She Plans My Promotion, I'm Planning Divorce novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Smoke on the Terrace

After the cake and the candles and the speeches, I slipped out to the back terrace and lit a cigarette.

I had bought the pack on the way over. I had not smoked since college, and Claire had once made me throw away a single cigarette from a friend's wedding.

The first drag made me cough.

The second one was easier.

I leaned on the stone railing and looked at Edith's dark garden, and for the first time all day nobody was looking at me.

The terrace door opened behind me.

"Look who's hiding," a man said.

Two of Claire's cousins stepped out. One was heavy and red in the face, and the other wore a pinstriped suit and had been drinking since four.

They had never spoken to me at a family dinner. Tonight they came right up to the railing.

"You're the husband nobody's supposed to know about," the heavy one said. "The secret one."

I did not answer.

"We heard what happened at the party," the pinstriped one said. "Quit in front of everyone. Real tough guy."

"Or did she fire you?" the first one said. "Honestly, it's the same thing. Five years living off Claire's money and what have you done for her?"

"I'm going back inside."

He put a hand flat on my chest and pushed me against the rail.

"Not yet. We're talking."

I did not hit him. I looked down at the hand, and then at his face.

"Take it off," I said.

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