Her Melting Point

Coming Home

This is the penultimate chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Love,

K. xx

***

The next morning, when Alexander returned from his jog, Jackie was already in the kitchen, drinking her coffee.

"What's up?" he asked, taking his earpods out.

"I couldn't sleep," Jackie explained shyly.

"Because of the governors' meeting?"

Jackie dangled a teaspoon in her mug. "No, not so much. I'm obviously worried, but at this stage I know I've got the support of most of the governors. It could still very much go pear-shaped; but quoting Rhys, the board's got more important things to 'get in a sweat about.'" She sighed and pulled her phone out of her robe's pocket. "I've got an email from my– how shall I put it? My former friend, Becca. It's about my ex-husband. He's selling his house, and she wanted to know if I'd be interested in buying it."

Jackie waited for his reaction. None followed.

"Anyway, that's why I can't sleep."

"Can you give more details?" he said at the same time.

"Well, Becca and I were friends at school and then in uni," Jackie answered, giving him a surprised look. "She actually married my first boyfriend. And then cheated on him, divorced him, and started sleeping with my husband. My ex-husband. He wasn't my ex at the time. She's had quite a few different jobs in her time, but in recent years she's been in real estate... and it seems they'd reconnected and now she's selling his house. Which had initially been in my family; then I bought it, and then sold my half of it to Gabe during the divorce. He's always been brilliant at somehow keeping his friends and exes on a short leash, and reconciling with them even after the worst possible fall-outs. Except me, I reckon."

Jackie realised she'd just hit him with an 'exposition dump.' He was still silent, rightfully assuming that she still had a few more facts to delegate.

"Gabe had been dismissed from his position at school, despite the lack of criminal charges. And according to Becca, his upcoming engagement to some sort of an American socialité - of all people! - had fallen through. As did his house sale. He now needs to reevaluate his plans for his move back to the States. And they both thought I might be interested in buying the house... back."

Not a single muscle moved in all of Alexander's brawny form: he was still standing by the door, his phone in one hand, and his running shoes in the other. After a few seconds, he sighed and asked, "Could I take a shower, please?" in complete accordance to how she anticipated he'd proceed.

Jackie nodded and took a long sip of her cuppa. Alexander turned around and disappeared upstairs. She was finishing her second dose of caffeine when he reappeared in the kitchen, fresh and fluffy, in a clean tee and soft bottoms.

"Is the house a good investment?" was the first thing he asked when entering. "Sorry. I should've asked if you wanted to discuss it, first," he corrected himself.

Jackie snorted. "I'm OK to discuss it, but I'm not particularly eager to. And the answer to your investment question is 'I don't know.' But I definitely don't want to have to deal with either Gabe or Becca, so it doesn't matter."

Alexander studied her.

"I assumed you wanted financial advice. I see now that I'm wrong." He switched on the kettle and turned back to her. "I misinterpreted. Was it purely an explanation for your insomnia? No further talking needed?"

"I reckon so," Jackie drew out pensively. "I also think that I wanted to let you know that I'm feeling some sort of a closure when it comes to my ex-husband. So, no duffing him up, alright?"