Page 88 of Games We Play
Chapter 28
Lunch at Rose City Bakery was a hit or miss affair. Sometimes, Leah was afforded the grand opportunity of stepping out for a whole half hour to eat her lunch either at the nearby park or in a café not too far away. But, most of the time, she was stuck in the tiny staff room in the back of the bakery, where she stuffed her lunch down her throat and went right back to work without any extra pay.When I have a deadline staring me down, do I really get much choice?
That bright Monday morning was her first day back at work after her mini-vacation. Karlie still was not talking to their mother (and it would take a few months for Leah to stop thinking of Janet as Karlie’s mother) but had agreed to keep the peace while she applied to colleges and finished up her senior year of high school. Leah was finally to a point where she stopped crying every time she thought of Margaret Sloan.
Not that she felt great about it, of course, but going back to work, where nobody asked her questions and she could take her mind off things for a few hours, was a boon. Even better when she could go outside and enjoy the fleeting sunshine during her lunch break. She took her bagged lunch to the park and sat on a bench that wasnotcovered in rain for once.
She also had a wonderful data signal, which was also a rarity around that neighborhood. The bakery had wi-fi she could use, but whenever she ventured around the block, she was lucky if she could receive texts, let alone browse Facebook and the news.
She had forgotten that she had set her Google alerts to certain names in the past few weeks. How was she supposed to remember that Margaret Sloan was on her list, when that woman barely made tabloid news to begin with? The only time Sloan showed up in Leah’s Google alerts was when those pictures of them on Valentine’s Day made their debut. After that? Silence. Quite the feat for a woman as rich and influential as her.
Not on Monday, though. Leah woke up her phone and found a big, bright alert that said,“Margaret Sloan, of Giles & Sloan, Files for Divorce from Estranged Husband Aaron Giles.”
Leah stared at the alert before digging up the nerve to click on it. The link was to one of the more “respectable” gossip magazines, which meant the information was probably true, or at least verified to the best of the publication’s knowledge.
Too bad Leah wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of photos, since most readers wouldn’t know who the hell Margaret Sloan was, and needed visual references like her official work photo that appeared on the Giles & Sloan website – and a few tabloid photos of her and Aaron Giles.
And “her mysterious female date.”
“Aaron Giles is the only man connected to Ms. Sloan’s love life since the public first discovered her,”the article explained.“Ms. Sloan has always been a controversial figure in LGBT communities, both online and off, due to her continuing to identify as a lesbian both before her marriage, and after she claims it dissolved in everything but legalities, ‘years ago.’”
“Well, yes,” Leah muttered. “A lot of people aren’t going to like that.”
“A spokesperson for Ms. Sloan has gone on record to say she is pursuing an amicable split while looking to relocate elsewhere in her native city of Chicago. Currently, she and her estranged husband share a three-level penthouse. The spokesperson confirmed that the couple have been living in separate wings for over five years, and that both ‘have vibrant, busy personal lives outside of each other.’”
There were no comments from Mr. Giles’ side. Leah lingered on the photo from Valentine’s Day.God. I looked so happy. Was that only a week ago?Leah, in her pink cupcake dress, laughed at one of Sloan’s bad jokes. She couldn’t help but see the dimple of a smile on her ex-girlfriend’s face.
The caption read,“As recently as Feb. 14th, Margaret Sloan was seen on a date with an unknown woman at one of Chicago’s most exclusive restaurants.”Nobody speculated on who Leah was. Sloan was a known womanizer who would soon be seen with someone else.
That thought should’ve bothered Leah, but something else bothered her more.I was really an ass to her.Time slowed as she gazed across the park, where nobody but a man and his dog appeared to mar her tranquil sight.I should’ve listened more. Instead I…Instead, Leah had projected her own issues upon Sloan, and didn’t like what she had seen.
What was the breaking point? Leah had taken the explanation well enough, until a certain point when she simply couldnotdeal anymore. The sad thing? It took her a few minutes of contemplation to remember, because her brain had expunged most of it on the flight back to Portland.
She broke up with him because of how he reacted to her being pregnant.Leah held her phone to her chest and stared through the canopy of trees.No wonder I checked out. That hit way too close to home.
Leah still hadn’t been sure if she would ever tell Sloan the truth about Karlie. How could she explain that her little sister was actually her daughter? It didn’t work that way. Sloan would have judged her. Told her the same horrible shit Janet had over the years. Where was the personal responsibility?
Where were my choices, for God’s sake?
Leah could no longer say what she would have chosen as a scared and pregnant twelve-year-old if given viable choices. Because she never had a say about what happened after showing her mother the pregnancy test. She never made the conscious decision to give birth to Karlie, let alone giving her up to her grandmother.
Sloan was old enough – let alone educated enough – to know what her options were right away. She made a decision. She followed through. She dealt with the consequences, even if it meant ending her marriage.
Maybe Leah’s problem wasn’t that Sloan had kept her marriage a secret. Maybe it was the fact she could do things Leah never could.
It didn’t change Leah’s feelings of, course. Those were as valid as her confusion toward her sister-daughter and how she came to be born, but she could’ve changed how she reacted to the news. Even if she decided that she and Sloan would never be compatible enough for a long-term relationship, she could’ve at least offered her temporary support. No woman wanted to get a divorce with nobody on her side.
She’s not finally getting a divorce for me, is she?Leah hadn’t heard from her ex since she left Chicago. Sloan was apparently so busy filing this divorce that she didn’t have time to get Leah back. Then again, maybe she didn’t want to…
Leah turned on her phone again. A few more Google alerts trailed behind, as more news outlets picked up on the sudden divorce of the business world’s most well-known couple?. Had everyone but Leah known about the marriage? How could she have known? It never showed up when she searched for Sloan’s name. The woman had scrubbed the net of her information so well that not even Leah could find out about the marriage.
She hadn’t done that to con women into sleeping with her, right? Sloan was rich and confident enough to get mistresses if she wanted them badly enough. No. Instead, she pursued sex with women who would never become attached to her. She wouldn’t become attached to them, either. Her views of relationships had become so tainted that she wasn’t capable of anything but professional relationships in the bedroom.
Until I came along.
Perhaps Leah had been too hard on Sloan, after all. She should’ve at least heard her out, or let their emotions settle while keeping the relationship open-ended. Instead, Leah had thrown the bracelet back in Sloan’s face.
It was too late now, though. Leah had broken up with her. That was that. If Sloan hadn’t come for her since then, she never would. Why would she? She could have any woman she wanted. She could find someone else to explore her aggressions with.
