Chasing His Rejected Wife

"Okay, first off, I'm glad you're finally going to kick him to the curb." Anna gave me a thumbs up, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the music. As we'd talked, the bar had slowly become lively, first with the employees coming in to get ready for the night's business and now, a couple of early bird regulars sat huddled around the flat screen TV, watching a football game.

We'd moved off to the back office, while Anna had listened to my wild tale with wide eyes, mouth open in shock.

"And second, that bastard needs his balls cut off. How dare he accuse you of trying to kill his side chick - which, for the record, I'd have had no qualms shoving her off those stairs myself."

"Well at least he knows now that he was in the wrong." I said with a shrug, nursing the can of soda Anna had found for me.

"Stop making excuses for this jerk." Anna scolded with a roll of her eyes. "I know you love him and all, but honestly, you need to distance yourself from Aiden and everything to do with him for your sanity's sake."

"I know." I said morosely. "I'm already making plans to do just that, but Anna, it hurts. I feel like my heart has literally broken to pieces and it fucking hurts."

Anna pulled me into a hug. "I know, and I'm proud of you for taking this step. I know it won't be easy for you, especially with the baby, but I am here for you. We'll get through this." "Thank you. That means a lot."

She nodded matter of fact. "Don't sweat it. You've done the same for me when I was in a hard place, so this is me returning the favor."

"Speaking of favors," I remembered why I had come here in the first place and picked up the box, placed it onto the table. "I need your skills to open this."

Anna slid the box towards her and examined it. "Hmm, it's one of Ballycastle's special safety boxes sold with the promise of being literally tamper proof. Costs an arm and a leg too." "Can you open it?" I asked, hopeful for a positive answer.

She grimaced but nodded. "It'll be a bitch, but I think I can rig up a bypass for the keycard. Might take some time though."

"How long?" I needed to return the box to Aiden's room before he discovered it was missing.

"A day or two tops. I'll need time to pull up the schematics from the company's website and some stuff."

"Please make it one day." I pleaded, reaching out to grab her hand. "I can't risk Aiden finding out I snuck into his room and took it."

"I'll do my best. Don't worry." Anna assured me. "Look, about the divorce, find a good lawyer and make sure you take him to the cleaners, sue him for half of everything he owns, including the house."

"Umm...excuse me boss?" One of the wait staff, a lanky kid, whom I vaguely knew from previous visits, hovered by the door, looking anxious.

"What is it?" Anna let go of me and glared up at the kid, who looked like he was about to soil his underwear. "I told you lot I didn't want to be disturbed."

"Yeah...I'm sorry but there's kind of a situation out front." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

Anna sighed and shooed him away. "I'll be right there. Now go away."

He was only too glad to beat a retreat. She cursed under her breath and turned to me with an apologetic look.

"Go look after your business." I urged her quickly before she could say anything. "I need to use the ladies room anyways."

"Use the staff toilet, it's less likely to be covered in vomit by now." She gave me a thumbs up and left to deal with the problem.

I wandered to the restroom and did my business. A glance at my watch showed the time at 7:30 which was still early enough for night crawlers in search of a good time, but I was already feeling tired and in need of sleep.

I was heading back to the office, debating whether I should take a nap here then spend the night at Anna's place which was nearby or tackle the thirty minute drive back home in traffic when the sounds of a scuffle reached my ears. Curious, I hurried to the main area where the group who had been watching the game were now in an uproar, yelling and cursing at the tip of their voices. Anna stood in the middle, so short she was dwarfed by the hulking men, but no less intimidating with the pissed off look on her face as she got in the face of one of the men, stabbing her middle finger into his broad chest.

The rest of her staff, burly bartender included, were occupied with either holding back angry dudes from throwing fists at each other or moving glassware out of the way to prevent accidents.

One of the guys, more drunk than good sense permitted, threw a punch at the man Anna was talking to and the next thing, an all out brawl started.

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Concerned for my friend's safety, I waded into the fight, intending to drag her to safety, though if I knew Anna, she was already throwing a few painful punches of her own.

I dodged a flying chair, narrowly avoiding getting my skull bashed in and remembered that I had a baby to protect and covered my stomach with my arms. "Anna!" I called out, but my voice was drowned out by the noise. The bartender hurried by and I grabbed hold of his sleeve. "Get Anna out of there, and call 911."

He glanced back at where she'd disappeared, covered by towering men with dangerous fists, nodded and moved off.

I stood in a corner, waiting anxiously while he waded in and grabbed hold of his boss, who predictably, was spitting mad.

"Those bastards," She growled at me. "How dare they fight in my bar? I'm gonna kill them."

"Okay, you need to calm down and let the guys handle this." I said, holding onto her arm so she didn't launch back into the fray. "The police will be here soon."

I began steering her in the direction of the office, but one of the men sporting a bruised eye blocked our way.

"You fucking hit me." He pointed at Anna, his eyes reddened from anger and booze.

"So what if I did? You threw the first punch at that guy so I had to hit you of course." Anna's grin was evil, her eyes glinting with challenge. "What? Annoyed that you got hit by a girl?" His entire face reddened, eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the taunt. "The fuck you say?"

"I'll say it again and happily give you another black eye."

"Anna!" I admonished, drawing her back when she tried to get in his face again. I turned to the guy. "You need to calm down and get sober, dude. Don't make this worse than it is." "Then tell this bitch to keep her mouth shut, or I'm gonna shut it for her."

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My smile turned brittle, already at the edge of my patience. "How about you stop whining like a bitch and walk away now?"

"What did you call me?" He stepped closer in an attempt to menace us with his bulk. "You better watch your mouth, missy or I'll be glad to put something in there that'll keep you nice and quiet." "That's assuming you can even get it up in the first place without the help of some little blue pills." I rolled my eyes, unimpressed. Beside me, Anna laughed, the sound filled with mockery and derision. "Let's go, Jess, this fucker doesn't deserve our time of day." She hissed, lacing her arm through mine.

"Hey, I'm not done talking to you." He growled and attempted to reach out and grab at Anna.

Pissed at his audacity, I spun on my heel, my left arm coming up to grasp his wrist. I moved and turned, throwing all my weight behind the move and had the satisfaction of hearing him cry out in pain as his arm was twisted behind his back. I pulled harder and he went on one knee, still screaming like a little girl.

I leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Who's the bitch now?"

****

"Ms. Brown, Ms. Peal, you're free to go."

Ignoring the aches in my body, I sprang to my feet and eagerly followed the police officer from the cell, glad to finally be out of the less than pristine holding cell. "Thank god for Claire," I murmured to Anna who walked beside me. "She's the best assistant I've ever had."

"Remind me to send her a bottle of wine later." Anna rubbed at her arms and grimaced. "It's not our first time being in the slammer, but I'll never get used to the smell." "Yeah," I wrinkled my nose and shuddered. "Eau de urine is definitely not my fav -"

I stopped so abruptly that the cop, who had been following behind, walked into me. But I paid little attention, my eyes fixed on Aiden who was glaring at me.