The Party

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~~~Nicholas~~~

My body was tugged from sleep by the sound of birds chirping, which was odd. Normally I wake to hear traffic sounds. I was momentarily disoriented until my vision adjusted to find myself staring at the walls of my old room. I groaned in annoyance when the events of the past few months come rushing back.

Pulling myself out of bed, I grab a quick shower before dressing and heading downstairs. The smell of bacon greets my nose as soon as I open my door and I can hear the chatter from my parents. I enter the kitchen to see my father with a newspaper and cup of coffee, sitting at the counter.

"Hey dad." He turns to face me, smiling. Getting off the stool he takes a few steps to embrace me in a quick hug. I frown seeing his slight limp.

"Nick! Good to see you son. Settling back in ok?" I nod.

"Ya. I have to unpack still but nothing that needs to happen now. How's that knee? I heard you were doing chores." My dad sends a weak glare to my mom who pretends not to notice.

"I'm fine. Just slept wrong." He grumbles. His hazel eyes cast downwards, something he does when he's not being entirely truthful. He runs his hand through his short, salt and pepper hair before having me come sit next to him.

"You ready for the party tonight?" I look at him confused.

"Uh, what party?" He sighs glancing at my mother again.

"Your mother has decided to have a welcome home party for you." I automatically groan, dreading having to tell family and friends my life failures.

"Thanks for the warning." I grumble before digging into breakfast. "I'm definitely not looking forward to all the questions." My dad's eyes cut to mine sharply.

"We did warn you." Ouch.

"Richard!" My mom admonishes him. "This is not the time to berate his choices. Just be glad he didn't have kids with the vile woman."

Another shot to my heart.

"Trust me pops. I'm already beating myself up for it." I roll my eyes. God, I'm 30 years old not 17.

"Mmhm." He murmurs letting me know the subject is dropped. I guess no matter how old you get, your parents still treat you like a child. They love to rub salt in the wound if I make wrong choices. Well, dad anyway.

She was the worst mistake of my life. When we got together, we were both 23. Fresh out of college and I thought I loved her. I didn't see her for what she was. I'm not sure how my parents saw through her angel disguise. When we were together, she acted the part. However, my friends would tell me she would talk down to me behind my back. I chose not to believe them, just brushing it off.

Then I find out I'm missing almost 30,000 dollars from our savings account. I hadn't noticed it until recently. It had all built up over time with small withdrawals over the years. She had a thirst for expensive shopping. Come to find out she was also cheating on me. I went on a business trip and came back early as a surprise. Well, the surprise was on me when I caught her in our bed fucking one of my employees.

That was fun.

The neighbors called the police for the noise disturbance from her screaming fits and breaking things. Luckily since the house was in my name, she was escorted off the property and I filed for divorce immediately. I'm loyal to a fault. I don't accept cheating on your spouse. She whined about it being a mistake and wanted to go to counseling. By then, my eyes were clear, and I saw her devil horns.

She only wanted the money.

Honestly, I'd be more heartbroken if I wasn't so angry. She made every step of this a living hell. Now I just feel like I dodged a major bullet since we hadn't had kids yet. It saddened me. I had always wanted kids and now who knows when I will have a family. I'm cursing my stupidity at not watching the warning signs or listening to my friends or family.

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