~ Barbara ~
Bouncing around her new home, Barbara unpacked her things from storage. When the last of it was finished, she decided to reward herself with some light yoga and a nice long bath before heading out to teach her night class.
Flipping on her big screen TV, she unrolled her yoga mat. A few downward dogs, planks, and mighty warrior poses later, she was feeling calm and relaxed. Dropping into the Bharadvaja's Twist, she closed her eyes and began counting to ten.
The tranquil moment was broken by someone pounding on her front door. Creating a protective barrier in her mind, she tried to shut out the ugly noise. There was only one person in the entire world ballsy enough to assault her door that way, and there was no way that she was going to let him keep shattering every moment of inner peace she managed to find.
Her door rattled loudly, and David’s irritated voice called out, “Don’t ignore me, Barb. I know you’re in there because your car’s in the driveway and I hear that ridiculous yoga music you love so much, so open the damned door.”
Finally letting go of any pretense of having privacy in her own home, she came gracefully to her feet. Padding over the plush carpet, she opened the front door.
“I knew you’d come running to the door like a little lost puppy when I came calling.”
Staring at her enraged ex-husband, Barbara simmered inside at his words. “From now on, ring the doorbell. If I don’t answer in three buzzes, assume I’m otherwise occupied and just leave.”
Disgusted was the word she’d choose for his expression. “You and I need to talk.”
“No we don’t. We said it all at the divorce hearing.”
Chuffing out an ugly laugh, he replied snidely, “I didn’t get nearly enough time to have my say, and most of it is for your ears only.”
“Fine, spit it out, and then leave me alone.”
He looked taken aback for a moment but recovered almost instantly. After opening and closing his mouth a few times, he finally managed to produce words. “Don’t expect me to come running when you fall flat on your face.”
Folding her arms over her chest, she leashed her frustration in an effort to be civil. “We’re officially divorced. I don’t see why you’re still trying to run my life.”
Snorting derisively, he glared at her. “Someone needs to.”
The man could get under her skin quicker than anyone she’d ever met. Swallowing back the scathing retort that came to mind, she tried to be reasonable. “I earn a decent salary, pay my own mortgage, have car insurance in place, as well as my own health care. I wouldn’t say that I’m in danger of falling on my face.”
“I know how much first-year professors make. You, my dear, are living paycheck to paycheck. The first time your car breaks down or your HVAC craps out, you’ll be needing me.”
Stepping back and grabbing the door, Barbara decided arguing about hypotheticals was an absurd waste of time for both of them. Her patience for answering to the man she was no longer married to had come to an end as well. “I really won’t need you for anything, but thanks for playing. Bye-bye now.” Attempting to shut the door proved a fruitless endeavor, when he wedged his shiny dress shoe between the door and the frame.
“I’m not quite finished talking to you, young lady.”
Glaring at him, she intoned, “I’m almost thirty.”
“On the outside, you may be twenty-nine, but on the inside, you’re more like a seventeen year old. You’ve blown through your half of the divorce settlement, and you need to know there’s no more money where that came from.”
“Look, you pompous ass, the majority of that money went for a down payment on my house, to pay my car off, and buy furniture. That money was rightfully mine to do with as I please. I used it to make sure I never have to suffer the indignity of having you in my life again, and yet here you are.” Gosh, that whole plan to keep her cool sure didn’t last long.
His voice softened a smidge. “You can do a lot worse than a husband who just wants to take care of you.”
“I fell for that line of bull once. Don’t think for a minute I’m ignorant enough to fall for it twice.”
“Why don’t you let me come in? I haven’t had a decent cup of coffee since you left.”
“Funny, you say that now, but when we were married, all you did was complain about my coffee, my cooking, and everything else under the sun.”
“I loved your cooking.”
“You should. Everything I make is gourmet. Maybe you can teach your girlfriend to cook all your favorite things, because I’m never making another bite for you to eat in this lifetime.”
“This is a long conversation to have while standing on your tiny front porch. Let me come in and you can copy down recipes for her while I drink a cup of java.”
“I’ve got a better idea. How about you get your ridiculously tiny clown foot out of my doorway before I kick you in the shin?”
“No coffee then?”
“Nope. No sharing recipes or making nice with the homewrecker you cheated on me with either, you gigantic dick.”
“You never talked to me with such disrespect when we were married.”
Kicking him in shin just hard enough for him to jerk back, she caught his eye. “I’ve turned over a new leaf. Get the hell out of my life or I’ll take out a restraining order.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me, big boy. I’ll bet that would tarnish the public image you work so hard to cultivate.” Slamming the door in his face, Barbara turned around and leaned her back against the door. Taking a deep breath, she waited for the inevitable outburst. David always managed to get in the last word, no matter the situation.
Sure enough, his surly voice sounded off within seconds. “I’ve heard all about your bar-hopping and whoring around, don’t think I haven’t.”
Now that pissed her the hell off. Turning, she placed both palms against the door. “At least I waited until I was divorced to date. Don’t ever forget that this breakup is on you, David. You’re the one who could never keep your pants zipped.”
“Fuck you, Barb. You know I never loved any of them like I love you.”
Leaning her forehead against the door, she spoke softly. “I stopped loving you after the third or fourth affair. I’m sorry that I wasted two more years of my life after that. I should have left long ago.”
“I’m sorry, honey. I can do better.”
“Don’t honey me, David. If you could have done better, you would have, so no more chances. We’ve cycled down to having the same tired conversation, only through a closed door. Can’t you see how this is a metaphor for our entire marriage?”
“I still love you.”
Squeezing her eyes shut, Barbara refused to fall for his sob story all over again. “Kill the feelings off.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Let me help you with that.” Gathering her courage, she swallowed hard before speaking words fit to sever the tie between them. “Two weeks ago, I had sex with a man who totally rocked my world. He was hot, sexy, and really got off on giving me one orgasm after another. He was everything you weren’t in the sack. I think of him when I’m in the shower… and you know what I do when I shower.”
His hand slammed into the door, jarring her forehead. “You fucking bitch. I can’t believe you did that, much less that you told me about it.”
“Don’t get all high and mighty on me now, David. It’s the same thing you’ve been doing to me, only you did it while we were married.”
“I see how wrong that was now. We can work this out once and for all, if you just give me a chance.”
“No. I’m finished trying, and we’re officially divorced.”
“Divorced people get back together all the time.”
“Don’t you see? If I had been enough for you, you’d have been faithful all along. I’m not, so you weren’t.”
That must have done it, because her last comment was met with stony silence. She placed her ear to the door and heard his footsteps slowly receding.
Just when she thought it was all over, all hell broke loose.
Her hands flew to her ears, as she heard him rampaging around on the front porch. Flower pots—and she guessed everything else—was getting thrown against the front of her house. David could be terrifying, but he had never even come close to this type of behavior. Today she’d pushed him past his limit. Somehow, she knew if the door hadn’t been separating them, he’d have poured all that fury out on her.
When the tornado died down, she heard sirens whirring in the distance. Sliding down onto her butt, the flat sure surface of the floor provided a small measure of security. When another bang on the door shattered the silence, she snapped, “Get the hell away from me, David! Can’t you see that you’re terrorizing me?”
“Ma’am, it’s the police. Can you open the door?”
Flying to her feet, Barbara yanked the door open. Gaping at the police officer, it took her a minute to realize how badly the entire situation had affected her. Tears were streaming down her face. Wiping them away with the back of her hand, she tried to pull herself together. “I don’t know who called you, but thanks for responding so quickly.”
“Dispatch says they got three separate calls. From the look of things, they were right to call.”
“My ex just got a little angry. He has a temper, but I can honestly say he’s never laid a hand on me.”
“Well, if you’ll just give me a few minutes of your time, we’ll do our best to make sure he never does.”
“I don’t want to cause any trouble for him. I just want him to leave me alone.”
“How likely do you think that is to happen?”
“After what I told him today, I think it’s pretty damn good.” Crap, she just cursed at an officer of the law. That was disrespectful. She felt her face color slightly. “Sorry about the cursing. I’ve had a rough day.”
“It’s no problem. Look, I’m really not supposed to do this except under special circumstances, but if you want to give me a statement, I can flag your address in our database as a high-priority target for domestic violence and code the name of the perp as management-level access only.”
Blinking up at him, she mumbled, “I didn’t know something like that was possible.”
“It’s part of the chief’s new strategy for safeguarding families. They figure if we handle the information in a private fashion, women will feel more comfortable disclosing sensitive information.”
Pulling her fingers through her long red locks, Barbara tried to get ahold of her wildly vacillating emotions. “That sounds like a good policy to me. Come on in and we can talk.”