The next morning, Cyrus had got up early to hit the hotel gym. He was on the treadmill when his cellphone rang. He didn’t recognize the number but figured no one knew the number but friends and family, so he answered it anyway.
“Hello?”
“Cyrus Evans?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“Cyrus, It’s Tammy. We need to talk.”
Cyrus stepped off the treadmill slowly. He felt his chest clenching like it was in a vise. He was sure he was going to have a heart attack and couldn’t get his mind around who was calling him or even why.
“Cyrus? Are you there?”
“Yes. What do you want?”
“I know you don’t want to talk to me.”
“Good. Then we have nothing else to say. Bye.”
“No! Wait. Please don’t hang up. We need to talk.”
“There is nothing to talk about. I haven’t spoken to you since our divorce. Why call me now?”
A moment of silence loomed before she said sadly, “I need to see you.”
“Tell it to your grandpa… Oops. I mean husband.”
“He left me, Cy.”
“Did he find someone younger? Maybe someone who is still in high school? I know the dirty old bastard likes them young.”
“That’s not funny,” Tammy snapped.
“No, it’s not. It’s sick for him to marry someone who is his children’s age. Whatever is going on with you two, it’s not my concern.”
“That’s not fair, Cyrus.”
“No. What’s not fair is having your wife leave you for an old ass fossil like him.”
“Please. I don’t want to fight. I need to talk to you. It’s urgent.”
“Save it. I have things to do today. Talk to my lawyers. This conversion is over.”
“Please? I need to talk to you. I don’t have anyone to turn to.”
“Listen. I’m with someone now. I will not be your rebound because you got dumped.”
“Cyrus, I….”
Cyrus hung up the phone, furious that Tammy would have the nerve to call him. Especially now that he was finally trying to move on with his life. Two years had passed without even so much as an apology for what she had done. Why should he give her the satisfaction of even a simple phone call?
Heading back to the hotel room, he was fuming. To calm himself, he went by the hotel gift shop to grab something for Mia. He didn’t want to return to the room and deflect his frustration on her, so he had to take some time to calm down. Mia didn’t deserve to be the target for his anger. He found a cute sundress that was like the one Mia wore on their first date. He saw her admiring it when they came in the night before and thought it would look nice on her. Luckily, the lady in the boutique was about her size and could help.
Cyrus got back to the room and Mia was awake eating the breakfast he had ordered for them. She was watching TV and laughing at some reality show with a silly giggle that warmed his heart.
“Morning beautiful.” He went over and kissed her forehead. “I got you something. I figured you would want to change clothes for the meeting with Davis. I didn’t get underwear or any of that stuff, so you may have to go commando.”
She giggled at his comment as she opened the gift. “I have undergarments in my stage bag. Oh, my gosh! This is so pretty. I saw it last night in the gift shop window. Thanks for the dress, I love it. That’s so sweet of you. You don’t have to keep buying me things. It’s nice, but I don’t need you to do all this.”
“I know. I just saw you looking at it and I wanted to do something nice and thought it would look great on you.” He sat down on the bed, rubbing his head, and looking at the floor.
Mia stood in front of him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Something wrong?”
He took a deep breath before answering, resting his hands on her hips. “My ex called while I was in the gym.”
Mia’s arms dropped to her sides as her head hung down. “Oh.”
“Don’t worry. She and I are done. I want no part of that and hung up on her.”
“What did she want?”
“I guess her decrepit old man left her. I don’t know what she expected. The guy just wanted her because she was half his age and it made him look good to have her on his arm. He’s a disgusting old man. His son and daughter are around the same age as Tammy and they have nothing to do with him.”
“Eww. They are the same age?”
“Yeah. He’s old enough to be her dad. I can’t stand him. He’s ruined my life, even before I met her.”
“What do you mean, he ruined your life?” she questioned.
“He was the reason for my scars and my parents dying.”