Miriam deleted the spam and turned her attention to the e-mails, all five hundred seventy two of them. Ignore them for a few weeks and they multiplied like ants, but not as cute.
It was time to read it, and maybe even open up the envelope she'd gotten, also from him. Some awful birthday card, she was sure.
Her stomach churned, and she thought again about calling one of her friends to read it for her but she finally clicked on the e-mail. He can't hurt me. After all I've been through? She suddenly thought of JK calling her Wonder Woman, and, for a moment, allowed herself to recall those terrifying moments in her office with Quest, and this time they gave her strength.
Dear ex-wife Miriam,
This isn't one of those crazy threats to try to cut you down to size cause you're so much better than me and we both know it. That chapter has passed, never to return. It's to tell you not to send an alimony payment this month or ever again. You think I'm an asshole but you're wrong. I'm an angry alcoholic asshole. You once thought I had charm and intelligence but it was all just vodka. I fooled you, fooled myself. But I got caught. Remember those twelve steps I used to riff on? Well I'm working a program now. AA. Surprised? So am I. I stopped the back pain disability scam and plan to go back to work full-time. Expect envelopes in the mail from me and don't throw them out cause they'll have money, honey, until I finish paying you back in full, no interest though cause of the lousy interest rates. I wish I could suggest a meeting but I already know the answer and I don't blame you. Most of the time I don't want to be in the same room as me either. Maybe one day I'll be the kind of person you won't mind knowing, but this is not the day. So take care of yourself. Legal documents to follow.
P.S. I heard it through the grapevine, or maybe the vinegar vine, that my ex-buddy Lindner's making moves on you. If it helps you decide in his favor, I hate his fucking guts. He's the bastard who turned me in to the Bar for substance abuse and inappropriate behavior. Maybe he had an ulterior motive or maybe he's just a decent human being.
YOU ARE READING
Comfort Zone
Mystery / ThrillerDr. Miriam Gotlin is intent on building a medical practice in which caring for patients also means caring about them. When a desperately ill AIDS patient is admitted to the hospital and fails to respond to an injection that had always worked, Miria...
