Good Girls One Shots

Can I Be Him

Dean Boland never thought he'd see the day where he'd be drinking alone at the bar, but everything changes in the blink of an eye. One minute he was a successful businessman with a family and the next he's a divorcee with partial custody of his children, which was completely unfair. It wasn't his fault that his wife became a prude after the birth of their youngest child. A man's got needs, right? And sure, the cancer ruse was stupid, but what was he supposed to do? His wife was kicking him out for a tattooed crime lord for god's sake! It wasn't his fault.
All this ran through his head as he nursed the cheap Chardonnay at the bar that Beth has introduced him to, Lucky's or something. Suppose he felt nostalgic. What he didn't expect was to see the very woman crossing his mind on the other side of the room. Of course she wasn't alone. As if it wasn't bad enough that the man had to break up their marriage, he had to be around her at all times. Pathetic. He finished the Chard and downed another beer in quick succession.

"Your dumbass ex is here."
She sighed. "I know. His most recent child bride probably dumped him."
"Good for her. Car man's an idiot."
"That I can agree with you on."
"He keeps staring at us." Rio said, taking a sip of his bourbon. "What do you say? Should we give him something to look at, partner?"
And maybe it was the alcohol, but Beth heard the double meaning in his words. They'd decided to give it a try, both in their lives and the crime world.
"That's the best idea you've had all day."
"I have good ideas all the time, darlin'." He said, reaching over to finger the pearls on her necklace.
Wasn't that ironic. Here she was at the very bar she began her relationship with him in while wearing the necklace that was the beginning to a very different kind of partnership.
"Yeah, like the other day when you tried to make coffee?"
"That shit's poison ma, I don't know how you drink it."
"It's very... fueling."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, it is. What were you saying about that show?"
He leaned closer to her, if that was even possible.
"Well..."

He looked over again and they were all over each other, as if that weren't his wife. Well, technically ex wife now. Bounce house guy looked over at him and smirked before he whispered something into Beth's ear. They downed whatever it was they were drinking and made their way back somewhere, but Dean couldn't tell where. Four drinks in is bound to make anyone tipsy, so he was a bit wobbly when he stood to follow them. The stupid bar was crowded and dark so it was hard for him to make out anything, much less the dangerous gang leader leading Beth to god knows where. When he finally found them, they were both walking into the bathroom and he heard the click of the lock from inside.

"Do you think he saw?"
"Oh he definitely saw. He wants you back, Elizabeth."
"Maybe he should've thought of that before he screwed his secretary and lost all of our money." She said in one breath. As an afterthought, she added: "Well, at least one good thing came out of that mess."
"What's that?"
"I met you."
That was the moment that Beth realized how happy she was with him and she took no time showing it.

As Dean drunkenly called his most recent thin blonde,
he had only one thought in mind: Can I be him? She loves him. And he knew, somewhere deep down, the answer is and will always be no.
"Amber? Yeah, I'll be right there."

The end ✌🏻