COREDELIA ROTHSCHILD ;Â
It would be a complete lie if Cordelia said that, in the past three years, she hadnât imagine a moment similar to this one, coming face to face with the man that legally still her husband. It went a million ways differently. For a year, every time she imagined this, she was shouting at Tommy. For the first year, the pain and anger went hand in hand. But as the days went by, and without any signs from Tommy, something inside of Cordelia broke. For that first year, she blamed Tomm every step of the way. Things werenât so black and white after that first year. He had left her, left their life behind and she could only come to the conclusion that it was all her fault. That feeling was harder to swallow than any other, the realization she hadnât been enough for him, for them. It was then that she started to work on herself, realized some of the issues she had. So seeing Tommy again, it was bringing everythng back to the surface but despite what she wanted, she was too tired for shouting, for arguing.
âRight,â she said, gaze dropping at his words. Of course he didnât think heâd come back here, there was nothing left for him here, he had made it clear. âHe was a great butcher and excellent with the customers.â There was a hint of a jab at Tommy under her words, old habits hard to die. His question confused her for a second until she look at her basket and saw the two bottles of wine. âI wouldnât serve cheap wine if I had company.â Was he supposed to have some sort of monopoly on getting drunk let at night? Was this something else she couldnât do right? âYou? Company or ingulding in old habits?â For the first time since she heard Tommy was back, the thought of him having someone new in his life hit her. What if one of the reasons he back was to signs the paper to be with someone else? Cordelia wanted the divorce, she wanted to put this behind her, lick her wounds and move on, at last. But she wanted to be the one doing the moving on, not him, she wasnât ready for that yet.
Three years was a painfully long time when you were avoiding someone, missing someone, loving someone... There had been countless times when Tommy had been sat by the phone, her name lighting up the screen, his thumb shaking and hovering over the call button. But every time he thought of a reason why he shouldnât call and opened a bottle of beer instead. What was he going to say? What was she going to say? What if another man answered? What if she saw his name flash up on her phone and didnât even answer at all? Tommy would always catch himself in a vicious cycle of excuses to not reach out to her and now all that worrying had lead to nothing. Because there was was, finally stood in front of him, and he had nothing to say. He had plenty he wanted to say, he just didnât know how.
âWell I can only hope that I can uphold his legacy he built for himself.â Tommy didnât quite have the same level of business acumen as his father but he was damn sure going to try. Although his lips twitched into a faint smile at her next statement. Of course, got to keep up appearances for guest, he thought to himself. Her family had always been one for possessing a polished exterior to hide the cracks on the inside, which he always found ironic when they picked at minor details they disliked about him. âOld habits die hard.â Tommy had always been a drinker, he supposed that was one thing he had learnt from his father. âI hope youâre doinâ alright, Dee.â he spoke in a quieter tone this time, his gaze instantly averting to the ground. âI really do.â his words almost caught in his throat as his body fought against his brief moment of honesty.
