I stood there watching for a moment. Cassandra was the first to notice me.
"Regina..."
She gasped like a startled rabbit, struggling harder to pull away from him.
"Morris, let go of me. Regina's back..."
But he didn't so much as flinch. Even with me standing right there, there wasn't a trace of guilt on his face.
"What are you afraid of?"
He kept his grip firmly on her, then turned to me and said flatly:
"Cassandra's apartment has a water leak. I told her she could stay with us for a couple of days."
I looked at how perfectly at ease Morris was and let out a short laugh.
"Why not just book her a nice hotel? That'd be way more comfortable than our place."
His brow creased.
"I'm not asking for your opinion. I'm informing you."
"Regina, don't you dare—"
"I don't have a problem with it."
I cut him off before he could finish scolding me.
"But I've been pretty busy lately, so you'll have to entertain your guest yourself."
"I'm heading upstairs. You two carry on."
I turned and walked through the door, pretending I didn't see the confusion and surprise that flickered across Morris's face.
Once, at a dinner with his friends, someone had gotten drunk and asked him:
"Morris, have you really gotten over Cassandra?"
We'd had a massive fight when we got home that night. I kept pressing him about his history with Cassandra, and all it earned me was three days of the silent treatment.
After that, my nerves stayed on a hair trigger when it came to anything related to her. The smallest thing would send me spiraling, clinging to him with questions for hours.
He couldn't understand why I wasn't making a scene this time, why my reaction had shifted so drastically.
But I understood perfectly.
Fighting and comparing were pointless. All my jealousy ever did was make him miss Cassandra's sweetness and warmth even more, pushing the two of us further apart.
Besides, I didn't want to care anymore.
That night, the mattress dipped behind me. Morris reached over and pulled me into his arms from behind.
He sighed, his thumb tracing slow circles over my hand.
"Regina, I know I've been neglecting you lately, and that it's been hard on you. But you have to believe me. There's nothing between Cassandra and me. We're just friends now."
I laughed inside. A cold, hollow laugh.
How did he manage to say something so noble-sounding with a straight face?
If I hadn't seen every single thing he'd done for Cassandra with my own eyes, maybe I really would have been foolish enough to believe him.
"Regina, I promise, once I'm back from this trip, we'll settle into a good life together. No one else will come between us."
Morris murmured the words low against my hair. I couldn't tell if he was making me a promise or trying to talk his own wandering heart back on course.
I closed my eyes and forced the churning tide of emotion back down.
The next morning, I was woken by a call from Gordon James.
The bed beside me was empty. I answered.
"All the paperwork done? Want me to book you a flight five days from now?"
I counted the days in my head.
"Yeah, that should work."
"Have you brought up the divorce yet?"
"Not yet. Can you find me a lawyer to draft a divorce agreement?"
He agreed, and I hung up and opened the bedroom door.
Morris, wearing an apron for the first time in ages, was pouring a glass of milk and handing it to Cassandra. The dining table was covered with an elaborate spread of breakfast dishes.
The moment she spotted me, Cassandra waved me over with the ease of someone who owned the place.
"Regina, come eat! Morris made so much."
"I've been abroad for so long. His cooking is what I missed most."
"Honestly, Regina, I'm so jealous of you. Getting to eat like this every day. He must make you all sorts of different things for breakfast and dinner, right?"
The words landed. Morris froze. I just smiled and shook my head.
