him, There Was You
“Hey, Tara. How are you doing?” Amber asked me with a bright and sickening smile.
“The kids will be out in a minute,” I responded, ready to close the door to end the unnecessary interaction with my ex-husband’s new wife and former mistress.
“Wait. Tara, I’ve always been fond of you and respected you as a woman. I would love if we could be friends. My therapist says it would be good for the kids to see us as a united front instead of divided individuals at odds.”
For the sake of my children and my reputation, and much to my mama’s dismay, I hadn’t dragged Amber across the town limits of North Brooke Port, and she had obviously taken my maturity level as an olive branch it was never intended to be.
“Please forgive me for not knowing, but what part of you sleeping with my husband equates to us being friends?” I sincerely asked, causing her smile to instantly drop. “I don’t think any part of that qualifies for us being able to be, as you say, aunited front.”
“I didn’t mean any harm, Tara.”
“You didn’t mean any harm. Interesting… Did you mean any harm when you were screwing my husband, Amber?” I asked with a look of concern on my face, waiting on her answer.
The banging sound coming from her car before she could answer my question, was proof that she didn’t have a single care when she was engaging in a five-year affair with a man who was supposed to spend the rest of this life with me.
Jason and I had so much life to live together, and one affair destroyed it all.
Their one-year-old, red-headed, little hellion of a child, who was a product of their affair, was exactly what they deserved and was giving them the same dose of trouble their situation gave me.
I looked at women like Torei Hart who could befriend their husband’s mistress for the sake of their new blended family, and I respected them. However, the same manner of respect didn’t attribute to me seeing myself achieve such a level of development. Although I admired her strength, I didn’t ever see Amber and I being friends.
Turning her attention from the child aggressively banging on her smudge-covered window, she looked at me, and although I could see hints of regret in her eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to care. How could I when she was partially responsible for the demise of my marriage, my family, and the life I had planned?
Amber was the woman who I caught him skillfully going in and out of at a steady yet aggressive rate when he was supposed to be working late.
Ironically, he wasworking, but it was nowhere near the kind of work I expected for him to be engaged in.
Amber had been his secretary for years, and because she had a family herself, including a husband and children, I didn’t think I ever had to worry about them crossing that line. Sadly, time proved how wrong I was.
She’d worked with Jason so long at his architecture firm she had darn near become family. Amber had started working for Jason a year after he started his firm, J. Morgan Builders.
The firm was established during the time I was pregnant with Raegan, and ironically, she was the person at his firm responsible for throwing a work baby shower for us. The gesture meant so much to me at the time, but these days the thought of her kindness made my stomach churn.
I didn’t understand how she could smile in my face for years and then turn around and screw my husband.
Derisively somehow, she managed to be the perfect back-stabbing homewrecker all while being cordial to me and never giving me anything to be suspicious of.
“The kids will be out in a few minutes,” I informed her before following my gut and slamming the door in her face. I felt like her showing up was out of line because of the role she played in my divorce, yet every other weekend, I could count on her being at my doorstep.
Typically, I was cordial, but hearing Raegan express her hate for her dad so close to pick-up time, I found myself being out of sorts.
I shared Jaedan and Raegan with Jason, not with his mistress.
While a part of me considered him finding joy in sending the other woman to pick up our children, I knew firsthand how much Jason worked, which could have contributed to his availability or lack thereof. However, I also knew how much the kids would have appreciated having at least a car ride alone with their father before they had to share him with his new blended family.
From the moment I had him served with divorce papers, he wasted no time moving into a home with her and starting a new life, which meant our kids bouncing from their home to his new family house every other weekend. There was no such thing as an adjustment period for the sake of our children when it came to Jason moving on.
Whatever moral compass she was trying to reset didn’t have anything to do with me. I could be cordial to Amber for the sake of my children and my sanity, but I didn’t have anything more to offer her. Though she was well-deserving ofmy disrespect, I knew being evil hearted towardher would only be damaging to me in the long run.
Going from one child’s room to the next, I managed to reluctantly get them out of the house with the reminder they would only be gone for the weekend. I would see them first thing Monday morning when we all made it to school.
As a teacher at North Brooke Port Academy, NBP’s finest private school, one thing I loved was that I could teach at the school my children attended. Teaching wasn’t my initial career choice, but from the moment I stepped into my first classroom eleven years ago, it had easily become my passion. I honestly couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life. It was far more rewarding than being a news editor assistant which was my occupation before I transitioned to the classroom. Taking my English degree and getting a teacher certification was one of the best choices I’d ever made for myself.
The ringing of my phone pulled me away from the mindless cleaning I began doing once my children said their goodbyes to me.
“Hey, E,” I greeted into the phone, answering for my best friend since middle school, Eva.
“Hey, T,” she greeted in response. “Are my godchildren gone with their sorry ass daddy yet?”
