Page 99 of One Week
“I asked him to… I didn’t want the temptation.”
“Wow.”
“It’s fine,” I say. “I might become a nun,” I joke.
“You’d make a terrible nun,” she points out. “You wouldn’t be caught dead in black. I’ve never seen you wear black.”
“True,” I agree. “I do like color. But seriously,” I add. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be interested in dating again. I just want to focus on my kids and my art, and hang out with you gals.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
We fall into silence again. She strokes my hair quietly and I stare at her cat, Mitzy, who is sleeping cozily on the arm chair.
“You know… if I thought this was a bad decision, I’d tell you,” she says out of the blue. “But my instincts...”
“Do you even like John?” I ask.
“Well, I don’t know him well,” she says. “But no, not especially. He’s a good-looking man so I see the appeal but…”
I sit up abruptly. “But what?!” All this time, have my friends hated my husband?
“I don’t know… I can’t quite put my finger on it… he just seems a bit, I don’t know, cold? Too sure of himself? Forget I said anything, okay? It doesn’t matter anymore.”
She’s right. It doesn’t. “You’re not wrong,” I say, and flop back down on her lap. “Your sister is a family law attorney, right?” I ask. “Do you think she could take me on?”
“She will if I ask,” she says. “She’s a great lawyer, and she loves representing women in divorces. I think it’s to do with her own divorce. God, that relationship was a hot mess. This is why I never want a serious relationship. I think I’d become a nun too, but I love sex too much.”
I laugh. “And you love color too. What would you do with all your colorful wedges and sandals?”
“Donate them to you.”
“In that case, I seriously think you should become a nun.”
“I keep thinking about the kids,” I tell her. “They’re the reason I’ve never even gone there… divorce, I mean. I was miserable, but I was cool with that as long as the kids were happy.”
“They can still be happy,” Kayla points out. “It will take a lot of adjustment and it won’t be easy, but they can be happy. But only if you and John handle it right. That’s crucial.”
“You really think so?”
“Yeah… I’m not just saying that. Take my sister, for example. That whole family was miserable, and then about a year post divorce, they’re all much happier. I can see it in their eyes.”
“How ‘bout my eyes?” I ask. “Could you see that I was miserable?”
“Yes,” she says, “but something changed last fall. I thought you and John had rediscovered each other or something.”
“Last fall was when I met Eli.”
I know,” she says softly. “I know that now.”
Of course she knows. Kayla knows everything.
Chapter Forty-Three
MAY 24TH. It’s a date I’ll remember for the rest of my days. The day I officially end my marriage.
There are no harsh words, no thrown objects, and no mess. The word ‘divorce’ is not even uttered. There are tears, though. Lots of them.
The kids are asleep, and John is reading in bed as he often does at night. It’s how he unwinds. It’s been a week or so since our argument, and that’s all forgotten now.
