“What are you doing?!” I screamed, pressing my hands hard against Craig’s chest to shove him away.
“What is your problem Peyton? I was just trying to ease the pain,” Craig said, standing up in front of me.
“You are my problem Craig! Ease the pain?! You’re the one who caused it!” I yelled, climbing out of the chair.
“I apologized already, Pey baby. I just want to make you happy,” he said, coming closer and putting his hand on my cheek.
I pushed his hand away and replied, “Craig, you don’t make me happy anymore!! Someone else does…” I trailed off as thoughts of Nick swam through my mind.
“I thought we…me, you, and Tristan, could all be a happy family again,” he said, calming down a bit.
“Again? Craig, we were never a happy family in the first place. While I was home with our son, you were at the office with your secretary. There was no trust in our marriage and I’m ready to move on with my life. Where are the papers?” I asked, looking around and finding them on the coffee table.
“Peyton, please don’t do this to us,” Craig pleaded as I signed my signature across the paper.
“I didn’t do this…you did. Don’t ever forget that,” I said, glaring at him and thrusting the divorce papers into his hands.
“But-“ he said.
“But nothing. Get out,” I said forcefully, opening my door making way for his exit.
He walked out with his head hung in shame and I slammed the door behind him. I turned around and started to cry. I slowly slid my back down the length of the door and sat on the floor, sobbing. My cries were interrupted by the ringing of my telephone. I was going to just let the answering machine get it, but I decided to answer it anyway.
“Hello?” I answered, still sniffling.
“Peyton? What’s wrong hon?” Nick’s concerned voice replied.
“Nothhh…nothinggg…” I broke out in tears.
“Pey, what is it?” he questioned, the tension in his voice rising.
I took a deep breath and began, “I just signed my divorce papers.”
“Yeah, and?? I thought you wanted a divorce,” Nick’s voice sounded a little agitated.
“I did. I mean, I do. Whatever…you know what I mean. Still…it’s just so final. Oh! I don’t know…forget it. Why did you call anyway?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Um…alright. I was wondering when you were going to come,” he said.
I glanced down at my watch, took a look in the mirror, and replied, “Well, I’m not ready and I don’t have Tristan ready yet, so I’ll be there at about 6:30. Is that okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, that’s fine. See ya then! Bye!” he hung up the phone.
Why didn’t I tell the truth about why I was crying? Why didn’t I just tell Nick that Craig kissed me? I knew that the divorce didn’t bother me at all…so why did I lie to Nick about it?
I took Tristan upstairs and sat him in his crib until I could come in there to get him ready. I put my hair in curlers while I decided on what to wear. I didn’t know whether to go dressy or casual, so I decided to go classy. I opted to wear my white strapless stretch slipdress that had a white shirt-jacket to go with it. I wore my white leather strappy slides on my feet. I went into the nursery to get Tristan dressed while my hair was curling. I put a pair of jean shorts on him and a baby GAP t-shirt that was white with vertical navy blue stripes. Then, I put a pair of baby Nike shoes on his tiny little feet.
“Well, you look ready to go!” I smiled at him. He giggled back at me…probably laughing at my curlers…
I went back into the bathroom to apply my make-up and then I took the curlers out of my hair. My hair fell gently around my shoulders and was just the right amount of curl so that my hair looked wavy, as opposed to curly.
“Alright, babe. Ya ready?” I asked Tristan, picking him up from the crib. I gathered his baby bag and all the necessities I might have to have, grabbed my purse, slid on my sunglasses and headed to Nick’s house.
