Page 71 of Man Hands
I take a deep breath and find my resolve. I won’t give them the satisfaction. I won’t feed thebeast.
Standing up as straight as I possibly can, I turn around and walk out the door. On the deck outside, I count to ten, taking more deep breaths. Dawn is creeping towards us. There’s a warm light tinting thehorizon.
I’m trying to see something. An image. I’m not quite sure what yet, so I wait a few moments until it becomes clear. I picture Brynn asleep in her bed in that little Victorian house she rents, her foot kicked out from the covers to balance out her body heat, and that’s the image I carry back inside with me. That bare foot. The curve of hersleepingform.
I step into the kitchen again. “Well, hello,” I say to Chandra. “Fancy meetingyouhere.”
She blinks. Then she blinks again. Or maybe it’s her fake eyelashes. They are so enormous that it looks like she’s blinking twice. Clearly, though, I’ve taken her by surprise. She obviously assumed I wouldn’t do exactly what the producer said. “Hi,” she finally manages. “…Tom.” She adds my name too late, and it makes her sound like an imbecile. “How’veyoubeen?”
“Terrific!” I boom, because it’s finally true. The first months after Chandra dumped me were awful. But since I stopped brooding, I’ve been pretty happy. Brynn made lifemorefun.
“That’s good.” She swallows hard, and I see her straighten her spine and try to pull herself together. “Nice lodge, right? I’ve been thinking about a lavender colorscheme.”
Here’s where, according to the script that we’ve followed in every episode, I agree with her. She’s the decorating genius, the one with all the brains, and I’m just thebrawn.
“I think that sounds perfectly awful!” I say, giving camera number three a big smile. “If I were the designer, I’d pick a medium ochre. Something that’s actually warm and inviting. But if you want to make the place look like a bedroom from the Pottery Barn Teen catalogue, you go right ahead and amuseyourself.”
Across the room, Burt doubles over with laughter. I must be doing somethingright.
Two steps forward brings me to Chandra. I lean in and kiss her on her emaciated cheek. “Good chat, honey!” I walk off, toward Burt. And I can feel the cameras zooming in on Chandra’sstunnedface.
God, I’m over her. And I’m over the rest of this too. But in less than forty-eight hours it won’t matter. I’ll be on mywayhome.
38Fierce
Brynn
My phone rings,and I actually dance across the room to pickitup.
But the callerisn’tTom.
My heart deflates like a whoopee cushion—suddenly and with great force, but without the noise. Thankfully. It’s been half a day since I texted Tom. I told Tom I missed him, and he didn’trespond.
I’m trying not to be crushed, because New Brynn is the kind of girl who’s getting her shittogether.
“I’m a strong woman, living my life the way I want!” I chant to theceilingfan.
The ceiling fan has noreply.
Meanwhile, the caller tries again.Bracken and Smith, the caller ID says. That sounds a little familiar so Ianswerit.
“Hello?”
“Good day.” The voice on the other end is clipped, and I’m instantly wary. “We represent Mr. Steven Masters in the matter of hisdivorce.”
Oh, lovely. Steven’s divorce lawyer. Just what a girl needs. “How can I help you?” I ask slowly. Like, really slowly.Howwww cannn I hellllp yoooooooou?Divorce lawyers charge in six-minute increments. I always made a point of taking up as much of Steven’s lawyers’ time as Icould.
A girl has to have her fun where she canfindit.
“Mr. Masters is filing a motion to renegotiate his alimonypayment.”
“Reallllllyyyy?” The lawyer probably thinks I have a speech impediment. “Why would he dooooooo that?” Steven barely pays me anything, since we’re both employable adults with no kids. But he kept our house, so he owes meforthat.
“Your remarriage,” he says icily. “It will change the terms of yourdivorce.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I say, forgetting to speak slowly. “I’m notremarried.”
“According to the newsmedia—”
