Free LOVING HER SOUL MATE by Katherine Cachitorie Page A

blow up in his face.   And of
all the reporters he could have gone to, he decided to take a chance on this
fresh young thang with those large and terrified, but adorable eyes.  
    But to hell with it, he thought as
he blew through another intersection.   It’s done now.   She was the only
reporter he felt would possess enough backbone to see this through, so he was
going with her.   For good or ill, he was
going with her.
    His cell phone began ringing.   He grabbed it from the seat.   “Malone,” he said.   To his disappointment, it was Blair Malone,
his ex-wife, reminding him that the mortgage needed to be paid.
    “What are you reminding me for?”
he asked her, an angry scowl on his face.   “It’s not even due yet.   Do I ever
forget?”
    “Yes!” she said emphatically.   “But not this time, John.   Parker and I are going to our Timeshare in
Hilton Head and we don’t want any problems.”
    John frowned.   What in the world does her going to South
Carolina with some boyfriend of hers have to do with his paying the mortgage on
a condo he doesn’t even own?   But knowing
Blair as he did, the point of this call wasn’t about the mortgage payment at
all, but all about making sure he personally got the word of the trip
itself.   As if she could possibly make
him jealous or cause him to feel any kind of emotion toward her, except
unbridled anger.   Sometimes maybe even
hatred.
    Although their divorce was final
nearly four months ago, he agreed in the divorce settlement to pay the mortgage
on a condo she jumped up and purchased just before the divorce.   In exchange for him getting to keep the
house, he agreed to pay the condo’s mortgage for one year only.   Until, as her lawyers put it, she can regroup
and get back on her feet.   John had
snorted even then.   The only time that
bitch was ever off her feet was when she was fucking another one of those young
muscle heads she loved to screw.   And she
loved to rub it in while she was doing it too, hoping he’d get jealous.   When he didn’t, and he never did, she’d call him
late at night crying about how much she loved him and still wanted to be with
him.
    He’d hang up in her face.
    But whenever she truly needed him,
and it wasn’t bullshit-related, John would be there.   When her mother died and it looked as if she
would go to pieces, he was right by her side, helping her get through it.   When she had her gall bladder surgery, he was
right there.   He couldn’t even verbalize
why he hadn’t severed all ties with Blair.   It certainly wasn’t because of any love he still held for her.   Before he filed for divorce, and they were
still trying to work out their differences, he found out she was fooling around
with yet another body building brainless turd.   That pretty much killed the love as far as he was concerned.  
    But he did love her once, and
cared deeply for her.   But they should
have never gotten married.   Neither one
of them were the commitment types.   Things happened, tragic things that were ultimately his fault, but she
started behaving as if it gave her a license to do whatever the hell she wanted
to do.   In less than half a year after
their honeymoon, she was sleeping around.   And not long after that he couldn’t seem to keep his dick in his pants,
either.   It was a nightmare.    They kept trying, though, year after year,
recommitting and recommitting until even the idea of either one of them ever
committing to each other was beginning to seem absurd to John.   The final straw was when he finally agreed to
get marriage counseling with their church pastor.   Something he never, in a million years, would
have envisioned doing.   Then to find out
she was still sleeping around even after they had begun the sessions.   That was the outside of enough for John.   He filed for divorce.  
    “Well?” Blair asked.   “Are you going to pay it now or what?”
    “I’m going to pay it when it’s
due,