Chapter 8.2 - My Wife's Friend
1008 Words
"They still think they're top dogs," he muttered to himself. As he reached Alice's door, he eased it open carefully, finding a sight that made his mind reel. His wife was snuggled against the chest of his best friend, Jared, both looking all chill with their eyes closed. He was running his fingers through her hair, and she had her hands on his chest. "What the heck is going on here?" he burst out, shocking them both with the sudden yell.
Alice shot him an angry look as soon as she focused her eyes on him. "What are you doing here, Robert?" she asked.
"That's the question I should be asking Jared. What are you doing here? Why are you holding my wife like that? Why are you on her bed? What the hell does this mean? What are you doing here?!" he fired off.
"Nothing, it doesn't mean anything at all, Robert," Jared replied, swiftly getting off the bed, leaving Alice behind. "I found out Alice had given birth and wanted to visit all three of you, but then... I found out the baby had passed away. We were talking, and maybe we both nodded off."
"In that position? What kind of talk was that? Why was my wife in your arms? I just don't get it," he pointed to the bed where he had just seen both of them.
"Did you know Jared and I are friends?"
"Ah, of course! My wife's buddy! He's also my friend, and I reckon it's been way longer than yours, Alice," he strolled toward his wife and planted his lips on hers in a kiss she wasn't expecting, leaving her face smooshed against his and preventing her from finishing the kiss. Jared turned away, giving them some privacy. The forced kiss went on for what felt like an endless minute. "Don't you think you should show a little more respect toward my wife, Jared? That's not how you console a married woman, especially without her husband present. What do you want me to think?" he asked after ending the kiss.
"I never disrespected her, Robert. What the hell are you talking about?" Jared wiped his mouth, avoiding eye contact with either of them, fully aware of how awkward this situation was for him. How on earth did Robert manage to show up right then? Alice didn't want him there, she didn't need him there.
"You stay quiet. This is a conversation between my friend and me."
"I didn't disrespect her, Robert. But like I told you, Alice is also my friend. I had to come here, not just for you, but for both of you."
"Now she's my wife. I'm asking you to focus only on your friendship with me and keep your relationship with her to a minimum. I tend to be a jealous man, although it's amusing to think that Alice would have any chance with you," he observed his wife's swollen belly, noticing it still looked big, as if there was still a baby inside. Her face was just as round as he remembered, and those arms were plump. Nah, she wasn't attractive to him. Every now and then, he wondered how he could have slept with her and gotten her pregnant. But she was his wife, right? She pulled the sheets over her body, hiding herself, feeling the critical gaze her husband was giving her about her appearance. For a moment, she felt small and insignificant, very ugly and worn out, but then she remembered Jared's confession and knew that he felt the same way, even though she didn't confess her feelings, only listened to his. "Could you leave us alone? We have many things to talk about."
Jared quietly walked toward the door, not looking back.
Once they were alone, Robert sat down on the bed at the foot of it.
"Your presence wasn't necessary, Robert," she said grumpily.
"I'm sorry, for the baby," he said. "What did you do wrong?"
"What did I do wrong? Do you think I did something bad?" she started crying, thinking about that possibility. "I didn't do anything wrong, I loved him as myself and maybe even more, I took very good care of him and then, after having him in my arms... he was gone, Ethan was gone."
"You even gave him a name without my permission," he observed.
"He was my son, mine!"
"Also mine."
"I was with him all this time! Where were you? He was alive for hours, perhaps also waiting to meet his father, but... you weren't here, Robert. You weren't here."
"I have more responsibilities than you can imagine. But we will recover from this loss soon."
"What? What do you mean, Robert? How can we recover?"
"I mean that I want us to try to have more children, preferably ones that survive, that are born alive and stay alive." Ethan's body hadn't even cooled down when Robert was already talking about other children, and that saddened Alice a lot.
"I couldn't, I don't want to."
"You have a responsibility to me, to the Grahams, and to the Taylors. Our marriage has to bear fruit, and those fruits can only be our children, Alice. Once it becomes possible, you have to get pregnant again. And let it be clear, I don't like your friendship with my friend. And if I don't like it... you have to distance yourself from him, I don't want him here, unless he comes with me, not on his own as if he had anything to do with any of this. How dare you get close to another man?"
"He's my friend!"
"Not anymore!"
"It won't be that way just because you say so, Robert."
"Do you want to bet? I control every part of your life, and I'm telling you that Jared is my best friend, not your friend. Let it be clear. He's my friend, not yours. Your friendship with him and any other man ended when you married me, Alice Graham. My wife doesn't have friends."
- Writer
