Chapter 2
Simon stayed upstairs all night.
The next morning, right after I got up, he put toothpaste on my brush, filled the cup, opened the face wash, and got the water to exactly the right temperature.
He said, "Babe, I went too far yesterday. Don't be mad at me."
While I brushed my teeth, he stood behind me and tied my hair up, and when I came out of the bathroom he rushed to the table, pulled out a chair, and waved me into it.
He had made breakfast himself, and all of it was food I liked. He kept putting more on my plate and handing me a napkin for my mouth.
The whole routine ran smooth from start to finish, and he had always done this.
After a big fight he would drop his pride and come crawling back, and I would start wondering whether I had been the one who went too far.
That time, nothing moved in me at all.
After breakfast he left for the office, and that night he called to say he wouldn't be home, because he was out drinking.
Simon explained, "Jessica isn't coming, so don't read into it."
I made a sound and hung up. Half an hour later he called again and walked the camera around the private room, close enough to show a fly in the corner.
He smiled, "See? I'm not lying to you. Jessica really isn't here."
Before, every time he went drinking with his buddies I would video call him, and the second I saw Jessica something in me went off and I would start crying and shouting.
He would hang up in irritation every time, then spend the next day making it up to me.
That time I didn't ask, and he checked in anyway, and I hung up on him out of pure impatience. He called straight back.
Simon said, "I don't want you reading into it, so I'm leaving the video on all night. You can keep an eye on me."
I hung up and he called again, endlessly patient, and in the end I couldn't be bothered and left the phone face up on the table.
A few rounds in, they all got loose, and even Simon forgot the call was running.
"Simon, you were out with Jessica again today, weren't you?" They sank into the couch with their faces red.
He started showing off, going through the whole history of him and Jessica, and he compared me to her over and over.
He said I was like a corpse and only moved when somebody poked me, and that I bored him to death.
While they talked, a few messages came up on my screen.
Jessica: [Sorry, Lily. We accidentally took a nap together.
[We grew up together, so this kind of thing has happened more times than I can count. When we were little I used to give him his baths.
[How's that? I broke him in nicely for you. No need to thank me.]
*****
Simon didn't come home all night. I didn't question him, and I went straight to the hospital.
The drive was strangely smooth, green light after green light, and my phone rang as I pulled up at the hospital.
I hung up, he called again, and finally he sent an apology.
Simon: [Babe, I was only talking big last night. Don't be mad at me.
[Where are you? I haven't seen you all night and I miss you.]
He also sent me 30 thousand dollars for spending money.
It had only been two months, so nothing would show after the procedure, and I tore the paperwork up and dropped it in the trash.
I texted my best friend, a top lawyer, and asked her to draw up a divorce agreement.
I took a cab home and found Simon having his buddies over, and I had forgotten my keys, so I rang the bell.
Jessica opened the door and stood there like she owned the place. She said, "Well, look who's home."
She leaned on the door and touched the faint bite mark on her neck with a small, satisfied smile. "Don't get the wrong idea. A mosquito didn't do this."
Simon shouted, "Who is it?" and went back to his drink.
Jessica gave me a look full of challenge, turned, and walked back to the living room. "Nobody. Keep going. Simon, cheers!"
She took Simon by the chin and poured a drink into his mouth.
Then she straddled his lap, pulled off her jacket to bare her thin white arms, and hooked them around his neck.
The room started egging them on. "Simon, go for it. Don't chicken out."
Simon couldn't hold out. He cupped the back of her head and kissed her, then tipped his head back and growled, "Well? Who's calling the shots now?"
Jessica snorted, "I am. But if you're really that good, prove it tonight."
"Tonight's the night." The whole crew chanted it back at him. "Come on, Simon, step up. If you can't do it, I will."
Simon threw a pillow at him. "Knock it off. Don't joke like that. Jessica's still a girl, and there's a line."
The only time Simon treated Jessica as a woman was when somebody else made her the joke.