Fate Interrupted

37. You Can Feel It In The Air

Ren

"Why is Gio's stuff everywhere? Work papers, receipts, mail, wallet, change—how am I supposed to set the table with all this stuff all over the place?" I grumble to myself.

Well, you're one to talk. It looks like a clothes bomb exploded from your suitcase in the bedroom.

The house is uncharacteristically messy, but we've both just been so busy with work since we've been back. It's been almost a week since we arrived home from our vacation, and we still haven't completely unpacked.

As expected, the process server's agent was there to serve me the divorce papers the day after we got home, and I quickly filled them out and sent them back. Alex texted a few days later, reporting he filed them with the court, and now we wait for the decision—which will take who knows how long—though Alex wrote confidently that we will be "free of each other by Christmas."

I don't know why he has to say it like that. I'm honestly so relieved that that is hopefully the last text I'll ever get from that man.

I do have to give him credit for making this process so much smoother than I thought it would be. Alex has handled it all and paid for it. I know we still have to wait for the official judgment, but signing those papers already made it feel so final.

This last looming cloud will hopefully blow off soon enough. However, that's not what the weather looks like as I glance out the dining room window. Uncharacteristic summer clouds are blowing in humid air from the east. I feel a different energy in the wind.  An unripe apple falls prematurely from the tree into the dry glass.

That's too bad. Weirdly, I have this feeling that I might cry suddenly.

"Mmm, something smells good," Gio hums, breaking me from my short-lived daze. He hugs me around the waist from behind, and the stubble on his cheek lightly scratches mine as I feel him smile at me. "Need help setting the table?"

My smile shines back at him. "Yes, please." 

We stack all of Gio's things neatly in a pile, and he carries them to his office while I wipe down the table that hasn't been cleaned in a week.

"Hey, so today, I had another brilliant idea for the Taylor project," Gio says briskly, walking back into the dining room.

"Really, what is it now?"

"I'm going to terrace it. I think it will flow better. I was thinking way too inside the box before. It's going to look amazing. I've just been having so many great ideas lately. I can't believe how much that vacation energized me," he says, his eyes bright. There definitely has been a glow about him since we got back.

"Wow, I'm impressed, babe. You've been so focused and productive, and I still feel like I'm on island time moving in slow motion. It's been so difficult to get back into my work headspace since we've been back. I'm definitely going to pay for it next week."

"Quit that job already," he says, playfully hip-checking me and grabbing the pile of silverware and napkins.

"After the wedding. We need to save up some money first," I assert, taking the spray bottle and cloth back into the kitchen.

Gio sets out the napkins and silverware while I plate the food. For dinner, I've made my famous and quick chicken enchiladas.

"So," I say after we have both sat down. "When should we start planning the wedding? Have you thought about it yet?" I ask, just as I pull a bite to my lips, the cheese pulling out in a long melted string.

Mmm. The cheese and chicken melt perfectly with the avocado and sour cream in my mouth.

"I've thought about it a little. This is soo good, by the way—thanks for making it." Gio says with a mouth full of food. " I'm so hungry. I forgot to eat lunch today."