A/N: Wow, 9 reviews for my first chapter! You guys rock! Keep it up! hands you all "Coolest People In The World medals.
Ryan was lying on their bed, shirtless, his chin covered in lipstick stains. And he wasn't alone. His secretary was on the bed next to him. Marissa vaguely noticed that the collar of his shirt, which was lying on the floor near the hamper, had red all over it too.
"Oh, my God," she said softly, and Ryan looked up.
"Damn," he muttered.
Marissa fled down the stairs, taking them two at a time. She didn't know what she was doing, where she was going- all she knew is she had to get away.
She stopped in the kitchen, searching for the car keys.
"Marissa!"
She didn't turn around.
"Marissa, listen, please, let me explain.
She faced him.
"Ryan, I think I'm smart enough to figure it out on my own!"
"Marissa, it's not what it looked like-"
"Really? I'd really like to hear your stupid excuse this time, Ryan! There's nothing you can do to cover it up now, is there?"
"Marissa, listen!" He put a hand on her shoulder.
She pulled away. "Don't touch me!"
Ryan shoved his hands in his pocket. "Marissa, give me two minutes. Let me explain!"
She let out a hollow laugh. "I don't need to hear it."
Ryan punched the counter in frustration. "Damn it, Marissa, hear me out!"
"For what? I know what I saw Ryan! Didn't I mean anything to you? Didn't this-" she pulled off her wedding ring and threw it at him "- mean anything to you? Didn't we mean anything to you?"
"Marissa, shut up and listen to me! I am trying to tell you-"
"I don't want to hear it!"
"Marissa-"
She shoved her fingers in her ears. "LA LA LA! I CAN'T HEAR ANY MORE OF YOU GODDAMN LIES, RYAN!"
"Stop acting like you're two, Marissa! You are twenty-four years old!"
"I know perfectly my age perfectly well Ryan! Don't make me feel stupider than I already do!"
"What are you talking about?"
She snorted. "First, you try to sneak around my behind my back, figuring I wouldn't notice! Well, I did!"
He threw up his hands. "I didn't sneak around behind your back!"
But she had shoved her fingers in her ears again. "LA DEE DA, I'M NOT LISTENING TO YOU AND YOUR STUPID LIES!"
"You know, you've got a real age problem! Acting like a kid when you're in your twenty, and then the opposite: being alcoholic like a drunk, homeless idiot at fifteen!"
Marissa's eyes widened, then turned cold. He had gone too far. "Get out."
"Excuse me?"
"Get out of this house right now."
"Marissa, I-"
"GET OUT!"
He grabbed his keys. "Fine! I'll go! And I'm not coming back!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
He slammed the door behind him.
Five minutes later, as Marissa sat, huddled up on the couch in a plaid fleece blanket, the reality of it all sunk it. He cheated on her. And he was gone. Forever.
Good! she thought.
Good? Are you kidding me? Your husband just left you! a nagging little voice in the back of her mind said.
Some husband. He cheated on me!
Maybe he didn't. He kept saying that he didn't cheat, it was a misunderstanding…
So you're trying to insult my intelligence, too? Make me think that there's even a chance he was being honest?
You've known him for almost ten years now. He sounded sincere, you could tell-
Shut up! Shut the hell up! You're wrong!
She heard tiny footsteps coming down the stairs. She had forgotten about her daughter. When had she crept upstairs?
"Mommy?" Madison said, sitting next to her mother on the couch. "Why are you crying?"
She hadn't realized that she was.
"Daddy and I just had a little fight, honey." Marissa brushed away her tears.
"I heard you yelling." Madison hugged her. "Where'd Daddy go?"
"He just left for a little bit."
"Is he coming back?" Madison looked like she was about to cry.
I don't know. "Of course."
"What were you fighting about?"
Marissa didn't respond.
"I don't like it when you fight," Madison whispered.
Marissa felt horrible. "I'm sorry," she said, pulling her into a hug.
"That's okay, Mommy," Madison's muffled voice said. "It'll be okay in the morning, right?" Her big blue eyes looked up at her mother expectantly.
"I'm going to call Aunt Summer and see if you can have dinner there." Marissa got up, leaving behind a confused Maddy.
She dialed the Cohen's.
Seth answered. "Hello?"
Marissa worked to keep the ob out of her voice. "Seth, I need to talk to Summer."
"Hang on. Summer! It's Marissa!" He paused. "She'll be there in a min- Katie, get off of your brother!"
Click. Summer picked up. "I got it, Seth! Hey, Coop, what's up?"
Marissa choked back a sob. "Can you guys take Madison for dinner?"
"Um, sure. Why?"
"I'm not up to cooking tonight." That certainly was true.
"So have Ryan do it."
Silent tears fell down her face. "He can't."
"Why not?"
"He's not here."
"Do you know why?"
Marissa was unable to keep quiet any longer. Sobs wracked her body, tears fell quickly and rapidly down her face.
"Coop? Coop, are you okay?"
"No," she choked out.
"I'm coming over."
"Okay," she managed to get out.
Five minutes later, Maddy was on her way to the Cohen's, and Summer sat next to Marissa at the kitchen table, patting her back.
"Coop, you have to tell me what's wrong," Summer urged.
She stifled back more tears. "W-when I got home, I went upstairs, and R-ryan was up there, with his secretary."
"So?"
"I mean with his secretary."
"Wha- ohhhhhh. Oh, my God! Were they…" Summer raised an eyebrow.
"No."
"So they were kissing?"
"Well, not exactly. They w-were on our bed, and he had lipstick all over his chin, a-and his shirt was on the ground, but it had it t-too."
"Oh, Coop," Summer hugged her. "I thought you said he left?"
Marissa chokingly explained their fight.
"A-and now he's gone and I'm never gonna see him again!" she finished, wailing.
"Coop. Listen to me. Ryan is a dirty, cheating, lying asshole. You are lucky to be rid of him, not sad. Got it?"
Marissa appreciated the effort, but she knew if Seth was the one who had cheated, Summer would not believe one word of that. She gave her a small smile, though. "I guess."
"Do you want to come over for dinner?"
Marissa hiccupped slightly. "No thanks."
Summer understood. "All right. I'm gonna go back now. I'll see you later, alright? Call me tonight."
Summer hurried home, her eyes blazing with fury. How dare Ryan do this to her?
She stepped inside, and locked the door. Seth noticed at once the look on her face. "Whoa, Summer, what's wrong?"
"That bastard!" she yelled.
Seth sighed. "You are very lucky that the kids are in the soundproof basement. Again: What's wrong?"
"Ryan cheated on Marissa!"
"What?"
Summer told him everything.
"You've got to be kidding me." Seth said.
"Why would I make that up?"
"That just doesn't seem like something Ryan would do." Seth said slowly.
"Well, he did. Why didn't you see that coming? He's your best friend! You should have known!"
Seth shied away from the subject. "How's Marissa taking it?"
"At this rate, next time we go in her house, everything glass will have been hurled at a wall, the furniture will all have tearstains, and she'll be hiding under the covers."
"Pretty bad, then?"
"That's one way to describe for it."
At that moment, Summer felt a tug on her shirt. She looked down to see Madison holding a picture. "Aunty Summer, guess what? I made a picture!"
"That's great," Summer said listlessly.
"See? That's my house! And that's me, and Mommy, and Daddy!" She pointed to the figures holding hands in front of a humongous square.
"Mommy seemed sad, so I drew it for her. Do you think she'll like it?"
Summer spoke quietly to the little girl. "Honey, now's not the best time to give that to her."
"Why not?"
Summer couldn't answer.