6. Haley
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Haley
“Hey, Dan and I are heading out.” Megan appeared in the doorway of the guest room, keys already in her hand. “You need something for lunch?”
“No, I’m good.” I didn’t look up from my laptop. “I’ll whip up something later.”
“You could come with us. We’re just running some errands, nothing exciting.” She leaned against the doorframe, watching me with that careful expression she’d been wearing since I showed up on her doorstep three days ago. “Might be good to get out of the house for a bit.”
“I would love to, but I’m so behind on this deadline.” I gestured at the screen, the manuscript I’d been staring at for the past hour without actually reading. “This author is going to kill me if I don’t get this back to him by Friday.”
“All right.” She pushed off the doorframe. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Meg?”
She paused. “Yeah?”
“Thanks for letting me crash here.” The words came out smaller than I intended. “I know it’s a lot, having someone take over your guest room and eat your food and generally be a disaster.”
“Shut up.” She said it with enough affection that it almost made me smile. “And make us lasagna for dinner. It’s your rent for the week.”
I laughed at that, a real laugh, the first one in days. “Deal.”
She disappeared down the hallway and I heard her call something to Daniel. Then it was quiet, just me and my laptop and the weight of everything I was trying not to think about.
I’d been ignoring Caleb’s calls for three days. Seventeen missed calls. Twenty-three texts. Two voicemails I deleted without listening to. He’d even tried emailing me, which felt desperate in a way that might have been satisfying if I wasn’t so tired.
I finished the edit I’d been working on and emailed it back to the client, then opened my inbox and stared at the two messages from prospective new clients.
Both of them wanted developmental edits on full manuscripts.
Both of them were offering good money. A month ago I would have said yes to both without hesitation.
I typed out polite rejections and told them I was at capacity. Hit send before I could change my mind.
I wasn’t at capacity. I was barely functioning. But they didn’t need to know that.
I closed my laptop and sat there for a long moment, thinking about what I was about to do.
I had a question for Caleb. One question.
And I couldn’t ask it through a screen, couldn’t text it or email it or leave it in a voicemail.
I needed to see his face when I asked. I needed to know if he was going to lie to me again.
I grabbed my keys and drove to his office.
The Sinclair Whiskey building looked the same as it always did. I parked in the visitor lot and walked through the front doors like I belonged there, which I did. Or I used to.
Tasha was at the reception desk. She’d worked here for four years, ever since she graduated from some business program and landed what she called her dream job.
We’d talked at company events, bonded over a shared hatred of small talk and a shared love of Italian food.
She’d given me a carbonara recipe once that I joked saved my marriage at dinner parties.
Funny how that turned out.
She half-rose from her chair when she saw me, her face doing something complicated. “Haley. Hey.”
“Hey, Tasha.”
“He’s got someone with him right now.” She glanced toward the hallway that led to Caleb’s office. “Let me just buzz you in a minute, okay? I’m sure he’ll be free soon.”
“That’s all right.”
“Really, it’s no problem. I can let him know you’re here and-”
“It’s fine, Tasha.” I was already walking past her desk. “I know the way.”
She didn’t stop me. I felt her eyes on my back as I walked down the hallway, but she stayed at her desk. Maybe she knew. Maybe everyone in this building knew and I was the last person to figure it out.
The door to Caleb’s office was closed. I didn’t knock.
I pushed it open and walked in, and everything after that happened in slow motion.
Caleb was in his chair. Vanessa was sitting on the desk in front of him, her back to me, her shirt open. His hands were on her hips. His mouth was on her neck.
He looked up and saw me, and his face went white.
For a moment nobody moved. Then Vanessa turned slowly, and when she saw me standing in the doorway, she smiled. A satisfied smile, like this was exactly what she’d been waiting for.
She started buttoning her shirt. One button at a time. Watching my face the whole time.
Caleb eased her off the desk, gently, like she was something precious that needed to be handled with care. He set her on her feet and stepped back, and I noticed the lipstick on his collar, the way his shirt was half untucked, the guilt written all over his face.
My voice came out steadier than I expected. “Get out.”
Vanessa finished the last button and smoothed down her shirt, still smiling. She walked toward me, and instead of going around, she brushed her shoulder against mine as she passed. Then she stopped. Positioned herself between me and the door.
“He told me you were already done. Months ago. He said the marriage was over, you just hadn’t made it official yet.”
I stared at her.
“He told me you two hadn’t slept together in almost a year.” She tilted her head, studying me. “That you were basically roommates at that point.”
“That’s not true.”
“Isn’t it?” She raised an eyebrow. “I know him better than you do, Haley. You only know what he tells you, and that’s been a very narrow band for a very long time.”
“Vanessa.” Caleb’s voice came from behind me. “Shut up.”
She didn’t turn around. “Be quiet, Caleb. The grown-ups are talking.”
I looked at my husband. Waited for him to say something. Waited for him to defend me, to tell Vanessa she was wrong, to do anything that suggested he gave a damn about the woman he’d been married to for five years.
He didn’t.
He just stood there behind his desk in his half-untucked shirt with lipstick on his collar, and when Vanessa told him to be quiet, his eyes dropped to the carpet.
“You know what’s funny?” I looked at Vanessa, really looked at her. “He’s going to do the same thing to you. Maybe not this year. Maybe not next year. But eventually some other woman is going to walk into his office and find you exactly where I’m standing.”
Her smile flickered. Just for a second.
“He’s a liar, Vanessa. That’s what he does. He lies to the people who trust him.” I glanced at Caleb, who still wouldn’t meet my eyes. “And right now, you’re the one trusting him.”
“I think you should leave.” Her voice had lost some of its warmth.
“I was just going.” I stepped around her and walked toward the door, then stopped. “Oh, and Vanessa? The sex wasn’t that infrequent. He’s been lying to you too.”
I walked out before either of them could respond.
Tasha was standing at her desk when I came down the hallway. Her hand was at her throat and her face was pale and she looked at me like she wanted to say something but didn’t know what.
“Haley.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “That is not okay.”
“I know.”
I walked past her. I got in my car and started the engine and pulled out onto the street.
I drove for a while without really paying attention to where I was going.
Then I pulled into a grocery mart. I sat in the parking lot with the engine running and stared at the store entrance. I should go in. I should buy something. Tissues. Chocolate. Anything.
But I didn’t get out.
I just sat there, hands on the steering wheel, trying to process what I’d just seen.