Punished by Divorce

Dinner

Naomi

It had been a great start to my day, breakfast with Corey. A delicious lunch, albeit with my mother. However, now I was nervous. I always hated these dinners with Erik. We barely talked and if we did, it was over the weather, or he would talk about his latest business adventure. On top of my nerves, the bastard had the audacity to be late. I glanced at the watch on my wrist and sighed.

“Would you care for another glass of champagne?” the server asked politely. It was tempting, but I was nursing my third glass already. “Mr. Carlson will be here shortly, Mrs. Carlson,” the server added. I had hoped Erik being late meant that he would cancel. I wasn’t exactly thrilled to hear that he was, in fact, on his way. I would much prefer it if he didn’t show up.

“No, thank you,” I said as I rubbed the droplet of condensation with my thumb. The server left me alone and I considered my options. I could, as always, be polite when Erik showed up. Or, alternatively, I could give him a piece of my mind for making me wait over half an hour. People around me kept glancing over, taking peeks, to see if anyone had joined me. It was embarrassing. An outrage and with a divorce in the wings, I didn’t appreciate Erik’s tardiness. Another server stopped by, and I was just about to shoo them away when I saw them set down a tumbler glass filled with ice and a dark amber liquid.

“Thank you, Jamerson,” a deep, rich voice said, and I froze. “Hello, Naomi, I do apologize for being late. There was an accident on the highway, and it took forever for the paramedics to arrive…anyway,” I slowly lifted my gaze over to where he was now seated, directly across from me. He reached out and gripped the glass before bringing it to his lips. The whole thing was entirely too erotic, and I shook my head. Erik had always been way too sexy for his own good. His dark brown hair was slightly disheveled and yet that only made him look even sexier. His light toffee brown eyes scanned his surroundings, yet not once did he make eye contact with me. His short-boxed beard had been trimmed and glistened under the candlelight. He wore a complete black suit. Erik Carlson was extremely handsome, and I sighed as I turned away. All I wanted was for this night to be over with.

“I’ll give you a few minutes to decide,” the server, Jamerson, remarked before he hurried off.

“Happy birthday, Naomi,” Erik said softly as he removed something from his jacket pocket and slid it across the table. It was a simple black velvet box. Jewelry of some sort. This wasn’t the first time Erik had gotten me a gift, and yet, I always believed that he probably got his assistant to do the work.

“Thank you,”

“Again, I do apologize,” he said as he scanned the menu. “Have you decided?”

“On?” I asked. Was he already diving into the hot topic of our pending divorce?

“On dinner,” he replied without looking at me.

“Oh, yes,” I said, and he nodded. He set the menu aside, and then he finally looked at me. His eyes almost seemed to penetrate my very soul, and it left me feeling breathless. This sort of hold he had over me was one of the reasons I was happy to sign on the dotted line.

“I suppose you received the papers for my divorce request?” he questioned softly. I nodded, unable to verbally reply. “I know that it may seem sudden…possibly not unexpected. I’ve been busy with numerous opportunities and projects,”

“Of course,”

“Since we were only married for a year…but we’ll discuss that at a later stage,”

“With our lawyers?” I asked and he smiled slightly.

“Right. With our lawyers,”

“It’s fine, Erik. It’s not as though I would fight you on it,” I stated. His eyes went wide in surprise and then he smiled. Truly smiled and the dashing man in front of me transformed into a f*****g man that made me want to make him smile and laugh as often as possible.

“I never expected that you would, Naomi. However, I am expecting your father to fight me on it,”

“They don’t need to know,” I suggested as I broke eye contact and picked up my champagne glass. “This is between you and me,”

“I had assumed you would have told your parents,” he said, but I shook my head before I took a sip of the bubbly champagne. “Hmm, I find that rather interesting,”

“Ok,” I said as I set the glass down. “I mean, do we even need to do this?” I asked as I glanced over at him. Erik looked taken aback for a split second before he smirked.

“Am I that…unpleasant, Naomi? That you cannot stand to be in my presence for dinner?”

“No…no…I…no,”

“Right, then I’ll order for us. What will you be having?” I gave him my order, and he signaled for the server. Moments later, our orders had been placed and the silence between us was awkward and uncomfortable. “I hope there aren’t any hard feelings between us, Naomi,”

“I don’t…I feel nothing toward you, Erik,” I admitted. It wasn’t the complete truth, but I wasn’t about to tell him anything.

“Good, the feeling is mutual…or non-existent in this case,” he commented with a chuckle. The sound was comforting, and I forced myself to relax. This was the most personal conversation we had ever had as a married couple. Not that it mattered. Soon enough, we would no longer be married, and I would be free. I smiled to myself as I took another sip of my champagne. It was, after all, my birthday, and I was going to enjoy what was left of it.