1
Kelcie
My alarm hadn’t gone off.
It hadn’t gone off because it was missing…along with my husband.
He packed the cheap Amazon Prime special with his other essential belongings, told me he’d fallen in love, and was leaving me. “I have a chance to be happy, Kelcie.”
As if my life with him was filled with rainbows and sunshine.
In the drop-off line at my son’s school, I realized I’d rather relive middle school with a bad fashion sense, uncontrollable acne, and braces.
That was my new low.
I didn’t even have the energy to laugh at the absurdity as I inched up to the entrance.
I didn’t have any energy because I also had no coffee.
The prick snuck out with the coffeemaker too. Amber—the love of his life—had previously bragged to everyone in the neighborhood about her $800 latte machine from Williams-Sonoma—she didn’t need our Keurig.
I was more upset about her having my Keurig than my prick of a husband.
Whatever. I gritted my teeth…Great, I forgot to brush them.
There was no coffee or shower, so I checked the console for a piece of gum or a mint in a vain attempt to seem somewhat civilized.
I wore my tie-dye Crocs and my University of Maryland sweatshirt that was so faded it was taffy pink instead of red. Finishing off my ensemble were the flannel Christmas pajamas I’d bought years ago as part of a matching set for our brag-and-gag Christmas card.
Look, we’re so happy. Nothing is wrong. We’re wearing matching pjs, for Christ’s sake. How could my husband be carrying on an emotional affair if we’re all wearing the same pjs?
Our picture-perfect family. Gone.
“Kelcie, are you still there?” Grace’s—one of my oldest and dearest friends—voice came through the AirPods I was wearing to keep our conversation from being overheard by my twelve-year-old son, Aaron, in the backseat.
I peered in the rearview mirror and adjusted my cheap, oversized Jackie O-style sunglasses, which gave my messy bun a more purposeful and stylish look rather than the “just-rolled-out-of-bed” and unbrushed truth-of-the-matter.
“Yeah, I’m here.”
Aaron sat in the backseat with his headphones on, an accessory that had become a necessity to block out the noise from an overwhelming world.
Could I get away with that for a few days? Could I walk around with massive headphones and listen to audiobooks about fictional lives?
“I just conferenced in Aliya,” Grace said.
“Hey, Kelce. How are you holding up, honey?” Aliya Rae Chopra’s crisp voice was laced with unusual warmth and sympathy. She and Grace Madison had been my best friends forever. Aliya Rae was Bollywood beguiling with the mind of a wolf on Wall Street. Grace was the natural girl-next-door beauty. She was a romantic who wanted a happily ever after for everyone, even though she lost Tyler before they could start their future together, and now mourned him like a widow over a decade later.
In my current state of mind, I didn’t want to talk to either of them. I just wanted to brood, grumble about the sloths and their snowflakes in the drop-off line before me, and go back to bed.
I inched my car up another two feet in line, my heavy head propped up by the arm leaning against the door.
Aliya’s assertive tone demanded my attention. “Kelcie, what is going on? Are you okay?”
“Fine. I’m fine. Except, the jackass needs to shop for small appliances somewhere besides our house. I know he knows how to shop on Amazon. He still has access to our Prime membership.”
“Um…okay?—”
“He is in love with our neighbor, a woman named Amber Savory.” I gave the name a bit of a fake, cheerful lilt. “And he’s moving out so he can date her without guilt.”