Chapter Three
Nora's POV
For five years, I'd played that part better than anyone. It had been the perfect cover from day one, and he was the one who'd handed it to me.
The lights in the sky were still shifting into new shapes. Everyone's attention had already gone back to the show, and nobody gave me another look.
Then something cold hit the back of my hand.
A second later, the rain came pouring down out of nowhere.
Graham immediately took off his jacket and held it over Vivian's head. He shielded her as he pushed through the crowd, calling out, "Excuse me, let us through! Her health isn't great, she can't get caught in the rain."
He helped her into the car like she might break, then climbed in after her.
The door shut, and the taillights soon disappeared into the rain.
I stayed where I was, staring at the empty spot they'd left behind.
Rain ran down my hair and slid under my collar. It was freezing, but I didn't even have the energy to shiver. Five years of this had probably worn my heart down until it couldn't hurt anymore.
Back home, I stood under the hot shower for a long time until I finally started to warm up.
When I came out of the bathroom, the living room light was on. Graham was sitting on the couch, like he'd been waiting up for me.
He looked at me for a moment, and then, of all things, he thanked me. "Thanks for thinking on your feet tonight."
After a pause, he added, "We can't go public yet. If it gets out, it'll be bad for Vivian. Just hang in there a little longer. Someday I'll find the right time, I promise."
I didn't say anything.
The "someday" he was talking about didn't exist anymore. With our marriage at this point, it'd be better for everyone to just pretend it never happened.
He frowned, like something had just occurred to him. "Wait, why were you even there tonight?"
I didn't answer right away. I just smiled at him.
One second. Two. His eyes started to wander.
Then I finally said, "Owen told me to go."
Graham froze.
I watched his expression change bit by bit, and I knew he'd finally remembered. That drone show was supposed to be for me. He'd just been so wrapped up in Vivian these past few days that it had completely slipped his mind.
"I'm sorry." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Next week... no, I've got a business trip next week. Next month, then. I'll make it up to you next month, I swear."
"We'll see."
Maybe I'd let it go too easily, because he was clearly relieved. He got up and came over to give me a hug.
He still smelled like the rain outside. Wrapped up in his arms, I felt even colder than I had standing out in the storm.
Sure enough, he left on his business trip as planned. Only this time, Vivian tagged along.
He had meetings during the day and spent his nights with her. Candlelit dinners, art museums, and a little seafood place on a street corner with plastic tables and chairs.
I'd brought up that seafood place to him plenty of times. Every time, he'd shake his head. "I'm a CEO. You know how bad it'd look if somebody got a picture of me eating in a place like that?"
So it wasn't that he wouldn't go. It was that he wouldn't go with me. With Vivian, he didn't have to be a CEO at all. He was just an ordinary guy who'd fallen head over heels.
Graham came back when there were only three days left before the divorce went through.
He'd been gone for more than two weeks, and I hadn't sent him a single text.
He stood in the entryway, taking in how spotless the house was, and an expression I couldn't read crossed his face. Maybe it was only then that he noticed who'd been holding this home together for the past five years.
"Thanks for holding down the fort, babe."
That caught me off guard. I couldn't even remember the last time he'd called me that.
"I was going to take you to a drone show the day after tomorrow." He sounded a little sheepish. "But the city put temporary airspace restrictions in place, so all the shows got canceled."
I could tell he just didn't want to go anymore. Odds were, Vivian had said something to him.
"Then forget it."
Graham clearly hadn't expected me to be so easy about it. "You really don't mind?"
Before, I would've kept pushing him, asking why he never kept a single promise he made me.
But now, nothing he said mattered to me anymore.
"It's just a show. It's not a big deal."
Just like him. Not a big deal.
The living room stayed quiet for a long while.
Then out of nowhere he said, "How about I take you to the beach house out west the day after tomorrow? I heard you can see hot air balloons from there."
I looked down at the calendar on my phone.
The day after tomorrow was Valentine's Day.
Was he really going to ditch Vivian on a day like that just to spend it with me?
I didn't buy it. It was probably just another empty promise he'd tossed out without thinking.
