The Estranged Wife Part 4

David Carter’s POV

I rushed to the nearest mall to buy some clothes for Alex. I didn’t understand why he kept bullying Sarah, apart from the fact that she is his ex-wife. He has been making her miserable for weeks. Sarah seemed really nice and she didn’t deserve all this crap. I’m going to confront Alex and ask him to cease bullying her. I’m going to do this not because I’m taking Sarah’s side, but because I don’t think it’s fair for her to be treated like that.

I came to the office with paper bags in my hand and headed straight to Alex’s office. He was sitting on the couch when I arrived.

“Finally!” He stood up and grabbed the bags from my hand. “Thank you.” He said elatedly.

“Why did you do that? Are you out of your mind? Do you want to get in trouble for destroying a private property?” I uttered in annoyance.

“Oh you mean the fridge in Sarah’s office?” He asked sardonically.

“It’s not about the fridge. You lied to me about an emergency and stayed here until 10 o’ clock last night so you could set everything up and pull a prank on Sarah. What is your problem with her? Why are you taking your personal matter in the workplace?” I shook my head in frustration.

“I don’t like to work with incompetent people. I don't think she deserves to be here.” He replied cynically.

“What do you mean? You’ve worked with a lot of incompetent people but you gave them a chance. What changed? Sarah is more qualified than the people you worked with in the past. Give her a chance. And please keep your personal and professional lives separate.”

I stopped for a moment and looked quietly at him. “Is there something you’re not telling me? Did anything happen after you served her with divorce papers?” I interrogated.

Alex didn’t budge. He just gave me a blank stare.

I moved towards him and scrutinized the ceramic doll on his table. “I’m sure I’ve seen a doll like this in Sarah’s office.” I thought for a minute and said, “This doll looks exactly like Sarah. This doll is Sarah Collins. Damn, how did I not realize that?”

“Right, my doll is so fascinating. It has its own followers on Twitter and Instagram.” He muttered bitterly.

“You’re a little left behind on this entire technology thing. Tell me, are you still hoping to get back together with your ex? I’m dying to know.” I asked curiously.

“You will surely die if I swat you with a baseball bat.” He whispered.

“I heard that. But I’ll pretend that I didn’t.” I waited for his answer while looking intently at him.

“I don’t want to be with her. She showed no feeling of remorse for all the pain that she caused me and I hate her for that. Now please get over it.” He answered tediously.

“Sorry man, but I think you should get over it.” I knew it would hurt my best friend but I needed to say it. He can't keep doing this. This will just be an endless cycle of pranking and bickering that will not end well.

“Can we just stop talking about it?” He pleaded.

“I will stop talking about it if you stop harassing the poor woman.” I demanded.

“Oh please!” He glared at me and pushed me out of the door.

Alex Karydi’s POV

I hated the conversation I had with David yesterday. It felt like pouring salt in my wound. I saw Sarah struggled at the parking lot again this morning. It took her 20 minutes to park her car. I laughed when I saw her kick the car in irritation. I left my door open so I could see her when she passes by. She was carrying a vase with marigolds in it and showing them to everybody in the office. Marigold is Sarah’s favorite flower. She always had them on our dining table when we were married. My assistant came in my office to bring coffee and bagel from the nearby café. I said thank you without looking at her as I continued going over the reports. I finished my coffee quickly and forgot about the untouched bagel on my table. I left the main office and drove to the site.

David and George were in the conference room when I arrived. They were reviewing some drawings. I was about to butt in to their discussion when my stomach started to feel weird so I immediately ran to the restroom to poop. I almost defecated on my pants. I haven’t eaten anything for breakfast so I was sure that it was the coffee that upset my stomach. It was the same feeling I had when my housekeeper stupidly poured laxative in my juice instead of sugar.

“What an idiot!” I gnashed my teeth.

I went out of the restroom after an hour and David looked so worried.

“What happened to you?” David asked worriedly.

George gave me a sympathetic look.

“Harris’ evil friend put some laxative in my coffee.” I stated infuriatingly. George’s eyes widened in disbelief and covered his mouth.

“Sarah will never do that.” George said in a defensive tone.

“I told you to quit messing with her.” David added.

“I heard you set off the fire sprinklers that flooded Sarah’s space. What you did was outrageous.” George groused in annoyance.

“She deserved it.” I protested. “I’m going to start working now. If you want to keep discussing it, keep me out of the loop."

I walked out and shut the door behind me.

Sarah Collins’ POV

My phone suddenly rang. I saw George’s name on the screen so I quickly answered it.

“Hey, George. How’s everything on site?” I asked innocently.

“Do you really intend to ask about the progress on site or to find out if the laxative that you put in Alex’s coffee took effect on him?” He uttered inquisitively.

“How did you know? Did he poop on his pants?” I chuckled.

“Almost! He went straight to the washroom when he arrived and didn’t go out for almost an hour. I feel sorry for him.” George narrated sympathetically.

“Don’t play games with him. He can get you fired. I heard he wanted to speak with the HR.” He sighed. I could tell he was really concerned.

“I will never let that happen.” I said in a reassuring tone.

To be honest, I’m worried right now. If he complained about the incident, I will be called in to the HR for my inappropriate behavior and worse, get kicked out of the project and my boss will surely fire me. If I lose this job, I wouldn’t get an excellent testimonial from my superior and it would ruin my dream to be a chartered engineer. I should have thought about that before I pulled a prank on him.

“Sarah, are you still there?” George cut my thoughts off.

“Yes. Where are we?” I answered.

I was distracted. I didn’t want to get fired. Will Alex complain about me? I need to talk to him and convince him not to tell the HR about it. I will also ask him why he’s so mad at me. I think it’s about time that we settle our issues so we can both move forward. Our divorce is messing everything up at work.

“I think you should apologize to Alex and persuade him not to complain about the incident. I know what he did was childish but we will be in trouble if he threatened to quit unless they kick you out of the project. You shouldn’t have sought revenge.” George said in desperation.

“I will do my best to change his mind.”

Alex came back to the office around 4 o’ clock in the afternoon. I tried to talk to him but he deliberately avoided me. He was not in the mood to talk to anyone. I got off from work before 6 o’ clock and waited for him at the parking lot. It was 7:15 PM when he came out and it was already dark. I couldn’t see him clearly but I was sure he was talking to someone on the phone.

“Skata! How can you not get it done?” He shrieked.

I was petrified. Alex never uses that word unless he’s very angry. He saw me standing beside his car and stared blankly at me.

“Can we talk?” I hesitantly approached him.

“I know that you put laxative in my coffee this morning and if you’re here to apologize, rest assured that not in an eternity will I forgive you.” He answered coldly and got into his car without looking at me.

I quickly grabbed the vehicle door that prevented him from leaving.

“Wait, I really need to talk to you.” I muttered in frustration.

“What the hell are you doing? Close the door woman!” He hissed irritatingly.

His prickly gaze sent shivers to my spine and I felt like my body started to freeze. I couldn’t open my mouth to speak. He looked at me like he wanted to choke me to death. This is not just about the prank. His fury boils down to our divorce which we never had a chance to talk about.

“I am here for two reasons. First of all, I want to apologize for the fecal incident. You pranked me and I didn’t like it. I pranked you to get even. I clasped my skirt tighter as I spoke, “And the second reason is to find out why you suddenly asked for divorce 6 years ago.” I bravely uttered the million dollar question that I wanted to ask him for ages. “Is it because I didn’t agree to move to the states with you the first time you asked? Before we got married, I told you that I had to stay in Thailand for another 2 years so I could finish my studies and look after my dad and you said it was okay.”

“Don’t do that! That is not what this is about.” He yelled angrily at me.

“You came home one afternoon; I didn’t even know you were flying back to Thailand and served me with divorce papers without even telling me why you wanted our marriage to be over! Then you kicked me out of the house like I had something contagious. I deserve to know why!”

I held his hands and he quickly removed them from my grip.

He came out of his car and screamed at me, “You’re a heartless bitch! You’re an ungrateful cold-hearted woman! I'm surprised you have the audacity to tell me what you deserve.” His eyes showed mixed emotions; pain, rage, and betrayal.

“I wish you told me these things 6 years ago.” I uttered with a trembling voice.

My eyes turned red and I felt like my heart was beating in my throat.

He turned his back on me and said, “I had to control myself because I didn’t want to hurt you more. I would like to think I was taking the high road. I didn’t want to be the bad guy. What you did to me wouldn’t warrant an apology because it was unforgivable in the first place. I didn’t need to hear the word “sorry” from you. I just wanted to keep you out of my life and forget you.”

Tears started to flow down my cheeks and I said in between sobs, “Telling me what I did wrong doesn’t make you the bad guy. I deserved to know why our marriage was falling apart.”

He grabbed my arms and spoke lividly at me, “Fine, you’re a whore! You’re a disgusting whore! I couldn’t believe I trusted you. You were the only woman I ever loved, Sarah.” He gasped for a moment and continued, “And yet you cheated on me with your childhood friend. What hurts me most was the fact that you were willing to lie to me by giving me the responsibility of raising another man’s child.”

He clenched my arms tighter and he started to shake me violently. “So tell me, how can I not leave you?”

“Let me go.” I pleaded with tears continuously falling from my eyes. “I loved you. But you never loved me enough to trust me.” My heart was breaking and I could barely breathe.

“You think you can make me believe you didn’t cheat on me? Dream on, Sarah!”

He walked towards his car and took something out of the dashboard compartment. He threw the pictures at me while gritting his teeth. I picked all the pictures from the floor and looked sadly at them.

He grabbed my wrist and howled at me, “You had an affair with Nate Hampton! I can’t forgive you for ruining my life, Sarah Collins!”

I looked intently at him as I spoke, “You were the only person I ever loved, Alex. I never cheated on you and never for a second thought of doing anything to hurt you. Now it's pointless to discuss the past. We can both move on with our lives.”

Tears started to build up in his eyes. I wanted to hug him and make the pain go away but I stopped myself from doing so. Before I got so weak, I turned my back and ran away. I went inside the washroom and cried in the cubicle for hours.

It is over now.

To be continued..Part 4 will be submitted for SFS 5: Raging Bull challenge.