Chapter Text
George was boiling with rage after the meeting with Merrick. Who did that man think he was, to talk that way about his wife? Ex-wife, he reminded himself. But still. Mother of his children. And they hadn’t been divorced that long yet. Maybe half a year. What had Betha been doing with Merrick in the first place, for him to get the impression that he could talk like that about her? To George’s face nonetheless. He took a few deep breaths. No, he wouldn’t let the anger win. He had to calm himself down. The day wasn’t over yet and there was still business that needed to get done. He couldn’t afford the distraction.
The anger might have left him over the course of the afternoon, but the irritation still lingered, even when he was in the car on the way home. I was so surprised to hear about your divorce, I didn’t think you would let Bertha go like that. He had called her Bertha. Not Mrs. Russel. Everybody wants a wife like her. Merricks words repeated over and over in his head. And are you one of them? George had asked. That’s not what I meant. Merrick had answered. What had he meant then?
The fact that out the two of them, George and Bertha, George was the one who had submitted the divorce and George was also the one who had married a different woman just a few weeks after the proceedings were over, and thus he wasn’t really in a position to be jealous or preach conduct, didn’t even cross his mind. He needed to see her and find out what kind of relationship exactly she was having with Merrick. He pulled out his phone to call Enid, to let her know that he had a business dinner to attend to and they wouldn’t have to wait with dinner for him. Then he directed his driver to deliver him to Bertha’s new address.
--
“George.” She opened the door right after the first ring of the doorbell and quickly hid any surprise that she might have felt upon seeing him on her doorstep. He could see that she was dressed to go out, a black coat in her hands and high heels on, which he knew she always put on last before she went out and took off first when she got home. You don’t live with a woman for nearly two decades and forget things like that.
“Are you going somewhere?” He looked her up and down. Was she on her way to meet with Merrick, was the first thought that came to his mind. The second one was that she looked particularly good this evening, with her hair styled in waves and her lips painted red. He had seen her at a few functions since their divorce and he had never thought that she looked bad, but somehow it was different this evening.
“Yes,” she said as she put on the coat. The way she said it, it sounded more like a question.
“Can I come in for five minutes?” he asked bruskly.
“Did something happen to the children?” her eyes went wide and she stepped to the side, letting him in.
“Larry and Gladys are both fine.” He went trough to the living room and stood in the middle, surveying it. This was the first time he had been inside her new house and it was furnished exactly to her taste. It looked just like Gladys had described it to him after her first visit.
Bertha came to stand in front of him, coat gone again but still wearing the heels, looking at him expectantly.
“Is there something between you and Merrick?” His voice sounded rough but he couldn’t contain himself any longer.
She looked at him disbelieving, “What?”
“Is there something between you, or not?” he pressed out. Damn, he couldn’t help but notice that the blue dress she was wearing was accentuating her figure in all the right places and made her eyes shine bright.
“We’re divorced, George,” she laughed, and it only sounded half fake to him.
“Answer me,” he took a step closer to her.
“I am a single woman now, George. I don’t have to answer to you anymore.” She was looking him straight in the eyes, and it was fraying his nerves a bit. Why couldn’t she just say no? But then, that wouldn’t be her, would it? She never backed down from a fight.
“That man was in my office today, making comments about you. What I want to know is where does he get the courage from?”
She smiled, “You might not have noticed recently dearest, but I am not that far past my prime yet, as that other men wouldn’t find me attractive.” Oh, he had noticed that today. In fact, he had always known that his wife was beautiful, prided himself on it for most of the time, but he had never had to worry about it before. Before, he had always been secure in the knowledge that even if other men looked at his wife, his wife would never look at other men. But that was before.
“I forbid you to meet with him,” he took a step toward the windows, supressing the urge to pace but no longer being able to stand still.
“Excuse me?! I think you are confusing me with somebody else,” she took a step to follow and was right in front of him again. “Should I sit at home and wait for you to return, like your good little wife does?” she cocked her head.
He took a deep breath, reminding himself that this wasn’t about Enid. “So, there is something between you?”
“For now? No,” she curled her lip and the way she started looking at him made his blood boil all over again, but this time with a different emotion, “But who knows what’s going to happen in the future.”
“Nothing’s going to happen,” he involuntarily took a step closer. He could reach out and touch her now if he wanted. He didn’t.
“You’re jealous,” she sounded as if she was surprised, but hadn’t he always been a bit possessive of her? “Maybe I should get you a glass of water, to cool down.” And with that she was gone from his vicinity, turning towards the kitchen counter at the other end of the room.
When she returned to his side and handed him the glass of water, her fingers brushing his for a moment, she looked at him as if she was laughing at some kind of joke. “Drink your water dearest, and then you can go home. Spend your energy on your new wife.” With emphasis on the word wife, as if he needed to be reminded of it. “And I will go back to enjoying my single life as I see fit.”
“What are you implying?” He put the glass down on the couch table next to him with a bit more force than might have been necessary.
“Nothing, dearest. There is nothing between me and Merrick. But that doesn’t mean that it will stay that way forever.” She was taunting him now, he knew, but he swallowed the bait willingly.
“You are still the mother of my children and I expect you to conduct yourself accordingly.”
“Oh George,” she sighed with an emotion that he couldn’t completely place. Bemusement was definitely in the mix but he didn’t think the issue was particularly amusing.
“I am only saying this because of them.”
“Of course you are.” Was she suddenly closer to him? He could smell her perfume now, the same scent as always. If he had to be honest, he would have to admit that sometimes, in the middle of the night, with Enid pressed close to his side, he missed the scent.
“You are only thinking about them. Protecting them. You are not thinking about me being with another man.” Her hands where on his chest now, stroking the lapels of his suit.
“You are definitely not thinking about the things that I can give you, that nobody else can,” her voice a tone deeper now, her fingers playing with his tie, and oh, it felt better than expected to have her touch him again, even if just through the clothes.
“You are only here for the children.” And with that she pulled on his tie, and he went along willingly, their lips finally meeting, his hands moving to her waist, where they belonged. He didn’t know who started deepening the kiss first, but his arms moved around her back, pulling her in closer and her hands were suddenly in his hair, nails scraping his scalp and neck, and it felt so good to have her in his arms again. If he had a say in the matter, nobody else would ever experience this.
“I am only here for the children,” he breathed when they broke the kiss because they were running out of air.
“I think we should continue this discussion upstairs, George.”
--
(“I knew it”, she exclaimed later that night, when they were both still recovering from their most recent exertions.
“What did you know?” he asked, looking down at her lying in his arms.
“That you wouldn’t be able to let go of me completely,” she said.
He just kissed her again.)