My wedding ring rested on the sealed envelope beneath the pendant light.
Her smile vanished.
“What did you do?”
I was standing near the sink with a glass of water. I set it down.
“What is that?” she asked.
“Read it.”
She stared at me first, perhaps waiting for the dramatic accusation she had been rehearsing answers to during the drive home. When none came, she approached the table. Her eyes moved from the ring to her name on the envelope.
“You took your ring off.”
“Yes.”
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
She picked up the envelope but did not open it.
“This is because I went out for a few hours?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
I looked at her.
“Read the letter.”
She tore it open.
Her eyes moved quickly across the page. The more she read, the angrier she became, which was almost comforting because anger was the emotion she understood best when control started slipping.
“You called a lawyer.”
“I spoke to one.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“You are unbelievable.”
I said nothing.
“You’re ending an eight-year marriage because I had one drink with an ex-boyfriend.”
“No.”
“You literally wrote separation in this letter.”
“I did.”
“So what exactly am I supposed to think?”
“That I’m taking seriously what you told me before you left.”
Her eyes flashed.
“Oh, come on. People say things when they’re angry.”
“You weren’t angry.”
“I was frustrated.”
“You were dressed to leave.”
“That doesn’t mean I wanted a divorce.”
“You said maybe we should end the marriage.”
“I was making a point.”
“So am I.”
The kitchen became very quiet.
Vanessa looked down at the letter again.
Then at me.
“What else did you do?”
The question came too fast.
I noticed it immediately.
Not what did you find.
What else did you do.
I folded my arms.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel called me a liar and left after twenty minutes. Adrian called me and started asking insane questions. You obviously spent the night trying to blow up my life.”
“I asked two men what you told them about our marriage.”
“That is none of your business.”
“Our marriage status is absolutely my business.”