couldn’t have just waited until I returned your call? I’m a little busy right now to be dealing with this too.”
She gave him a defiant smirk, “Busy? You were having dinner with my brother’s college roommate and some behemoth.” She practiced her stretches as she walked away. Reclining against a massive air conditioning unit, she continued, “When are you going to come home?”
Dwight was floored. Even after all of the legal proceedings, all the attempts he had made to make it clear that this was over, she still didn’t get it. “I’m not coming back. We’re done.”
“No, we’re not. You’re just having a thing.” She removed her mask, tucking it into her utility pouch.
Dwight’s frustration spilled over, “A thing!? You fucking cheated on me with Midas! You called me boring! You said you ‘couldn’t live like this!’ You said you’d never be happy with me! How the hell was I supposed to take something like that!?” The last time they’d been together in their home, she confessed her infidelity and misery at being married to him. “Couldn’t you figure out I didn’t want to see you when I stopped taking your calls?” he calmly asked, finally running out of adrenaline.
In the weeks that followed what he thought had been the literal end of their relationship, he came to terms with his lifestyle. The idea that he would never be anything “super” to the world at large stopped hurting when he had left. He had resigned to his unremarkable lot in life. It was a matter of bizarre coincidence that Wulf had offered him a job a few days later.
“I wanted to talk to you , not your strip mall lawyer or that old doctor woman.” She took a step toward him. “Come home, and everything will be like it was before.”
“And what? Just sit there while you go out and play your game? Wait until you get bored with me again and fuck some other Cape for a thrill?” He had known this was coming; there was only so long he was going to be able to avoid her before she took it upon herself to physically retrieve him. “I’m not some toy you can put away when you’re done playing with me.”
He was breathing hard again. Unleashing weeks of pent-up frustration was as draining as any job he had ever been on. “All I want is to have a fair share of time with Molly.”
“You care about her more than us, huh?” Linda’s dissatisfied scowl had completely shattered any kind of friendly persuasion she may have been attempting. Try as she might, while Linda’s list of skills may have included flight and remarkable strength, mind control was notably missing.
Dwight’s conviction could have cut steel, “ She never broke my heart.”
She was disappointed, maybe even hurt by those words. She glanced away, “I see.” The response brought fear to Dwight’s heart more than anything else she could have said. She looked up, tears forming in her deep, jade-green eyes. “You know I could throw you off this roof?”
“You can do a lot of things, but you’re never going to make me love you again.” Dwight had prepared for this every moment of consciousness that he hadn’t been planning to kill someone. Even as that rehearsed statement left his mouth, it didn’t feel like a triumph. There was no victor here, only casualties.
Her tears spilled over now, streaming down her face in thin rivers. “I’ll…I’ll talk to the lawyer tomorrow.”
And with that, she took off, a blur of deep blue and black into the sky. Dwight watched her return to their old loft. He didn’t have to wonder what she was going to do; they had been married for three years. She was going to curl up on their sofa, as she always did when she was upset. In another lifetime, he would have been there to hold her and whisper that everything would work out. That life, however, was over.
Dwight stood alone as the clouds he had failed to notice forming since he arrived at the Welcome finally let loose. Looking around, he realized that he had
She gave him a defiant smirk, “Busy? You were having dinner with my brother’s college roommate and some behemoth.” She practiced her stretches as she walked away. Reclining against a massive air conditioning unit, she continued, “When are you going to come home?”
Dwight was floored. Even after all of the legal proceedings, all the attempts he had made to make it clear that this was over, she still didn’t get it. “I’m not coming back. We’re done.”
“No, we’re not. You’re just having a thing.” She removed her mask, tucking it into her utility pouch.
Dwight’s frustration spilled over, “A thing!? You fucking cheated on me with Midas! You called me boring! You said you ‘couldn’t live like this!’ You said you’d never be happy with me! How the hell was I supposed to take something like that!?” The last time they’d been together in their home, she confessed her infidelity and misery at being married to him. “Couldn’t you figure out I didn’t want to see you when I stopped taking your calls?” he calmly asked, finally running out of adrenaline.
In the weeks that followed what he thought had been the literal end of their relationship, he came to terms with his lifestyle. The idea that he would never be anything “super” to the world at large stopped hurting when he had left. He had resigned to his unremarkable lot in life. It was a matter of bizarre coincidence that Wulf had offered him a job a few days later.
“I wanted to talk to you , not your strip mall lawyer or that old doctor woman.” She took a step toward him. “Come home, and everything will be like it was before.”
“And what? Just sit there while you go out and play your game? Wait until you get bored with me again and fuck some other Cape for a thrill?” He had known this was coming; there was only so long he was going to be able to avoid her before she took it upon herself to physically retrieve him. “I’m not some toy you can put away when you’re done playing with me.”
He was breathing hard again. Unleashing weeks of pent-up frustration was as draining as any job he had ever been on. “All I want is to have a fair share of time with Molly.”
“You care about her more than us, huh?” Linda’s dissatisfied scowl had completely shattered any kind of friendly persuasion she may have been attempting. Try as she might, while Linda’s list of skills may have included flight and remarkable strength, mind control was notably missing.
Dwight’s conviction could have cut steel, “ She never broke my heart.”
She was disappointed, maybe even hurt by those words. She glanced away, “I see.” The response brought fear to Dwight’s heart more than anything else she could have said. She looked up, tears forming in her deep, jade-green eyes. “You know I could throw you off this roof?”
“You can do a lot of things, but you’re never going to make me love you again.” Dwight had prepared for this every moment of consciousness that he hadn’t been planning to kill someone. Even as that rehearsed statement left his mouth, it didn’t feel like a triumph. There was no victor here, only casualties.
Her tears spilled over now, streaming down her face in thin rivers. “I’ll…I’ll talk to the lawyer tomorrow.”
And with that, she took off, a blur of deep blue and black into the sky. Dwight watched her return to their old loft. He didn’t have to wonder what she was going to do; they had been married for three years. She was going to curl up on their sofa, as she always did when she was upset. In another lifetime, he would have been there to hold her and whisper that everything would work out. That life, however, was over.
Dwight stood alone as the clouds he had failed to notice forming since he arrived at the Welcome finally let loose. Looking around, he realized that he had
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