King's Wife

Chapter 3

"So, tell me, how does he look? Balding? Fat?" Violet made hand gestures with her question, and they burst into peals of laughter. Life wasn't so sucky anymore. In fact, she thought, the whole marriage thing was quite funny, actually.

At twenty-one, she got married and hadn't seen her husband for three years. Hi-la-ri-ous!

"Oh no, he's quite handsome." She had been agonizing over the meeting for a couple of weeks, and now that it was finally over, she felt relieved. She removed her eyeglasses and placed them on the dining table. Feeling battle-weary, she rubbed two fingers on her eyes and set her arm on the table, laying her head on it. The face of a teenage Damian, laughing and watching her with mischief on his face, swam into her vision as she closed her eyes.

She had been so crazy about him a lifetime ago.

She frowned as the face of an older Damian, furious, driven, and unsmiling, took over the vision from her past fantasies. He had the same features, the same aristocratic nose, the same tawny golden eyes, but something had changed.

"Ahh, well," Violet started putting a halt to her wool gathering. "So? How was it?"

"Oh, not bad at all. I asked him for a divorce." The side effects from the meeting and the warmth from the wine started kicking in. The past came crashing down on her, and she felt lost and alone again. Tears sprang into her eyes, taking her by surprise. Her eyes were still squeezed shut, but two fat tears escaped out of the corner of her eyes.

Unfortunately, Violet noticed them. "Shit! Are you crying?"

She gave an exaggerated sigh, not able to voice her thoughts.

"Aww, come on! You don't need to waste any of your tears on the douchebag who married you and then left you hanging for almost three years! He doesn't deserve your tears."

"Yes, of course. I'm not crying." She hurriedly wiped her eyes and put on her glasses as her friend's concerned face swam into focus. Violet gave her a disbelieving snort.

"Well, you better hope that I never meet him in person." Violet twisted the washcloth in her hand for dramatic effect.

Mia chuckled at her friend's sass. "Well, I don't think he wants to hash this out any longer than I do."

Violet snorted again and refilled her wine glass. She only murmured thanks. "Okay. So, what exactly happened?"

Mia took a deep breath to control her emotions and answered in a small voice, "Well, not much. I gave him my contact details and asked him to draw up the divorce papers."

Violet's brow creased. "Did he... uh, apologize for leaving you hanging? What the hell was he doing in South Africa?"

"N-No. He said he was about to call me. He didn't say when. He said we should talk over dinner, but I turned him down."

Violet was looking at her slack-jawed, and then she burst into laughter. "Oh, I wish I'd been there to see his face!"

She returned a weak smile. Violet wanted her to hate him, but her conscience wouldn't allow it. "He's not so bad. He married me for the sake of my family; he didn't have to, but he still did it as a favor to us. There was nothing in it for him."

"And was he still doing you a favor when he left for South Africa without a word?"

She kept silent, conceding to Violet's point. Her friend pressed on, "So, you end up getting married to this guy, who, believe it or not, is your sister's ex, and he leaves you without a goodbye for almost three years! Also, he doesn't even call you when he's back," Violet scoffed in disbelief. "And you still don't hate him?"