Overheard
The divorce had been finalized a week before and I’d finally moved out of the residence hotel and into a loft. I went by the house Maggie and I had fallen in love with all those years ago to pick up the rest of the stuff from my study. I let myself in with the key and reminded myself again that I needed to give it back to Maggie.
I didn’t really want to return the key; it felt more like an ending than signing the papers had. I still hoped somewhere deep inside that Maggie would come to her senses and realize those 17 years were worth one more try; that the key would be mine to use again freely.
I spent the afternoon packing medical texts and novels and carrying them out to my car. I intended to rent a truck over the weekend and get the furniture so that Maggie could have the room by Monday. She’d said something about having a decorator coming in to discuss what she wanted to do with it.
By the last trip to the car, I was sweating and ready for a cold drink. I went back inside and walked down the hall toward the kitchen as I heard Maggie coming in the back, I grinned at the sound of her juggling bags and her cell phone and hurried back to help her. As I reached the kitchen door and put out my hand to open it, I heard another voice, a man.
“Maggie, where do you want the wine?” He asked.
“Put it in the refrigerator until dinner, Walter and come on up stairs. Abby is gone for the night and I want to enjoy every minute.” Maggie’s voice held that note I’d always loved to hear, laughing and seductive all at once, just the sound could have me running up the stairs after her before and now that note in her voice was for someone else.
I leaned against the wall outside the kitchen, listening to the sounds of two people walking quickly up the back stairs. I felt a wave of nausea and a metallic taste in the back of my throat, feeling the last bit of hope curl up and die.
I walked toward the front door and stopped at the antique table I’d bought Maggie for a housewarming present when we’d bought this house, her house. I slid the door key off my key ring and left it on the table, walking out and quietly closing the front door behind me.
Muse: Garret Macy
Fandom: Misc TV/ Crossing Jordan
Words: 425