Chapter 10
The pace for getting ready for a show was, as always, hectic. I’d been riding on caffeine and adrenalin since early morning. Fortunately, there was a coffee shop across the street, and inside, a collection of highly caffeinated dance moms telling tales of sexual frustration or rampant infidelity. I ordered a chocolate mocha with an extra shot and found a quiet corner to brood.
The corner didn’t stay quiet.
“We need to talk,” came an irritating voice interrupting my “me” time.
“You must be Desiree,” I said. “Why do we have to talk? I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“Well I have something to say to you,” she said boldly after grabbing my arm.
I was so not in the mood for this. “You have an amazing daughter and I assume she still loves you. At the moment, this is the only reason why you’re still capable of breathing on your own, so I suggest you remove your hands.” She removed her hand and took one step back. “You’ve got five minutes. Go.” My dad would say that whenever we were in trouble; it worked so well just then.
“Jason isn’t what you think he is,” she said. “He’s gay.”
“Honestly, I can’t believe we’re having this conversation,” I told her. “It’s sad in a pathetic sort of way. He’s not gay.” I didn’t tell her how I knew that, but unless she’s a complete moron, I’m sure she knows.
“Trust me I know,” she continued. “He acts one way then changes.”
Yep, she’s a moron. “That doesn’t mean he’s gay, it means he’s not one-dimensional. Besides, shouldn’t it be my choice?”
“I just don’t want you wasting your time,” she said.
That made me smile. “Okay, stop me when I get something wrong. You married Jason. He was an enlisted soldier at the time and it didn’t take you long to realize you wanted more. So, like a typical bitch, you left him and married an officer. Instead of moving on with your sad life, and poor choices, you stay involved in Jason’s love life—almost like you’re jealous. I can only guess that the perfect life with the officer isn’t so perfect. I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s because your new love interest has a small member,” I said wiggling my pinky suggestively. “And you’re sexually frustrated. You know as well as I do Jason’s not small. Since you’re not happy, the only way you can feel good about yourself is if Jason isn’t happy either. I think it would absolutely destroy you if you discovered that another woman was able to make him happy, that isn’t yourself. Or maybe it’s because you couldn’t make him happy. What if I can prove to everybody what you’ve said about him is all a lie? How am I doing so far?”
I…” she began but couldn’t finish.
“Never mind, your five minutes are up,” I took my coffee and left with the eyes of all the other moms on me. Before the door closed, I heard the faint sound of applause. I walked around the block, not caring about the time, to blow off steam, and revel in the glow of my recent triumph.
