Robert - Part Seven

“Hank, get your dumb butt back here, now!” Bridget shouted across the dog park. She had been conversing with another dog owner at the park and had taken her eyes off Hank for about three seconds, which was just enough time for Hank to find the biggest, muddiest puddle in the whole park and start rolling around on his back right in the middle of it.

“Christ, Hank, now we need to give you another bath. Why do you do this to me?” She shook her head.

“Is it a rule that all Golden Retrievers must forfeit their claim to any of the brain cells?” The other dog owner looked smugly at Bridget, who was attempting to remove a stick that had lodged itself in Hank’s tail feathers.

“I’d say yours missed the brain cell train as well.” Bridget motioned her head toward a German Shepherd that appeared to be snacking on his own turds.

“That... That’s not my dog...” the other woman muttered, as she shepherd sauntered up to her and casually dropped one of his prized poops on her shoe. “Ughhh fine, let’s go, Avery. We’re too good for this park anyway.” She stormed off with her shit-eating dog trailing behind her.

“Well. That was rude, wasn’t it.” Bridget took Hank back to the car and winced a bit when he jumped into the back seat. Mud immediately hit every surface inside the SUV. As she got into the front seat, her phone rang. To her surprise, It was Robert. They hadn't spoken in months. “What the fuck does he want now?” She asked Hank, looking at the soggy boy in her rear view mirror.

“Hello?” She said with caution.

“Hey. Long time.” said the voice on the other end. She hadn’t realized that she was gripping the steering wheel so tightly, her hand was starting to go numb.

“What do you want?” She got right to the point. She wanted to end this call as soon as humanly possible.

“I... I just wanted to check in. See how you’re doing. Are you still with what’s-his-name?” He sounded smug yet sincere at the same time. It was jarring, and also familiar.

“Yes, Jack and I are still together. We’re in the market for a house, actually.” She said with all the confidence she could muster.

“Oh... okay... I...” He stammered, not able to finish his sentence.

“You, what? You wanted to see if I was miserable? Emily dumped your sorry ass, and you were hoping we could get back together?” She was almost shouting into the phone now. She no longer had any fear of speaking to Robert however the fuck she wanted.

“How—“ He began to speak but she cut him off.

“How did I know? I still talk to your sister. All the time. She thinks you’re a dumb-ass for leaving me, and she wishes she got custody of me in the divorce.” She was smirking now, amused that the conversation wasn’t going as he planned.

“That’s not her business to tell. And anyway, I wanted to ask if you still had my old childhood photo album. I can’t find it in any of my stuff from the old apartment.” He sounded defeated.

“Yeah, I have it. I tried to message you about it several times but you had me blocked everywhere.” She was swiftly losing patience for this conversation.

“Can I come to your place and get it?” He asked, a little too quickly.

“No. I’ll drop it off at your parents house later today. I’ll leave it in the mailbox.” She was calm, yet forceful. She did not want Robert anywhere near her apartment. If he knew where she lived, he might start randomly showing up there to bother her.

“Fine, thanks.” He hung up before she could say anything else. She was glad for it, because she didn’t have anything nice to say. She immediately drove to her apartment, dropped off the soggy boy, grabbed the photo album, and got back in the car.

As she pulled into the driveway of Robert’s childhood home, she was praying that she would be able to get this into the mailbox without speaking to anyone. She climbed the stairs as quietly as she could. Just as she reached the mailbox, the front door opened. Robert stood there glaring at her. He snatched the photo album from her hand before she could react.

“Wow, you’ve been eating well, I see,” he snickered, pointing at her stomach.

“Yeah, I’m eating for two now.” She stared at him, unblinking.

“Wait, WHAT!?” He looked her up and down, incredulous. “You said you never wanted to have kids.”

“Yeah, that was true. I never wanted to have kids with you.” She smirked, as she turned and walked back down the stairs. She got in the car and began backing down the driveway, she could still see him in the doorway of the house, mouth agape, staring at her as she drove away.