The Footnote Husband

In the third year of my marriage to Audrey, my uncle came home. He was, and perhaps always had been, the one that got away.

I saw the current that still flowed between them, saw the way Audreys eyes clung to him when she thought no one was looking.

This time, I decided to let go.

The marriage between the Prescotts and her family was only ever on the table because my uncle, Grayson, didn't want it. It fell to me.

I packed my bags, erased my presence from our home, and chose a bright, clear day to leave.

Audrey called. "Ethan, once I'm done showing your uncle around, I'll be home to celebrate your birthday."

I watched the white contrail of a jet score the blue sky and said softly, "Don't worry about it. I'm not really celebrating this year."

1.

The Prescott family has a standing dinner every month. My wife, Audrey, is a busy woman, and she rarely attended with me. When I showed up alone at the family estate, I was an easy target for their casual disdain. After years of the same remarks, you build a kind of immunity.

So when my Aunt Carol started in again about my lack of ambition, about my inability to hold Audreys interest, I simply let my mind drift, outlining the next chapter of my novel.

"Well, its one thing for you to be useless," she said, her voice cutting through my thoughts, "but thank God Grayson is back today. He and Audrey were always so close. From now on, we should just let him spend more time with her."

Let Grayson do what with Audrey? My focus snapped back to the dining room. I felt a surge of disbelief.

"Aunt Carol, Audrey is my wife. What are you trying to say?"

She set down her fork with an impatient clatter. "What do you think I mean? They were good together. If Grayson hadn't been so stubborn about going abroad for his doctorate, you never would have had the chance to pick up the scraps."

"Audrey is my wife," I repeated, my voice tight. "We've been married for three years."

I pushed myself up, gripping the edge of the heavy mahogany table. The sudden emotion brought on a wracking cough, a familiar betrayal by my own body.

Every eye at the table turned to me, their expressions dripping with contempt. I clenched my fists at my sides.

I've always been the invisible Prescott son. Frail and prone to illness since childhood, I spent more time in bed than out of it, easily overlooked. When my mother was alive, she watched over me, even from her own sickbed. But after she died, I became a ghost in my own home, trailing behind my cousins, taking whatever they didn't want. It wasn't until I started earning my own money as a writer that I found any semblance of peace.

Their scorn, their dismissal of meI could live with that. But Audrey, my wife that was the one thing I couldn't concede. I couldn't just play deaf and dumb while they plotted to push the woman I loved into another man's arms.

Why in God's name should my uncle be the one to "spend time" with my wife?

"I've lost my appetite. Please, enjoy the rest of your meal. Excuse me."

I turned to leave.

"You stop right there! Who taught you to speak to your elders that way? Have you no manners?" My fathers voice boomed, his palm slamming the table.

"It would make sense if I didn't," I said, turning back to face him, my gaze unflinching. "After all, you never taught me any."

The standoff was broken by a voice I hadn't heard in three years.

"Ethan, what's all the fuss? Don't ruin a perfectly good family dinner."

It was my uncle, Grayson. He sounded the same as everhis words feigning concern while every syllable dripped with condescension, painting me as the petulant child. He hadn't been in the house for five minutes, knew nothing of the situation, and had already laid the blame at my feet.

I turned, an irritable retort on my lips, but it died when I saw who was standing beside him. A person who was supposed to be working late at her firm.

"Audrey? What are you doing here?"

2.

I hurried over to Audrey, my feet carrying me before my mind caught up. By the time I reached her, the reason for her presence was painfully obvious.

Grayson explained with a wide, charming smile. "Today's the family dinner, isn't it? I was worried I wouldn't make it in time from the airport, so I mentioned it to Audrey. Next thing I know, she's insisting on picking me up herself."

I heard a quiet snicker from the dinner table.

Before the meal, my father had asked why Audrey was absent again. Id told them she was swamped with work.

Yet one word from Grayson had her racing across the city to the airport and then all the way out to the family estate.

The hierarchy was crystal clear.

I forced a smile, looking at Grayson. "Uncle, if you needed a ride, you could have called a car service. You didn't have to bother Audrey."

"We're old friends from school," Grayson said, draping an arm around Audrey's shoulders in a theatrically familiar gesture. "What's the big deal if she comes to get me? Right, Audrey?"

Audrey slipped off her scarf and coat with practiced ease and handed them to me. "Ethan, don't overthink it. Let's just sit down and eat. Your uncle is finally back. It's a reunion for everyone."

A sudden sting filled my eyes. She had already turned away from me, finding a seat next to Grayson. They sat shoulder to shoulder, their heads bent toward each other in conversation, looking for all the world like the high school sweethearts they once were. Anyone would say they were a perfect match.

After all these years, it was like no time had passed for them.

And me? After three years of marriage, was I just her convenient valet?

A bitter smile touched my lips. Leaving now would only cause a bigger scene. I retreated to my original seat, directly across from them.

Grayson's presence lit up the room. He handled the relatives' questions with the effortless grace hed always possessed. For as long as I could remember, he was the center of attention, the golden child. I had once admired him, even tried to emulate him. Then, I grew to despise him.

And Audrey she still watched him with that same unwavering focus.

My heart seized. I knew that look. It was the exact same way she used to watch him in high school. She was forever the salutatorian to his valedictorian. While Grayson worked on problem sets, Audrey would rest her chin on her desk and just stare at him, completely captivated.

It never surprised me that she fell for him. Grayson was perfection on the surface. Before we were married, I had even wished them well.

But now we were married. If she still held a flame for him, what did that make me, her husband?

I picked at my food, the taste of it lost on me. On the drive home, Audrey said she was tired and asked me to drive. She sat in the passenger seat, eyes closed.

I decided to test the waters. "Audrey, you do know that we're married, right?"

She frowned, her eyes still shut. "If you're ever unsure, you can always look at the certificate in the filing cabinet."

I let out a breath, laughing at my own paranoia. But her next sentence plunged me right back into the ice.

"By the way, Grayson's just getting resettled. There's a lot he's not up to speed on here. I'm going to spend the next few days showing him the ropes."

3.

Audrey took Grayson to a corporate gala.

When I said I wanted to go, she waved me off while selecting a gown. "I don't need you there. One escort is enough. You should stay home and work on your novel."

Before I could ask why she was taking him instead of me, her husband, she offered a placating smile.

"You can come pick me up when it's over."

So I swallowed the words that might have started a fight and simply said, "Okay." I didn't want to fight with Audrey.

Around eight o'clock, guessing the event was winding down, I packed a thermos of the ginger tea Id brewed for herit always helped settle her stomach after drinkingand grabbed a cashmere wrap in case she got cold.

I parked near the hotel entrance, rolling down my window so I wouldn't miss her, and waited, a sense of hopeful anticipation fluttering in my chest.

At nine, she and Grayson emerged, arm in arm, and were immediately swarmed by a throng of reporters and photographers.

I got out of the car and started pushing through the crowd, wanting to get her out of there quickly. She always hated the noise and flashing lights after a few glasses of champagne.

But before I could reach her, I heard a reporter's question cut through the din.

"Ms. Hale, you've never made a public appearance with a date since your marriage. Is the gentleman with you tonight your husband?"

I froze, looking up at Audrey from the edge of the crowd.

She leaned into Grayson's embrace, giggling at the question. "This is this is the man I've loved for years."

In that moment, Grayson, perfectly sober, met my eyes over the heads of the press.

After the reporters dispersed, Grayson and I helped a stumbling Audrey into the back seat of my car.

"She's had a bit too much to drink," he began, a lecture forming on his lips. "Remember to get some of that tea into her when you get home. Take good care of her, Ethan, her tolerance isn't what it used to be, you'll have to be patient"

"Are you finished?" I cut him off. He looked at me, surprised, then clapped me on the shoulder with a reassuring, patronizing smile.

"Ethan, I know they say 'in vino veritas,' but don't take it to heart. Don't fight with Audrey over this." He leaned in, lowering his voice. "She said she loved me for years. Past tense. She didn't say she still does."

"Is that right? You really think so? That's great. I was worried you might get the wrong idea."

The night air was cool, but a hot, frustrated anger burned in my chest. From the back seat, Audrey mumbled.

"Ethan I think I'm gonna be sick"

I shot Grayson a glare and drove home.

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