13. Gavin
Gavin
Bree came. Bree came!
I still couldn’t wrap my head around it, even hours later, seeing her out there in the stands.
Something had completely taken me over the second I spotted her.
Like some enormous boulder had lifted right off my chest in a single second, and I felt this kind of gratitude I don’t think I’d ever felt before in my entire life.
The fact that she showed up. Just showed up, no warning, no promise, nothing.
That was everything to me. That was the whole world, right there.
It didn’t erase what I’d done. Nothing was going to erase that.
But that one gesture, her sitting there, hidden behind a pillar where nobody could even see her, that was enough to make something click into place for me, once and for all.
I knew, even more clearly now, that I was going to show her I had her back.
Always. I’d learned that lesson the hardest way possible, and I was never going to forget it again.
I was going to show her how much I loved her, every single day, the right way this time.
And for the first time since she’d walked out on me, I felt this tiny, thin sliver of hope that maybe, someday, she’d actually forgive my dumbassery.
Whether she’d take me back or not, that question was still hanging out there, huge and heavy. But I was ready to find out. The season was finally over, even if it ended with a loss I was never going to hear the end of.
Step two, though, before anything else, was cutting Wren off completely.
Once and for all. Showing her exactly where she stood.
How dare she thought she had the right, the nerve, to just walk into Melvin’s deli and make a scene in front of my wife?
She was going to regret ever setting foot in that place.
And she was never going to think about doing it again.
I parked outside her office and was halfway to the door when I heard my name.
“Gav!”
Wren was climbing out of her own car, walking toward me across the parking lot.
“Call me Gavin,” I said.
“You’re still mad at me?” She actually looked surprised. “Come on, I gave you space. I didn’t call, I didn’t text, I didn’t even show up to the game.” She paused. “Sorry about the loss, by the way.”
“Why did you go see Bree? Why?” I shouted.
“I just went to check on her, Gav. To see if she was okay.”
“So you weren’t there to manipulate her into talking me into keeping the documentary?”
“What?” She laughed. “Bree’s feeding you lies, Gavin.”
“SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH.”
I pointed a finger right at her face, and I’m not exaggerating when I say this, if she’d been a guy, four paramedics would’ve been carrying her out on a stretcher.
“Why, Gavin? It’s Bree. It’s her. She’s been trying to pull you away from me this whole time, can’t you see that?
She’s blinded you. Remember what you told me that day on the field?
You said you didn’t know what you’d do without me.
You said talking to your own wife had started to feel like homework.
Do you remember that? Do you remember holding me? ”
She was right. I had said all of that. I had done all of that. And here I was, standing in a parking lot, trying to make her the only villain in this whole story.
“I’m sorry, Wren. I’m sorry those words ever came out of my mouth.
It was a bad day, I was in the wrong headspace, I was being an asshole.
But none of it was true. And I’ve been trying so hard to get you to see that.
I love Bree. And if you’re really the friend you keep claiming to be, you’d see that too, and you’d walk out of our lives for good. ”
“You don’t mean any of that. You meant every word of it that night, Gavin, you just don’t know it yet.
Bree’s weakened you. She has made you dependent on her.
By leaving, she’s making sure you come running straight back to her, on pure impulse, not because it’s what you actually want.
But I know what you actually want, Gav. And I’m here.
I’ll always be here, waiting, for whenever you finally figure it out. ”
She said all of that while stepping closer, arms lifting like she was going in for a hug.
I stepped back. She stepped in again.
“Wren, stop it. Stop.”
She kept coming, trying to wrap her arms around me. I pushed her back, gently but firm.
“STOP IT, WREN.”
“Now you’re going to shut your mouth and listen to me.” I said.
“Bree has done nothing wrong. Nothing. It has been you, this entire time. You’ve been trying to drive a wedge between us since the day you showed up.
And I let it happen, because I kept telling myself you were a friend who needed me.
I should have gotten rid of you the very first time Bree came to me and told me how nasty you’d been to her behind my back. ”
Bree had been upset that night and after much prodding, she had finally told me.
Wren had called Bree, asking if she could stop by the studio to get some footage of her drawing, for the documentary.
Once she got there, she’d asked Bree a few questions about her work, but never seemed all that interested in the answers.
She’d asked for a coffee, and while Bree was in the kitchen getting it, Wren had started flipping through a stack of Bree’s old illustrations without asking.
She’d pulled out the ones from Bree’s very first project, the one that had nearly ended her whole career, the one Bree was still incredibly emotional about even years later.
Wren had asked, with all sweetness, what the story behind them was, and Bree had told her the whole thing.
When she finished, Wren had said, “Aww, that’s so sad.
These are so childlike, honestly. I think it’s really brave you kept drawing after all that.
Although, if I’m being honest, I think the book that ‘stole’ your idea had cuter illustrations.
I hope you don’t mind me saying this. I’ve seen the Nickelodeon ones too, and, no offense, but I genuinely can’t picture these ever getting that far.
” She’d paused, then added, “But hey, the bright side is, you kept going. You didn’t give up.
Honestly, I think it’s really brave, doing something so low-key, career-wise.
Especially married to someone like Gavin.
I don’t think I could handle staying that small if I were married to him. ”
Bree had told me every word of that, exactly as it happened. And what had I said back to her?
“I think you’re reading into her tone, Bree. She probably didn’t mean it that way.”
And when Bree pushed back, insisted Wren had been a nasty bitch about it, the exact thing I finally understood now, I’d accused her. I told her she’d been looking for things to be upset about lately.
The whole time, Wren had gone and stolen those illustrations, used them to make the documentary juicier, added an entire section about Bree’s humiliation on her first project, without ever once asking permission.
“You stole her illustrations,” I said to Wren now, “and told Lavi and the rest of your crew that I had personally approved a whole section about my own wife getting humiliated. How much lower could you possibly stoop?”
“After everything she went through because of you, and then me not even listening to her, siding with you every single time, I’m honestly shocked she didn’t pack her bags and leave me that same night.”
“She puts words in your mouth, Gavin. She twists things.”
“She twists nothing. Nothing at all. I hate myself for ever depending on you, and it cost me the woman I love. You treated Bree like garbage, and I let you do it. She put up with more than any person should ever have to, because I kept defending you, kept telling her you were just alone, just needed support after your divorce.”
“Gavin, I was alone, and?—“
“I spoke to Xavier.”
Wren went completely still. Her eyes locked on mine.
“You spoke to Xavier?”
“Yes. He told me you cheated on him. That you got the alimony you wanted, and none of it was fair. He told me everything I should’ve believed the first time I heard it. I gave you the benefit of the doubt anyway. Not anymore. It’s all crystal clear now.”
“Stay away from Bree. Stay away from me. Stay away from my whole family. And if you ever, ever try to contact me, or even think about reaching out to Bree, I will get a restraining order. And I will make sure your name is done in this town for good.”
She looked at me one last time, and even now, even here, she was on with the manipulation game.
“I’m sorry, Gavin. Sorry for trying to be a friend, and?—“
“Shut the fuck up, Wren. Save it for the next guy.”
She started sobbing, turned, and ran into her office.
I stood there in the parking lot for a second, catching my breath.
Time for step three.
I pulled out my phone and called Lavi.