Page 30 of Always Beth
‘He had an affair,’ she blurts out.
I nod silently. The man’s a fool. Sure, she’s a little fiery, but I can only imagine how that must translate in the bedroom. Still, that’s no excuse. You take the vow for better or worse. If you can make it down the aisle in the first place that is.
‘How did you find out?’
‘I just knew. Not that I did anything about it for months.’
I can’t imagine her doing nothing, she’s put me in my place quick enough on more than one occasion and I’m no one to her in comparison. There’s more to this, there has to be.
‘May I ask why?’
Holding her glass to her lips, her eyes glisten. Whatever it is has just flashed before her and she’s overwhelmed.
‘Beth.’ I reach out to her, taking the glass gently from her shaking hands. Brushing her auburn curls back from her face, she holds my stare and whatever she’s about to say, it’s going to hit hard.
‘I was scared of starting over and thought it was a phase, you know, that he’d get it out of his system. I’ve always…’ Glancing at the floor, her words slow as her forehead creases.
‘You’ve always?’
‘I’ve always wanted children and he promised when we got married that we would try, then as soon as the honeymoon was over, he changed his mind and said that having each other was enough. I couldn’t deny that he was enough for me, but part of me, you know…’
As a stray tear trickles down her cheek, I swallow the lump in my throat, taking both of her hands in mine. Children have never crossed my mind, I just expected one day that it would happen, but seeing her sitting in front of me, childless and broken, is stirring feelings on the subject I never knew I had.
‘What was—’
‘My breaking point?’ she croaks.
Her skin feels soft to my touch as I graze the back of her hands with my fingertips. ‘Yeah.’
‘He spent my birthday with her.’
‘What an arsehole.’
She smiles and a small laugh escapes her lips, and it makes me want to take her in my arms and show her the respect she truly deserves.
‘And now, not only is he trying to retain more than half of our assets, but he’s denying adultery, so I’m screwed.’ Reaching forward, she swipes her glass and empties it spectacularly. The sight travels straight to my cock and I try and push the thoughts from my mind.
‘You were. Not anymore.’
We smile at one another and the atmosphere between us intensifies. I tentatively lean towards her, not taking my eyes from her glistening wine-covered lips and it takes all my self-control not to make a poorly timed move. I don’t want her to think I pity her. Swiftly, she stands, bringing me out of my trance.
‘Another drink?’ she says hurriedly.
Taking my empty glass, she disappears with it into the kitchen. I’m going to fix all of this and I’m going to start tonight.
Beth
One bottle turned into three before we even realised and after raiding the kitchen for what feels like an eternity, it’s official, we’ve drunk the cottage dry.
‘Why’s there no wine left?’ I cry.
‘Because we’ve drunk it all.’
James kicks the recycling box hard and bottles clink together, causing Poppy to flinch in her basket.
‘Oh, Poppy, did I scare you?’ He drops to his knees and rolls her around in her basket. She’s loving it. I look on in absolute disgust. Poppy is letting me down big time here. Girls need to stick together.
‘What’s wrong, Poppy, are you sad? Are you lonely?’What the hell?He rolls his bottom lip as he talks to her in the same baby voice I do when I tell her how much I love her. This is new, a couple of bottles of wine and this is what I get, he’s not as stuffy as I first thought.
