KARMA

14. THE CONFRONTATION

A Note from Ashleigh

This chapter is mostly new, the words are dredged from my memory.

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LISA

"Look who's here. It's Sue baby," I say mockingly to Ryan. "Just in time to join the party."

"Lisa," Ryan begins desperately. "She doesn't mean a thing to me. We're over."

"We are over," I say, looking him straight in the eye. "You can have him, you whore." I tell her.

With a bloodcurdling scream, she lunges at me. Her high heels wobble and for a moment, her arms flail uselessly in the air, like windmills churning, and then she pitches forward, and lands, face down, hard, right at my feet.

I start to laugh.

"Look at you. I didn't even lift a finger, and here you are, prostrating at my feet."

Maxim stands beside me. He doesn't move. He's statue-still, looking down at his wife, his face cold and hard.

It is Ryan who rushes to her. So much for declaring so loftily barely five minutes ago, She doesn't mean a thing to me. The lying pig. Next, he'll be comforting her.

Ryan hauls Susan to her feet none too gently.

Wait, what? He's supposed to be pulling her into his arms, overcome with distress. What happened to I love you so much, Sue baby?

Susan is crying. Her face is a mess. Her nose is bleeding. Red. And swelling up before my eyes. It got the brunt of her fall.

I laugh harder.

"Oh, my God. Your nose. You look like Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer. You should go and check it. It looks like you broke it."

"Shut up!" she screeches. "I'm going to kill you, you bitch!"

She launches herself at me, yanks my hair and WHAM! I punch her square in her bleeding nose. "That's for fucking my husband." Another punch, harder this time. THWACK! "And that's for pretending to be my best friend."

"OUCHHHHHHH!!!! You bitch!" she howls, holding her nose. If her nose wasn't broken before, it's broken now. Blood is gushing out of it like a fountain of red.

And then we're at each other.

It's a full-fledged, no-holds-barred, screaming catfight, punctuated with cursing and slapping and kicking and scratching and clawing and hair-pulling.

The two men pull us apart. I spit out a lock of auburn hair caught in my snarling mouth.

Ryan grips Susan's wrists tightly, while Maxim wraps his arms around me, holds me tight.

"Whoa, slugger." Maxim is laughing softly. "Take it easy, tiger."

Susan is panting, her hair dishevelled and her face covered with scratches and bruises and blood. I guess I don't look much better. I taste metal on my mouth. My lower lip is bleeding.

"Stop it. Just --- stop. Don't touch her. Don't hurt her, you hear me?" I hear Ryan's voice. He sounds furious. I look up, expecting him to be glaring at me, but ---

--- it's Susan he's glaring at. Berating. It's Susan he's furious with.

"Don't you touch Lisa, you hear me? Don't you touch my wife!" he shouts at Susan. "Stay away from her! Go home! Just get the fuck out of my sight!"