Brianna:

A couple of days ago, I received a note from my neighbor, asking that I watch myself because of a crazy lady outside my apartment door, looking for me while she was on a rampage. Nick and I both knew who my neighbor was talking about, and that crazy lady with the blonde hair was Tessa. I thought she was there to pick a fight with me because of the divorce papers that Nick had served to her, but that wasn't the case. Tessa never received the documents, and because of that, Nick insisted all weekend that I do not go back to work for her, and I have a feeling I'll soon find out why.

Knowing today was the day I'm supposed to go back and work for Tessa, it had me pacing back and forth in my bedroom, debating on what I should do. Do I, or don't I? Do I, or don't I? Then I breathed fuck it, I'm not going to let her get to me as I stopped pacing. Feeling I should let Nick know what I was doing, in case Tessa had someone come and attack me, I picked up my phone and messaged him:

Brianna: I know this isn't what you want to hear from me right now. But I've decided to go to work today... I'm just letting you know. And please don't be upset with me. I absolutely refuse to let her bully me.

I set my phone on the bed, then started getting ready for what will either be a good day where Tessa leaves me alone or a bad day where Tessa corners me in a corner, confronting me about Nick. While I was sliding the skirt up my legs, my phone rang. Knowing it was Nick, and feeling he would beg me not to do this, I ignored it. Then, on my way to the clinic, Nick called again. I didn't want him to continue calling me, so I answered it and sat in the parking lot talking to him. "I'll be fine. Don't worry. If I need you, I'll immediately call you."

My heart raced a little as I walked into the building, but as I entered, a familiar smiling face greeted me with a warm, welcoming smile, and my racing heart slowed. Shyla came out from behind the counter and rushed to me, hugging me. "Oh, my God! I'm so happy to see that you're back! It's been one huge nightmare since you've been gone."

If she only knew the nightmare I've been in lately.

"Don't get yourself too excited," I quietly warned as I hugged her back. "I'm still unsure if this is what I want to do. And I'm not so sure it's a good thing for me to be here as we speak."

"Are you serious? Why?" Shyla pouted as she lowered her arms, looking bummed.

I leaned to her ear and whispered, "I'm not so sure I can work with Tessa anymore. I don't need the stress and that reason being that I'm pregnant."

I stood straight, looked at her, and then I noticed the look in her eyes. She looked as if she wanted to ask me something, and then she bit on her bottom lip. Still looking like she had something to say, and as I turned and started walking to my room, she quietly said, "If it's about Nick. I already know."

I stopped and quickly turned around. "What?"

She hurried to me and pushed me to start walking after she looked around, looking like she was making sure nobody was around to hear what she had to say. "I saw the two of you talking that night at the convention. And I also heard what the two of you were saying. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to listen in on yours and his conversation, but when you left the table after saying you were about to be sick, I ran after you. I wanted to make sure you were okay, and then when you left the restroom and got into that argument with him in the hallway, that's when I figured out why you got sick."

"Was there anyone else around?"

She shook her head, no. "It was only me."

That's a relief. I don't need to feel more embarrassed than I already am.

"Don't worry, I won't say anything," she said, acting like she was zipping her lips. Then she giggled. "To be honest. I actually think it's funny."

"I don't," I sighed. "I had no idea Tessa and Nick were married."

"I know. I gathered that, that night. Suppose you were to ask me. I think Tessa had it coming, and she probably deserves it."

"Please keep this to yourself. I don't want anyone here knowing what's going on with me."

"It's all good. Your secret is safe with me."

Shyla left the room, and as I prepared the table for my next patient, I couldn't help but feel bothered that Shyla overheard Nick and me and how she knows what led to me leaving that night. Shyla is, however, a good person, and we've become good friends since she started working here, and I believe her when she said my secret is safe with her.

The sound of four-inch heels clicking on the tiled floor as someone walked through the hallway and past my door had my nerves acting up and my stomach feeling a mess. Hearing the sound of those shoes walking by meant one thing. Tessa is here...

Moments later, there was a knock at my door. I jumped. Then my eyes closed, and my heart rate picked up. Thinking it was Tessa, I slowly opened the door. Seeing it was Shyla, I let out a loud sigh of relief. "These just came for you," she said, holding up a vase filled with a beautiful assortment of flowers.

"Thank you," I smiled as I removed the vase from her hand.

I shut the door, looked at the flowers as I walked them over to the table, and set them down. As I set them down, I noticed a card in the center of the flowers. I removed it, then read what it said.

Things will be very different starting today.

I knew the flowers were from Nick, and I wasn't exactly sure what the card meant, but I had a feeling it had to do with Tessa. In case she was to come in the room for who knows what, I hid the card in my purse, then headed into the lobby to grab my patient and bring him back to the room before I ran into Tessa.

During my patient's visit, he moaned and groaned as I massaged his shoulders. "Charles. When was the last time you were here?"

"Two Mondays ago. Why?"

"Because your muscles are extremely tight, and they're not as loose as I had them when I last saw you. Have you been lifting heavy objects and not lifting as I asked you to, again?"

He shook his head and groaned, "No. But I can tell you why I'm this way. And that reason is Tessa. She didn't do jack shit, and I left here much sorer than I came in."

Figures.

I worked on Charles longer than he paid for, and when I finished, he pulled out his wallet and handed me a hundred-dollar bill, thanking me. He thanked me for not giving him Tessa again and thanking me for taking the extra time to work on him. As I walked him out, I saw a well-dressed man standing by the counter looking like he was waiting for someone, and then I noticed he was holding a Manilla envelope. "Hello. Is there something I can help you with?" I asked, eyeing what he was holding.

"I'm here to see Tessa Frederick. Is she around?" The man said as Shyla walked back to the counter.

"I'll get her," Shyla said.

"Excuse me," I said to the man after it hit me on why he was there to see her. I hurried back to my room, locked the door after entering, then rushed to my phone and messaged Nick.

Brianna: Thank you for the flowers. That was you, right?"

Nick: Yes, that was me. And you're very welcome.

I knew it.

Brianna: So. Nick. There's a man here asking for Tessa, and he's holding an envelope. Is that what I think it is?"

Nick: He's there already? I asked that they serve her after four o'clock. That way, you didn't have to deal with her reaction.

Brianna: On that note, I'm going to grab my things and leave without looking back. See you later.

Fuck. No wonder Nick tried as hard as he did for me not to come in. Why in the hell did he not say anything to me? I started cleaning my area, all while grabbing my things and setting them next to the door, and just as I put the last of my belongings by the door, I heard a scream, a door slam, and then I listened to her heels stomping through the hallway, and the closer it got to my door, my heart beat faster, and my body numbed. Then the stomping of her heels stopped as she got to my door. Oh, fuck...

My hands started to sweat, and I closed my eyes, praying for her to go away.

And then I got what I prayed for. Tessa's phone rang with her answering it and huffing as she stormed away from my door. After hearing a door slam, I grabbed my stuff, rushed out the door, and walked as fast as I could down the hallway. As I walked past Tessa's door and heard her yelling, I knew it was Nick who called after hearing her say, 'Fine, I'll meet you at home in twenty minutes.'

At that moment, I knew Tessa would be opening the door and ducked into the bathroom. I was right. The door opened, and then I heard the clicking of her heels walk past me. I waited a good ten minutes before leaving the bathroom and rushed to Shyla. "Is she gone?"

Shyla nodded with a smile.

I set my things down, then walked around the counter and hugged her. "If Tessa comes back, let her know I had to leave due to an emergency. But I will tell you. I won't be back. Never again. And don't worry about calling my patients. When I get home, I'll call and will inform them all I moved on to better things," I said, handing her a letter I wrote this morning. "This is for you."

******

Nick:

I worried about Brianna after getting off the phone with Tessa, and on my way out of the office to meet Tessa, I called Brianna. She never answered. But I wanted to make sure she was okay, and for her to go somewhere safe other than going home, so I sent her a message.

Nick: I'm on my way to meet with Tessa, and I'd like to ask that you go somewhere other than your apartment. I want to make sure you're in a safe place as I'm minutes away from dropping the bomb on her.

Brianna: I just left the clinic. I'll head over to a friend's.

I got to the house before Tessa. And I immediately started packing what I left behind the last time I was here, grabbing as much of my things as I could so I didn't have to make another trip. As I piled the bed of my clothes, I heard the door open, then slam shut. "You son of a bitch!" Tessa screamed.

Yep. Tessa's here...

"Is name-calling going to solve anything?" I asked when she entered the bedroom.

Seconds later, she shoved me to the bed. "What the fuck, Nick? Why the fuck would you serve me at my work? What the fuck is wrong with you?" She screamed, throwing the papers at me.

I pushed myself up and pointed to her as I stood. "I will ask that you not put your hands on me again. Pushing, shoving, hitting, or slapping like you always do will not get you anywhere. By doing all those things to me, all it did was push me away. And as for where you got served? It is what it is. Deal with it."

With fury in her eyes, she took a couple of steps, then stopped and repeatedly poked at my chest, hard. "You're the biggest fucking asshole I have ever known."

I slyly grinned. "Noted. Now, will you please step to the side so I can bring my belongings out to my car?"

Her hands lowered, then she gripped her hips. "I'm not moving until you tell me why you're doing this, and I'd like to know how long you have been planning this."

"Do you want the truth?"

"Yes!" She screamed, stomping her foot.

"Since the day we said I do."

Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped like a block of cement falling from the sky. Then she pushed me once again. "This whole time? Why didn't you ever talk to me about this?"

I laughed. Is Tessa serious right now?

"Tessa," I snapped. "I tried. I tried so many fucking times, and you never wanted to talk. Whenever I brought anything up, you always said you didn't want to talk about it. And anytime I said this isn't working for us, you would brush it off and walk away. If you weren't locking yourself in the bedroom, you were leaving and not coming back until hours later, drunk as a skunk."

She stared evilly into my eyes, and when her mouth didn't open to yell back a response, I knew I struck one of her chords. She knew I was right.

Speaking of chords. The day I have long waited for, for so long, has finally arrived, and I'm more than excited to cut these fucking strings Tessa bound and attached to me over three years ago, finally.

I am no longer Tessa's puppet.

I stepped away from her and scooped up an armful of my clothes, and began bringing them to my car. Tessa followed me out, and after I laid them in my trunk, she reached in, pulled them out, and dropped them to the ground. "What the fuck are you doing, Tessa?" I asked, bending down and picking them back up.

"You're not going anywhere. We are going to go back inside, and we're going to talk about this. We can fix this," Tessa hissed as I laid my clothes back in the trunk.

"Tessa. Enough," I snapped, walking away from her. "I don't fucking love you, and you don't love me. Hell... we have never loved each other!"

She followed me back in the house and shoved me as I stepped foot in the door, causing me to trip and fall. "That's bullshit, and you know it. I have always loved you."

I closed my eyes, my fists, and took a couple of deep breaths. I needed to calm myself before I did something I knew I would regret. I opened my eyes, pushed myself up off the floor, and pointed in Tessa's face, growling, "If you love me. You have a funny way of showing it..." I turned around and headed to grab the rest of my clothes off the bed.

The next thing I knew, I was back on the ground. "Damn it, Tessa," I yelled. "Will you please stop fucking shoving me around? We're finished! We're fucking finished! And you need to get this in your fucking crazy head of yours, that there will never be you and me ever again!"

As Tessa stood still, trying to fake her tears. I hurried to the bedroom, grabbed the rest of my clothes off the bed, and brought them out to the car. When I walked back in, Tessa was lunging at me with her fists in the air. I reached for her hands, grabbed hold of them, and held them firmly. "Let me go!" She demanded.

I crossed her arms, spun her around, and held her tight as she tried freeing herself. "Tessa. You need to stop," I said calmly. "I'm not going to let go of you until you stop this nonsense. You need to open your eyes and see we are not meant to be. We were never meant to be a couple. And if we were. Things between us would have been a lot different."

"Please don't do this, Nick. Let's try to work this out, and if it means saving you, I'm willing to see a marriage counselor."

I shook my head. "No, Tessa. It's way too late for that. Besides, you can't fix something that was never there. The last three years have been the most miserable times of my life, and I'm tired. I can't do this with you anymore, and I cannot fight with you anymore, either. Think about it, Tessa. Really think about it. Have you ever been happy in our marriage? All you've ever wanted me for was for security. Not love. And I honestly believe you're not capable of loving anyone."

"You're wrong," she breathed, finally letting her body go limp.

"I'm going to release you. But if you come at me again, I will restrain you, somehow, until I leave."

As I released her, she dropped to the ground and stayed there while I finished packing up my car. Packing it entirely to the point where all you saw was the driver's seat. Knowing I still hadn't mentioned Brianna to her, I went back into the house. Tessa was now sitting on a chair, looking over the divorce papers. "Please sign the papers," I quietly begged. "I don't want to fight anymore, and to keep this simple; I'm giving you everything with a large chunk of money. So that I can be free of you."

She looked up, eyed me for a second, then looked back down. "I need to know. Is there someone else in your life?"

"Yes," I proudly admitted. It wasn't that I was proud I was fooling around on Tessa. And it wasn't that I was proud if I hurt her if that's how she even felt. But the proudness I felt was with me. And that was for finally telling her the truth.

"How long have you been unfaithful?" She asked, still looking down at the papers.

"I met her about seven months ago at that football game I went to with Max and Mason."

She looked up, and her bright sea-blue colored eyes turned dark. "Who is she, Nick? Who the fuck is she?" She hissed, throwing the papers to the side of her.

I was afraid to say her name. But I also wanted Tessa to stop harassing her.

"Tell me, Nick. I want to know who she is!" She demanded.

"You know what? I'll tell you who she is. Only because I want you to know, she's innocent. This woman had no idea I was married. She had zero clues as to who I really was or who I was married to. And for that. I will ask that - wait. Scratch that," I said, walking closer to her. I stopped, gripped my hips, then leaned down to her. "Because I'm not even going to ask. I'm going to tell you right now that I want you to stop going over to her place unannounced, and I'm demanding that you stop harassing her."

I stood, then watched her face turn red, growing redder until she looked like the devil. "Brianna? You're fucking Brianna?" She yelled, standing fast, then her hands quickly reached up, grabbing ahold of my neck as she tackled me to the ground. "You Asshole! You fucking asshole! She's pregnant! She's fucking pregnant!"

I freed Tessa's hands from my neck. Then, I wrestled my way out of her and pinned her to the ground. "Yes. Brianna is pregnant. And you're going to leave her alone. As I said, she had no clue about me or you. So leave her alone."

"I asked you the other day if she was who you were fucking. And you flat out said NO!"

"I did. And that's the truth."

"You just told me that you're fucking Brianna, which resulted in her pregnancy. You just can't help but lie! You're one pathological liar!"

I grinned, released my hold, and stood, raking my fingers through my hair, slowly stepping backward. "See. That's where you're wrong, Tessa. I am not a liar, and yes, Brianna is pregnant. But I wasn't fucking Brianna. I was making love to her."

"Argh!" She screamed, pushing herself up.

"Goodbye, Tessa."

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!!🤞🤞