One More Try

[Lawkheart]

The sky was clear, a beautiful blue that reflected against the rolling waves. Crashing waves along with calming music played for a wedding ceremony close by. Quiet happiness for the group of onlookers, a small amount of people for wedding standards, but only those who were truly close to the bride and groom joined them on such a wonderful and perfect day. Both bride and groom stood in front of a priest who was there to marry the two. "I now pronounce you, man and wife, you may kiss the bride," the priests words filled everyone's ears and with two steps, the bride and groom began their lives as a married couple, sealing the ceremony with a loving kiss. ​

Only five years have passed since that wonderful day and the young bride and groom had already begun to drift apart. Arguments replaced laughter, late nights out replaced comfortable nights in watching movies and Dani was through with it. She ignored the signs for the past year but that was all she was willing to allow. Texts from another woman, late nights out and coming home smelling of bad perfume and lipstick marks on his neck, Dani was through with Gaven's actions. It was obvious to her now that their love was just a lie.

"Whatever you're doing, whoever you're doing, stop and come home." ​

That was the text she sent to Gaven an hour after he had finished work and was still not home. Dani never showed any inkling of knowing he was cheating on her but she was an educated woman who tried to blind herself because, like the romantic she tried to be, she loved him and wanted their relationship to go back to what it once was. Now she knew it was more likely then not to never be the same and she didn't want to be hurt anymore... nor did she want Gaven to force himself to stay with her.

Dani was finishing up making dinner, washing dishes to keep the kitchen clean like she always did, and letting the food finish cooking. Breaded chicken cutlets with a salad and garlic bread; a simple dinner that she usually made for the both of them. That night was no different, she made enough for the both of them and leftovers for her to have for lunch the next day.

Working from home had it's perks, but she was finishing up her newest novel and wanted to focus on it; nuking the leftovers would the easiest lunch for her.

The young blonde sat down, an open bottle of wine on the table and half a glass of the red liquid in her hands; a very rare sight especially with her past. Her mother drank herself into an early grave and her father was drunk more times then not. Dani had to be placed with her aunt and uncle until she was of legal age. Gaven was the first person who did not treat her like broken goods and they have been a couple all through high school and soon after graduating, they both decided to get married while going to college. A happy beginning with little arguments... but now everything had changed between them. They both wanted out and Dani was going to be the one to suggest it that night. They would both get lawyers and work out the details; Dani wanted nothing from Gaven all she wanted was to move on with her life and let him move on as well.

"I'm an idiot," she chuckled sadly to herself as she stared at the red liquid. Dani wanted something harder... so she got up from her seat at the table and grabbed the scotch as well as a tumbler to drink it from. Usually alcohol was not her choice for drink, but she enjoyed a glass or two of wine and even the odd tumbler of scotch, but these times were rare.

As she poured herself a glass, she heard the front door open and close.

 

[4everDifferent]

Gaven leaned back in the booth as he stared across the table at the beautiful blonde. Sylvia was her name and, even though he wore a wedding band, the two of them had moved far beyond just coworkers. Long had passed the days of friendly banter in the office. Their relationship had moved to 'mistaken' touches to late night 'overtime'. All of which happened free of all guilt on Gaven's part. Sure he felt bad at first, but Dani hadn't heloped the situation by continuing to distance herself. It was easier, in fact, to spend the evening with Sylvia.

Sylvia shifted as she noticed Gaven's stare. A smile spread across her lips before she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth ever so slightly, "What?" She dragged out with a silky, smooth voice.

"Huh?" Gaven said as his ran his fingers over his glass, "Oh, sorry," he leaned forward and smiled, "I was just admiring you. You look amazing."

Sylvia giggled. He loved it when she giggled. Gaven was about to lean forward when he felt her foot press against his calf. He smirked and raised an eyebrow. Sylvia lifted her chin and raised an eye brow in return. Just as he was going to suggest leaving the bar and heading to her place, but the table vibrated. His brow narrowed as he looked around annoyed. His eyes fell on his phone and he connected the two. Picking it up, he read the text and frowned.

"Dani?" Sylvia asked, her foot leaving his calf. Silently Gaven cursed his wife and nodded. Sylvia sighed and picked up her bag.

"Sorry, it sounds important," he replied. Sylvia understood. It was hard for him to get out from under Dani. So with a kiss goodnight, Gaven headed home.

The ride home plagued his mind with possibilities. So far, Dani hadn't learned of his relationship with Sylvia. He pulled his car into the driveway much later than he should of. Exiting the car, he started toward the door. Pushing it open, he was greeted with the sight of Dani at the dinner table a meal spread out before her.

"Sorry, Dani, I had to work late. Not sure I'm okay with the suggestion that I'm cheating," he moved to the table and sat down across from her, "What was so urgent?" He said plainly.

 

[Lawkheart]

It'd been not even half an hour since Dani had sent the text message and she had finished her glass of wine and was working on her second glass of scotch when she heard the front door open. After years of loving one person, the female already knew the sound of Gaven's foot steps before he spoke. "Sorry, Dani, I had to work late." After a year he still could not come up with a new lie? "Not sure I'm okay with the suggestion that I'm cheating." She didn't care what he was okay with, not anymore. Her eyes did not look up at her husband as he moved around the table sitting down in front of her. "What was so urgent?" That tone was plain and uninterested, one that Dani had become used to. Lifting the tumbler up to her lips she finished the last of the scotch in her glass. The dinner table was set like Dani always set it however, her plate was still full of food. She had not touched her meal and instead had begun drinking; something she rarely did. Standing up, Dannette walked over to the cupboard and took out another tumbler. Setting it down next to Gaven, she poured some scotch into the glass before she set a photo against the glass. It was a photo of Gaven and Sylvia kissing. The photo was left there but the bottle of scotch was taken with Dani as she walked back to her seat.

"I've known about it since the beginning so can we cut the lies and the hostility for tonight?" she began after a long while of silence. Pouring more of the amber liquid into her glass, Dani leaned back in her seat, looking at the liquid with hurt in her eyes, but she did not yell or scream at Gaven. She was oddly calm about it all taking another sip.

That night Dani was oddly quiet; her emotions written clearly on her face instead of hidden away like always. She was done with this game.

"Are you serious about her? If you are, then I'll look for an apartment and we'll get a divorce," she suddenly spoke, surprising them both. It had been planned to make this difficult for Gaven, to get back at him for hurting her... but she couldn't do it. 'I just want this to end and to move on,' she thought to herself. "Even if your not serious about her... I'm serious about getting a divorce and moving out... I don't want either one of us to hurt anymore," she spoke softly, her hands holding the glass of amber liquid tightly. Although it was obvious she wanted to cry, the blond did not. Her eyes tinged red but she blinked as she cleared her throat and looked up at Gaven, the hardness in them softening. Her intentions were clear... she was letting the both of them go.

 

[4everDifferent]

Gaven watched as Dani rose from the table, fetched a tumbler and placed it before him. She poured him some scotch and then left him one other thing. When his eyes fell on it, his heart stopped, his breath caught and all his nightmares became reality. Dani now knew that there was another woman without a doubt. Thought being caught sucked, Gaven couldn't help but not care. Sylvia loved him for who he was and what he could provide her. Dani, she just...she was Dani.

Crossing his arms across his chest, he nodded at her request and swallowed hard. He could see what this had done to her. It was written all over her face, in her body language and in the fact that she drank far more than she normally did. He never wanted this. He never wanted to hurt her but he did want to be happy and he could honestly say that with Dani, he wasn't. Sylvia made him happy. Then she said the word he never wanted to hear. Divorce.

Gaven got mad all a sudden. Divorce meant that they quit and he never quit anything in his life. Divorce would reflect negatively on both of them and of course she made it sound like I was all his fault. That's how every woman ever played it out to be. He had seen it in Cody's life when his wife left him and in Terrance's when the same happened there. A broken relationship was ever only one person's fault; the husbands.

"Just like that?" he asked her after he downed the tumbler in one take, "You aren't even gonna fight for us? For me? No questions, no restitution. Straight to divorce? Damn. I knew we were miserable but I didn't know it was that bad. I thought you would have had some good memories of me that would have been worth fighting for."

Reaching across the table, he took the bottle and poured himself some more, knocked it back, refilled his tumbler and then pushed the bottle to the middle of the table, "This is your fault too, you know. You're always too tired or too busy. You don't even do anything. I do all the work and you sit around writing your stories. Can't pin this all on me, Dani," he lashed out as sucked his teeth and knocked back the tumbler for the third time.

 

[Lawkheart]

"You aren't even gonna fight for us? For me? No questions, no restitution. Straight to divorce? Damn. I knew we were miserable but I didn't know it was that bad." When Gaven began to speak, getting upset with her, Dannette remained quiet. "I thought you would have had some good memories of me that would have been worth fighting for." Dani took another, large sip of her scotch as he downed another tumbler full of the amber liquid. It was those memories she wanted to put an end to it. She wanted to keep those happy memories intact but Gaven was reacting differently then she had imagined. Sure he wasn't a quitter, but there was nothing left for either of them to fight for to bother staying together. Now Gaven had someone else, Dani figured she could leave and let him be happy with someone else. "This is your fault too, you know." Here came the blame. "You're always too tired or too busy. You don't even do anything." Her anger began to spike. "I do all the work and you sit around writing your stories." Stories... Stories?! "Can't pin this all on me, Dani." Just as he finished, she downed the rest of her scotch and slammed the tumbler down onto the table, her eyes downcast at the table, her hands gripping the glass tightly; knuckles turning white from the strain. That was the beginnings of her control slipping. She wanted to throttle the male.

The blonde took in a breath, looking at the table still. "I asked for no hostility. I wanted to have a calm discussion about this shit we've got between us and you can't even do that much," she said, her voice calm as she stood up from her seat. Walking towards the cabinets, pushing aside a paper bag and pulling out a box with a ribbon on it. It had been a gift she wanted to give to Gaven for his birthday; to tell him she'd finished her work and would have free time and wanted to go on a weekend trip for his birthday; using a piece of her bonus to fund the trip. That was the plan, until her agent sent her the photo of her husband kissing another woman. That happened about a year ago.

Tearing the ribbon off, she pulled the bottle out, tossing the box to the side, the liquor starting to affect her. "There isn't anything left to fight for Gaven, stop kidding yourself. Anything worth fighting for died 11 months ago when you chose to see someone else," she said with finality that would have shocked most. Dani hadn't sounded so empty in years.

Filling her tumbler with the darker liquid, she downed it, hissing at the taste.

"Yeah I don't do anything, all I do is write stories," she began, "But those stories pay for those dinners you go to with your woman. Those stories pay for the nice clothes on your back to impress her, that nice bracelet you got her, and the roof over your head right now," she threw in his face the fact everything he did was with her money. She earned double what he did and took over paying for everything without a care. Money had never mattered to her but she just wanted to hurt him like he hurt her. "And those stories your complaining about used to be one of the things you loved about me; but there isn't any love between us anymore."

She splashed the scotch onto the table as she filled her glass once more. "You know, my work was less around your last birthday and I wanted to surprise you with a weekend trip to Lake Green, where we used to go to in high school to fish," she began her eyes staring at the liquid in her glass. She then smiled. "My agent sent me that photo the day before I was going to tell you," she continued, her tone getting sadder. She suddenly started laughing, her head tilted back as she sat there, drunker then she's ever been before. Her laughter calmed down somewhat. "Want to know how I felt looking at it? At you kissing someone else and looking happy?" she asked, tilting her head forward, revealing her tear stained face. The last time Dani had cried like this had been the day Gaven met her. After one of her fathers drunken beatings. "I felt stupid for ever thinking of trying... I felt like one of the women that work on my books; desperately trying to get their husband to love them even though it was useless." Dannette took a sip of the scotch. "I feel pathetic," she added under her breath, leaning back in her chair.

"You can keep the house or sell it, I don't care. I don't want your money, I don't want your stuff, I want nothing from you but a promise." Her voice was heavy, tears still streaming down her face. "Be happy and don't speak to me ever again; that's all I want from you Gaven."

Dani stood up from her seat, obviously drunk but still containing her control. "I'm leaving so the last of my good memories don't die," she added. Even though the female was drunk, she didn't care she wanted out of there... away from him.