The Five Seconds King

Chapter 004

NEAL

The drive home felt like a damn nightmare.

The city lights blurred through the windshield, but I barely saw any of it. My knuckles were white around the steering wheel and my jaw hurt from how tight I was clenching it. The pain in my chest was like a dull knife that kept digging deeper with every mile that I drove.

I'd never felt this kind of hollow before. Not even when my old man died. Not even when I lost my first shop to the fire.

No. This one was different. This was a personal, raw and ugly betrayal that I doubted I would ever get over.

She chose him. She looked me in the eye and told me to leave. The same woman I used to hold every night. The same woman I swore forever to. She was gone. I pulled into the driveway and turned off the engine. The house looked like a stranger's place now. The lights that I'd left on for our anniversary were still glowing in the windows. It was soft, yellow. Warm. Like nothing was wrong.

When in fact, everything was.

I got out slowly, boots crunching on the gravel. I walked up to the front porch with every step feeling heavy. My hand hesitated at the door, because I didn't want to walk in to face my preparations. It would only end up reminding me that I had failed. That she had rejected me and chose Jack over me. 

But I did.

And walking in, everything was as it was before I left. Not all though. The candles were melted halfway down. The stew had gone cold and the pie still sat untouched on the stove. I stared at the table for a long time. Then I swept everything off with one big, angry swipe.

The plates shattered. Flowers scattered across the floor. A glass fell and rolled, spinning in circles before stopping with a soft tap. I stood there, breathing hard, fists tight and my chest rising and falling.

Then I turned around and grabbed my phone. I needed a lawyer.

It was close to midnight, but I didn't give a damn. I called Carl.

Carl Jenkins had been my buddy since high school, but he'd gone to law school. We hadn't talked much lately, but I knew he was going to help me. He picked up on the second ring.

"Neal? You alright, man?"

"No," I said flatly. "I need a favour."

A little pause followed. Then he asked. "What kind?"

"Divorce."

Another silence followed, but this one was heavier. 

Then his voice came through again, but this time it was low. "Are you serious?"

"I wouldn't be calling this late if I wasn't."

"Jesus, man... you and Elisa? I thought y'all were solid."

I laughed bitterly, remembering how many times I'd told myself that lie. 

"Yeah. So did I."

He sighed, but there were a lot of things unsaid behind that sigh and I was grateful he didn't bring any of it up. I'd; rather we just left it at this. 

"Alright. You want to come in tomorrow."

"No. I want it done tonight."

"Damn. Okay. You at the house?"

"Yeah."

"I'll email you a draft right now. Simple stuff for now. We can adjust it later if needed. Do you want to push for anything? Property? Alimony?"

"I want out, Carl. That's all."

He was quiet for a second. "You sure you don't want to sleep on it? This sounds fresh."

"No. She's been cheating. And I caught her. Don't need to sleep on shit."

"...Okay, man. I'll send it over."

I hung up and waited, pacing around the living room like a caged beast. The silence was too loud. It was that kind of silence that crawled through your skin and made your thoughts echo too much.

Ding.

The email came in.

Without wasting any time, I quickly printed the papers from the small printer we kept in the study. Pulled them out warm, still smelling like toner. The top page had her name and mine.

Petition for Divorce.

I stared at it for a long time, finding it very hard to believe that it would ever come to this. If someone had told me, when I'd left this afternoon to get the flowers, that I'd catch her cheating and get the divorce papers later today, I'd have never believed them. Even at the moment, it all felt like a dream. It was so difficult wrapping my head around it.

I sat down and signed my name at the bottom before I walked into the living room and sat. I did not sleep. I just sat on the couch, staring at the door and waiting.

Waiting for the sound of her car in the driveway. Waiting for the creak of the front steps. Waiting for the key to slide into the lock. The clock ticked past 2:13 AM when I finally heard the sound of her car.

Then the engine shut off.

At that point my heart was beating a little faster, but not in a good way this time. The door opened a few seconds later and she walked in, heels clicking on the wooden floor.

She looked around at the mess in the dining room, and let out a scoff.

"Seriously?" she said, tossing her purse on the table. "You trashed the place now?"

I didn't answer. I just sat there on the couch, elbows on my knees as I stared at the floor.

She walked closer towards me, her arms crossed now. "You embarrassed me tonight, Neal," she said sharply. "You acted like some caveman. You humiliated both of us."

She was trying to bait me into getting angry and doing something both of us would regret. But I didn't speak. 

She kept going. 

"Do you know what Jack could've done? If I hadn't begged him not to press charges, the cops would've been here by now!"

I looked up slowly.

"I should've let him,"

"What?"

"I should've let him call the cops. Maybe then everyone would see what kind of woman you really are."

Her eyes widened. "You're blaming me for this?"

I stood up, walking over to the center table. Then I picked up the papers and brought them over, her eyes following me the whole way.

I held them out but she looked down, confused at first. The moment she saw what it was, her whole demeanour changed. Her eyes narrowed.

"Are you serious?" Her words came out in a whisper.

"Dead serious," I said. "We're done."

She didn't take them.

Instead, she backed up, blinking and looking guilty as hell. "Because I made one mistake-"

"One?" I snapped. "That didn't look like one mistake. That looked like two people who've been doing this for a while."

She swallowed. "You really want to throw it all away?"

"You already did," I said flatly. "You threw it all away the moment you started this."

"Jack cares about me-"

"Shut up," I growled. "I don't care about you?"

Her lips were shaking, but she lifted her chin, crossing her arms again. "I'm not signing that."

I shrugged. "You will."

"No," she said, stepping closer as her voice started to rise. "I won't let you ruin our marriage over your insecurity. You've always had a problem with my success."

I stared at her like I didn't even know who I was looking at. 

"You cheated on me. On our anniversary. And you think I'm the problem?"

She was silent. But I dropped the papers on the table between us anyway.

"They're here. Read them. Sign them. Or don't. But either way, I'm done."