Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
“I didn’t follow you because you never asked!” she hissed. “Who doesn’t ask their wife to follow them?”
“Beatrice, I set up a house, moved into it, and you never came despite me sending you plane tickets. How fucking much more did I have to say to get you to come? I needed Frankie there. I needed to see my daughter more than every couple of months!” I bellowed.
“That’s what I’m talking about, right there. It was always Frankie, Frankie, Frankie. Never Beatrice,” she snarled right back, this time taking out the spice rack.
“Because Frankie was my daughter. I loved my daughter! A man’s not a man if he doesn’t want to see his baby girl,” I countered. “You stole all those years from me because I never ‘asked’ you?”
I never liked you went unsaid.
But I was sure she could read it in my eyes.
“You left me,” Beatrice said, a little softer this time.
“And could you blame me? Beatrice, you made my life a living hell. You never gave me what a man needs from a woman. Then, you got some on the side while I was away working…and no, don’t bother to deny it. I’m not stupid. That was one of the reasons that I didn’t give you another kid. That is why I took some time off and didn’t even tell you that I was getting a vasectomy. I couldn’t, not in good conscience, bring another child into this mess you created. And I didn’t trust you enough to ever put that birth control decision into your hands. You’d fuck me over just like you did all those years ago.”
Beatrice went silent for a few long moments, allowing me to continue.
“But the moment that Frankie saw your true colors, I was finished pretending. The fifteen and a half years that I was married to you were both the best and worst of my life. The best because I got Frankie, and the worst because I had to put up with you to get her. And now, when I’m finally happy with the woman who just walked out of here, you decide that you want to ruin this, too? Well, let me tell you something, Beatrice. I’m not going to stand for that. You’re not going to ruin this, because this? Her? Well, she’s the second-best thing to ever happen to me. Now get out before I call the cops and tell them that you broke in.”
That was when Beatrice had finally relented.
She backed away toward the door, looking between me and Frankie.
It’d been the parting shot as she was leaving that had made me think that maybe I should’ve held my tongue.
“You’ll regret this one day. One day, the precious life you’ve created for yourself will all be a memory, and you won’t have anyone to blame but yourself. You’ve made a huge mistake,” Beatrice prophesied.
But it was too late. I’d felt compelled to say what I said.
It’d needed to be said.
Beatrice needed to hear how awful my life was with her.
“The only mistake I’ve made in my life was you. Now leave.”
“Yeah,” I paused and looked at her. “Frankie, you know that what we said…you were never a mistake.”
Frankie smiled. “Dad, trust me when I say that I know Mom a lot better than you. At least you got to escape…me? I hated every second of my life. Why do you think I buried myself in school work so much and graduated with so many college credits?”
I hated that I’d left her to Beatrice. I wish I would’ve tried harder.
But I’d thought, at the time, that Beatrice would be the better choice.
A girl needed her mom.
I breathed out a frustrated breath. “I hate that you ever had to choose, but I want you to know, you really are the best thing to happen to me.”
“And Cora is the second?” Frankie asked, sounding hopeful.
I thought about that for a long moment before answering. “Yes.”
“Now, let’s make plans. How do you think we can get her to talk to you?”
Chapter 22
My secret talent is getting tired without doing anything at all.
-Text from Cora to Coke
Cora
Day one of being without Coke went about as well as expected.
I muddied my brain with comics, dedicating each and every one of them to the man who had made me realize that what I wanted was something that I likely wouldn’t ever have.
Each one I put into an envelope, and when he came back later that night, I’d handed them to him and closed the door in his face.
***
Day two dawned with me having to do a team meeting with my producer who told me that she was very impressed with my work, then offered me the second largest character’s edits, too.
“I think you’ll be perfect for the job. We had an animator working on him…but something didn’t sit right with the team. We want you to draw a few samples and send them over via email. But, let me just tell you, after seeing all your edits for Mona? Well, let’s just say that most likely you already got everyone’s approval. This is just preliminary.”