Through the cracks

Chapter Six

When Ava wakes up, she phones Jenelle. She asks her if she can come over for coffee. Jenelle immediately gets dressed and rushes over to Ava. She could hear that there was something very wrong with her best friend. When Ava opens the door, she just bursts into tears. Jenelle takes her to the living room with a very upset Kristy following them. They just sit on the couch and Jenelle puts her arms around Ava. After a while, Ava feels better and gets up and makes them tea.

When they sit opposite each other at the dining room table, Ava starts.

"I caught Lucas cheating on me. At first, he lied about it, then he admitted it, and then he told me he had ended it, but I found this in his luggage." Ava said and showed her friend the note she had found. Jenelle looked confused when she saw the bad spelling;

"What? Is this woman five years old, she cannot even spell?" she asked while widening her eyes.

"He told me she used to sell suits, but that she is not working now and that he had taken care of her. Well, he probably still does. The children think I should hire a PI to follow him to get him to admit that he is lying about ending the affair."

"Do you think he is still lying to you ?" Jenelle asked.

"Of course I do, but what should I do? My entire life revolves around this man. I thought I knew him. I thought I could trust him." Ava said as the tears started to roll down her face again.

Ava was waiting for her friend to tell her that he was an asshole as she had before, but Jenelle listens silently and when Ava finishes:

“I heard rumors in town a while ago, but I did not want to tell you unless I know for sure. I am so sorry. I should have told you”

"No “. Ava says

“You know I would not have believed you. I know you don’t like Lucas and I would have accused you of lying and believing stories because you hate him. I am the one that should be sorry. You warned me before and that only led to fights between us. I am very sorry."

They just sit there for a while, then Jenelle says:

“Let’s get that private detective, so you can see who this little madam is that calls you all kinds of names. If he is confronted with the truth, he will not be able to lie about it anymore. And you will never know the truth if you rely on him to be honest. Believe me, I have been there.”

They go to the study room and start looking for private detectives in the area. They find the name Martin Wilder and phone his offices and make an appointment for the next morning.

They go to the PI ‘s offices the next morning. Martin is an unattractive middle-aged man who patiently listens to their story and takes details of everything he needs to investigate. He says he will come back to Ava in a few days.

Five days later, he phones Ava and makes an appointment to come and see her. Ava makes sure that he comes during the day when Lucas is not around. He gives Ava all the evidence that she needed. Lucas goes to work in the mornings. During the day he goes to a house in an area not too far from work. He took pictures of Lucas and a black-haired woman who was much younger than Ava but, surprisingly, not thin and also not even pretty. He also provides Ava with a photo of a little girl about two years of age. On weekends, Lucas spends Saturdays at the house, and he could even get pictures of him having a barbecue with the woman and child in the backyard of the house. The house is a rental and Lucas pays the rent. He also pays for the pre-school the child attends. The woman’s name is Eva. She is 33 years old, and she stays at home and does not work.

That night, Ava waits up for Lucas. He gets home very late. Ava sits in the living room when he comes home. She drinks wine and the glass and bottle are next to the chair she sits on. Lucas must have seen the light on and when he enters the room, he looks surprised to see she is still up. She asks him to sit down and just place the evidence in front of him on the side table. She is very calm and collected. He looks through the papers and turns red when he reads the birth certificate of the child. Although she has her mother's surname, his name is listed as the father of the girl.

He gets up and gets himself a glass of whiskey and sits down again. She just looks at him and when he starts talking he is not as confident and arrogant as usual.

“Well, now you know”, he says.

Ava picks up her wine glass and throws it at him. It misses him and scatters on the floor. Lucas looks at her and just continues as if nothing happened,

“We can just keep this between ourselves and tell no one, then you can live the life you have now. I will and cannot leave Eva as I love her, and she is expecting our second child.”

His words are like knives that go right through her heart, but he is on a roll now.

“You can stay in the house, and we won’t get divorced, but I am going to stay with my new family now. This is a good offer for you. It is not as if you can afford to fight me. You don’t have the money to do so, I will get the best lawyers' money can buy. Tomorrow I will cancel your signing powers on all joint and business accounts and I will give you an allowance.”

The way he looks at Ava is new to her. It is as if they are strangers, and he is cold and withdrawn. He gets up to walk out of the house.

“Where are you going? “Ava asked.

“Back to Eva, he replied," at least I don’t have to pretend with you anymore when we are alone.”

"Just like that? Why have you not ended it before, why did you pretend for all these years?" Ava asked with tears in her eyes.

"I don't know what you want me to say, it is what it is", Lucas said coldly.

Their argument hangs in the air unresolved and heavy with words best left unspoken. The distance between them seemed impossible to reverse, a stark contrast to the closeness they once shared, years ago, she realized.

When he walks out, Ava does not cry. She just sits there. When they got married, they signed a Pre-Nuptial Agreement which stated that his assets were his and her assets belonged to her. They did it for business. He said that if the business is ever in trouble, he will put the assets in her name. She allowed him to register most assets in his name as she does not care as much about belongings as he does. Was that a big mistake? Surely, he will not be so cruel as to cut her off if she cannot accept the situation. She would rather get divorced and start a new life than live a lie and pretend to still be his wife. Our names even almost sound the same she thinks-Ava and Eva. She gets up to clean the broken glass and wine on the floor.