Beer, Spaghetti, and Pharmaceuticals ||COMPLETED||

Thirty Six Part Two

--PART TWO--

Derek handed out the beers and returned to his seat next to Alice. Relief washed over her when he didn't sit nearly as close as last time. Although, with Emily pressed right next to the other side of her, grinning wildly at Derek, she was still sandwiched inside a very uncomfortable situation.

"So, Derek," Blaise said. "You said you did a lot of research in Greece? How was that?"

Emily gasped. "You lived in Greece?"

"Yeah, for a couple of years."

"That is so fascinating," Emily said and nudged Alice's shoulder. "Alice, weren't you going to travel to Greece sometime?"

Alice slowly turned her with a clenched jaw and simply blinked at Emily's unfaltering innocent smile. She was going to have to have a private discussion with her best friend about what 'I'm not interested in Derek' means.

"Yes, Emily, at one point my brother and I were considering going to Greece," Alice said, feeling her cheeks turn the same colour as her hair. "But how about we let Derek here answer Blaise's question, huh?"

Derek gave a light chuckle and casually threw his arm around the back of the bench, so it was right behind Alice's neck. She felt her heart race, but it didn't seem like it was as though he was trying to make a move. It seemed as though it was just the most comfortable position for his arm.

However, she still noticed Isaac's grip tighten around his beer.

"Greece was amazing. I would go back any day if I could," Derek said. "It was too bad, though. My wife really wasn't - "

"Wait," Alice interrupted. "Are you married?"

"Oh, no. I should have said 'ex-wife'," he said, and pulled his arm down from behind Alice's neck back to his side, his shoulders slumping over slightly. "We, erm, just finalized the divorce a few months ago. It's still habit to call her my wife."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Alice said, frowning as she raised her hand to her chest. "That's too bad."

"It's alright. It was for the best," he said, although a sadness overtook his dark brown eyes as he stared at the ceiling. "She didn't like how many long hours I had to work and travel for my job. After six years of never agreeing on our lifestyle, it slowly started falling apart...it's a shame. I really thought she was the love of my life..."

Isaac and Blaise both rolled their eyes when Alice and Emily let out a simultaneous, "Aww."

"Yeah, she broke the news that she wanted a divorce the day before our anniversary," he said. "I took her to Paris and got a hotel with a view of the Eiffel Tower, put rose petals all over the bed, popped a bottle of champagne and then..."

He trailed off and took a deep breath as Alice found herself becoming moved by the story, slowly sliding her elbow towards him with every second that passed.

"And then what?" Emily asked with her mouth practically touching Alice's ear, apparently also magnetized to Derek's somber story.

"And then..." When Derek's voice cracked a little, Alice heard Isaac quietly scoff. "Then she came out of the washroom, saw the roses, and said she couldn't live a charade anymore. She told me that she stopped loving me a while ago and we needed to get divorced..."

Blaise folded his arms tightly around his chest as Emily cooed, "Oh, you poor thing."

"Yeah, it was...pretty rough," Derek said, and Alice had found herself so absorbed in the story she didn't even notice him put his arm on the back of the seat again. "But I still wish the best for her, you know? A part of me will always love her, I'm just sad I wasn't able to give her what she needed. I hope I get another chance to do it right with another woman someday..."