The Estranged Wife Part 1

Sarah Collins’ POV

I was sipping my champagne as I watched the newlyweds laugh heartily while chatting with their guests. My boss and mentor, Steve Johnson married his best friend and first love after 50 years. It was a quintessential traditional barn wedding with subtle blush and gold color scheme that complemented the golden stone interior of the barn. The Chiavari chairs and tall candlesticks added a rustic touch to it. There were fairy light chandeliers suspended from the old barn’s vaulted ceiling which gave a romantic vibe to the venue. The weathered exterior of the barn was decorated with flowers, garlands of greenery and pink and white roses. This was exactly how I pictured my perfect wedding reception to be.

My daydreaming was interrupted by a tall, sexy blonde guy in Armani suit with deep blue eyes.

“Enjoying the party?” My bestfriend George asked excitedly.

“You have a habit of ruining somebody’s daydream, do you know that?” I teased.

George announced elatedly, “I came here to tell you that our company closed a billion dollar project in Singapore. You and I are flying there to spearhead the said project. I know you can’t stay away from your hot surgeon boyfriend and if I were you I would be tremendously upset, but honey this is good for your career.”

“I never said that I didn’t want to go. Is Steve coming with us?” I inquired curiously.

“No. Are we at the same wedding party?” He answered with a puckered brow.

“Steve is retiring. He mentioned during the toast that he wanted to focus on his marriage and was leaving the job. Who would have thought that these two would find each other after 50 years?” He added.

“Honestly, I want to get out of Melbourne. I want to be away from Andrew as much as I can.” I grimaced.

George’s eyes widened in surprise. He looked at me intently for a few seconds, opened his mouth to talk but no words came out of his mouth. He was dumbfounded.

He looked straight at me in the eye and asked, “Did you fight with him? The other day you guys were so sweet. And now you’re saying you want to stay away from him? How can you stay away from that – I mean someone who looks like that? Because I can’t!”

“How can I act more surprised that you incorporated my boyfriend’s hotness to the argument? I saw a red velvet box in his drawer. Andrew’s going to propose to me.” I uttered with an obvious dissatisfaction in my tone.

“And you’re not pleased that he’s proposing? You’re strange! You’re supposed to be happy that he’s going to propose to you. Andrew is not only good-looking; he’s also an amazing guy. He’s a great doctor, he’s accomplished and he’s from a wealthy family. What else do you want? What is wrong with you woman?” George uttered in exasperation.

“Did you just roll your eyes at me?” I rebuked.

I could sense disappointment in his deep blue eyes. They were staring coldly at me.

“Yes I did. And I would keep doing that until you come to your senses. Honey, if this is about your ex-boy..”

I didn’t let him finish his sentence. “Alex is not my ex-boyfriend. He is my ex-husband, George. I got married young. I was 21 and in college when I married him. Our marriage didn’t work and we got separated.”

My confession shocked every living cell in his body. George sighed in disbelief and was speechless.

“I need a drink. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that you were married and you didn’t tell me.” He grabbed a glass of champagne from the serving tray and emptied it in less than a minute.

He continued, “The ceramic doll on your desk is not a souvenir from your trip to Greece. I assume Alex has brown hair and hazel eyes. Let it go Sarah. He’s not coming back.”

“I know.” I replied wistfully.

I turned my back on him because I didn’t want him to see the pain in my eyes. I am in agony. My heart is breaking. This is the same feeling I felt when Alex told me our marriage was over. I never heard from him since then. I kept calling and sending him messages but didn’t get any response from him. Then after 5 months, I heard the news from a friend in the US that Alex was officially engaged to my childhood friend. I felt devastated. I didn’t get out of my room for a month. I refused to go back to school. A part of me died when my husband left me. It took me a year to get back on my feet and start over again. But one thought never went away, I lost my husband forever.

Alex Karydi’s POV

I started to pack my things for my flight to Singapore next week. I couldn’t believe they convinced me to move to Southeast Asia for a 3-year project. Good thing David, who is my best friend and colleague is coming too otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed to this relocation thing. I got a text from Kelly asking if she could come over. I didn’t have the zeal to see her so I told her that I would meet her before my flight. Kelly and I have been dating for 2 years and she expressed her desire to be married to me someday but for some reason I just couldn’t fully commit to her.

I went over the pile of shirts and pants in my closet and put them in a suitcase. I saw a small box under my sweatpants and couldn’t remember what was inside the box. I opened it and saw a ceramic doll that looked exactly like my ex-wife. Underneath the ceramic doll were handwritten letters and a postcard from Thailand. I glanced at the postcard and it had a message saying, “I wish you were here, agapi mou. I really miss you a lot. Love, Sarah.”

This was the postcard she sent me 2 weeks after I came back to the US. We were planning for her relocation but our marriage fell apart and I didn’t see it coming. I was blindsided. Sarah was in love with another man when she married me. That explained her unusual closeness to Nate Hampton whom I thought was just a friend. She never really loved me. A woman who truly loves her husband will never cheat on him. Flashbacks came to me and it felt like I was watching a movie on a huge screen.

6 years ago

“What do you mean my wife is cheating on me?” I was very disappointed to hear the news that my wife was having an affair with her childhood friend.

“Sarah is having an affair with Nate Hampton. When I came to Thailand for vacation, my sister told me that Nate and your wife were living under the same roof. I couldn’t believe what Daniela told me so I investigated it myself. They’re staying in your house, Alex.” Dana explained.

I was confused and infuriated. How could my wife do that to me? Yesterday, she called me to deliver the news about her pregnancy and I was very excited to be a father. And now, this woman is telling me that my wife is cohabiting with another man in my own house! This is too much to handle. I want to go in a killing spree.

“And the child that she’s carrying, is it Nate’s?” I didn’t want to know the answer but I asked anyway.

Dana was terrified. She was hesitant to answer.

“Shit! Tell me, Dana. Is Nate the father of Sarah’s unborn child?” I raised the question in extreme exasperation. I was impatient to know the truth.

“Yes, Alex. Nate is the father of your wife’s unborn child.” Dana replied wearily.

I punched the mirror in front of me. It broke into pieces and blood started to flow from my injured hand. I felt numbness all over my right hand. The fact that my beloved wife cheated on me gave me an excruciating pain. Her attempt to fool me and give me the responsibility of raising another man’s child was something I couldn’t forgive for the rest of my life. I wanted to die at that moment.

I heard my phone rang that brought me back to reality. I wiped my tear stained face and picked up the phone.

I held the receiver with my trembling hand and said, “Hello.”

“Hello son, are you free tonight?” My dad muttered on the phone.

“I’m not sure, Papa. I’m packing my things right now. I’m flying to Singapore on Thursday for the construction of a billion dollar research facility there.” I replied softly.

I massaged my head due to my worsening headache. I always get a headache when I think about my ex-wife.

“Is that so? I’ll drop by your place tonight then. I visited a friend here in Seattle but I didn’t bother to call you when I arrived because I know how busy you are. I’d like to see you before I fly back to Greece tomorrow.” My dad responded in an authoritative tone.

“Okay, Papa.” I agreed lifelessly.

Two hours later, my father arrived. He brought some sushi and tiramisu from my favourite Japanese restaurant. I went to the kitchen to get some plates and cold beer from the fridge. It would be a long night for me and my father. We needed a lot of catching up to do.

I put the plates and the beer on the center table and sat on the couch across my father. He turned the TV on and searched for a football game to watch. I took the food out of the paper bag and placed it on a serving plate.

“Papa, you don’t like sushi. Why didn’t you bring something else? Do you want me to call for pizza delivery?” I offered kindly.

“No son, I’m fine. I know you like sushi so I brought some for you. How are you doing lately? You haven’t been home for 4 years.” He spoke in a dismayed tone.

I was stunned when my father removed the raw fish topping of the sushi and put the ball of rice in his mouth. It reminded me of Sarah when I took her to a Japanese restaurant in Thailand. She let me eat all the raw toppings while she ate all the rice.

“Are you okay, son?” My father asked with a confused look in his eyes.

“I’m okay, Papa.” I assured him. “I’m sorry for not coming home to visit you. I am happy that you dropped by to see me.”

For the first time in my life, I felt that my father really cared for me. I grew up without him by my side and I’ve always been very independent.

“My son, I came here to tell you something. I wanted to tell you on the phone but you get easily defensive when I try to talk about your wife. I saw Sarah at a restaurant when I was in Australia to visit your sister last year.” My father narrated steadily.

He poured some beer in his glass and took a sip.

“Ex-wife, Papa. Sarah and I are no longer married.” I reiterated.

“Your sister found her. Your wife is living in an apartment in Melbourne with her gay best friend and is working as an engineer in a multinational company. Lucia met her but she didn’t introduce herself as your sister. Now you know where your wife is, all you have to do is to board on a plane and be with her.”

My father was still hopeful that Sarah and I would get back together. He stuffed another ball of rice in his mouth and left the raw shrimp topping on the plate. He reminded me of my ex-wife and her weird habits.

“She’s already married, Papa. She married her lover months after we got a divorce. I don’t know what happened to their marriage or why she’s living with her gay best friend and I’m not interested to know.” I responded irritably.

“I strongly believe that Sarah never cheated on you. I kept telling you that before. Even your mother refused to believe it. No one in the family bought that crap.” He insisted firmly.

I have no idea what my ex-wife did to my family to make them trust her so much.

“But she did, Papa. I have proofs of her infidelity.” I said acidly.

“It’s been 6 years and you’re still sulking in resentment. You haven’t moved on. You keep engaging in meaningless relationships because you can’t have anything serious with anyone other than Sarah. It shows how much you still have feelings for her because you can’t let another person into your life. It’s either you forgive her and try to win her back or marry someone else and spend the rest of your life without her. I’m getting old, son. I want to see you settle down before I die. I want to make sure there is someone out there to look after you when I’m gone.”

“Papa, don’t say that. Don’t worry about me. I also thought of settling down in the next 2 years. I’m just looking for the right woman.” I replied softly.

“What time is your flight tomorrow? I’ll drive you to the airport.”

My father just smiled at me and didn’t answer my question. He lay down on the couch and closed his eyes.

“Oh Sarah, when will your memories stop haunting me?” I thought.

For the last 3 days, I’ve been thinking of that heartless woman. I closed my eyes and fell asleep on the couch. When I opened my eyes, it was already 7:15 in the morning. I saw a letter from my father stating that he had to leave early to catch his flight to Los Angeles to meet my other half sister before returning to Greece. Together with the letter is a small black velvet box with a ring inside. I read the small note inside the box. “This was the ring I gave to your mother on our engagement. I want you to give this to your future wife.”

To be continued..Part 2 will be submitted for SFS 2: Death By Chocolate challenge.