Chapter Eight

One month later

March 2009

Carly was softly singing the Nat King Cole song "When I fall in love, it will be forever," as she straightened up the Penthouse for the candle lit dinner she had planned for later "or I'll never fall in love."

She picked some papers off the desk and opened a drawer to put them inside.

Her body froze as she saw legal documents sitting there. She jerked them out and scanned over them

Dissolution of Marriage.

Her finger let go of the papers in her hand and they drifted to the floor.

Long moments passed. Little dreams died. There would be no third anniversary. Soon she wouldn't live here anymore.

Feeling numb, she cleaned up the papers and went upstairs and dressed in a floor length blue dress. She pulled her hair up in a twist. Her face was perfectly done. She looked in the mirror and saw her eyes were lifeless.

When she came back downstairs, Jason was home.

"I cooked." she said

"Oh?" he asked, pretending to be scared. She didn't laugh at his joke.

Carly moved past him into the kitchen. She called out, "Mama gave me the recipe. She made this lemon chicken for Roy once. You know she loved him when she was a young and then got him back later. But it wasn't the same. I guess it never is."

She carried the food out to the table and sat down.

Jason joined her and said, "Is everything okay?"

"Is there some reason it shouldn't be?" She averted her eyes from his gaze.

" I can tell you are upset."

Her eyes fell, she murmured, "You know me too well."

"What is it?"

Oh, just the same old same old she thought You don't love me.

To him she said, "Let's just enjoy dinner before we talk."

He gave her a concerned look but after a minute said, "I'm going to get a beer. Want one?"

"Sure,"she said coldly "I could use a drink."

When he came back and handed her the bottle she raised it and said, bitterness dripping from every word, "Happy Second Anniversary, Jase."

His face contorted in worry, "You don't sound too happy about it. Sick of being married to me?"

"Your food is getting cold."

They ate in silence. Finally Jason threw down his fork. "Talk to me."

"You're divorcing me, huh?" Each word was a sharp jab at him.

"What?"

"You have divorce papers in your desk."

"So?"

Carly stood up and yelled at Jason "Though I may not have been the first Mrs. Morgan I damn well plan to be the last! I will never sign any divorce papers."

Jason's eyes filled with shock. His whole life was spinning out in front of him, like when the motorcycle skidded on gravel. One moment things were smooth, then he was on the ground wondering what the hell happened.

He asked, confused, "I thought we agreed on two years?"

"I thought we were happy."

"We are." Jason said slowly "but we were before we got married too."

He can't even see the difference, she thought. Carly felt all the fight drain out of her body. He doesn't want me. This is pathetic.

"Right. You are right again, Jason. Fine. Draw up the damn papers."

"I don't want you mad or hurt." He stood up and moved closer to her. She backed away. Fear started to overtake his confusion.

Jason stopped and said "Tell me what you think we should do."

"Get a divorce , of course!" she lied, her voice loud and angry " That is what all fake couples do. I don't know what I was thinking. Just being stupid and blind, as usual, I suppose. We were never REAL. This time was just like when we raised Michael as a baby together. A sorta family. An almost perfect dream come true but NOT QUITE REAL."

His eyes were wide. He said, "Calm down."

"You want calm, huh? Your life is about to get very calm, Jason." she said coldly "Because this marriage is over."

She stormed up the stairs.

He followed her.

She slammed her bedroom door closed and locked it.

He hit it once and said"Hey, what the hell, Carly? Why are you so worked up over this? Nothing has to change with us even if we get divorced. We can still be... together."

He paused on his side of the door and waited for an answer. On her side, Carly walked toward the door but didn't open it.

Jason said, "I won't fill out he paperwork if you don't want me to."

Her heart soared for a moment.

Then he said, "We can wait a few more months if you want. There's no rush on deciding about the future."

"Don't bother!" she yelled

He stood there, feeling her pain but unable to figure out what to say. He knew she liked living here and he liked having her around. But to stay married would mean he trusted that they were going to be in love forever.

Jason wanted that and was terrified to want that.

He hadn't even planned to give her those divorce papers. His lawyer drew them up because Jason told him they were planning to divorce after two years. That date arrived and the lawyer had the papers messengered over.

He thought now, No other woman can hurt me as bad as her. No other woman loves me as much as her either, though.

"Carly, let me in so we can talk."

"Go away!" Her words were choked with pain and fury. The last thing Jason wanted when he made her his wife was to cause her to feel hurt. Maybe tomorrow they could talk this thing out.

He looked at the door for a another moment. Then he turned and went into his own bedroom.