Page 36 of Convincing Carrie
Bryce studied me for a moment. “You know, Celia and I never liked her.”
I gave him a look. “Thanks for telling me now,” I said sarcastically.
He chuckled. “We both tried to tell you more than once over the years. You wouldn’t listen. You were too far gone.”
I nodded. I was sure he was right. “You know, I’ve treated Carrie like crap for months. I don’t know if there’s any way I can come back from this.”
He looked concerned. “Do you think she’s going to leave you?”
“I’m afraid so. She hasn’t come home since I missed the Orchid Ball.”
“That was just a couple of days ago, right?”
“Three. But it seems like longer. She won’t answer any of my texts or voicemails, either. No one will. Her parents, her friends… they just send me straight to voicemail. I’ve sent gifts to her parents’ house every day, but I don’t know if she even cares. Hell, I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t.”
Bryce shook his head. “I hate to say it, but it’s not looking good.” He stood up. “I have to go to a meeting. I hate to leave you like this. Will you be okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” It felt like a damn lie, and I think he could tell. “I’ll get the credit card back from Madison the next time I see her.”
He nodded. “I’ve taken the liberty to cancel it, but I’d still like you to get it back. I’d like to press charges against her or at least have her sign an affidavit acknowledging she’s responsible for the purchases she made. Honestly? Since you gave her the card and told her to buy jewelry with it, I think we would have a hard time proving misuse or theft. I’m going to check with our legalteam and let you know what I find out.” He gave me a slight wave and left.
I was alone with my thoughts. And none of them were good.
***
A couple of days later, still upset over the fact I couldn’t get in touch with Carrie, I walked into the coffee shop across from the Caldwell Financial building. I was meeting Ethan Gold, another of my friends from Emory University, for coffee. He’d been unable to come to the get together we’d had several nights ago and wanted a chance to catch up with me.
“Hey,” I said as I walked across the shop to the table he’d saved for us.
He stood and shook my hand. “I don’t have long, but I hadn’t heard from you in so long, I wasn’t going to miss the chance to catch up with you.” He glanced at his phone when it buzzed and typed out a quick response. He was a high-powered attorney in his father’s prestigious law firm. He already had a coffee in front of him and one waiting on me, so I took a seat.
He hadn’t really heard fromme. Ashcroft and Madison had gotten everyone together. Ethan had just asked for my number when he couldn’t attend.
Always one to jump right into a conversation without any niceties, he said, “Ashcroft told me you’re fucking Madison again.”
I almost spit my coffee out and looked around quickly to make sure no one I knew was in the shop. “I mean… not really,” I said. “I’m kind of re-thinking that whole thing.”
“Why? Because your wife is fucking gorgeous?”
“I forgot how direct you are.”
He shrugged, and I cleared my throat. “How do you know Carrie is gorgeous?”
“I’ve seen pictures. Her body’s unreal, too, man.” He leaned back in his chair, perfectly casual as if I wouldn’t care about whathe was saying. “That ass and those tits? I don’t know why you’d look at Madison twice.”
“Could you not fucking talk about my wife’s body?” I bit out angrily.
“Whoa,” he held up his hands, chuckling. “I didn’t know it was a sore subject. I was going to ask for her number once the divorce is final. You have a lawyer yet?”
“I haven’t decided on a divorce,” I protested. The thought of him coming anywhere near Carrie was making me see red. I’d forgotten what a total asshole Ethan was.
“Why? Is it because Madison is such an awful lay?”
My mouth dropped open. “How did you know Mads is a bad lay?”
He laughed. “Everyone knows that. God, don’t even get me started on how she gives head. For your sake, I hope she’s gotten a hell of a lot better at it than she used to be.” he picked up his phone again to text someone. “I mean, I let her suck me off because, damn, I was a guy in my late teens and early twenties. But as soon as I got better at flirting and closing the deal with women, I quit her like that.” He snapped his fingers.
I got very quiet.
