Alex and Penelope Ch. 12

"Why don't you wait until the end of the semester," Alex said pointedly, removing his hand from Claire's grasp.

"Oh, Alex," Claire said. "If she wants to go, let her go."

Alex glared at Claire. He'd had enough. "I'll discuss this with each of you individually. Let's eat dinner." Alex lifted his head toward the kitchen door. "We're ready, Beverly," he called.

***

Alex was livid. And Claire was obviously ecstatic. She'd been acting strange over the last month. She'd even stopped asking for sex, which made Alex give a hard push to find out if she was getting it elsewhere. He'd had people on the lookout for it, but they'd turned up empty.

Alex was beside Claire in bed. "What was that stunt at the dinner table?"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Claire demanded. "Why is that girl even here if she wants to go home?"

He looked over into her eyes. "You know what?" he asked. "I've sorta been asking myself the same question. What the fuck is wrong with me? After thinking about it, I realized that it's not what the fuck is wrong with me that I should be worried about. It's what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Claire asked, sitting up sharply.

He was ready to bite the bullet. The people he'd had following her had caught nothing, and he was done. It ended here.

"I don't want you anymore," he said plainly, accentuating every syllable. "As much as I need to fuck, I'd rather fuck my own hand than you. You haven't made me happy since the day we were married."

"Well that's just too fucking bad for you," Claire said. "You're missing out. Fuck your hand, I'm not going anywhere."

Alex decided to take a gamble. Worst case scenario, it wouldn't pay off.

"I'm not missing out on a thing," he said with feigned self-satisfaction. "And it seems you're not missing out either. I know you're fucking around on me."

"You're out of your mind," Claire said, rolling her eyes. She reached for her bottle of Ambien.

"I'm not," Alex said. "Would you like me to go to my office and get the proof?"

Claire halted her action of grabbing the water and spit out the pill. How had he even found out? She'd been so careful.

Claire stood from the bed and marched into the closet. "You know what?" she cried, grabbing clothes. "You've only been good for your money, and I'm fucking bored with it. I don't need it anymore, and I don't need this little bitch in the house that you've saddled me with." She walked out, dressed in jeans and a tee. "Just so you know, I don't need your dick anymore either. You're right. I've been fucking Henry Percy now for the last month, and he's leaving his wife for me. He has twice your money and power. How thefuckdoes that feel?"

Alex grinned at the ceiling. It feltwonderful. He'd heard she would be at the Percy's, but had assumed it was with Henry's wife, Amanda. Henry had a lot more money and power. He was also nearing sixty and traded in for a new model every five years. Amanda, now forty, would be ditched for his twenty-eight year old wife, and he actually felt pity for the guy. He had no idea what he was getting himself into.

"So you have been cheating," Alex said.

"That's right," she cried. "And I don't give a shit that I'll get nothing for you, because I'll get so much more from him than you could ever give; you and your limp dick. So, enjoy your life, working eighty hours a week and stuck with your goddaughter to look after, because I'm not fucking doing it anymore."

"When, exactly, did you look after her?" Alex asked, his tone seeping with anger.

"I've done everything for that little brat!" Claire screamed. "I took her dress shopping for the auction, dealt with her here that day for tea at Helen's. I've endured dinner after dinner with my fucking asshole husband, listening to her talk about shit I don't care about, and I'm done."

"I guess you're leaving then," Alex said, raising a brow. "It's late, so I think you'd better get a move on. I'll see that your things are packed and delivered to the Percy's tomorrow."

Claire swallowed. She hadn't totally thought this through yet. Henry was leaving Amanda; he'd already had the divorce papers drawn up. She'd seen them. But they weren't being served until Monday, and it was only Friday night.

But she still had Alex's credit card. "Go for it," she said. "I'll be at the Hilton until that old bitch is served Monday. She might as well know it's coming."

Claire left that night. It was too late to go to Penelope, so he spent the night grinning from ear to ear that he was finally free of the bitch.

Ding dong, the witch is dead.

Saturday morning, Alex told Reuben and Beverly what had happened, and had them pack her things in boxes to be delivered to the Hilton, deciding against rubbing anything in poor Amanda's face. He believed her when she'd said Henry was divorcing Amanda for her, but wasn't so sure he wanted her immediately moving in. She might be at the Hilton a long time. Because he was in such a good mood, he decided not to cancel her credit cards for a few weeks. He was getting off cheap and easy, and he didn't want her trying to come home because the Hilton had kicked her out.

He had Beverly prepare a special meal for dinner, then told her she could clean up the following morning, as he wanted to talk to Penelope about Claire's departure alone over dinner.

But what he really wanted was to celebrate.

When he joined Penelope in the dining room, he grabbed her in his arms and kissed her passionately. "Claire is gone," he said as he left her lips, smiling from ear to ear.

"What does that mean?" Penelope asked. She'd missed her time with Alex. It hadn't been easy, but she'd been taking things as they came, grateful for even the short few hours they'd have together, even though it was always wearing clothes.

"We have tonight," he said, then kissed her lips. "We have tomorrow." He kissed her neck. "We have the day after. She's moved out. It's over."

Penelope squealed, feeling tears in her eyes. There was a part of her that felt bad about Claire. But from day one, Claire had treated her badly. The few times they'd been alone, she'd looked at her with disdain, making Penelope feel like she was worthless. She'd called her mother a whore. She'd never meant for this to happen, but Alex had told her time and time again that he'd regretted marrying her, and he hadn't been happy for a long time. It didn't ease the guilt, but from here on out they could continue guilt free.

"And she was cheating," Alex said.

"No!" Penelope cried, her hands covering her mouth.

"She flat out told me last night," he said, then kissed Penelope once more. "Which means I can finally share a bed with you again."

They ate dinner, both ecstatic to be free.

That night, Alex didn't want tofuckPenelope. He wanted to make love to her, slow and passionate. She was all he wanted; the first person in his whole life that had ever made him happy since the day she was born.

And before he resumed her training, he wanted her to know that.