Happily Never After

Chapter 9

I place the half-empty bottle of white wine down on the dining table after I pour some into the two glasses wine glasses that sit in front of me. I slide one across to Carter and he accepts it gracefully.

Taking a small sip, I start the conversation. "Let's get all the simple stuff out the way first before we talk about what happened out there. Full name?"

Carter chuckles, "Carter Henry Romero."

"Birthday and place of birth?"

"29th March 1982 in London."

"Family?"

"Two brothers, Ayden and Landon. One sister, Alyssa. Dad is called Henry and mum is called Isobel."

"Grandparents still alive?"

"Yes, both sets."

"Smoker?"

"Nope, nasty habit."

"Sports?"

"I play a bit of football now and again."

"Anything else you think I should know?"

"I have an MA in Business Management, Landon has an MA in Accounting and Ayden has just gotten his MA in Law. All of which, we have obtained from the same university in London."

I stare at him in shock at his last fact. His entire family practically had master degrees which blew my degree right out the window.

"Your turn, Sarah." He takes a sip of wine and sits back in the chair, waiting for me to start.

I take a sip from my glass and start. "Sarah Bethany Hudson. Born on the 17th September 1986, Manchester. I have one older brother called Nathan. My dad is called Brian and my mum is called Martha.

Neither sets of my grandparents are still alive. I don't smoke, never have and never will. I like to watch football but never played it since I was at school. Unlike you, I have a BA Hons in Fashion Buying and Merchandising."

"You never decided to go for your master's degree?" He asks after taking all my information in.

"Didn't see the point if I had a bachelor's degree. Plus, I went on a placement to Ralph Lauren in New York in my final year." I reach for my glass and take another sip of wine.

"Is that where you met Daniel?" I stop drinking and look at him. "We had to get to that point eventually."

I swallow the contents I have in my mouth and sit the glass back down on the table. "I met Daniel during my second year at university. He said he'd wait for me to get back from my placement before we became official."

"How long were you together before you got married?" He asks while looking down at the glass in front of him.

"Carter, I think this will go a lot easier if I just tell you what happened, then you can ask me about anything you think I may not have explained." He nods in agreement then I start to tell him about my relationship with Daniel.

I told him about our relationship at the beginning, how he treated me like a princess and made me feel special. I spoke about how I was offered an assistant buyer job at a big company in Paris and that Daniel made me give it up because he felt like I was drifting away from him.

I told him about the engagement, the wedding then the big point: the adultery. I explained about all the times he cheated and how, when I went to leave him, he convinced me he'd change and I believed him every time.

He was surprised I stayed with him after I found out the first time but even more surprised that all my family had disowned me over it. I was left with practically nothing and he understood why I wanted out in the end and moved away.