Fifteen Days to Divorce novel · Chapter 10 of 24

Chapter 10: The Looped G

Malachi woke at five and did not move, because Portia was asleep with her cheek on his arm.

He had stood on stages in front of four thousand people and never been afraid.

He was afraid now of a woman's breathing.

He listened to it, in and out, the way Ellie had taught him.

He had not told her the worst part.

On their wedding day, in the chapel, he had nodded through his vows because the words would not come.

Nobody but Margo had known why.

He lay there until the light came gray through the terrace door.

Then he slid his arm out from under her, very carefully, and went down to the kitchen.

Margo was already there.

She sat at the island in her camel coat with a cup of tea, as if she had always had a key.

She had always had a key.

"Good morning, hon," she said. "You look well."

"Margo."

"I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about the Q&A." She patted the stool beside her. "Sit. I'm worried about you."

He sat.

"Ten minutes live, with the press, no script," she said. "If you freeze, it's all over. I wouldn't survive it. But I can fix it."

"How?"

"Reese takes the hard questions. You smile. You say 'thank you.' You hold her hand." She smiled warmly. "It's a perfect picture."

"And Portia?"

"Portia has her carpet. And then she has her money, and she goes home."

He looked at the tea.

Her hands were very steady on the cup.

He had known her for nine years.

She had found him in a casting room, a boy with a script in his hands and a voice that worked only on paper.

She had made him a name.

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