With a big fat line down the middle, supposedly meant to separate the two women in my life. How fucking ironic.
Those aren’t the only photos, though. There’s one of Eden and a dog. Yes, a dog lying in our hammock without me. It’s one of the best pictures taken of her. She looks peaceful and glowing. It’s a side angle with her rubbing noses with a tiny Dachshund. It’s adorable. I’d frame it if I weren’t bending out of shape that Eden went and got one without me. I know she did.
“You’re an asshole, Mason. How dare you talk to me that way.” She scoffs, pushes her shoulders back as if she wants to challenge me. Yeah, no, she might want to back down. There’s no challenge here. She defeated herself.
“If the shoe fits and all that, Natalie. You’re a bitch who deceived me when she said she never would. You’re a stone in my shoe. I want you out of my life.” I shrug. I don’t owe Natalie a thing. Not anymore. Her loyalty to me flew out the window the minute she decided to butt into my marriage further than she was.
At least my wife got one thing right. I allowed Natalie to draw her own line between us.
I have blurred fucking lines in front of my eyes. That’s all I see.
“You have little room to be name-calling, Natalie. The way I see it, I have every right to call and say whatever I want. This situation has nothing to do with my divorce, which when you walk out the door, you will keep your mouth shut about. Tell me something I don’t already know. Like why the hell would you go talk to Eden when I told you not to?” I deserve that much from her. “Make it quick,” I add — the need to find Eden weighs down on my chest heavier than before.
I keep my eyes trained on this woman who, in spite of what she’s been through, I want to skin alive. I need to know what she said to my wife.
“Jesus, you’re as bitter as your wife.”
I lean in and grab her by the collar of her jacket. “Say whatever you want about me. You talk down about my wife, and I will slap you out of that chair.” She swallows. Her hands are shaking as she grips the sides of the chair.
I drop my hands. My heartbeat is pulsing like crazy in my ears.
“You are ruthless. Don’t you ever put those hands on me again.” She pauses long enough for me to think about my wife, not wanting me to touch her.
These hands aren’t worth a pot to piss in.
“I was trying to make things right with Eden. I didn’t want her thinking there was more to me and you than there was. I thought I was helping. I honestly had no idea the paparazzi was anywhere in sight,” she lifts one of the magazines, and I close my eyes, so I don’t have to look at the damn thing. It doesn’t matter; the photos are tattooed to the inside of my retinas—something I can neither un-see or forget.”
“I remained calm while Eden didn’t. She got up in my face when I asked her if we could work together.”
My knuckles glow a bright white from flexing my fists over and over again as Natalie tells me what went down. The repeated action does nothing to quell the storm brewing inside of me. The annoying ticking of the clock on the wall is a constant evil reminder. With each second that passes, I feel my world slowly beginning to evaporate as I take everything Natalie tells me in.
I’m glad Eden defended herself. She had every right too. Natalie, though, she was in the wrong. No matter what she might think.
“Your wife fired me. There you go, something you didn’t know.”
I bust out laughing, wanting to kiss the hell out of Eden for pulling in the reins to take control.
If only I could.
“And now he laughs in my face. You are certifiably crazy.”
She might want to hold in the venom on the tip of her tongue I know she wants to spit out or I’ll knock her on her ass. It isn’t going to do her a bit of good when she’s staring at a dead man already. That’s what I feel like, dead by my stupidity.
Fuck, I need a drink — several to drown out the clutter in my head.
I take a few deep breaths before speaking. My fury from not being able to stop Eden from seeing this unleashes a torrent inside of me.
I blow out a strained breath trying to slow my mind from draining the last bit of energy out of my body as I and glance down at the bogus headline written across one of the dozen gossip magazines in front of me.
Boxing Legend Mason Whitaker admits to his wife he’s in love with his agent after she uncovered the dirty details. Wife, Eden threatens bodily harm.
I can’t even get myself to open the magazine to read the article. I can only imagine the lies they’ve written. The way it seems to the world.
Suddenly I’m hit with an onslaught of emotions; I can’t think straight. Or maybe what I’m feeling is my guilt for Natalie and me putting ourselves in a position to do this to Eden.
I want to piss a ring of red flaming fire around her and dare her to walk through it. The woman needs to stay in her territory. This situation has made mine a hundred times worse. Wouldn’t be surprised that once Eden finds out about this, she doesn’t hide until it dies down. Hell, she’s filed for divorce, bought a dog, told me what she wanted out of twenty-some years of knowing one another, it wouldn’t surprise me if my wife’s next step is to leave the country.
This is like a ripple effect. Won’t be long before we all tumble to the ground. It makes me wonder what the hell will happen next.
I swear on all things holy fate has grabbed me by the balls and is going to continue squeezing until I suffer through the pain like a man or fall to my knees and give up.
I sigh and inch forward on my chair, running a shaky hand through my hair, choking on the way life has not only handed me more than I can handle but needing to get to Eden before the paparazzi does.
“Shit,” I bang my head on the table, trying to get myself to calm down. It does no good when all I can think about is that Eden actually went through with filing for a divorce.
Rage surges as I lift my head.
“You know, now that I think about it, I find it funny that you're scared? I think it’s me that should be. These lies could ruin my marriage, Natalie. A marriage I’m trying to hold onto. A marriage I’m not sure will exist once Eden gets wind to these false accusations. I don’t give a shit that you're scared. I hope your shaking in it. It can drown you for all I care. You need to pull out the I’m concerned about myself stick you have up your ass and help Scott deal with this pack of lies. You created the mess; you can clean it up.”
Secrets and lies. Once they start, they never stop.
Terror.
It’s now at the point where it’s torturing my guts.
“Well, alright, then. It appears all of a sudden; I’m not important to you anymore. I listen to you carry on about your career. I try to help, and when Hollywood decides to bring out her claws, your cast me aside to take care of myself. We are talking about my profession here, Mason, which happens to be my life. I can’t sit down and talk to my career like you can with Eden. I can’t make it understand that a lie is a lie. I can’t help that your career is over, and mine isn’t. Eden was right; you are in denial. I’ve thought about it a lot while I was gone. You blame me for bringing Jacob to your plate when you came to me, knowing I’d find some way to get you what you want.”
The muscles in my face lock, mouth going dry, tongue thickening. I want to chew this woman a new asshole. Ream her out and let the rage take over. I can feel it coming. The flames are lapping my skin as they climb higher and higher.