The Price Of Pretending

Serena's POV

The world did this weird thing where it tilted sideways.. then kind of swirled down a drain.

My ears were full of static and I swear to God, I saw little black dots dancing in front of my eyes. I had to grab the back of the sofa to stop my knees from buckling.

Adrian’s voice cut through the fuzz but it sounded like he was underwater.

“...so I’d like you to meet Vanessa.”

I shook my head, trying to get the cogs in my brain to turn again.

“Wait, what? Run that by me again. I think my brain just blue-screened.”

He had the audacity to look impatient like I was the one holding up the show. He gestured to the woman standing beside him with a smug little smirk.

“I said, this is Vanessa. And she’s pregnant. It’s mine.”

Cue record scratch. Full system crash and flaba-fucking-gasted doesn’t even cover it!

My entire vocabulary shrunk down to just one giant internal scream. My eyes snapped to this… this Vanessa. She had this evil little twinkle in her eye like she’d just won the lottery and stolen my dog. And her hand was already rubbing her stomach. Her totally completely not-even-remotely-showing-yet stomach. My voice came out low and dangerous.

“What the fuck do you even think you’re doing, Adrian?!”

Vanessa put on this sickly-sweet, fake-as-hell voice.

“Oh, honey. Maybe I should wait outside, let you two sort this out...”

“No,” Adrian cut in, his voice hard. “You stay right here. She needs to get used to it.”

My jaw practically hit the floor.

“Get used to it? Are you out of your goddamn mind?”

“Serena, don’t start,” he said, his tone shifting into that scolding dad-voice he knew I hated. “We both agreed to the open marriage, huh? You agreed to it.”

“Because you spent a year whining that our sex life was ‘dull’!” I shot back, my voice rising. “You pushed and you pushed because you were bored! I only agreed because I was terrified of losing you, you absolute plank!”

The floodgates were open now. Three years of marriage and what did I have to show for it?

“I gave up my entire fucking family for you, Adrian! I was an heiress for Christ’s sake! I had a trust fund and a future that didn’t involve some random chick you knocked up standing in my living room!”

I pointed a trembling finger at Vanessa.

“And she is not living in this house with me. That is the line. That is the big red fucking line!”

Adrian took a step forward, his face dark.

“It’s my house too. And she’s carrying my child! My heir! So if I say she’s staying, she’s staying. And if you don’t like it, you know where the door is.”

As if on cue, Vanessa decided to chip in. The sweetness was gone, replaced by a nasty smirk.

“He’s right, you know. You had your chance but you couldn’t keep him happy. I can.”

Then, right in front of me as if I was a piece of furniture, Adrian pulled her to him and kissed her. It wasn't a peck.. it was a deep gross full-on make-out session and his hand… his hand started moving down her back with his fingers subtly and deliberately grabbing her ass.

I felt sick.. actually, physically nauseous and my skin was crawling.

“You know what?” I said, my voice suddenly weirdly calm. “I need some air. I need to get the fuck out of this disgusting… vibe.”

I turned on my heel, grabbed my car keys from the bowl and marched straight out the front door. I didn’t even care that the sky was threatening to open up with those dark rain clouds swirling like my mood. I just needed to be anywhere but there.

I slammed the car door so hard the whole vehicle shook and for a minute I just sat there gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white.

An open marriage. What a joke. My idea of ‘open’ was maybe a flirty text. His idea was a whole-ass second family.

I gave up my name, my money, my goddamn inheritance for this man. For a guy who thought ‘keeping the spark alive’ meant getting his side piece pregnant and parading her in front of me. The sheer fucking audacity!

I started the engine and just drove with no destination in mind. Heir. He called it his ‘heir.’ Like we’re in some medieval kingdom and I’m the barren queen being put out to pasture. Un-fucking-believable!

That’s when I saw it. A flickering neon sign in the dim afternoon light.. a dive bar and motel. It looked as miserable as I felt. Perfect..!

I swerved into the parking lot, slamming on the brakes hard enough to make the tires screech. I got out and made a beeline for the door.

Once inside, I slid onto a sticky barstool and pointed at the first bottle of brown liquor I saw behind the bartender.

“Shots. Keep ‘em coming.”

The bartender raised an eyebrow.

“Rough day, sweetheart?”

“You have no idea. Just pour the damn drinks.”

I threw back the first one. it burned all the way down and I welcomed it. The second one went down smoother and by the third, the sharp edges of the world were starting to blur and the image of Adrian’s hand on Vanessa’s back started to get a little fuzzier.

The bartender paused before pouring me a fourth.

“Maybe slow down a little? Want some water?”

I slammed my hand on the bar.

“Hey! Mind your own fucking business, yeah? Just do your job and pour the goddamn drink!”

I heard a low chuckle from my right.

“I think the lady knows what she wants.”

I turned my head which felt a little too heavy and saw a man sliding onto the stool next to me. Holy.. Shit..!

This was not a regular patron, I could tell. This guy looked like he’d walked off the set of a movie about sexy demons.. all sharp jawline.. dark eyes that seemed to see right through me and a smirk that promised a whole lot of trouble. He was… weirdly familiar but my alcohol-soaked brain couldn’t place him.

He nodded to the bartender.

“Keep her drinks coming. Put it on my tab.”

He turned that smolder back on me.

“A beautiful woman like you, drinking alone? That’s a crime against humanity.”

I was tipsy, pissed off and honestly, fucking horny. It had been so long since anyone had looked at me like that, let alone someone who looked like that. For a second, I felt a warm flush that had nothing to do with the tequila but then I remembered the ring on my finger and the mess at home.

I scowled at him.

“Look, Casanova. I’m married. So you can take your sexy lines and your… your whole… you-ness and fuck right off, okay?”

Instead of getting offended or slinking away, his smirk softened into something that looked like genuine concern.

“Whoa, okay. Fair enough. But you don’t look like a woman celebrating her marriage. You look like your world just ended. What happened?”

And I don’t know why... the booze, the shock, the sheer insanity of the day... but I told him. I spilled the whole pathetic story. Adrian, the open marriage, Vanessa, the baby, the making out.. everything. He just listened as calm as anything.. just nodding occasionally.

When I was done, he was quiet for a moment and then he said, “Sounds to me like you gave up your crown for a court jester who didn’t know how to laugh. You agreed to open the relationship but you didn’t agree to be disrespected in your own home. There’s a difference.”

I just stared at him. He had a brain to go with the body! Who the hell was this guy?!

He finished his drink, dropped a bunch of cash on the bar... way more than enough to cover my drinking spree... and stood up.

“My advice? Stop drinking his poison.” He gave me one last look. “It was nice meeting you.”

And then he just… left.

I sat there for a second, stunned. The shock sobered me up just a little so I decided I needed to get out of there. I wobbled off the stool, my head spinning and made my way to the door.

I pushed it open, stepping out into the night and immediately gasped…