#5 - The Curse Of Déjà Vu
1239 Words
Asher
"I know misery loves company, but give a guy a heads up, will you?"
My gaze snapped towards the sound of the voice, and I scowled at my best friend. "You're late," I barked.
Daniel ignored me, slipped onto the bar stool beside me and grabbed my drink.
I glared at him.
The bastard merely tossed every drop down his throat and grinned. "Have you seen you? I couldn't wait for a drink while I endured you. What's got your pants in a twist anyway?"
Getting my pants in a twist?
If only it were that simple.
I signalled for another drink instead of answering.
Or maybe I didn't want to answer. Because if I did, said it out loud, then it would all be true.
She was still my wife.
Had been for almost two whole bloody years.
My hands clenched at the thought, but my chest ached too, something tight, unfamiliar, and unwanted.
Bloody hell.
It'd been unfurling ever since I laid my eyes on the piece of paper that still bound me to her.
"It's that kind of night huh?" My best friend asked, jolting me out of my thoughts.
Annoyance prickled.
I'd found myself doing a lot of that today. Zoning out in meetings because I'd found out I was still married.
Nope. That wasn't exactly it. It was that I was still married to her.
I still hadn't figured out how that was even possible. I'd handled the divorce papers myself.
"Wallace's lawyer made contact," I said, gulping down my drink. It didn't do a damn thing to wash down the bitter taste in my mouth.
Daniel's gaze snapped to mine. "And?"
"And nothing," I scowled at my empty glass, thinking how being served in it wasn't cutting it. I needed my mouth on a tap. If only that would rid me of all the damned extra feelings I couldn't get a handle on since finding out about Jade.
"What does that mean?" He asked, the gentleness in his tone scraping at something inside me. I knew he meant well, but I hated it all the same.
Reaching for my refill, I shoved the envelope towards him.
I saw the shock hit him once he opened it.
"Would this be the same Jade you'd dragged me half way around the world for because you wanted me to fulfill my best man duties. The same one whose heart you broke barely hours later?"
"I did not break her heart." I argued, the memory of how her hand had trembled, knocking over the cup of coffee on the divorce papers slapped me in the face.
Two years hadn't erased how her throat had worked when I said the word divorce. The way her legs had wobbled as she walked away. But that wasn't what had left me with nothing but Jade's ghosts.
"We need to talk."
I waved away the memories of our last conversation and drunk instead.
"Turns out we are still married," I spat.
My best friend went still. Then burst out laughing he almost fell from the stool.
"Damn, talk about the curse of déjà vu," he said, laughter fading as realisation settled in. "You know how this ends in this family."
I scowled at him. I knew he'd go there.
They'd all go there.
My entire family.
I could already picture my mother drawing parallels with hers and dad's story, but nothing about Jade and I came even remotely close to what happened to them or to my brother Grayson and his wife. Even though I wanted her, I had no business wanting Jade.
Besides, there were no kids involved. I shuddered at the thought. God knew I loved my nieces and nephews, but being a father was not a life for a guy like me.
"Wait, is this a copy of the original?" Daniel asked, waving the damned thing in my face.
I should have burnt it at first glance. If only that could change Wallace's decision, or the reality that I was trapped in the worst form of attachment.
"It is," I spat.
"And the original? The divorce papers?"
"What do you think?" I bit out.
Daniel ran a hand through his hair. "How in God's name did Wallace even know?"
I shot him an irritated look because we both knew how.
My great grand-father knew everything.
I'd been stupid to think I could outsmart him. When I'd thought he was too distracted with Grayson's issues.
I'd been stupid when I let myself be distracted by her.
"To be fair, your great grand father hasn't been wrong before. If he thought—"
"I only married Jade for the Frost legacy," I cut in sharply, cutting my best friend off before he started spewing any romance nonsense. "She married me for Frame and Flame. A business transaction, purely. In which we both upheld our end of the deal—"
"It didn't look like a business deal to me when I bumped into her," Daniel said quietly. "She was devastated."
My gaze snapped to him, irritation flaring instantly. What the hell did he mean he bumped into her? There wasn't supposed to be any contact.
"You've never mentioned you saw her."
"Why would I? The Jade topic has been off limits—"
"And she bloody hell is still off limits," I growled, feeling the spiral begin.
What the hell was wrong with me?
Daniel simply drank. Then, "I tried contacting her after. Looked her up—"
"Why the hell would you do that?" I shot to my feet. He simply arched a brow.
This was so not why I'd asked him here.
"Because she was good for you?" He sneered, and that was not it either.
"Gentlemen."
I froze.
What the hell was she doing here? My gaze swung towards my best friend questioningly.
Daniel put his hands up in mock surrender, but he was already moving towards her.
"Hale," he greeted her too warmly, leaving me gritting my teeth.
"Daniel," she replied in that annoyingly calm tone she'd used on me earlier when I'd screamed the fact that she was mistaken about me being married.
"Miss Hale," I snarled more than greeted my great grandfather's lawyer.
A perfectly shaped eyebrow shot up. "Mr. Frost, apologies for not calling ahead."
We both knew she wasn't sorry. She was enjoying this. My punishment.
"Drink?" I offered even though I wanted her gone.
"Thank you, but this is not a social call. I'm actually working." She placed another envelope in front of me. "I did some more digging. The divorce papers were never finalised. You signed. Mrs Frost didn't."
She didn't what?
"That's... impossible," I gritted out as I grabbed the papers.
I blinked at the empty space where Jade's signature should have been.
What the —?
"Find your wife. There will be no reading of the will without her," Seraphina said evenly, as if she were discussing the weather and not detonating my life.
"I'm sorry, what?!" I snapped. It wasn't smart of me, but Wallace could have chosen anyone to handle this, and he'd chosen her. The worst shark of them all, and the one woman my charms would never work on.
"You have a week to bring her to the table, or everything passes to the twins."
"Everything passes to the twins."
To my twin sisters Sasha and Scarlett?
I went still.
Wallace didn't.
- Writer
