DIVORCED: MY EX-HUSBAND WANTS ME BACK

Ryan

As I watched Ciara walk away from me, from our home, my blood began to boil.

Turning to face Anne, I spat out, “Why did you come here?”

Anne scoffed, “Babe, you can’t actually be angry with me right now, can you? She is the one who didn’t know her place. I was setting things right!”

“Didn’t I warn you not to ever come by the house!?”

Anne threw her hands up in the air, frustrated, “So what!? You’re impossible, do you know that? We kissed, hugged, went to public places as a couple, and all you kept telling me all that while was ‘I’ll take care of it,’ ‘Don’t let it bother you,’ ‘My wife and I aren’t in an actual marriage’…blah blah blah.”

“That was all you did for the past one year, do you get it now?” Anne sifted her hair backwards. “You were just a coward who was too weak to make any moves, so I made things easier for you.” Anne picked up the signed divorce papers which had fallen to the ground. “See, I achieved what took you one year, in just a few minutes.”

Glancing between Anne and the divorce papers, I quickly turned around, heading out through the front door to find Ciara. It was late at night, and she probably didn’t have anywhere to go, but Anne held me abruptly by the wrist.

“Where do you think you are going?” She questioned through gritted teeth.

“Let go of me.”

“Why? So you can run back to that woman? You said she didn’t mean anything to you!”

“And she doesn’t!” I retorted, tired of Anne’s tantrum. “But should I just leave her out there all alone? What if something happens to her?”

“What if something happens to her? Is she your responsibility?”

“Yes.” I showed her the ring on my index finger. “Until we are officially divorced in court, we’re still husband and wife.”

“You know you are the only one who thinks that way, right?”

I pushed off Anne’s grip from my wrist. “And you know I don’t care. You can sit around and make yourself at home or something.”

With that said, I headed out the front door, searching frantically for any trace of Ciara—her favorite places inclusive—but it was to no avail.

I stopped in my tracks, panting heavily as suddenly a thought came to mind: Tina.

If Ciara had to be anywhere, she’d definitely be with Tina since Tina is the only friend she’d made here since we moved to this part of the town for our matrimonial home.

Grabbing my phone out of my jeans pocket, I fumbled over the keypads as I punched in Tina’s name; thankfully it came up on time.

“Pick up, pick up,” I mumbled over and over as I heard her ringtone buzz in my ears. “Tina?”

“Ryan?”

“Yes, it’s me. Thank God you picked up.”

“Is everything alright? Your voice sounds shaky and—”

“Have you heard from Ciara?”

“Ciara? Not today, I haven’t.”

“Please, can you do me a favor? If you hear from her, can you please give me a call? And if you have spare time in your hands, can you help me look for her and take her to your place?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll do that.”

I was relieved that she didn’t probe deeper by asking more questions and just left it at that.

Knowing that no matter what happened today, Ciara would be safe with Tina had helped put my mind at rest and made me head back home.

On getting to the front gates, I exhaled sharply—remembering that Anne was still inside and would throw more tantrums—before heading in.

As expected, Anne was waiting for me in the living room with crossed arms. “You do realize how pathetic you look, right?”

I brushed past her. “I’m not in the mood for this.”

She grabbed my wrist, forcefully turning me to face her. It pissed me off so badly that I’d impulsively raised my balled fist, ready to launch at her, but I’d stopped mid-way.

Anne’s eyes went from me to my fist. “Why did you stop? Go ahead and hit me.”

“Stop pissing me the fuck off, Anne! Ciara is someone that even if I don’t have feelings for, we’d been married for a year. She was with me during a very dark time in my life when you were busy, I don’t know, getting nailed by a drunk perv—”

Anne cut me off with a slap across my cheeks. “You could always explain yourself without disrespecting me.”

“All I wanted to do was make sure Ciara got somewhere safe to stay the night for old time’s sake. If you have a problem with that, be free to tell that to someone who cares. I’m going to bed.”

Storming off to the bedroom, which Ciara and I once shared, I saw that it was in a mess as Ciara had packed up her things in a hurry.

I sighed, tidying up the little I could before stripping out of my clothes, turning off the bedroom light, and climbing onto the bed, but damn it, I couldn’t sleep.

I reached out for my phone to text Tina if she was with Ciara already, but then, I heard a knock on my door.

I didn’t bother to look to see who it was because hell, it was only Anne and I in this big ol’ house.

“Do you have something to say?” I questioned.

“Are you about to call someone?”

God damn this woman and her million questions! She wasn’t like this when we were hooking up.

“And if I was?”

“Then hear me out first then,” She paused. “I’m sorry for raising my voice at you earlier and hitting you. I lost my cool thinking you still had feelings for that woman.”

Placing my phone back on the bedstand, I opened my arms wide, “Come here.”

And she did. Anne crawled into the bed and into my arms, and I wrapped my arms around her. “I’m sorry too for shouting at you and saying things I didn’t mean.”

She tightened her hold on me. “Let’s never fight again, Ryan.”

I nod my head in the darkness. “Sure.” Patting her hair, I continued, “Let’s sleep now.”