𝖕𝖗𝖎𝖒𝖊𝖉 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖘𝖎𝖓 • 𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖆𝖓 𝖗𝖊𝖎𝖌𝖓𝖘

3.

Joe
After ending the call, I sat down on the bed and felt somewhat ashamed of myself. Chloe was right. I was a married man and it wasn't right of me to flirt with her when I barely even knew her. Then again, I wasn't happy with my marriage with Galina; no matter how hard I tried to make things work with her, it just wasn't good enough in her eyes.

I spent the rest of the night overthinking about how I was gonna divorce Galina and then begin to focus strictly on my career right after I became a single man once again for the first time in years.

"Man, fuck." I sighed.

Suddenly, there was knocking on my door and it was Colby.

"Hey man, you good?" He asked, standing in front of me.

"Yeah, I'm good man."

He cocked an eyebrow, "You sure? You don't look alright. I know when something's wrong because it's not hard to tell; given your facial expressions."

"You're right. Something is wrong, Colby."

"You can talk to me. I know Jon isn't around and it was the two of us always cheering your big-headed ass up, but I'm still here for you, man, you know that."

"It's kind of an awkward topic, but I'm thinking on getting a divorce with Galina."

"Galina? Damn, what happened?"

"It's a long story." I deeply sighed, "She and I haven't been doing so well with our marriage lately. We haven't been on the same page in years. I don't know what to do, man."

"Have you both tried marriage counseling?"

"Mhm," I nodded, "We've tried literally everything and it just wasn't good enough. One moment, everything is all perfect and then boom; nothing but a complete disaster about how something is my fault and how I'm a shitty husband. I don't feel happy in the marriage anymore, man."

"I can't blame you. I wouldn't want to feel pulled into that scenario either." He replied, scratching his beard, "Is there anything I can do for you, man?"

I shook my head, "Nah. I don't think there's nothing you can do unfortunately."

"Well, I'm always here for you either way." He patted me on the back, "I'm gonna head out but if you need to talk, don't be a stranger and call me. You're like a brother to me and I'll always have your back."

"Thanks man. I appreciate everything you've done for me over these years."

"Anytime."

Colby reeled me into a short hug and walked back to his hotel room for the night. For me, I laid down in the bed and started thinking of what I was going to do with this hectic and toxic marriage.

The next day, I woke up to my phone blowing up and to my surprise, it was Galina. I dreaded having to call back, but I knew that I had to in order to avoid another massive argument between the both of us.

"Hello?" I said with a groggy voice.

"What the hell, Joe?"

"What did I do this time?"

"I thought you were coming home soon?"

"I am. I just overslept or else I would've today."

"Excuses, excuses."

"Galina, I'm being serious here." I huffed, "If you don't believe me, I'll get Colby on the phone because I was talking to him last night before I headed off to sleep."

"Whatever, Joe."

She hung up.

I was getting tired of the same usual routine of everyday being nothing but an issue. I was never the one to be confrontational like most men, but it seemed to me like she changed completely right after we got married.