All's Fair in Love and Las Vegas

Chapter Eighty-Nine

        He sent me two things. Both of them arrived a few days into February–a full month since the wedding.

        The first one was the check. I don't know why, but I'd assumed he would've rewritten the divorce to cut me out of any financial benefits. But there it was, just over seven hundred dollars written out to me. I noticed that the check was issued from Grayson personally–not his company like I'd expected. Perhaps he got a better tax deal on it or something. It probably didn't matter, but I still noticed.

         The second thing was an envelope.

         I didn't open that one.

        Kylie found this to be very offensive. "Jackie, you have to open it," she begged, sitting at my kitchen counter. "He could be professing his eternal love!"

        "Exactly why I shouldn't open it," I said, gently plucking the envelope from her hand and setting it on top of my bread box.

        "Exactly why you should open it!"

        "No, I don't want to hear more feelings that are based on lies. Or could be lies," I corrected her. 

        She drooped in despair. "But he could mean it! Did you consider if he means it?"

        "If he means it, then I don't want to get his hopes up by showing him the possibility of a relationship," I explained.

        "A relationship is exactly what we're aiming for!" Kylie cried, slamming her palm on the countertop.

        I sighed. "No, it's not. Even if we could actually like each other, our relationship would be so messed up because it's all based on a past that we created for the sake of separating."

        "Have you even heard from him recently?" she asked weakly.

        I brushed hair out of my face. "No, just that letter. Which I won't be reading."

        "Did you know his stock tanked?" she asked suddenly.

        I frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"

        "Clay was telling me about it," she told me. "All the business nerds are confused by it. It's tanked over eight hundred points over the past two weeks. What's weird is that his dad, Mr. Answell, set up the company so that Grayson would have success immediately, then be on his own after the first six months. Grayson has bungled it magnificently."

        "Since when are you so interested in the stock exchange?" I laughed.

        Kylie was at the end of her rope. "Jackie, how are you so blind?" she bemoaned. "It's correlated with your breakup!"

        "First, don't call it a breakup. It's a legal divorce," I interjected.

        "Fine, your divorce! Whatever! Point is, he's clearly so heartbroken and depressed that he can't manage his business!" she exploded.

        "This is not something to be happy about," I said, sitting down with the bag of pretzels. I hoped that they would distract her, but I was wrong.

        "Jackie, you need to talk to him before the Answell company destroys itself and some of us, not naming names, go insane," she said, not taking any of the pretzels.

        "Nope."

        "Fine, I'm opening it." With one flying leap, she had the envelope in her hand and was picking at the seal.