Chapter 6 - Claire's Desperation
Four weeks after Thanksgiving, Claire intercepted me in the lobby of my office building.
She looked different. Gone was the smug, manicured composure she had worn at the Thanksgiving table. Her designer coat looked slightly rumpled, her blonde hair pulled back in an untidy bun. When she saw me exit the elevator with my colleagues, she stepped directly into our path.
"Ethan, please. Stop hiding behind your lawyer."
My coworkers exchanged awkward glances. I signaled to my project manager, Dave, to go ahead without me. "Five minutes in the coffee shop across the street, Claire. Not a second more."
We sat in a booth near the back of the coffee house. The steam from my espresso rose between us, an impenetrable barrier.
"Mark left," she said bluntly, her lip trembling. "Two weeks ago. He moved to Chicago. He cleaned out the joint account we opened and left me with the lease on the condo."
I took a slow sip of my coffee. "Sounds like Mark."
"Is that all you have to say?" Her voice cracked, genuine panic flashing behind her eyes. "Ethan, he ruined me! He fed me lies about how boring you were, how much better life would be with him, and I fell for it! I made the biggest mistake of my life, and I am dying inside!"
"You made a series of choices, Claire. You chose to sleep with my best friend. You chose to humiliate me during the divorce. And then you chose to bribe my mother to buy your way back into my life."
"I only did that because I wanted you to see that I was serious about changing!" she reached across the table, trying to grab my hand, but I pulled it back out of reach. "Your mother swore that if I helped with Dad’s shop, you would forgive me. She promised me you were soft-hearted, that you wouldn't be able to turn me away during the holidays!"
I leaned forward, looking dead into her eyes. "My mother sold you a fantasy, Claire, just like you sold her a check. You two deserve each other. But as far as I am concerned, you are just an expensive lesson I finished paying for."
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"I gave them fifty thousand dollars!" she hissed, her vulnerability abruptly morphing into spite. "My father is demanding the money back! If you destroy that business, my dad will sue yours into oblivion!"
"Then let him sue," I said, standing up and dropping a five-dollar bill on the table. "I’m not paying for your mistakes anymore."
