I laugh as I watch Ella scurry to her room. Her pretty ass jiggles as she climbs the stairs. Chuckling, I put on my pants and picked the rest of my clothes to dump them on one of the chairs. I was just about to saunter off in my room when I heard the door open.

Nora strolls in with her hair all over the place. Something is off about her. 

What? I don't fucking want to know

I am almost successful in ignoring her but she sees me and calls my name. Her voice is raspy and heavy. She probably drowned herself in alcohol today.

"I miss you, baby." Ahh... What the fuck?

She awkwardly removes her coat and drops it on the floor. Next, she kicks off her shoes and throws them in the corner. Her body sways a little as she comes to stand in front of me.

"What do you want, Nora?" I question irritated when she gets too close.

"You." She circles her arms around me and giggles. Long time ago, that sweet melody melted my heart. But now, it annoys me. Drunk Nora makes me want to punch something.

"Stop it," I grit my teeth. 

"Why? I thought we loved each other," she giggles again. "You know..."

"Drop the act and try to get some sleep. You smell like shit." I untangle myself from her but she only tightens her grip on me.

"Oh, shut up. Remember what we were like when we married? You were so energetic. I never thought I'd marry someone younger than me but you were so perfect for me then." I don't miss her saying "then".

"Why are you bringing it all up now? We haven't been as a married couple for a long time." I really wish to bring up divorce right now but in her current state, I don't think she'll remember a thing tomorrow.

"Hmm..." she pouts. "I know you've been thinking to divorce me but I don't want another failed relationship." I hear the vulnerability in her voice. But that doesn't soften me. I am done with Nora's shit and that's it. 

"I want to work on our relationship," I look at her in horror. Is she kidding me? 

"Nora, I want out," I tell her with all seriousness. I can't stand her now and since Ella, she got no chance. 

"Don't say that, lemme help you remember how we were together."

She leans into me and then her lips are on me. For a moment I am stunned and don't react at all. Her kiss feels weird, nothing like Ella's. Then she moans loudly that makes me come back to my senses. I push her away which makes her stumble backwards. She support herself with edge of the sofa. 

Her eyes well up with hurt. My immediate instinct is to help and apologize, but I stop myself from doing so.

For a few moments, there is complete silence. She looks everywhere except me and I see some kind of realization set in her eyes. She is probably getting the idea that this marriage is as good as over.

"Let me take you to the room, you need to sleep," I say finally. She doesn't reply, only nods. Thank fuck for that!

I help her to walk towards our room, but not before I see Ella staring at me with tears in her eyes. Ah...fuck me.

I give her a helpless stare wishing her to understand but she walks back in her room and slams the door shut.

Fuck me harder.

________________________________________

After tucking Nora in the bed like a baby I take a cold shower. My thoughts wander around the drama that my life has become. Every other day something stupid is happening. I am going to snap if all this doesn't stop soon.

Once I am relaxed, I shut the shower, wrap a towel around my waist and step in the room I still share with my wife. Looking at Nora's sleeping form, I sigh. What am I going to do with this woman? I don't particularly want to hurt her but I think it's inevitable.

Reconciling and working on marriage is out of the question. That can't happen. And telling her that I am ravishing her daughter behind her back without hurting her? How the fuck is that possible?

Her daughter, fuck, Ella! I need to talk to her before she forms her own conclusions.

________________________________________

I find Ella sitting on the sofa in the living-room eating ice-cream. She looks adorable in her purple nightdress. When I approach her, she looks at me and then at my body. I am not wearing anything except the towel that I wrapped after the shower.

"Why are you not wearing anything?" she asks.

"I took a shower, " I say. Does she really think I slept with Nora? Her accusing eyes give me my answer. I glare at her, "I didn't sleep with her."

"I didn't say you did,"

"You didn't have to. It's written on your face, you think I slept with your mother."

"I am not angry with you," she huffs and takes a spoonful of ice-cream. I cringe at the amount of ice cream she stuffs in her mouth. 

"You are not angry?" She is clearly lying.

"No." she smiles and takes another spoonful of the ice-cream. 

"So I don't have to explain myself," I shouldn't have said that.

"No you don't," she spats.

"Nora was drunk," I explain anyway, "So whatever you saw was a drunken mistake from her side."

"I said you don't have to explain!" she snaps. "The only person you have to explain something to is mom. Find a way to tell her about us and don't let her kiss you again or you won't be kissing me again." I stare at her dumbfounded.

Jealous much?

I can't fucking believe her. She is mature enough to understand what happened but here she is, angry at me for no reason. I glare at Ella and she glares right back at me.

"Listen, Rick Pearson, all of this," she waves her finger in my direction, "belongs to me," she says pointing at herself. "I don't care what the situation is, I won't share you with anyone. So, just figure out a solution to this problem, as soon as possible." She spins to leave but halts in the middle to give me stinky look. "And for god-sake, move in the spare room and put something on."

I watch her return to her room. Frustrated, I rub my hands on my face. The situation has just gotten worse which should worry me, but no. All I can think is of how I'm going to punish Ella for being a little bitch.

Focus Rick, focus.

My lawyer skills are of no use when it comes to solving my own problems.

What shall I do? Maybe I can just file for a divorce without talking to Nora and then I can surprise her with the divorce papers.

Or maybe I should just sleep.

Tomorrow, I'll think about my family drama.

____________________________________________________

The next morning is anything but usual. Unsurprisingly, Nora sleeps longer than usual. She'll probably have to call in sick today. However, Ella was still in a pissy mood but she gave me a mind-blowing kiss when I made her her favourite blueberry pancakes for breakfast, so that was good sign. Then like brat, she wore a black mini-skirt to school and before I could reprimand her for her tantrum, she bolted out of the house laughing. Her parting message for me was to shift my stuff to the spare room. That just gave me another reason to spank her perky ass.

Hmm, maybe I should encourage her bad behaviour more often.

Just when my dirty mind begins to paint dirty pictures of Ella, Nora strolls in the kitchen. She sits on the kitchen chair holding her head in her hands, groaning and complaining of a headache.

Well, if you drink that much, headaches are a small price to pay.

I shake my head and prepare a blueberry pancake for her as well. I place it in front of her on the table and fetch her some painkillers.

She gives me a thankful smile and silently eats her breakfast. Sitting in front of her, I wait for her to finish before I drop the bomb. For obvious reasons, I don't intend to tell her about Ella and I, but today I will be talking about divorce. There is no other solution, neither do I want one.

Once she finishes her pancake, she pours herself a glass a juice. While drinking the juice, I watch her adjust her camisole's strap, a nervous habit of Nora. She probably wants to talk about yesterday but I don't want to give her the chance. 

"I think we should get a divorce," Nora and I say at the same time. Well, what the fuck?

Yesterday, she wanted to give another chance to our marriage, now she talks about divorce. These Winston women are giving me a headache. Headache.

"You want a divorce?" I ask as if I hadn't heard her correct.

"You want a divorce, Rick. Isn't that what you wanted to talk about?"

"How did you know?"

"Just a hunch." I am not convinced and it must have shown on my face because she chuckles and shakes her head at me. "Okay I suspected you might want a divorce, I mean we don't even pretend to be husband and wife anymore, and after yesterday I was kind of sure."

I don't say anything because honestly, I don't know what to say. Nora fills the silence, "It will be the right thing to do. I know you're not happy with me, I haven't given you any reason to. You see, I'm not a perfect wife, "she laughs, but I hear the pain in her voice. For some reason, I take her hand in mine and squeeze it.

"I really wanted this marriage to work. You were so nice to me. I loved you for everything you did and still do. But it's me who can't handle relationships. I am not right in my head." I'm again at a loss for words.

Tears gather in her eyes and I want to hug her. But I don't. 

Instead, I ask, "Did I do something to make you hate me?" I question.

"God no, it was not you, Rick. I don't have an explanation. I was just...I just... "

"Just what?"

"I just got bored," She hangs her head in shame but I lift it up. It's hard to believe what she just said.

"Want to explain it to me?" I keep the anger at bay because I am curious to know her reason.

"It's weird,"

"Try me,"

"When Ella's father told me that he wanted to leave me, I was scared. I was a young girl, Rick. I begged him, pleaded with him to stay. I told him that I was pregnant with his baby but he wanted out. He didn't stay. He said to me that he is bored with me."

I knew very little about Ella's father, Nora only told me that he left her and Ella and never looked back. She didn't tell me anything else, and I didn't ask. I always sympathized with Nora and wanted to take care of her. One of the reasons why I got so involved with her.

"After that everything changed for me. I couldn't..." the tears fell.

She takes a deep breath before continuing, "I couldn't look at Ella because she was his daughter. As a result, I became a shitty mother. I gave her everything except the love which she craved. I hated myself for doing it but I was so angry, I am still angry. That man broke me."

I want to empathize with her. On some level, I do but I can't stop myself from being angry. How easily she said that she got bored. How dare she do this to me?

"How does all of this explain what happened to us?"

"I, well, I am not sure how to explain this but it just happened. I wanted a different flavor," I stand up and look up at the ceiling because I can't look at her. This week keeps on getting interesting.

"Did you cheat on me?" I don't care how hypocritical this question is but I want to know. When she doesn't reply, I look at her. She answers me with a nod. I lick my lips and tell her something she deserves to know. "I cheated on you too." Not the complete truth but something.

She doesn't look surprised, neither does she ask me with who.

We stayed there in silence for some time.

"I have been thinking about seeing a counsellor for the past few days. I want to be happy, I want to be a better mother for Ella." I want to tell her that maybe she should have done it a long time ago, but I decide to keep it to myself. I don't care what she wants to do now, I am getting divorced and leaving her for good.

"We need to file for divorce as soon as possible," I bark.

"Okay, but you can live here with us until the divorce happens. Please don't say no." Shall I tell her that I am only living here so I can be close to Ella, otherwise I would have been gone a long time ago?

My irritation only grows but then I feel Nora's hand on my back. She hugs me from behind and I can't help but hug her. I'm still mad at her, but I also feel a bit sad. We were supposed to be happy but alas things don't always go the way we want them.

It's the end of Nora and my chapter, but the beginning of Ella and mine. Maybe it will mark a new start for Nora and Ella as well. It will be difficult with me in the equation but not impossible.

***********************