Simple Revenge

A simple 758 word essay that asks the question, do you have to be the one that does the burning or can others be more effective at it?

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She saw him sitting by himself drinking a coffee and playing on his phone. It had been almost two years since the divorce and this was the first time that she had run into him.

Walking over, she asks, "can I sit down?"

Looking up, he smiles, "of course."

Sitting down, she stares at him. He hadn't really aged, who was she kidding, he actually looked better now than that day leaving the courthouse.

He continued pressing keys on his phone, almost oblivious to the tension between them. Smiling, she still thinks of him as her simple husband, focused on only the task right in front of him.

Her husband... Sudden melancholy remembering what her actions had cost her.

What she had thrown away with her poor choices.

"I know I said it before, but I'm sorry for what I did."

After what seemed to be the longest minute of her life, she was startled when he yelled "shit" loud enough for the people at the nearby tables to turn their heads and look at them.

"I died..." visibly frustrated, "I've been trying all week and I still can't beat that level." Looking up at her, he sees her confused stare. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

Her voice almost trembling, she repeated, "I'm sorry."

Putting down his phone, he gently put his hand on top of her's. "I know you are, I've always known you regretted what you did. What it cost you."

Even now, after everything they had been through his touch still sent lightning bolts through her body. She slowly breathed, taking in the moment, one she didn't ever think she would experience again.

His touch seemed to heal her heart a bit, making her wish for something that she didn't think could happen, that she didn't deserve. But that she had dreamed about every night since he had packed his bags and left.

Gaining confidence from the physical connection, she softly asks, "is that why you were so fair in the divorce?"

Taking his hand off to take a sip, he put his hand softly back on top her's before responding. "I didn't feel the need to destroy you anymore than you had already done. There wasn't much more I could take away from you since you gave birth to your own destruction. I just had to stand back and let it happen."

"You're right, I did create my own misery. Most of our friends stayed loyal to you, I had to switch jobs because of the overt comments by jerks, judging looks from former friends and disgusting innuendos by men who thought I was easy to get into bed."

After taking a sip, she continued, "and now live in a crappy apartment with neighbors who enjoy screaming at each at all hours of the night while living with a three legged cat who has decided that he'd rather shit in the shower than in his litter box for some reason. So yes, I delivered my own punishment."

His sudden burst of laughter startles her, he's laughing so hard he is grabbing his sides.

Still laughing hysterically, almost in tears, "just as self-centered as ever. I meant actual birth, as in your son. You do remember that you have one?"

This was the one that hurt almost as much as losing him, the destruction of her relationship with her son. She had wounded his hero and he had been furious with her.

"I'm guessing you haven't heard much from him have you."

Tears starting to fall, the pain in her heart now back worse than before. "I know he's still angry but I know that someday he'll forgive me."

Wiping away the tears, "but I don't understand what he has to do with you being kind during the divorce. You've always been a vindictive person but you took it easy on me. I could never figure out why."

Shaking his head and laughing, "I didn't need to be an asshole to get my revenge, our son has taken care of that."

"When you weren't at his wedding, or when you weren't at your grandson's christening."

"My vengeance is the loss of all of the memories we would have shared to together. Compared to those, the money and house were nothing."

As he stands up to leave, he shows her a picture on his phone, "just to show you I have no hard feelings, this your grandson."

Standing up, he puts his phone in his pocket and tells her, "too bad you'll never meet him."