Chapter 10 - Scarlett Showed Up Before Evelyn Could DecideAt 8:10 the next morning, someone pounded on the front door.
Jonathan was already awake.
Evelyn had barely slept.
They looked at each other.
The knocking came again.
Jonathan checked the doorbell camera.
Scarlett.
No red dress today.
Jeans.
Gray sweater.
Hair tied back.
She looked exhausted.
"I'll handle it," Evelyn said.
Jonathan shook his head.
"We both will."
He opened the door but didn't invite Scarlett inside.
Scarlett looked from Jonathan to Evelyn.
"The landlord called."
Evelyn closed her eyes.
"Scarlett."
"We have until noon."
Jonathan folded his arms.
"Sounds urgent."
Scarlett looked at him.
"I didn't come to fight."
"Then don't."
She turned toward Evelyn.
"I need an answer."
Evelyn stared.
Jonathan felt strangely detached.
Scarlett wasn't wrong to ask.
She had built plans around promises Evelyn had made.
Wrong relationship.
Real promises.
"Do you want me?" Scarlett asked.
Evelyn began crying.
"That's not fair."
Scarlett laughed bitterly.
"Nothing about this is fair."
"You lied to me."
Scarlett's face hardened.
"And you lied to me."
"I told you Jonathan knew."
"Exactly."
Jonathan looked between them.
Scarlett continued.
"You told me your marriage was basically over."
"It was struggling."
"You said he'd already checked out."
"I believed that."
"You told me he stayed because of Hazel."
"Because you told me he said it!"
Scarlett flinched.
Evelyn pointed.
"You made me think he was preparing to leave."
Scarlett's eyes filled.
"And did that make you fall in love with me?"
Evelyn stopped.
"Did it?"
Scarlett stepped closer.
"I lied about him."
Jonathan appreciated the admission even as he hated hearing it.
"But I did not invent us."
Evelyn looked away.
Scarlett's voice softened.
"I didn't invent the nights you came to me."
"No."
"I didn't invent the way you kissed me."
"No."
"I didn't invent you telling me you finally felt like yourself."
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Jonathan looked away.
Some sentences were too intimate even without sexual detail.
Scarlett continued:
"You wanted the blue house."
"Part of me did."
"You wanted mornings with me."
"Yes."
"You wanted Hazel there."
Evelyn whispered:
"Yes."
Jonathan felt each yes.
He had asked for honesty.
Honesty hurt.
Scarlett looked at Jonathan.
"I'm sorry."
He stared.
"For which part?"
"All of it."
"That's broad."
"I loved her."
"So did I."
The sentence silenced Scarlett.
Jonathan continued.
"Difference is, I trusted you with that information."
Scarlett's face crumpled.
"You were my friend."
"I know."
"I gave you a key."
"I know."
"My daughter calls you aunt."
"I know."
"You stood beside me at my father's funeral."
Scarlett began crying.
"I know."
"And all the while you were waiting."
"No."
Jonathan's expression hardened.
"Four years."
Scarlett closed her eyes.
"I wasn't waiting for him to die or for your marriage to fail."
"Then what were you doing?"
"Trying not to want her."
Jonathan laughed bitterly.
"How'd that go?"
Scarlett absorbed it.
Fair.
She turned toward Evelyn.
"Come with me."
Jonathan's chest tightened.
Evelyn stared.
Scarlett continued.
"Not forever. Just today."
"No."
Scarlett froze.
"What?"
"I can't."
"Because of him?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"Because of me."
Scarlett looked confused.
"I don't know what I want when I'm not reacting to fear."
Jonathan stayed silent.
Evelyn continued.
"You told me Jonathan would leave."
Scarlett's face tightened.
"You told me he'd take Hazel."
"I said he might."
"You showed me pieces of his life and told me what they meant."
"I was wrong."
"You wanted me scared."
Scarlett's eyes filled.
"I wanted you to choose me."
"Exactly."
Scarlett stopped.
Evelyn looked at her.
"And I chose you when I was terrified of losing everything."
"Are you saying you don't love me?"
"No."
Scarlett's expression changed.
Jonathan felt the word too.
Evelyn continued.
"I do love you."
Scarlett exhaled.
"But I don't trust how we got here."
That landed harder.
Scarlett took a step backward.
"The house?"
Evelyn looked at her.
"Let it go."
Scarlett's face collapsed.
"Evelyn."
"I'm sorry."
"No."
"Scarlett—"
"You don't get to do this."
Evelyn cried.
"I know."
"I burned my life down for you."
Jonathan stared at Scarlett.
There it was.
Her life.
Her sacrifice.
As though Jonathan's family were scenery.
Evelyn noticed too.
"I never asked you to lie about Jonathan."
"No, you just benefited."
"Yes."
"I never asked you to cheat."
"No, but you stayed."
"Yes."
Scarlett wiped her face.
For the first time, she looked less like a villain and more like another person trapped inside choices she had made.
She turned to Jonathan.
"I won't come back."
He nodded.
Scarlett looked toward the staircase.
"Can I say goodbye to Hazel?"
Jonathan's answer came immediately.
"No."
Pain crossed Scarlett's face.
"But she—"
"No."
Evelyn looked at Jonathan.
He didn't change.
"Hazel is not part of this breakup."
Scarlett swallowed.
Then nodded.
"Okay."
She walked toward her car.
Before getting in, she looked at Evelyn one last time.
"I hope whatever you save is worth what you lost."
Evelyn cried silently.
Jonathan closed the door.
He did not hug her.
He did not comfort her.
But he also didn't enjoy her pain.
That surprised him most.
Evelyn looked toward him.
"The lease is gone."
Jonathan nodded.
"Our marriage still might be too."
She closed her eyes.
May you like
"I know."
For the first time since Scarlett fell from the closet, nobody was pretending otherwise.
Related Stories
