Beyond Hope

Chapter 16.

"That's a game your mind won't let you win."

Flora twisted her intertwined fingers while tapping her foot on the floor. The palms of her hands appeared to be a shade darker than usual, which I guessed resulted from the strength she was putting in her gesture. I cringed, knowing she was probably imagining squeezing someone's neck instead, more exactly her husband's. Not that I would blame her. Although I had never met Ryan in person, the urge to do the same thing made my own fingers twitch.

I glanced around, making sure we were still completely alone, and checked the clock at the same time. Flora was waiting for Mark's meeting to be over, but knowing the trouble we've been in to find the story that would close our romance anthology, it didn't surprise me how long it was taking.

"So..." I clumsily sat on the edge of my desk. "Are you hungry? Maybe we could go grab a bite to eat. I'll text Mark and let him know."

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry at all." She sighed. "You should go, Hope. You don't have to keep me company. I know you don't like being late. I'm fine, and my sister promised she would pick up the kids from school. It will do them good to spend some time with their cousins. Really, go. If you stay, my bad luck may rub in on you."

I gave her a tight smile. "Well, I'm not a big fan of driving, that's why I take the subway. So I'm at no risk of my car breaking down on the street. You know, since I don't have one."

"Well, you can still get married to a cheating bastard, so... there's that."

I bit my lip, wishing I could be the friend Flora deserved in this delicate moment, but I wasn't sure how to do it right. I thought of Asher and how his simple presence made me feel better, how he would gently try to coax me to talk and let me vent out my frustrations. Shifting closer to Flora's chair and picking a loose strand of curls out of her forehead, placing it behind her ear, I tried to make my voice sound as gentle as possible.

"Have you talked to Ryan yet?"

She gave me a deadly glare, her curls spreading chaotically over her face once again.

"Not that he deserves a second of your time, of course..." I added.

"Damn right..." she huffed.

"It's just, you said you weren't sure of exactly what happened." I smooth the base of my ponytail. "You mentioned you saw some text messages on his phone and I got the impression you didn't talk to Ryan about it."

She sat straighter, her eyes narrowing. "First of all, it's not like I was snooping into his phone. I'm not that kind of woman. We..." she paused, taking a deep breath, "were never that kind of couple. His phone was charging and Brianna was trying to get to it to play some game. When I was taking it from her, the notification popped up and... I had to see what that was about because I could tell right away it wasn't innocent. I had the right to see."

I nodded, "absolutely."

Flora's shoulders relaxed against the chair again. "Those messages were intimate. Not sexual, but... he was confiding in her, in a way he didn't do with me for a while. He was saying he was stressed, tired. He didn't use the words, but I could see it implied; he was bored. And she... that... woman was more than happy to offer him comfort." Her voice rose, and she stood up from the chair she was sitting on. "Again, the way she wrote it... Hope, I'm not crazy. I'm not innocent either. Her implication was clear."

I nodded my head, my whole body tensed up as I gathered the courage to say the next words. "Did he answer?"

"He said he was going to think about it," she screamed, making me jump from the edge of my desk. Flora hid her face in her hands, head shaking in disbelief. "As if there's something to think about when he has a wife and two daughters at home."