9
I’m married now, and Willow loves me.
If Ashley could think straight, she would know
I wasn’t gonna leave my family for her.
We were being pushed around, and we can’t
regret the choices we make.
She wasn’t gonna get anything being with me.
Not love, not a title, not anything.
But she was still waiting for me at my favorite
restaurant.
She even wanted to have my kids.
She hated me last time, she hated everything
about me.
But she’s the thing she hated most.
We barely talked these days.
She didn’t know anything about me except
that I was rich.
Was she just cheating on me ‘cause I didn’t
have money?
But I gave her all my money last time.
I started thinking about how stupid it was last
time.
But that didn’t matter.
I was living my life now.
I pushed her away, not too hard, but firm.
Ashley seemed to realize something and
wouldn’t let go.
But she wasn’t gonna change my mind.
We finally broke up, in every way.
She was pale, looking like she was about to
die.
“Ethan, don’t you feel anything for me?”
“Didn’t you say you only loved me?”
“Were those love words lies?”
I just looked at her, not feeling anything.
“You know, those promises, that Ethan, died
in the fire, with our kid.
“I didn’t break any promises. You pushed me
”
<
away, and you left. I don’t feel guilty at all.”
“I have a family now, and it would be wrong
to my wife to be with you.”
“And I never stopped you from being with
Chad, so why are you still complaining?”
“Maybe you only love yourself. I’m not as
important to you as you think.”
“People are never satisfied, that’s normal. But
you’ve made your choice. Like when you
heard about Chad’s wedding last time.”
“You just want to be loved. Do you even have
any love?”
“Even if you’re a big star, you’ll still be jealous
of the guy in the audience.”
“You’re never gonna be happy. You just want
to be on top.”
“Love yourself first, and have some respect.”
I said, one word at a time.
I walked away without looking back.
I got to the street and saw that someone
moved my car.
Willow was sitting in the driver’s seat, bored,
looking at her phone.
I sat in the passenger seat.
“Done talking?”
Willow looked at me, smiling. I saw that the
car was parked so she could see the
restaurant door.
I smiled. “I don’t think she’s gonna bother me
anymore.”
I think my wife understood what I meant.
She unbuttoned my tie, then said, “I don’t
think it’s that simple.”
“My instincts are pretty good, and I think you
guys are kinda similar. But not that much.”
I chuckled.
They say that people who are together start
looking like each other.
Plus, we were together for ten years.
Even though we were apart this time, we’re
still gonna have some of each other on us. “I had a really long dream…” I said, slowly. Willow looked at me, nervous.
“Don’t worry. You’re the only one in my
dreams now.‘
Willow smiled. Then she pulled out a
pregnancy test.
“I have a surprise!”