Chapter 3

Izzy lets me slide into the booth first, then holds up a finger before she walks away. She's back in seconds with a bottle of my favorite scotch and two glasses. A blunt rests between her lips and I sigh in relief. That's exactly what I need. I realized years ago that me and pills don't mix. Pain pills make me itch and get me way to drowsy and antidepressants make me so depressed I can't get out of bed. The only thing that's helped me in life is weed and liquor in moderation, of course. 

She fills both glasses and slides mine to me before lighting the blunt and hitting it a few times before passing that over too. I take a drink and let it linger on my tongue, missing the taste that fills my mouth. Jack doesn't like me drinking liquor, says it isn't what refined women do. I doubt refined women bounce on dicks in offices too, but I stop myself from going too far down that road. 

"What happened babe?" Izzy asks as I close my eyes and lean my head against her shoulder. I take another hit and hand it back to her before I sit up and take a gulp of my scotch. Yes, a gulp. That word refined just keeps boucing around in my head and I'm hoping like hell I can get myself through this. 

I reach into my bra and pull my phone out, yet another habit my wonderful husband hates. I open the camera app and pull the video up, laying my head back on her shoulder before I hit play. 

"What's this Sky? Who's this?" She grabs my hand, pulling my phone closer to her face. "Wow that bitch puts new meaning into the word face fuck." She stares, tilts her head, and I see the moment it registers who's on that screen. 

"Is that your husband?" She asks in a deadly calm tone, one that sends shivers down my spine. The delicious shivers I used to crave but fear. 

I nod in confirmation before I take the blunt back and hit it, holding the smoke in until it burns my lungs. When I exhale I sit up and look at her. Her stormy grey eyes are bright with anger, her dark brows raised in concentration. 

"Do you know who she is?" She asks and I shake my head. 

"He called her Alicia. I think that was before I was able to pull my phone out to record. I wasn't supposed to be back from my trip until tomorrow. My flight got upgraded at the last minute and I used to opportunity to try and surprise Jack early. He sounded so sad on the phone earlier, kept saying how much he missed me. So, when I got back into town I got my car from the airport and went straight to his office. He didn't even hear me. Too busy getting his dick sucked apparently." I take another big hit, as Izzy refills both of our glasses. She must have drained hers while I was talking and I didn't notice. 

"I'm not hurt though. That's what scares me the most. I waited to whole drive here to cry, to have to pull over in a rush because I couldn't see through my tears. But nothing came. Why, Iz, why is it so hard for me to feel?"

"Come here." She says, patting her lap and I adjust myself so I'm sitting sideways, placing my head right between her breasts, just like I used to do to fall asleep. My own little pillows, I always said with laughter. 

"Has anything been off lately?" She asks, trying to figure out what I should be figuring out right about now. 

"No, nothing's been off, but our life is boring as hell. He won't even let me switch positions in bed. Says refined women don't behave that way. Don't spread themselves out for their husbands to get lost in after a hard day at the office." She stares at me with that stare, the one that sees through me. 

"Has he denied you, Sky? Turned away from your advances in the bedroom?" I nod, embarrased to admit it. I've never been turned down, not by a man or a woman, and since it was my husband that did it, it hit a little harder. She plays with the ends of my hair, a habit when she's thinking through something. 

"I miss this, Iz. I miss us. I can't believe I threw all this away just for a man. I always promised myself I wouldn't be that woman, yet here I am."

"Look at me baby." Izzy says, holding my jaw in her hand. "You are a literal sex goddess. If your husband can't see that, that's his fault. Don't ever second guess yourself. He just isn't man enough to handle a woman like you. Besides, your family had more to do with it than you care to admit. If you wanted your inheritance from your grandad, you had to play by their rules. You did, and still got treated like shit. You played the part of "refined" wife for three years, and still got cheated on." I wince at her words, but it's the truth. 

"Sorry babe, I know it hurts. He's got to be full of empty brain cells up there. Who in their right mind would tell you no if you wanted to fuck?" 

"It's not just when I want to, but how I want to. The one time I suggested he pull my hair, he looked at me like I just asked him to murder an infant." She snorts, then hits the blunt again before passing it to me.