Crescendo

Chapter 7

Soundtrack for this chapter:
Airplanes—B.o.B
Save Myself—Ed Sheeran*
Somewhere Only We Know—Keane*

7

Jules

Keeping myself busy with work only helped me get Theo off my mind while I was at work. When I wasn't at work, the only time I could get him out of it was when I was having to deal with Will.

Almost a week after I kissed Theo and ran, Will called me. I chose not to answer at the time, but he left a voicemail, something he rarely ever did, asking me to call back. Stupidly, after debating with myself for nearly an hour, I took the bait.

With a cup of peppermint tea in hand, I dialed his number, and it rang for a while before he picked up. Wherever he was, it was loud, and I heard him excuse himself from a crowd.

"Jules." It was just slightly slurred, and I contemplated hanging up right then. Instead, as I started talking to him, I opened my laptop, set my phone to speaker, and began recording the conversation. Just in case.

"You called?"

"Well, I was out here at Bourbon Sweet, you remember Bourbon Sweet, that bar downtown?"

"I do. It sounds like you've had some bourbon."

"Well sweetie that's because I was down here with some of the guys from the office, you know, ringing in the weekend, and they were asking about you, and I just had to tell 'em you were up there working on your degree, and they were asking when you were gonna come home next, and I had to tell 'em you were awfully busy up there."

I was getting flashbacks to our first year of marriage, a year that started off as one of the best of my life, and I had to try, harder than I would've liked, not to slip back down in time to it.

"I am busy, Will. Maybe you should ease up on the drinks just a little. You sound like you've had quite a few."

"No harm in having a little fun, huh? I'm sure you have loads of fun without me up there."

"Nothing about the situation we're in is fun. If we could just figure it out—"

"Now you're thinking, honey! That's what I've been telling you. We just need to figure it out, and then my parents and yours will—"

"No, no, Will. You're misunderstanding me. What was between us is never going to work itself out. I meant finalizing the divorce. We both need to come to an agreement."

He let out a low laugh, one that held every note of condescension. "Sweetheart, do you have any idea how much it would cost you to hire a lawyer for a contested divorce case? I know you're making some money of your own now up there, but there's no way in hell you'd be able to afford that kind of legal battle."

I felt my heart harden towards him more than ever; those few months of marital bliss faded away. "Is that why you called? To threaten me with that, with—"

"Course not. I called to remind you that we can still work it out. Our parents would be happy, I'd be happy, you'd be—"

"No, I wouldn't be. Neither would you. I have to go."

Without waiting for him to respond, I hung up the phone. Then, I stopped the recording on my computer, saved it to a folder titled "Divorce is awesome", and replaced the tea in my mug with wine. What a fantastic Friday night. I was kicking myself for not taking Nora up on her invite out with Abby.

I knew I'd never be able to pay an attorney for a contested divorce battle, but I didn't need Will reminding me of it. In my heart, I had this hope that the day I was finally able to stand up to my parents and tell them it was never going to work between me and Will that he would do the same. But that was going to take a miracle. That was going to take him putting our feelings first as opposed to the feelings of our families. I gave up hope long ago that my parents would ever want for me what I wanted for me.