Read Online After the Fall by Kylie Ladd - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kylie Ladd
Tags: Fiction, General, Psychological, Romance, Family Life, Domestic Fiction, Contemporary Women, Married People, Adultery
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bars of a popular song: chatter that demanded nothing other than my being there. I felt totally relaxed for the first time in months. Later that day, when Luke saw my hair, he loved it, and I almost loved her for it. For an hour that afternoon she’d been the big sister I might have had if mine hadn’t always been studying.
We saw even more of them after that Easter. Kate was incurably sociable, always marshaling us into catching up at the movies or a bar, or ringing to invite herself over when Cary was away and the silence of their house got too much. I missed Cary on those nights. He balanced our foursome, and I always felt easier when we were all together. Without him there the talk grew more personal, more daring, Kate and Luke trading jibes at lightning speed or leaning across me to banter with each other. I could barely get a word in, though they seemed to enjoy having me there as an audience.
Similarly, I know Luke met up with Kate and Cary when I was at work. Why not? I should have been pleased he wasn’t waiting at home, watching the clock, maybe sulking a little if my shift went overtime. I bet Kate loved those nights. She craved attention; two men hanging on her every word would have been her idea of paradise.
When I found myself thinking that way I’d feel bad. I did like Kate, and it wasn’t as if I didn’t trust her. I was just a bit wary. She was never malicious, but she was careless. Kate is the sort of person who is always forgetting where they put their drink down at a party and wandering off to get another, so that by the end of the night they’ve left a trail of half-empty glasses in their wake, and don’t even notice the wastage. I wondered if she misplaced friends as easily.
KATE
•
And then we got married. Actually, first we moved in together and, when this still hadn’t ruined things, a year later I nagged him into marrying me. To tell you the truth I was surprised I had to ask, and a bit put out that my romantic fantasies of bended knee, sparkling gems and declarations of undying love never came true. But delayed gratification is not my thing—once I make up my mind I hate mucking around. Cary, on the other hand, prefers every possible outcome to be explored and quantified, like the genetic profiles he constructs for the expectant parents who consult him in his job. And I still got my sparkling gems and his undying love, so I can hardly complain.
We were married in October under a pewter sky, which opened as soon as we had said our vows. I’d been worrying about the weather all week, but on that day there could have been a cyclone and I wouldn’t have noticed. Cary cried when I came down the aisle, and again as he made his speech. Otherwise he smiled from start to finish, seeming to forget his insistence that he couldn’t possibly enjoy such a large wedding. That’s the main part I remember, and that it was still pouring when we consummated the thing hours later. The wind picked up, and I think there was hail. But inside, wrapped in our marriage bed and Cary’s arms, I felt warm and protected and safe.
LUKE
•
I had been married ten minutes when I first saw Kate. At the time I didn’t even know her name, and wouldn’t find it out till the photos came back. Still, I don’t suppose I’m the first groom to encounter a surfeit of strangers at his nuptials. Weddings are for women, and I’d happily abdicated responsibility to Cress and her mother pretty much from the moment I’d proposed. Of course, Cress was too busy at work to do much more than look at a few magazines, so I suppose I should be grateful that someone was available to talk to caterers and fold napkins.
Anyway, we’d said our vows and paraded back down the aisle. I remember feeling as you do after anesthesia—everything was exceedingly bright and excessively loud and happening in slow motion and double speed at the same time. It was April, a beautiful autumn day, and as they threw open the doors at the back
We saw even more of them after that Easter. Kate was incurably sociable, always marshaling us into catching up at the movies or a bar, or ringing to invite herself over when Cary was away and the silence of their house got too much. I missed Cary on those nights. He balanced our foursome, and I always felt easier when we were all together. Without him there the talk grew more personal, more daring, Kate and Luke trading jibes at lightning speed or leaning across me to banter with each other. I could barely get a word in, though they seemed to enjoy having me there as an audience.
Similarly, I know Luke met up with Kate and Cary when I was at work. Why not? I should have been pleased he wasn’t waiting at home, watching the clock, maybe sulking a little if my shift went overtime. I bet Kate loved those nights. She craved attention; two men hanging on her every word would have been her idea of paradise.
When I found myself thinking that way I’d feel bad. I did like Kate, and it wasn’t as if I didn’t trust her. I was just a bit wary. She was never malicious, but she was careless. Kate is the sort of person who is always forgetting where they put their drink down at a party and wandering off to get another, so that by the end of the night they’ve left a trail of half-empty glasses in their wake, and don’t even notice the wastage. I wondered if she misplaced friends as easily.
KATE
•
And then we got married. Actually, first we moved in together and, when this still hadn’t ruined things, a year later I nagged him into marrying me. To tell you the truth I was surprised I had to ask, and a bit put out that my romantic fantasies of bended knee, sparkling gems and declarations of undying love never came true. But delayed gratification is not my thing—once I make up my mind I hate mucking around. Cary, on the other hand, prefers every possible outcome to be explored and quantified, like the genetic profiles he constructs for the expectant parents who consult him in his job. And I still got my sparkling gems and his undying love, so I can hardly complain.
We were married in October under a pewter sky, which opened as soon as we had said our vows. I’d been worrying about the weather all week, but on that day there could have been a cyclone and I wouldn’t have noticed. Cary cried when I came down the aisle, and again as he made his speech. Otherwise he smiled from start to finish, seeming to forget his insistence that he couldn’t possibly enjoy such a large wedding. That’s the main part I remember, and that it was still pouring when we consummated the thing hours later. The wind picked up, and I think there was hail. But inside, wrapped in our marriage bed and Cary’s arms, I felt warm and protected and safe.
LUKE
•
I had been married ten minutes when I first saw Kate. At the time I didn’t even know her name, and wouldn’t find it out till the photos came back. Still, I don’t suppose I’m the first groom to encounter a surfeit of strangers at his nuptials. Weddings are for women, and I’d happily abdicated responsibility to Cress and her mother pretty much from the moment I’d proposed. Of course, Cress was too busy at work to do much more than look at a few magazines, so I suppose I should be grateful that someone was available to talk to caterers and fold napkins.
Anyway, we’d said our vows and paraded back down the aisle. I remember feeling as you do after anesthesia—everything was exceedingly bright and excessively loud and happening in slow motion and double speed at the same time. It was April, a beautiful autumn day, and as they threw open the doors at the back
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