“It’s you.” I can’t wait another second to be near him, and I jump into his arms. It’s been so long since I’ve touched him, too long. All of the questions I have don’t even seem important right now, just that he’s here. “I’ve missed you so much.”
I can’t stop myself from crying. I look at him, waiting for him to say something, but I realize he looks speechless, almost shocked, and I notice his arms aren’t around me.
“Chris, who is this?” I look past him to see a tall blond woman looking at us strangely.
“Chris?” I say, confused. “Chris. His name isn’t Chris!” My anger starts to replace the initial euphoria of seeing him, as I remember what brought me here in the first place.
She frowns at me then looks at him. “Who is this?”
“I-I don’t know!” he answers the blonde.
“Who am I? Who are you?” I ask defensively. Then I realize what he just said. My jaw drops in disbelief. I turn my attention on him. “What?”
“I think you have me confused with someone else,” he says, staring at me strangely.
My heart drops to join my jaw on the ground.
“She just started crying when she saw me,” he explains to the woman behind him. He seems more concerned with her than with me.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask, confused and angry.
“She doesn’t seem to have you confused!” the woman tells him angrily, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Cal, what the hell are you trying to pull?” My skin heats up; my anger and impatience are about to boil over.
“My name is Chris,” he says, stepping away from me.
What is going on?
“Look, who are you?” the woman asks impatiently.
“I’m his wife; that’s who I am!” I say angrily. “Who the hell are you?”
She frowns at me, then she breaks into a laugh. “Oh, I see. This is a joke. Good one, Chris, you almost had me for a minute, but you know I can see right through your pranks.” She pats him on the chest.
“Does it look like I’m joking?” I tell her frantically, the sting of unshed tears forming behind my eyes.
She stops laughing. I look Cal in the face, and he’s staring at me as if he has no idea who I am.
“Cal, tell her!” I yell at him, desperately trying not to cry in frustration. This can’t be happening!
“My name isn’t Cal!” His voice rises in a panic.
“Chris, who is she!” the woman asks him again angrily, the idea of this being a prank now out the window.
“Jenna, I’ve never seen this woman before in my life!” he tries to tell her pleadingly.
“You asshole!” I scream, pushing him.
How can this not be Cal! It’s him! It is! It’s his voice! His face! I have the same feeling I have when I’m near him… almost. And I can feel it so much now since I’ve been deprived of it for so long…
“You don’t know who I am now?” I shout angrily as tears stream down my cheeks. “Well, who gave me this?” I pull the ring out of my pocket and throw it at him.
The woman scrambles after the ring and inspects it. “Chris, this is a wedding ring!” she shouts, thrusting it in his face.
“I’ve never seen that before in my life! I’ve never seen her in my life!” he yells, pointing at me as if I’m a stranger. He’s in a clear state of panic, almost matching my own.
“Chris, don’t lie to me!” she screams at him.
“She doesn’t even know my name! She’s crazy!” he yells back at the woman.
She looks at me, trying to determine who the liar in this is. His facial expression softens, and he moves toward her, taking her hand.
“Jenna, I swear to you. I have no idea what she’s talking about,” he pleads more calmly.
I laugh hysterically. I’m about to vomit. I have to be dreaming. This is a nightmare; this can’t be happening!
“Who the hell is she to you? This is why you left? Is this who you left me for!” I say through my tears, snatching his arm.
“He’s my fiancé!” she snarls at me.
I laugh again, covering my face as I step back from the couple. I shake my head in disbelief, consciously chuckling. I have to laugh because if I don’t, I’m going to fucking explode. I feel myself boiling, and finally, I spill over.
“How the hell can he marry you when he’s still married to me?” I shout, gripping my head. My chest is so tight, and my head is pounding.
“I don’t even know you. Who are you? How do you know me?” he asks me angrily.
“All of this time, all of this time you’ve been lying to me and now… now you act as if you don’t even know who I am!” I cry hysterically. “You swore to me this wasn’t about another woman. You fucking asshole!”
This son of a bitch doesn’t deserve anything from me. I turn and stomp down the steps toward my car.
“I want a divorce!” I shout over my shoulder. “I never want to see you again! Don’t you ever come near me or Caylen again! I’ll send your shit through Dexter. I want it all out of my house!”
“How does she know Dexter? How the hell does she know Dexter, Chris?” I hear the woman yell.
“I don’t know, Jenna, this has to be a joke!” he says through panicked laughter.
Joke? I turn back around and head up the stairs. “Joke! I’m a joke? You think ruining my life was a fucking joke?” I push and hit him with all the energy I can muster, and he tries to restrain me.
“Get your hands off of him!” Jenna screams, attempting to tug me away from Cal.
She has a firm grip on my arm. My anger is in complete control, and I push her back violently, one of my hands landing directly on her face, and she loses her balance. She looks surprised, and a second later she rushes back toward me. If she wants a fight, she picked the right day for it! Cal jumps in the middle of us, juggling me on one side and restraining her on the other.
I start to feel hot and my vision becomes blurry. How could I believe him after all of these years? He never loved me. This woman in front of him, who he so desperately wants to believe him… he loves her.
A man comes out of the house. He looks bewildered by all the chaos. “What’s going on here?”
“This psycho attacked us!” the blonde yells, finally settling down in Cal’s arm.
“This has nothing to do with you!” I catch my breath, trying to compose myself at her ridiculous accusation. If anyone is crazy, it’s them! “This was between me and my husband!”
“What?” the older man asks in confusion.
“Tell her, Dad. She doesn’t believe me!” I hear Cal say.
The rest of what he says becomes a drone as I’m overcome by dizziness. I’ve got to get out of here. I can’t deal with this anymore. I feel like Jerry Springer is going to walk out onto the porch at any moment. I start to head back to my car, but my legs feel weak and everything begins to spin around me and…
I open my eyes and my vision is blurred at first, but things slowly come into focus. I touch my temples; my head is still pounding as if someone is beating me on the head with a hammer.