Chapter 5

Gerald

I was beside myself with panic and worry when I arrived at the hospital fifteen minutes ago. Shaking and sweating, I darted off to the reception. They told me that Christina had been taken into the emergency room.

I sat down in the waiting room outside. I had my head clutched in both of my arms and was doing all I could to stop myself from breaking down in despair. Beyond the white doors in front of me, the doctors were resuscitating the woman I loved.

I could not believe that this was happening. How could Claire have done such a thing?

I could not imagine the pain that Christina was going through right now. My heart ached for her delicate body which had so viciously been thrust down such a steep flight of stairs.

Who could treat someone this way? How could Claire have stooped so low? I had never known much about Claire despite the fact that we had been married for years.

Three years ago, Christina had left for Paris to pursue her passion for ballet. When she told me, I felt my heart rip. I had asked her why she couldn’t just attend ballet classes in Maryland.

“Because I want to be the best at it!” she flashed a grin at me and winked. I still remember the look on her face, and she was as charming as ever.

And, just as abruptly, she had left my life. I had spent the next few months numbing the loneliness caused by her absence with all the alcohol I could get my hands on. At the parties afterward, I was the same. I had tried to surround myself with people to make me forget how empty I felt after losing the woman that I loved.

At one such party, after I had downed an entire bottle of wine, my eyes had fallen upon Claire. Her large brown eyes had seemed comforting, somehow. I had recalled seeing her in some of my classes.

So, I started making small talk with her. As the night progressed, the two of us had closed the distance between us. In the dim light of the party room with music playing in the background, my eyes rested upon Claire’s lips and the sweet shape of her small breasts. 

That night, I had taken her home. We had woken up naked in bed the next morning. Claire had always been a quiet girl but it was at that time that I learned that she was also shy. She had immediately drawn the sheets up across her slender figure and turned away.

Even after this incident, we had never spoken much with each other -- except for sometimes during or after class when she wanted to comment on something that the professor said. She had neither called nor texted me.

Until, of course, she said she had news need to tell me. She asked me to go to a café. 

When I arrived, Claire had been seated by the window in the café, her plate of pancakes untouched. Her eyes shifted left and right and she looked a little pale.

“Are you okay?” I had asked her when I sat down.

She had glanced down at her hands, which were folded in her lap. Then, she bit her lip and looked up nervously at me.

“I’m pregnant, Gerald,” she had said.

I had listened in stunned silence. That night, I had made up my mind and there was only one thing to do. So I drove to her dorm at the break of dawn and asked her if she wanted to marry me.

She had said yes.

My mother had protested against our decision but we had gone ahead and done it anyway. We had gotten married in a courtroom, as quietly and quickly as possible.

A couple of months later, Claire had an accident, following which she lost the baby. I knew she was upset.

She had wept constantly. I did not know how to comfort her. How could I, when I understood that she was now trapped in a loveless marriage without any reason?

I knew that she felt that she had married the wrong man. After all, there had never been any deep feelings between us.

Despite the fact that we lived in the same house, we had always had our separate lives.

I did know that she was upset about the baby, too. She had brought up the subject of making a new one once. But I hadn’t thought that would be a good idea, especially since we had no feelings for each other. Why bring a child into this cold and empty picture?

I had tried to provide her with every material comfort that would make up for the fact that she had not made a bad decision by marrying me.

Despite the fact that we had never had any love for one another, I could not comprehend the motive behind Claire’s pushing Christina down the stairs. Was it an act of love for me and envy for her?

No, it couldn’t be.

Claire had only married me because of the baby and now she had divorced me. It was not possible that she could love me. 

When I thought about Christina’s bright green eyes and the way that she had collapsed in my arms after her fall, I felt a sharp stab in my chest.

A nurse walked past and snapped me out of her reverie. I stood up immediately and walked towards her, meaning to ask if Christina had woken up. I was so worried for her. I needed to make sure that she was okay—

“The family of Claire Goldstein?” the nurse announced. I stopped in my tracks. My jaw fell open.

Did she say…Claire Goldstein?! What was Claire doing in the hospital?!

But before I could get up, a young man walked over to the nurse. My eyes widened in shock. I blinked, hoping to make the vision go away. The man attending my wife was … Arthur Smithson!

Arthur Smithson was my archrival in business. His family had owned Axiom Oil & Gas, a petroleum engineering empire that loomed large across the Americas and Europe. A few years ago, he entered the tech space and began developing mobile and computer applications for efficiency in day-to-day tasks.

At present, he alone was rich enough to compete with me. Earlier today, he had requested a meeting to see if I would be willing to sell the rights to my mobile app, Treble, to him!

“That would be me,” he said, “I am her…companion.” 

“I’ll need you to sign off on her forms,” the nurse told him. He scribbled his signature and she walked away.

I clenched my fist. Arthur Smithson was claiming to be my wife’s companion?! 

I have no idea when they ever crossed paths. Could it be that Claire betrayed me and now wants a divorce? My blood boiled.