Lovingly Divorced

07

Today is the opening of my gallery. The event begins at 5pm so now here I am running around the place like a chicken who got its head cut off trying to make sure that everything is perfect.

Before I even realize it, it's five o clock and slowly the guests trickling in. By 5:30, almost everyone is here so I go around just speaking to people, motivating them to write a fat check for my works.

"Congratulations!" Jesse shrieks excitedly as she pulls me into a tight hug.

"Thank you so much." I reply holding her tight.

When we finally let go of each other, Max who is standing beside her, pulls me into a brief hug.

"Thank you guys so much for coming. It means a lot." I tell them honestly.

"Of course. I couldn't miss my best friend's first art showing." Jesse say with a 'duh' look.

"You know we had to be here. We are practically family." Max supports.

I feel myself tear up at that last part.

"Aww." Jesse says. "Bring it in, honey." She cajoled, pulling me into another hug.

After talking to them for a bit, I leave to go continue socializing. I'm in the middle of doing that when I spot Henry standing at the far corner of the room his eyes on me intently.

What the fuck?

I don't remember sending him an invite in the first place.

I go on greeting people, trying to not make visible how much his presence affects me. All through, his eyes remain on me, watching my every move, to my discomfort.

I see the event planner, Amber, so I quickly walk to her. "Did you add Henry Wallace to the guest list?" I ask her abruptly.

She looks momentarily confused by my tone before replying. "Y-yes I did."

"Why?" I ask in annoyance.

"I thought that he could help with the publicity. Besides, I honestly didn't even think that he was going to come." She says looking frightened.

I decide to tone it down a bit for the poor lady's sake. It's not her fault. "I'm sorry, it's just that's my ex husband." I tell her rubbing my thumb and index finger on my temple. I can already feel a headache coming.

Amber looks surprised at that confession. "I'm sorry. I didn't know that."

"It's okay." I reassure her before taking my leave. I decide to go to my office and get an aspirin before this headache becomes any worse than it is now.

I walk away from the crowd feeling those same intense grey eyes on my every movement so I'm not surprised when I'm in my office and I hear someone close the door after I walk in. 

"What do you want, Henry?" I ask as I rummage through my drawers for an aspirin. 

"You haven't returned any of my calls." He says like it's explanation enough for him to act like a fucking creep. 

"Well, shouldn't that tell you loud and clear that I do not wish to speak to you?" I ask, relieved when I finally find the bottle of pills that I was looking for. I turn around to get some water only to find Henry standing right behind me. Up close, I can see the bags underneath his eyes and the dark look in his eyes. He looks haunted, to say the least.

"I'm fucking tired of this, Sandy." He hisses suddenly, his hand coming to wrap itself around my waist while the other comes up to caress my cheek. "I forgive you, baby. I don't care about what went on between the both of you anymore." He bites out. "I'm willing to forget about it if you do too. Let's just move on past this. I love you so fucking much and these past years without you have been absolute hell." He rants.