For you, I hope the grass is greener

Chapter 15 Visitor

Daphne's POV

The tears are silent but keep endlessly falling over my cheeks as I try to wipe them away quickly as if this man doesn't know I have been crying my eyes out lately.. I don't know why it matters if he sees me like this, but I do hate looking weak, and right now, I feel more vulnerable and weaker than I ever have.

I try to think about anything else as I watch my neighbor finish helping me with my hurt foot. He doesn't offer any advice or talk to me about everything going wrong in my life.. probably knowing that's not his place.. he just helps with what he can and is not crossing any boundaries with me until I say it's ok.. which is nice of him.

Without hesitation, he gently puts my foot down as he stands up and wanders into his kitchen with his back face towards me. I can't see what he is doing, but I do notice the determination in his gorgeous eyes as he walks around the room doing everything he had planned as I keep my intrigued eyes locked on the view at hand.

I try to stay distracted, but it's harder than you would think. So I find myself still wiping away the tears that endlessly fall, just wondering if things could get any worse. As I think that I can hear giggling and talking next door in my house and I know that it's my husband with this woman.. and that they are obviously happy to my dismay.

Her high-pitched cackle of a laugh easily goes through the wall as if they are paper thin. I gasp for air as my hand covers my mouth to muffle my pain, trying not to be dramatic with this man or even let my husband know I'm over here. But I can't help the pain hitting my heart hearing them over there. The knife in my chest keeps twisting, and I don't know what to do to get it to stop.. I feel so betrayed that it makes me wonder what I did wrong to cause this. What could I have done better? I feel like the worst person and wife ever.

I keep my eyes squeezed shut as I lean my head into my hands just to cry into them, hating the sound of her laugh filling my ears. I wish she would shut up. I keep crying to myself as I hear porcelain hitting the countertop in front of me with a pong. I open my eyes to see the neighbor with sympathy in his eyes as he stares at me, now sliding a bowl of his delectable smelling concoction towards me. I shake my head and try to stand, but I only groan out in pain at that action involving my hurt foot I forgot about in my dispair.

He circles the countertop and grabbing my hips just to set me back on the seat without a second thought about it. "Please.. eat.. you need something." He declares as I shake my head to answer, causing him to scoff. "Your stomach thinks otherwise." He declares as my stomach agrees with a loud growl. I huff out knowing he is right, but I don't know if I can even get myself to eat.

"I don't want to bother.. I have bothered you too much already." I declare as he shakes his head. "I told you before that today is my day off.. I'm not doing anything, and you're not a bother.. besides, there is no way I'm letting you go back out there with him and his cackling slut of a girlfriend." He spats about this as if he is the one hurt in this conflict.

"Do you know her?" I ask as he shakes his head. "No, I haven't even seen her at all.. but that cackle of hers is annoying.. and pissing me off that you're hear heartbroken and she is having the time of her life.. she broke up a family, and she is here happy about it.. for all I care, she can f*#k off." He declares in me and my families defense, causing a smirk to emerge.

"So.. you haven't seen him bring her over here before? Or heard it, at least?" I ask him this incredibly hard question for myself because I don't know if I actually want to know the answer for this.. I look up at him as he just shakes his head. I let out a sigh of relief as I looked back at him. He pushes the bowl closer to me as he takes a seat across from me and starts eating. I take the fork and start eating with him as I glance from the wall that adjoins our houses, then back to him as we hear another shrill cackle. My eyes squint as if it's nails on a chalkboard.

"I do have to reassure you that just because I can hear some stuff sometimes in your home.. that it's not like I'm listening through the walls for you guys and what you do in the privacy of your own home.. I just have happened to notice things here and there when I'm home.. but I work a lot.. so not much has been heard.. but none of the things that I have heard have been with your husband and another woman.. I swear.. because I would have told you.. I have zero tolerance for cheating." He explains to me with comfort threaded through every single word.

I nod at that as I ask. "What have you heard?" he clears his throat, looking nervous as he looks away. "Well, it's pretty easy to hear stuff in there if it's loud enough over there and quiet enough over here.. and with me being alone, it's quiet enough." He declares but never mentioned anything specific, which makes me suspicious.

"I don't know why you're so nervous. it's not like you heard s*x or anything.. my husband and I haven't been intimate in a long time.. so what was it?" I ask because he looks even more nervous. "Wait, is it something my kids did?!" I start to panic with all the thoughts running through my head at what that can be.

He shakes his head as he looks away again. I place my hand on his, getting his attention as I say. "Come on, tell me.. please.. I won't be mad, I promise." He lets out a deep breath before he declares. "I sit right where you are every morning with my coffee and reading." he says this, but I know he is wrong because I always see him outside in the mornings when he is doing those things.

He clears his throat as he continues. "When.. I hear you singing in the morning, I head out on my porch to see you.. I like the natural glow you have, and it makes my morning bright.. you make me smile and enjoy being up in the morning.. I swear I'm not a creep.. I just liked it, that's all... it made me feel not so.. alone." He sadly declares as if he is embarrassed by his words. Honestly, I think it's sweet.

"Really? My husband told me how much my singing in the morning annoyed him, but I just do it because I love mornings, so most of the time I wouldn't start doing it until I got to the kitchen.. every now and then, I would hum in the room, but he would get annoyed with that as well.. so I tried not to annoy him if I could help it." I shyly explain because I am now embarrassed on how I let him dictate my life, walking on eggshells around him because I was worried I would annoy him.. but here I am not caring at all if he liked my singing or not and secretly hoping he hated it and that I annoyed him for my own little bit of revenge.

"No.. I loved it." He softly says as I take another bite. "Well, thanks.. and by the way, this is really good." I say to him as he shares a small smile with me. "Thanks, I never have anyone to test my cooking, and I just found the recipe online.. and I ended up loving it, so it's turned into one of the regular recipes I use when I don't feel like putting in a ton of effort in the kitchen." He declares as I nod in understanding before looking down at my watch to check the time since my kids should be coming home soon. "Um.. so when do your kids get home?" he asks me to change the subject to a little bit of a lighter one since he probably noticed me looking at my watch.

My eyes widen as I realize I haven't thought about them in all of this. I have only been thinking about the heartbreak I have been enduring.. But what about theirs? "Sh*t.. I don't know how I'm going to tell them about this.. what do I say?" I ask him in a panicked tone as he instantly answers. "Just be honest.. your kids seem nice and understanding, so I think they will understand what you're going through and what the next steps will involve."

"What if they hate me?" I squeak out in terror at that thought, with so much hurt filling my eyes. "Why would they ever hate you? I don't think anyone ever could." he asks with shock in his words as his concerned eyes pan over my face, looking for an answer. "Well, isn't it obvious? I'm the reason he cheated.. he wasn't happy with me.. the kids will hate me for losing their father." I squeak out with so much hurt in my words that I can feel it clenching my heart and gripping it tight from the straight hold that those thoughts have on my heart and mind.

"There is no way they will hate you.. You're so sweet and caring and do everything for them.. they will see that and not be mad at you.. I promise.. they are so much closer with you than your husband. I can tell, even with not having much contact, by only being the neighbor that you see every now and then." He explains as I nod, but not knowing if that will be the case, because the only way I will know is when I tell them and wait for the reaction.

"Maybe I shouldn't say anything.. he is gone a lot already, so they won't think anything of his absence.. I don't know.. its only a couple more years until they leave for college anyway.. and then I will barely see them.. So do I need to ruin their idea of their father? it's just going to hurt them, and that's the last thing I ever want for my babies.. I would rather me get hurt than them." I declare as he nods with me.

"I don't have kids of my own, but I can understand where you're coming from.. it's that maternal instinct coming into play to protect your children by being their sheild and taking on the hurt yourself.. that so courageous of you, but they deserve to know the truth it is their father and their lives that are changing as well." He explains, and of course, he had to make lots of sense with that.

"You're right.. I just hate seeing my kids hurt, and I never wanted the kids to hate their father ever.. no matter how mad I got, I always wanted to keep him in a good light because he is a good father to them.. he is.. he is just not a good partner to me, apparently." I state feeling sadder about that realization. This hurts much more than I ever imagined.