Devil In Disguise

The last thing I need is a call from my mother…

That was literally my only thought when I heard my phone begin to ring with its generic iPhone twinkly ringtone. Unfortunately for me, it was exactly who I didn’t want it to be.

“Hello, mother.”

“Avery, dear how are you?”

“I’m…” I had to take a deep breath and clear my thoughts. “I’m doing okay. Michael left this morning.”

“I know…that’s actually why I’m calling. I just saw an article online that was recently published about your husband being belligerently drunk on a plane. And the last line of the article noted that he wasn’t wearing his wedding band. What’s going on Avery Lynn?”

My whole world crashed down around me. Michael wasn’t wearing his wedding ring. Michael wasn’t wearing his wedding ring? He wasn’t wearing it…where was it? Who had it? Did he throw it away when I didn’t show up at the airport? Flush it down the toilet in anger? Smash it under his boot? No…I don’t think he’d be strong enough to destroy the platinum band under his own power.  

“Avery?” I came out of my day dream to hear my mother calling my name.

“Sorry, mother, what did you say?”

“I asked if you two were split up. I’ve never seen him without his wedding ring.”
              “We…well, we got in a fight this morning. I said some things, threw my ring at him…he said some things and left. Then he sent me a text saying his flight was delayed but I didn’t read it because I was ignoring my phone and I didn’t make it to the airport in time to see him…”

“Oh, Avery…you both have come such a long way in nearly three years. Are you really going to let a silly fight ruin everything?”

“Mom it wasn’t silly…you don’t even know what we were fighting about!” I was beginning to get a little upset. How dare she just automatically assume it was some juvenile spat about something that doesn’t matter?

“Then what were you fighting about?” Her question caught me off guard a bit…I wasn’t expecting her to actually care enough to ask me what Michael and I had been arguing over.

              “Avery?”

              “Nothing, mother…it was nothing. We were both just really emotional and neither of us had slept much. The littlest things were setting us off.”

              “That doesn’t sound like a reason to take off your wedding ring, Avery Lynn.”

              “I know, mother…” I can’t tell her the real reason why we were fighting this morning. And last night. I can’t tell her why I had to sleep on the couch last night in fear…