Unexpected

Chapter 24: Falling Stars

Waltzing back into the apartment at 3:00 in the morning, Norman smells of booze, but not so much so that he is plastered drunk. He had a few at the bar before coming home from punching Giovanni in the face. His fist hurts worse than when the glass was in it, but the pain in his hand feels better than the pain in his heart. So walking to the kitchen, he starts making himself a sandwich when he feels her sorry blues gazing at him from the dark doorframe of the hallway. She looks like a child who just had a nightmare. Norman ignores her tortured look and chomps down on his sloppily slapped together Bologna and cheese. If he looks at her it will only break him more, so he walks passed her to his study and shuts the door.

It's hard being the nice guy all the time. He should have beat the day lights out of that guy. Should have held him by the shirt collar against the wall and threatened him. But all he did was knock him down and help him back up. What kind of man does that when his woman is on the line? What kind of guy just accepts that his wife cheated on him like it's not a big deal? Norman does. But he wishes he hadn't. He wishes he had the balls to tell Emily and Giovanni to fuck off.

Leaning back in his desk chair, he swivels from side to side and wishes he had answers. Suddenly, Emily knocks on the door and then comes in. He looks at her soppy eyes and feels his heart breaking even more. He knows she feels bad about what she did, but does she regret it? That's the thing that most people don't realize can happen. You can always be sorry you did something, but that doesn't always mean you regret it.

"Norman..." He doesn't answer her and she just swallows hard in her throat. Her tears fall faster and her shoulders are up to her ears as she tries to hold back her tears. "Norman..."

"I told you you deserved someone younger." She stops sobbing and looks at his plain aged face. "I told you that your life would be better and happier if you had someone to grow old with. And no matter how much we say we love each other, no matter how much we try to adapt- neither of us will be right for the other. I know without a doubt you love me and that you wish you could take back what happened. But I also know everything happens for a reason. And because of that I know you weren't meant to be mine in this way. I was never supposed to love you the way I do. There's been so many signs of it. What I'm trying to say, is I want you and Giovanni to be happy together with your baby. This time, I'm not going to come back and beg you to stay with me or love me. I want you both to live happily ever after."

"Norman, I don't wanna be with him, I want to..."

"We both knew this wasn't real. That this was just Hollywood romance. So just stop trying to force your feelings. I want you to be really truly happy. And maybe it's not with Giovanni, but I know it's not with me or you wouldn't have cheated!" They stare at each other, a gap between them and two sets of clouded eyes gazing to the floor. "True love isn't cheating. There are no accidents when it come to that. You consciously chose to sleep with him and this is the price you paid. I love you, but I don't think I can ever love you the same way as I did before. I'm sorry."

Getting up, he leaves her standing there and it works her. He always apologizes for things he didn't do. He's right in leaving her, because he's always right- about mostly everything. Why couldn't he have been wrong this time? Why did he have to know what she was feeling deep down? Taking his cue, she goes to their room and starts packing. He sits there in bed and just reads his book though they both know he's just acting. After she gets everything ready, she leaves his apartment and hails a cab.

Looking up from his book he feels her absence in her heart already. He feels his heart twist up in pain and he starts taking short shallow breathes rapidly. His whole body hurts, but he couldn't let her live a lie. He couldn't live the lie. Looking on his nightstand there's a picture of him and her in their honeymoon and he can't stand it now, because written all over he face in the picture was torture and sadness behind that happy facade. Going through the pictures on his phone, he finds each one dulling her happiness and soon her eyes lose all sparkle. How hadn't he seen it before? How hadn't he noticed that she was unhappy?

Falling to his bed, he just lays there crying and clutching the picture. His whole life shattered. Hollywood makes your dreams and fantasies come true. Well for actors it does the same thing, the only difference is they fall harder.