AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I open the door and step outside, the chill in the air sending goosebumps over my arms.
“Hey.” I wrap my arms around myself. “God, it’s cold out here.”
“How’s Emma?” he asks.
“A mess.” As am I.
“Where did you guys go?”
“Well, she was at Last Call, but I didn’t want to go there, so we met at Dos Tacos.”
“What’s going on with her?”
“She’s thinking about moving, actually. Taking another job.”
“Really? Hasn’t she only been at the elementary school for a few years now?”
“Three years, yeah.”
“Why does she want to leave?”
“To be honest I don’t really know what’s going on with her. She’s thinking about moving back to Houston, where she grew up.” To be honest, dear husband, we really didn’t talk about her that much because I was too busy talking about how I am going to leave you.
“Houston?” he scoffs. “Why would anyone want to move back to that sweltering hellhole?”
“I don’t know. She had a fling with some guy but I get the sense something has happened.”
“Who?”
“She never told me his name.”
“She’s so weird.”
Yes, she is, and it’s what I love most about my best friend. Mark has never liked Emma and has made no effort to conceal his ill feelings—despite having no real reason to dislike her. My opinion? I think Mark doesn’t like Emma because he knows, deep inside, that I wish my life was more like hers. Soon, it will be.
“How’s Connor?” I ask.
My husband turns away and my mommy instinct surges to life. I haven’t seen Connor since I left for work before lunch—over nine hours ago—and I feel guilty about that. That goddamn guilt that plagues me. The guilt I feel for being happy at work, or with Emma, or being by myself, instead of being where I should be—with my child.
“Did something happen?” I ask.
“He threw a fit.”
“Okay… he throws lots of fits…”
“No, he really freaked out.”
“He spent the morning at a clinic getting blood drawn. It was a hard day for him. What happened?” I glance over my shoulder toward his bedroom.
“He got so frustrated over that stupid video game I was letting him play on his iPad. He threw it on the ground.”
“I told you not to let him play that game. He’s too young. We’re setting a bad precedent. People get real addictions to video games. We’ve talked about this.”
“Well, don’t worry. He’s grounded from all his devices for twenty-four hours.”
“Where is he?”
“In his room. I locked him in there.”
