Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 44

Theo

POV

I watched the man enter the restaurant, and he did not seem too pleased to see me. Well, too bad, buddy. If Bethany needed my support from you, she was going to get it. Bethany had already told me that she might get emotional, and she needed me to help her

stay strong and possibly help her out of the restaurant if she cried.

What I learned while sitting there was more than I had expected. This low life before me could do such a thing to this beautiful, selfless woman. In the time I got to know Bethany and that was not that long, she had already shown she was not a gold digger and went out of her way to help others in little ways. For example, she brought a takeaway dinner at a restaurant we stopped at, and she gave it to a homeless man who was sitting, leaning against a shop wall. He was playing an old guitar for tips, and his face lit up like a Christmas tree when he opened the lid and saw what she had brought him. But this low life had been the one to dim her eyes and break her heart, and that woman who tried to give me the 'I am available' look was her sister, who was the other part of this story. I am so disgusted by the two of them. I heard part of the video that Bethany showed him, and his face was first shocked, then remorse and denial, but how can you deny such evidence against you?

Bethany grabbed my hand under the table once she started the clip on her phone and waited, watching. When she turned her phone off, the low-life tried to play it off as nothing, and as he tried to defend it, Bethany tightened her grip on my hand so painfully hard that it took all of my strength not to pull my hand away from hers. It hurt, and I knew my hand would ache for a while.

I finished my coffee and waited for Bethany to make the next move. I presumed she was either processing what happened or getting her emotions back in order. This would have been hard. I gather it was the first time they had seen each other since the break-up, other than at the presentation, and her emotions had to be all jumbled up at the moment. All I could do was sit there and wait for Bethany to be ready to move on. While I waited, I pieced together all that I had learned since I had met her, and I had to admire her even more at how strong she had been and still is. My sister would have been a mess for a very long time, yet this lady picked up the pieces of her life and moved on with pride and dignity. How can you not admire that?

Suppose I hadn't started to fall for this woman. What I just witnessed tipped the scales.

Now, I just have to work out what I did that caused her to distance herself from our relationship and growing friendship or that I was feeling one-sided. I thought we were on the same page, but we are not. Am I really just a neighbor with benefits, as we had agreed? Had I crossed the line unintentionally, and she had not crossed it with me?

Bethany got up and paid the bill. I sighed. She had a habit of doing that. As she left the place ahead of me, a woman, no, it was her sister, grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side.

'So, with you being on the committee, I did not get that job?' She spat at her sister with disdain.

'The Admin will tell you if you are successful. Bethany kept her calm while this woman accosted her.

'But you? Will you block it? And why were you there with Bret? I thought you two were over?' She was squeezing Bethany's arm tightly. I could see it must be hurting Bethany.

'Bethany and I were having coffee, and Bret came over to talk to Bethany.' I intercepted this woman and pulled her hand off Bethany's arm. A mark of Cynthia's fingers left on Bethany's arm was imprinted in red, a sign of how tight that hold was. Yet Bethany showed no sign that she was in any pain. Maybe Bethany has had this treatment in the past and knows how to show no emotion.

'Oh, Hello sweetie, I did not see you there! She purred and tried to turn on the charm, which did little for me, knowing already what type of woman this person was.

'Theo, this is my sister, Cynthia. Bethany introduced us. Cynthia held out her hand for me to shake, but I pulled Bethany to me like a shield and nodded to her.

'Let's go, sweetheart. I need to change before we go out for dinner. If we don't leave now, we will be late for our

reservations,' I lied, steering Bethany away from her. The woman's face was in shock, and that made me feel like we had just won some kind of victory in a race I did not know we were in.

Bethany allowed me to guide her back home and up the elevator. She would have gotten as far as the entrance if her sister had followed. Our building had some perfect security, which was part of why I had chosen it, and I am assuming, after what I learned just now, that Bethany most likely did, too.

I was hungry. We have not eaten yet, and Bethany most likely won't want to eat, but she should. I followed her into her home, and she headed down the hall to her bedroom. I went to the kitchen and opened her fridge, looking to see what I could cook for a quick, simple meal. In the freezer part was some leftover lasagna from the other night. I pulled out two portions, popped them into the microwave, proceeded to make a salad to go with it, and popped the kettle on for more coffee. I was not sure if she would want a wine. I had noticed, during most meals, that she did not usually have an alcoholic drink.

Ten minutes later, Bethany arrived in track pants and a tank top, barefoot. It was as if she had taken a quick shower, her hair still damp.

'Thank you. I was thinking about what to do for dinner. That smells great. Bethany took a seat at the table, and I handed her a plate. She dug in hungrily, and I was glad she was eating. Most women I know would have had to be coaxed into eating. This woman surprises me at every turn.

'Do you want to talk about it?' I asked after I was satisfied that Bethany had eaten a good portion of her dinner.

'You sort of heard it already. She replied, not looking at me, and continued to eat, though not the same way as before I spoke.

'Well, you know I am nearby if you decide you need to vent or something! I offered and continued to eat my food. I thought it would be awkward after I spoke, or at least some sort of tension, but there was none. It was as if I had not said anything about it.

'I was thinking about the media release that man, Saun does have some good ideas, and Mr Green was pleased to talk to him about his life living with this heart condition and what he hoped the operation would achieve. The man asked questions I would not have thought of asking, and I thought it had something to do with the insight of having a Dad with a heart condition.

The conversation changed, and all thoughts about the incident disappeared. It was nearly eleven when I left her home and returned to mine with a smile still on my face because I had a better evening than I had planned.

Bethany was a conundrum that I wanted to work out. She has been put through the wringer, yet she still smiles, laughs, and is so good with patients. I have no idea how she manages to do all the things she does with all that baggage dragging along behind her.