Pieces of Forever

13 - JASON

Jason

I hear the knock at my front door and get off the couch. Since getting off the phone with Kerri, I've been feeling rejuvenated. I'm so glad that Kerri is bringing my baby back to me. I was so stupid to take her all the way back home in the first place. I had texted Ashlee about an hour ago to come over, before she has to go to work, so we can talk. I want to tell her that I might be trying to work things out with my wife.

I look through the peep hole to see that Ashlee is standing there, ready for work. She doesn't have to be at work, until three, but I guess that she planned on spending the next couple hours with me. I open the door with a smile on my face.

"Hey." She gives me a big smile.

"Hey." I give her a light hug, and she hugs me back. I open the door a little more to let her come all the way. "You smell good."

She walks pass me. "Thanks. You do too."

"Have a seat on the couch. I need to talk to you about something."

She walks over to the couch and sits down. "You sound so serious. What is this about?"

I sit down on the couch, putting some space between us. "Well . . ." I really don't know how to tell her what I have to tell her. "There's no easy way to say this . . ." She just looks at me with curiosity in her eyes. "Um . . . My wife might be moving back. I think we're going to work on our marriage." I look down at my hands as I twiddle my thumbs. I know that I must sound like the biggest asshole.

Ashlee's silence is enough to make me look back at her. Her eyes are filled with hurt.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know - - -"

"It's fine. I shouldn't have put my guards down with you. You told me the situation, and I . . . " She shakes her head. "I should have known better." She stands up and heads for the door.

"Ashlee - - -"

She puts her hands up as she walks out my front door. "I can get myself to work." She closes my door after herself.

I notice right away that she didn't cause a lot of drama and do all the swearing and yelling at me like I was expecting. She really didn't say too much, but I know that she's hurt. I look down at my hands, shaking my head. It seems as though I'm always hurting someone. Ashlee was an innocent bystander.

My phone rings, breaking me out of my thoughts. I snatch my phone from the end table and answer it without looking at who is calling.

"What's up?"

"So, if I get there tomorrow, can you take me to dinner? This drive is forever. It's taking moments in my life that I will never ever get back." Kerri's voice comes over the phone.

The sound of her voice is enough to make me smile. "I got you. What time will you two be here?" I really can't wait to see Mel. If everyone thought she was spoiled before, I'm going to really spoiled the shit out of her. I'm going to try to trust her and be everything that I used to be for her.

"Um . . . I'm coming alone. Well, I'll talk to you later." Kerri tries to rush off the phone.

"Hold up. What do you mean that you're coming alone? You told me that you were bringing Mel with you."

"Yeah, see that was the plan, but some unfortunate shit happened that changed our worlds. Now, I have to do this drive alone, and you . . . Well, you're getting divorced."

"What? Wait. Did you go to her house?" I ask her.

"Yeah, I did. I told you that I was. She had moved in with Cameron and now they're playing house together. He's going to be there for her and the baby."