“In four days,” I say with a sigh, lifting my glass to my lips. The crisp, cold liquid is a sharp contrast to the spicy food, but I love it.
“Let me guess, you’ve taken on extra shifts at the bar?” Katrina sinks onto the sofa beside me and picks up her wine glass from the coffee table.
“I—”
Katrina puts her hand up. “No lies, please.”
I sip more wine and pointedly avoid her gaze.
“Jade?”
“Alright, yes, I took extra shifts. But nothing is coming to me no matter how much I stare at that screen! I can’t write. Maybe I should quit.”
Katrina rolls her eyes and turns up the TV volume.
“You’re so hard to be friends with.”
“What?!” I laugh as she side-eyes me.
“You’re the best writer I know, and you want to quit?”
I scoff. “I’m not the best writer you know!”
“I said it, didn’t I? Can it. Dr. Shepherd is on.”
That shuts us both up.
Devon finally calls me, and I’m grinning like an idiot when I hear his voice. He’s slurring, so I know he’s been on the sauce, which he can’t handle as well as he used to. He tells me about the guy he was so excited to meet behaving strangely, and I feel sad for him. That’s who he wanted to meet, to become the success he’s always dreamed of being.
But then something else happens while we’re on the call. Someone speaking to Devon, and the phone moving away from him.
“Uh, Jade, I gotta go…”
“Who is that?” I ask.
“I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Then the call ends.
I stare at the phone, unable to believe he’s hung up on me, replaying his last words through my mind.
“I’ll call you tomorrow.”
No ‘I love you’ or ‘goodnight.’
Just…that.
I’m still pissed that he hung up on me, but I finish my wine and go to bed.
Fuck it. Tomorrow is another day, right?
Our anniversary.
My eyes find the silver frame that holds our wedding photo inside, and I can’t help but smile. Devon wouldn’t have meant to hang up on me—he’s not a dick.
I eventually fall asleep, remembering that beautiful day.
I wake up in the middle of the night, desperately needing the bathroom. But before I slide out of bed, I check my phone to find a message from Devon.
