Retaliation

Chapter Ten

•° Paula °•

I listened as Greg and Paula confessed what they hid behind my back. As if it wasn't enough shit on my plate right now, now I gotta deal with this. I couldnt do anything but sit with my head in my hands. I didnt even know how to respond.

"Paula.. I .. I didnt know.." Jeana started.

I held my hand up in her direction. I didnt want to hear her speak anymore. I wanted both of them to just shut up and give me a minute.

I raised my head slowly and stared down at the granite counter top.

"So.. my bestfriend betrayed me by sleeping with my husband.. my husband betrayed me by committing adulty.. my fucking brother-in-law, took him to a singles club and told him to hold out on valuable information.. thats another strike of betrayal and now.. my ex-bestfriend's sister had stone cold evidence of his infidelity and stood in my face the SAME DAY and didnt say a word about what she saw.. the final betrayal. Who do yall think I am? Im not the fucking hulk! You can't keep hitting me with bullets and think I'm going to get over that shit. Then when I react, you wanna look suprised!"

"You wanted the truth and thats what we gave you." Greg responded.

I turned around in my chair.

"You damn right I wanted the truth. I deserve to have that dont I? Out of all the places.. why a single's club? huh? I get he was stressed but damn, why not a quiet ass lunch or a football game? Everything aint gotta be about a damn club! But since we airing out the damn truth.. I've always had my doubts about you Greg, ever since you lied to cover up for Shawn when he cheated on me in the past. I knew I couldnt trust you but something deep down inside of me wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. Im sad to say that I was wrong. Once a liar always a liar. I thought you would at least have some boundaries since shawn and I were married."

"I do have boundaries Paula."

"Where? If you had boundaries this shit wouldve never happened!"

"I do have boundaries for you and Shawn's marriage! They never dissapeared! Those boundaries were there when I decided not to tell you what was going on because it wasnt my place! It was Shawn's! I was not about to interfere with your marriage because Shawn didnt have the balls to tell you what went down! It wasnt my place!"

"You could've gave me a heads up!" I yelled as I stood up from my chair and pointed my hand gestures in his direction.

"How? By telling you that Shawn was sleeping with your friend? You know damn well you wouldnt have believed me!"

"You didnt know that because you didnt take the time to find out! I get you had to have loyalty to your brother but wrong is wrong! There was a way to tell me! There's a way for everything! You had a choice to tell me and you chose not to! So for that youre just as wrong as they were!" I yelled in Greg's face as I reached him with tears rolling down my face.

We were in arms reach and we were staring eachother down. Greg stared into my eyes that were filled with pain, anger and emptiness.

Without a second thought he reached out and grabbed me pulling me in his arms.

"You could of told me Greg! You could of told me! I would of believed you! I would of fucking believed you! You're my brother! You had no reason to lie about that!" I said through my heavy tears and breaths of air.

"I'm sorry man! Im sorry! I was wrong."

Greg repeated his apology to me. I pulled away from him and saw his eyes filled with water but the tears didnt fall. He just kept squeezing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and his index finger.