May 20, 2018
A great week with a busy schedule. The end of the school year is always jammed up with concerts, graduation parties, and last-minute final projects. Never boring.
Good week in television. Watched a little more Classic Who with The Daleks: The Dead Planet and The Survivors. Also caught another episode of Midsomer Murders. Watched the second episode of Constantine and, honestly, I'm enjoying the show. Definitely a good thing to get a better feel for the character since he'll be on Legends this fall.
Gotham continues to be a super-great pleasure to watch. I'm almost caught up and can't wait to see how this season ends. I'm a little on the fence about R'as, but we'll see what happens.
Watched Chicago Fire and Chicago PD. I'm still loving Chicago Fire. Chicago PD not so much. The whole Woods going after Hank thing is too contrived and using one of Hank's people as a mole has been done. Also, the never heard of before sister is too damned convenient. Right now… I'm done. I'll catch up on marathons later. Blindspot, however, is holding my interest. Even if I'm kind of "meh" on Roman being the new instigator, I love the team's new interactions.
The Flash is almost over for the season and I'm ready. DeVoe is becoming my least favorite villain of all time. I'm ready for them to move on and get someone new to be the bad guy. In contrast, Arrow's season finale ended up being one of my favorite episodes. I'm a little bummed Diaz got away. Seriously, I wanted him to either die in a fire or end up behind bars.
Started a new-to-me show on Netflix with Sense8. I'd started this a long time ago and finally finished watching the first episode. I'm now hooked and can't wait to follow the series. I also caught the next to last episode of Riverdale's second season. The reveal of the Black Hood was incredible. Cheryl and Betty teaming up made me happy. I'm ready for Hiram to get what's coming to him in a big way. I'm curious about who the hell attacked Archie and Fred and having a sneaking suspicion Hiram's dirty handprints will be all over that deal. FP carrying Jughead broke my heart. I'm so ready to watch the finale now!!
Caught another episode of Krypton and, holy hell, the maneuvering and shifting allegiances is kind of fun to watch. I'm excited to see how the rest of the season goes.
Started The Batman season three and thoroughly enjoyed the show. Also caught another episode of Ghost Squad and still enjoy how fine a line Amy has to walk to get to the truth of corruption. Her interaction with Pete is also a lot of fun to watch. On tap for today is another episode of Endeavor and probably some additional Classic Who.
Whew! That wraps up television for this week. Tonight's post is from Going Downhill, a novella that puts a twist on how a couple deals with breaking up.
Here's the mini-blurb:
Zetta and Mace have a messy breakup and dive into relationships with other people. Two years later they bump into each other and both are worse for being apart.
And a snippety peek…
Mace woke up to an empty room. Zetta's stuff still sat in the corner. Maybe she'd gone out for coffee or to grab breakfast.
Okay, brunch. She'd worn him out last night.
His lips quirked in a small grin and he threw the covers off and hopped out of bed. Every night from here on in, she could use and abuse him any way she wanted. Padding into the bathroom, he started the shower and waited for the water to warm before stepping under the spray.
Soaping up and rinsing off, his brain replayed last night from Zetta agreeing to move in to the wild romp between the sheets. He switched the water to cold in an effort to make his hard-on go down. Plenty of time later to revisit super-hot sex with his dream woman.
Stepping out of the stall, he grabbed a towel and quickly dried off. Wrapped the fluffy terrycloth around his waist, he grinned when he heard movement in the bedroom. He exited the bath and stopped short. Zetta had her bags gathered but paused when he entered the bedroom.
Mace blinked, tilting his head to one side. "What's going on, Zetta?" His brain refused to jump to conclusions.
Zetta opened her mouth, but snapped it shut when Paul Franks poked his head past the door jamb.
Franks lifted his chin in greeting, then focused on Zetta. "Ready for me to take these?" He took the cases from her.
Mace held up a hand. "Hold on." He glanced toward Zetta. "What's going on?" If he didn't get an answer soon, Franks would probably pay the price.
Zetta's ex had no business being in Mace's house.
Zetta waved Paul out of the room then turned to face Mace. "Change in plan. I got a call late last night from Evergreen Media." She clasped her hands together, the only outward sign of nervousness. "They offered me my dream job and I accepted." She looked away, dropping her chin down.
Mace scrambled to catch up. "That's great, right?" She'd waited a long time to land a job that didn't involve posing people for the camera. "I don't understand what the hell is Franks doing here, though?" Not like the guy had a clue about taking pictures.
Zetta kept her gaze lowered. "About that… the job is west coast based and I'm leaving today…" She finally glanced up, swallowing hard. "With my husband. Paul."
The world tilted sideways and flipped upside down. With my husband.
Mace went cold, which had nothing to do with being clad in nothing but a towel. No… this cold started deep inside and spread outward with shards of ice cracking up against the heat of his anger and rage. Husband. She hadn't gone out for coffee or breakfast. She'd gone out and married her fucking ex.
Less than what? Six hours after they'd made plans for their future? Fuck that.
And fuck Zetta.
Mace kept his voice calm and controlled. "Well, that's fucking spectacular." He refused to let loose the roar of fury burning its way up his throat. "Whatever, Zetta." He strode past her and stalked through his living room to the front door.
Zetta followed hot on his heels. "Mace, look, I'm sorry. I—"
He cut her off by yanking the door open. "Save it. You're not sorry. You don't crawl out of my bed and fucking marry your ex and get to apologize for it." He pointed toward the front porch. "Have a great life and get the fuck out of mine." He didn't give her the option to speak, grabbing her arm and pushing her forward.
Once she cleared the jamb, he pretty much slammed the door in her face when she glanced back in his direction. The sheen of tears in her eyes didn't cool his wrath. Instead, they pissed him off more. Drawing back, he punched a hole in the wall beside the oak slab. He opened a gash across his knuckles from the torn drywall. Maybe broke a bone, too.
Removing the towel, he wiped the blood and got a pair of jeans on. After running some water over the wound, he called Deb Browning, a nurse who lived a block over and a good friend.
Ten minutes later, she'd patched him up and had the whole sordid story of his all too brief reunion with Zetta.
Deb gently wrapped gauze around his hand. "Keep ice on it today and we'll see if the swelling stays down." She taped the bandage. "I don't think you broke any bones, but I'll take a look before I head in for work tomorrow. You might need an x-ray." Cleaning up her supplies, she zipped her first aid bag. "Do you want me to stay for a while? I'm here, Mace." She gave him a shy glance. "For whatever you need."
The unspoken offer might have been tempting if the cruel burn of betrayal didn't linger. But it did. And he wouldn't inflict his dark mood on anyone right now, especially a friend.
He tried for a smile. "Thanks, Deb. But I think I need some alone time… you know, to work through everything." A snort escaped his lips. "Without punching any more holes in walls."
Deb nodded. "I get it. I go in at three pm tomorrow so I'll stop by around two, if that works for you."
He got up and walked her to the door. "Yeah, that's fine." He squeezed her shoulder. "Thanks again. You're a great Florence Nightingale."
She grinned and gave him a wave before pulling the door closed behind her.
Mace's stomach rumbled, a reminder he hadn't eaten since last night. Fishing his phone out of his pocket with his uninjured hand, he called a takeout order in for delivery. His favorite noodle house had the food cartons to his doorstep within twenty minutes.
Mace sat down, flipped on a basketball game, downed two painkillers, and ate two cartons of peanut sesame goodness.
At least some things were always guaranteed to go down smooth, even if they didn't wash the bitter aftertaste of love gone wrong away.
I'm kind of happy with how this one is coming together. The crutches Mace and Zetta use are somewhat reversed and I like exploring that dynamic.
That's it for this week. Happy reading!
Skylin
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