10. I felt distracted
Adrian's Pov:
Almost whole day had passed.
Sophia never called.
At first, I had expected her to.
I thought she would eventually reach out-about Lily, about the divorce, about something.
But she didn't.
And after a while, I stopped waiting.
If she wanted to stay gone, then so be it.
That evening, I called Vanessa and told her that Sophia had left.
The moment she heard, her voice brightened.
"Seriously?" she said excitedly. "She finally left?"
"Yes."
Vanessa laughed softly.
"That's amazing. I'm coming over. We should celebrate."
Celebrate.
The word felt strange, but I agreed.
An hour later, the front door opened.
Lily came running out of her room at the sound, her face lighting up.
"Mommy?"
But the moment she saw Vanessa standing there instead, her smile faded.
For a second, something about that expression unsettled me.
Lily loved Vanessa.
But today was the first day Sophia wasn't here.
No matter what had happened between Sophia and me, she had always been there for Lily.
Since the day Lily was born, Sophia had never once left her.
And now, for the first time, Lily was feeling that absence.
Vanessa bent down and smiled brightly.
"Hi, baby."
Lily walked over and hugged her legs.
"Hi, Vanessa."
Vanessa patted her cheek gently.
"Sweetheart, can you go upstairs for a little while? I need to talk to your daddy."
Lily nodded, but I could tell she wasn't happy.
She looked disappointed.
I stepped in.
"Hey, princess," I said, "why don't you ask James to put on Tangled for you? And maybe Mary can make caramel popcorn."
Her face brightened instantly.
"Really?"
I smiled.
"Of course."
"Okay, Daddy!"
She ran upstairs excitedly.
Once she was gone, I turned back to Vanessa.
She immediately stepped closer, wrapped her arms around my neck, and kissed my cheek.
A huge smile spread across her face.
"Finally," she said happily. "Sophia is gone."
I said nothing.
Vanessa rolled her eyes dramatically.
"She was such a burden."
Then she smiled again and touched my arm.
"Now we can finally get married."
Her fingers laced with mine.
"And you won't have to be ashamed of your wife anymore."
I nodded slowly.
That was what I had wanted, wasn't it?
To be free from Sophia.
To finally be with Vanessa .
She smiled brightly.
"Come on," she said. "Let's celebrate."
I hesitated.
"But Lily is here."
Vanessa waved her hand dismissively.
"Oh, please. She'll be fine for a few hours."
I frowned.
"She can't sleep alone."
Vanessa sighed dramatically.
"Adrian, we'll be back before bedtime."
I looked upstairs for a moment.
Then I nodded.
"Fine."
Vanessa smiled triumphantly.
"Good."
---
We went to dinner first.
Vanessa was glowing the entire evening.
She kept talking excitedly about all the things we could finally do now.
Trips.
Events.
Marriage.
She spoke as if my divorce was already done.
As if Sophia had disappeared from our lives completely.
I mostly listened.
She seemed happy enough for both of us.
After dinner, she looked at me and smiled.
"My place?"
I hesitated.
"It's getting late."
She leaned closer.
"Come on, Adrian. Just one drink."
I knew where this was going.
But I nodded anyway.
"Alright."
When we reached her apartment, she poured us both drinks.
She sat beside me on the couch, closer than usual, smiling in that satisfied way she did whenever things went her way.
"Doesn't it feel good?" she asked.
I looked at her.
"What?"
She lifted her glass.
"To freedom."
I gave a faint nod and took a sip and said
"Vanessa when Sophia was there then also she never stopped me from meeting you."
But now instead of feeling free-
I felt distracted.
My thoughts kept drifting.
To Lily.
To the house.
To the strange emptiness in the bedroom.
Vanessa moved closer, resting her head against my shoulder.
I looked down at my drink.
This was supposed to be what I wanted.
Then why didn't it feel right?
Then Vanesaa grabbed my hand and took me the bedroom .
And the night took it’s own turn and we got carried away.