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AMANDA
Reggie: Pauly Shore just walked into your building.
Despite the horrible circumstances, I can’t help but laugh at her calling him Pauly Shore, one of the most unlikable actors ever to walk the planet.
Me: Okay. Thanks, Shia LaBeouf.
An equally disliked actor.
Reggie: Ha! Good pull. That guy sucks.
Me: Sadly, Mel Gibson now also falls into thiscategory.
Reggie: Ugh. Truth. Are you sure you don’t want me to come up to the apartment?
Me: STAY IN YOUR CAR! For once in your life, listen.
Reggie: Five minutes. If you’re not down here in five minutes, I’m coming up.
Me: Fifteen. I hear his key in the door. See you in fifteen.
Reggie: Good luck. Love you. xoxo
The door to our apartment opens and Rick walks in. He smiles at me. He’s handsome, in a nerdy way, with dark hair, glasses, and a kind smile. “Hey, sweetheart. What’s for din—” Just then he looks around and notices my packed bags by the front door. He pinches his eyebrows in confusion. “What’s going on? Where are you going? You just got home from Philly last night.”
I’m already seated in our living room. I motion to the chair I’ve brought close to me. “Rick, come sit with me for a minute. We need to talk.”
He curiously walks over to me and sits. “What’s up?”
I lean forward and take his hand in mine. “I want to start off by telling you that you’ve been an amazing partner and husband all these years. You came into my life at a time when I needed stability, and you gave it to me in spades.” I let out a breath. “But something is missing from our marriage. It always has been. You and I both know it. We’re good friends who got married. We’re not in love. If I’m being honest, I know we never were.”
He winces, looking like I punched him in the gut. “Maybe you weren’t, but I was.”
I shake my head. “No, Rick, you weren’t. We’ve lived in parallel for years with neither of us saying anything about it. We’re both happy when I go down to stay at my place in Philly. I couldn’t even tell you the last time we had sex. We’re not right for each other. We both deserve someone who’s a better match. We both deserve our happily ever afters.”
He rolls his eyes. “You and your damn fairytales. Life isn’t a fairytale, Amanda. That’s your problem. You expect fucking Prince Charming all the time. Someone that looks at you with hearts in his eyes. That’s not reality.”
“Maybe, but part of me will always believe it can and should be.” Tears begin softly spilling out of my eyes. “I want that for both of us. I want you to find your soulmate just like I want to find mine. Neither of us should waste any more time.”
He visibly swallows. “I’m sorry that you look at our marriage as a waste of time.”
“I don’t.” I squeeze his hand, a hand that has comforted me countless times in the past several years. “You gave me so much at a time in my life where I needed it. But now it’s time for us to go our separate ways. We’re friends, Rick. I want to stay friends. I care about you. I’m doing this as much for you as for me. You’re such a wonderful man. I want you to find a woman who looks at you with hearts in her eyes. A woman full of love for you.”
“Butyoudon’t love me.”
“I do love you, but not the way a wife should love her husband. Even if you don’t admit it right now, I know you feel the exact same way about me.”
He’s quiet for a moment before he looks at my bags. “What are you taking with you?”
“Just my clothes and a few personal items. I left everything else for you.”
“Have you contacted a lawyer?”
“Just to file paperwork. I don’t want anything from you.”
“Alimony?”
I shake my head. “No. I make enough to get by. I’m used to doing it alone. I did it for nearly forty years. I’ll be fine. I’m not interested in your hard-earned money. This isn’t about that.”
