Chapter 26: The View

“Nope. Nopity-nopity-nope.”

Nori stood and put her bowl in the sink.

“Was he...” Brad tapped his chin, “How did you put it? Oh yeah, that ‘really long, heart-stomping, life-wrecking’ relationship?”

Nori’s blood froze and she laughed nervously, “Yeah maybe. What are you? A tape recorder? So what if he was?”

“Why don’t you want your mom to know the reason David broke up with you?”

“You snake, you WERE listening!”

“I never said I wasn’t. Besides, after that bathtub confession, you owe me big time.”

Nori looked around the kitchen and glanced surreptitiously in the living room, but her parents weren’t anywhere to be seen.

She turned back to Brad and said in a hushed voice, “Can I trust you not to say anything until I’m ready.”

“Maybe.”

“Oh, come on.”

“Fine,” said Brad, “Now, tell me.”

“David left me for another woman. He’d been cheating on me, probably for months, and I had no idea. I nearly killed him at a sushi restaurant.”