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Coley Gabbs and his secretary were kissing when I opened the door to the private room. The audience around them cheered them on.
“Come on! Give us another!”
People cheered and clapped.
I remained in the doorway for a good five seconds before they finally let go of each other.
I could see the sneer on my husband’s face from a distance. His secretary, Cara Jaimi, shyly slapped the buddies who had egged them on.
“Stop it! Coley’s married! I wouldn’t have kissed him if I hadn’t lost the game,” she replied, turning back to Coley, who looked happy to hear her say that.
Cara eventually saw me standing there when she turned around again.
“Hey, Sydnee! When did you get here?” she said, her eyes getting bigger in shock.
Maybe what had just happened came to mind, and her face showed panic.
Under the table, Cara pulled on Coley’s sleeve.  She hoped I wouldn’t see it, but the table was made of glass.  I had seen it all.
Coley questioned, “What are you doing here?” His earlier smugness turned into annoyance as his friends looked at each other in a strange way.  His pinched brows made it plain that he was angry.  As expected, he walked up to me when I didn’t answer.
“Say something! I’m talking to you!” he yelled.
I could see the defiance in Cara’s eyes over Coley’s shoulder.  It wasn’t a shock.  Everyone at work knew I had been after him for years.
We had never been on the same level in our relationship.
I felt tired for the first time when I saw the man I had loved since I was a child.
I answered quietly, “Grandpa wants us to go to his place.”
Coley has been close with other women in front of me before.  He appeared to enjoy seeing me fall apart, as if my anguish made him feel better.
This is the same pub where Coley called me last time.
At that time, his friends were making fun of me.
“Drink this bottle, Sydnee, and we’ll let Coley go home!”
Coley had not said anything.  He had just stood there and smiled at me, finding the whole thing funny.
He did it on purpose.
I wanted to leave, but Coley spoke up.
He said, “If you walk out that door, you’ll never see me again.”
I stopped moving.  He knew I had gastritis.
But I grabbed up the bottle and started drinking in front of everyone.
The strong taste travelled across my lips, and soon after, the ache in my stomach came.
The pain was so bad that my heart felt like it was going to burst.
By the time I drank half the bottle, I was hardly awake.  I was slumped on the floor and sweating from the pain.
Coley’s buddies were starting to get alarmed.  But he just stood there, looking at me with a frigid smile.
“Sad.”
I was in a stupor as I watched Coley and his friends rush off to their next party.
I could still hear him on the phone with his helper.  “Send her home,” he murmured, and he didn’t seem worried at all.
At that time, old memories came rushing back to me.
I didn’t wait for Coley to answer when I came back to reality.  I walked by him and out of the bar.
I had given him his grandfather’s message.  That was Coley’s choice, whether he wanted to go or not.
I had never once ignored him.  This was probably the first time since we got married.
I must have caught him off guard because he was still standing there, confused, when I left.
As soon as I got in the car, Coley called.  “Why are you acting like that? It was just a friendly kiss!”
He started by complaining about how I acted before.
He must have felt bad about leaving without saying anything in front of his friends.
I felt a sharp pain in my chest.
It was usual for “friends” to be so close to each other.  Did it mean Coley and I were just “friends” too?
I could barely hear his companions making fun of him on the other end of the queue.
“When Coley gets home, Sydnee will be crying and holding on to him again.”
“It’s funny that she has been begging him not to leave her since they started dating.”
“Shh, Coley is still on the phone.”
I remembered the phrase that you could tell whether someone really loved you by how their friends treated you.
I had always known it, but I had chosen to ignore it.
Coley told him to “come back and apologise to Cara. You made her feel bad.”  “I’m not coming home if you don’t do that.”
I couldn’t help but giggle at the threats he made.
“Whatever.”
Those remarks would have had power over me in the past since I loved him.  But what about now?  I didn’t want to live this way anymore.
I looked at my phone when I hung up.
After I departed, Cara put something on her social media.
The picture featured a man’s hand holding a wine glass and said, “He’s always by my side.”
I knew Coley’s hand right away because I had been with him for so long.
It was him.
He also had on his right hand the wedding ring from our marriage.
I thought I wouldn’t feel anything anymore, yet my eyes still filled with tears when I saw her post.  Coley liked the post.
I also liked it and wrote, “Congratulations and best wishes.”
The light hit the diamond ring on my finger, and I stared at it.
I took it off after thinking about it for a moment.