Splendor (Inevitable #2)

by Nissenson, Janet

  Tessa frowned as she removed her jacket and hung it on a wall peg in the entryway. “I had already defrosted some chicken – thought I’d make that tortilla casserole you like. Are you sure getting pizza was a good idea? Things are a little tight for a few more days until I get paid.”

  He was already taking plates from one of their very few kitchen cabinets. “It’s fine, Tess. Three of my stories from the last trip all sold and I deposited the check today. The chicken will keep. Sit down and take it easy.”

  Reassured, she sat across from him at their tiny table for two and eagerly reached for a slice of the mushroom and olive pizza that was her favorite. “Thanks, it looks delicious. It was really nice of you to order it.”

  Peter chucked her gently on the chin. “You deserve it. I know how hard you work, Tess, and how seldom you treat yourself to anything. And it’s just a pizza, for God’s sake.”

  She took a bite, savoring the warm melted cheese and thin crispy crust. “Mmm, it’s awesome. Much better than chicken.”

  “Yeah, I admit I’ve been craving it myself. Too many weeks of one form or another of noodles and vegetables. But that’s what comes from traveling through Asia as often as I do.”

  He told her about his most recent trip while they ate, and she listed as always with rapt attention. Peter was a master storyteller, whether in written or oral context, and she loved to hear his numerous tales. If she couldn’t travel to these far-off, exotic places herself, then hearing his stories and reading his reports almost made her feel as though she was there herself.

  Peter cleaned up the kitchen while Tessa took a quick shower. Normally she showered at the office after her daily workout at the employee gym, but she’d been in a rush to get home to Peter and had skipped working out today.

  She’d been so happy to see him, had rushed inside the apartment so quickly, that she hadn’t noticed his still unpacked bags until she reentered the living room after her shower. Tessa frowned as she towel dried her hair, especially when she realized there were a good half dozen bags piled together. Peter never took more than two bags with him on a trip, and he was usually always meticulous about unpacking not long after arriving home.

  “Why haven’t you unpacked?” she asked, an uneasy feeling starting to overtake her once again. The premonitions she’d felt upon waking this morning were returning in full force and then some.

  Peter shoved his hands into the pockets of his baggy cargo pants, a sure sign he was feeling agitated. “Because I’ve got to leave again. Soon.”

  Tessa stared at him in dismay. “What? I don’t understand. Why would the agency fly you all the way home from Cambodia just to send you back out again so soon? Especially with the tight budget they always have you on.”

  The international news agency that Peter worked for as a freelance reporter was notoriously cheap. The flights they scheduled for him always involved multiple stops and connections, and the accommodations they booked for him were anything but first class. The salary was barely adequate, and he often had to argue with them about getting paid on a timely basis. It was a fairly steep price to pay for doing the sort of work he loved, and had always dreamed of doing, but Tessa had done her best to support him these past couple of years. Even if it meant living on a shoestring budget and hardly ever seeing her husband.

  Peter’s thin mouth tightened into an even narrower line. “Tess, let’s sit down, okay? We have some stuff to talk about.”

  Her legs suddenly felt wobbly, and the pizza she’d so eagerly devoured was beginning to burn a hole in her stomach. “Peter, you’re starting to freak me out,” she told him in a pleading little voice. “What’s going on?”

  “Sit down and I’ll tell you.” His voice was gentle but firm.

  She sank down onto the futon that had originally been their bed, until they’d finally been able to afford a real one. She was starting to tremble and wrapped her arms around her torso in an effort to quell the tremors.

  “Peter, please. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this now. What’s wrong?”

  He sat down next to her, taking her hands in his, his expression solemn. “I’ve got a new job, Tess. A hell of a lot better than this lousy gig. Better pay and actual benefits, a regular salary, living allowance. I’ve got to fly to New York to go through a two-week orientation before I actually start work.”

  Tessa almost laughed with relief. She had been convinced he was going to tell her something awful, but instead it was really, really good news. “But that’s fantastic, Peter! I’m so happy for you!”

  She flung her arms around his neck, hugging him close. Tessa pressed a kiss on his cheek, hoping, wishing, that tonight he might actually return her affections, might be able to make love to her for the first time in months.

  But her hopes were dashed when he once again gently disengaged himself from her embrace and moved a short distance away from her. He kept her hands firmly clasped in his. “Thanks, Tess. It’s a great opportunity, exactly what I’ve wanted for a really long time. I’m glad to know you’re happy for me. Though I’m guessing you won’t be when you hear all the details.”

  Tessa regarded her husband warily. “What sort of details?”

  Peter sighed, and ran a hand through his unruly hair. “The job is based in the Middle East,” he told her quietly. “That’s going to be my new territory. No more Asian trips.”

  She gave a small shrug. “Is that a bad thing? I mean, how much longer are the flights to and from the Middle East than they were to Asia?”

  He paused, as though choosing his words very carefully. “You don’t get it, Tess. I’m going to be based in the Middle East. Bahrain, to be exact. I’ll be relocating there, living there full time.”

  Tessa felt like she’d taken a blow to the solar plexus, and struggled suddenly to breathe. “So – so we’re moving? Leaving San Francisco and moving to Bahrain?”

  He shook his head. “Not we – me. I can’t take you with me, Tess. That’s not part of the job offer. I’ll be sharing a residence with three other journalists and photographers. And even if that wasn’t the set-up there’s no way I’d leave you alone for weeks on end over there. It’s a very different world for a female in the Middle East. You wouldn’t be able to get a decent job or go out and about anytime you wanted. Bahrain is a more modern country in that part of the world, but you still wouldn’t have the sort of freedom you have here and would have to be very careful all the time. I’d worry about you constantly every time I was away.”

  The tears were beginning to well up hotly behind her eyes. “I’d be okay,” she whispered. “I’ll do whatever is necessary, just as long as I can go with you, so we can be together.”

  “No, Tess. It wouldn’t be any kind of life for you. You’d be almost like a prisoner every time I was away,” he explained. “And I’m expecting to be away for even longer stretches than I am now – maybe a month or two at a time – places like Syria and Egypt and Iraq.”

  The tears starting tracking slowly down her cheeks. “So – so how often will you be able to come home to see me?” she asked, her voice breaking.

  Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I get two weeks off each quarter.”

  “That’s it?” she cried. “I’ll only get to see you eight weeks a year?”

  “No. Let me finish. I’m not coming back to San Francisco. When I leave – that’s it. We need to end this, Tess. It’s way past time and we both know it.”

  She was weeping openly now, hiding her face in her hands as her body shook with sobs. “Please don’t do this,” she begged. “Don’t leave me, Peter. I don’t care if I can only see you a few weeks a year. Just don’t leave me alone forever.”

  He took her into his arms gently, easing her head onto his shoulder. “Shh. Take it easy, okay? You know we have to do this, Tessa. We should have ended things a long time ago. This – what we have here – it isn’t a marriage and it never has been, not really. You know it as well as I do. And it’s never been fair to you f
or even one day.”

  “That’s not true,” she protested weakly. “We have a good marriage. We love each other. You’ve been so good to me, Peter, taken care of me for so long. I – I can’t do this by myself.”

  “You’re wrong, Tess. You’ve been taking care of yourself for almost two years now, every time I go away. And you’ve been doing great. I know you’re going to do just fine on your own,” he reassured her confidently.

  She shook her head, clinging to his hand desperately. “That’s different. I always knew you were coming home soon. And we Skyped and texted and emailed almost every day. Are we – can we still – ”

  “No. At least not as often. You need to start over, Tess, to break the ties and finally have a real life, a real relationship. Not all the crap you’ve had to put up with for so long with me.”

  “We do – I do -” she began to protest.

  Peter stared at her in disbelief. “No, we don’t, Tess, and we never have. I’ve never been able to give you what you need – what you deserve – and I doubt I ever will. You deserve so much more than what little I can give you.”

  “I don’t care,” she told him fervently. “I’m perfectly happy with the way things are.”

  “Bullshit. Come on, you’re a beautiful, healthy, normal twenty-four year old woman. Every time we’re out together I see the way guys look at us. They’re all wondering how a pathetic geek like me landed someone as hot as you, wonder what the hell you see in me.”

  “Who cares what anyone else thinks?” asked Tessa passionately. “Our feelings are the only ones that matter.”

  “Exactly. And I’ve always felt like an asshole for not being able to give you what you really need.” He squeezed her hand. “You know how fucked up I am, Tess. Everything that happened to me – it’s not something I can forget or get over that easily. I’m not sure I’ll ever really be normal or have a normal relationship. And I’m not going to make you suffer because of that any longer.”

  “I don’t care about any of that,” she insisted. “All I care about is being with you.”

  “Well, I care,” Peter stated firmly. “How do you think it makes me feel knowing that I’m not giving you what you need – that I can’t ever be the man you deserve? I feel like a total shit and certainly not like any sort of real man. So this has to happen, Tessa. For my sake as well as yours.”

  She slumped against the back of the futon, her limbs limp and lifeless. “How am I going to cope without you, Peter?” she whispered brokenly. “I’m so afraid of being alone. You’re all I have.”

  He twined a lock of her damp hair around his fingers, a habit he’d picked up years ago. “You’re going to be fine, Tessa. You’re so much stronger than you think, you just don’t see it now. And one day you’ll meet a guy who truly deserves you – one who can finally give you everything you need – a real marriage, a baby.”

  “I don’t want anyone else,” she protested. “You’re all I’ve ever needed.”

  “You’ve been the best wife any man could ever hope for – sweet, loyal, patient. You’ve never complained once about how crappy everything has been, how little we’ve had and how hard we’ve had to work. And you’ll always be my best friend. Forever.” He kissed her softly on the temple. “But it’s time for you to finally live, Tessa – really live, and not this shitty half-life we’ve been pretending to have for so long.”

  Tessa choked on another sob and dashed away a fresh onslaught of tears with the back of her hand. “So what – what happens now?”

  “I visited an old college friend this morning – you remember Kyle?” At Tessa’s nod, he continued. “He’s finishing up law school here in San Francisco and working part-time at some big firm. He offered to draw up papers for us, do all the busy work, and then get one of the attorneys to sign off on them.”

  “Papers?” she asked in confusion.

  “Divorce papers,” he confirmed gently. “Kyle will have them sent here for you to sign, and then you just return them to him. He’ll take care of forwarding them to me.”

  “Oh, my God.” Tessa pulled her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around her shins. “God, are we really getting a divorce? It sounds so final.”

  “Our marriage will be over, Tess, but not our friendship,” he reassured her. “We’ll always be family, okay? And I’ll help with money as much as I can. The lease on this place isn’t up until April, you know, and you won’t be able to afford the rent on your own. I’ll put some money in your account each month until the lease is up and you can move to a cheaper place.”

  She hid her face against her bent knees, unable to think about practical things like paying bills or eventually having to move. “How long?”

  “The divorce will take a few months to be final.”

  “No, that’s not what I meant,” she corrected. “How long until – you leave?”

  “I fly to New York tomorrow morning. I’ll be going through a two week orientation program, finalizing my work visa and stuff like that. I leave for Bahrain after that.”

  Tessa heaved a weary sigh. “So this is it, huh? Our last night together. Can’t we have a few more days, Peter? So I can get used to the idea a little.”

  “It’s better this way, Tess,” he insisted. “I know you won’t agree, but if I stay any longer you’ll just try to convince me to forget about everything. And I’ve been putting a move like this off for far too long already. It’s time, Tessa. Time for both of us to start over.”

  Her bottom lip trembled. “I know I’ve held you back. I know the only reason you stayed with me so long was because I was too helpless to take care of myself.”

  “That’s bullshit, Tess. We’ve gone over this too many times to count. You are not helpless or incompetent or dumb. Or any of the other unflattering terms you always insult yourself with. You’re smart and capable and you amaze me every day with how much you’ve grown.”

  She raised huge eyes to him. “I’m scared, Peter,” she confessed in a trembly voice. “Scared of being alone. And terrified that I’m going to be like her.”

  “You aren’t. You won’t. You’re nothing like your mother, Tessa, nothing,” Peter assured her fiercely. “You’re so much stronger than you’re even aware of. And I know how hard this is but you’re going to be okay. If I didn’t believe that I wouldn’t be leaving.”

  “Will you hold me?”

  He took her into his arms, rocking her gently as though she were a small child. “Of course I will.”

  “I knew something bad was going to happen today. I felt it the minute I woke up. God, I hate Wednesdays,” she said bitterly.

  “Shh. It’s just a silly coincidence, nothing more. Now, we should both get some rest. My flight leaves pretty early in the morning.”

  Tessa wasn’t certain she could sleep, given how upset she was, but as she snuggled close against Peter she did manage to fall into a somewhat restless slumber, hoping against hope that she would wake to find all of this was just a bad dream.

  But when her alarm went off the next morning, she was once again alone in the bed, as she was so often these days. And this time, Peter wouldn’t be back.

  Chapter Four

  October

  “How are you, Tessa? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you here.”

  Tessa had been tidying up the refreshment table in the large conference room but glanced up at the soft, melodious voice of Julia McKinnon. Though smiles didn’t come easily to Tessa these days, she couldn’t help but return the interior designer’s friendly greeting.

  “I’m well, thank you. I’d ask how you’re doing but I think that’s fairly obvious,” Tessa replied in a lightly teasing tone.

  Julia’s smile deepened into a grin. “And here I thought Nathan and I were being discreet. I guess I just can’t help the way I look at him.”

  “You’re in love. I don’t blame you for being happy. And Mr. Atwood is obviously just as crazy about you,” Tess told her warmly.

  Nathan Atwood was the
co-owner of the architectural design firm that was currently creating the newest Gregson resort – this one in the Napa Valley wine country. Julia was the interior designer assigned to the project, and it had been rather obvious to Tessa the first time she’d met the gorgeous Julia that Mr. Atwood was extremely taken with her. They had been a couple for a few months now, and both of them positively glowed with happiness. And though they were discreet and professional, Tessa couldn’t help but notice all the ways they found to touch each other – fleeting little touches, affectionately given, almost imperceptible. Tessa had found herself envying them the easy, natural affection they shared, something she and Peter had never come close to having.

  Julia seemed inordinately pleased at Tessa’s comment. “Well, it took him long enough to admit it, but now that he has it’s awesome. It’s – well, you know how it is – you’re a married woman, after all.”

  Tessa knew her facial expression must have been a dead giveaway, because Julia instantly clutched her arm in concern.

  “Are you all right?” she asked worriedly. “My God, you look like you’re going to faint, Tessa.”

  Tessa closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before shaking her head. “I’m – okay, yes. Thanks for asking. I’d, um – better finish cleaning up here, though. I need to get back to my desk soon.”

  But Julia wasn’t so easily dissuaded. “I’m so sorry if I said anything to upset you. Look, do you want to talk about it? Why don’t we have lunch together? What time do you normally take your break?”

  “Um, at one o’clock. But I – that is, I always bring my lunch every day. I don’t think –” stammered Tessa. It would be too humiliating to confess that she couldn’t afford to eat lunch out. Now that she was completely on her own, money was tighter than ever.

  Julia seemed to sense her dilemma and laid a small, gentle hand on Tessa’s forearm. “My treat. There’s a cute little café about a block from here that I love. Nathan thinks it’s too fussy and never wants to eat there with me. But they have really yummy desserts so you’d be doing me a huge favor if you’d go with me.”