Muse

VII.VI

Setting: Demi and Cristo's House, Calabasas, CA

This was supposed to be her dream house. Fourteen thousand, three hundred and nine square feet on five acres of property was the American dream, the perfect suburban home where a mother and father could raise their minivan full of children with their two dogs, their family right around the corner for whenever they needed them, or whenever the younger cousins wanted to come over to play. Her life was supposed to be perfect. For so long it had been perfect. But standing there in the middle of the white and grey living room, her Christian Louboutin covered foot knocking against the cool marble floors made Demi realize that her marriage had slowly been crumbling around her, and with it came her life. A single tear dropped down her cheek, but she was quick to swipe it away, the coolness of the diamonds on her rings brushing against skin causing chills to run down her spine as the front door opened and a few seconds later, Cristo appeared.

"You wanted to talk?" he said, standing on the other side of the L shaped couch as Demi turned to face him.

"I just wanted to give you a chance to pack some of your things and get the hell out of my house," Demi's eyes closed towards the end of her sentence because she couldn't even look at him without crying. After everything that she had learned she couldn't believe that the same man that she had married was standing in front of her when everything that she had learned directly contradicted everything that she believed about him.

"Excuse me?" He was taken off guard. Of course, he was taken off guard. When she opened her eyes, she could see in his expression and the stance of his body that that was the last thing that she was expecting to hear.

"You can't stay here anymore. I still love you and I wish for the sake of our daughter that our marriage could work but you can't be in the same place as me anymore. You can't sleep in my bed anymore. You can't be in this house anymore. You have to go," Demi repeated, her voice growing thick with tears as Cristo moved from around the couch to stand in front of her but Demi moved away.

"You're being serious?"

"After everything you've done, you have the audacity to ask me that? Cristo, please just pack whatever you want and leave. I know we still have to be in contact for Muse but I can not live under the same roof as you. I can't," Demi said again, and this time Cristo actually had the courtesy of nodding his head and stepping away from her, staring her down for a few seconds before he went upstairs to pack his things. Only then did Demi allow herself to silently cry as she stood in the middle of her once happy home and listened to the sound of her husband stuffing what he wanted into his suitcases.

Setting: Kris's House, Calabasas, CA