Chapter 1

Kate

Monday.

I make meatloaf for dinner. Chad and I sit at the table with a dripping candle between us. He’s stressed from Monday work. So am I.

He still looks at me and smiles.

After dinner, we wash the dishes together.

We dry and put them away.

I whisper to him to meet me in the shower.

I give him a hand job and as I wash his cum off my hand, he fingers me.

After a few minutes I pretend to orgasm.

He offers to wash my back.

That feels good.

Tuesday.

I put the finishing touches on a design for MaryBeth’s birthday cake.

She’s turning seven and her mother is throwing her a big unicorn party.

Her mother is rich from a divorce where the guy left and wanted nothing to do with being a father.

MaryBeth is a cute kid with chunky cheeks and lots of freckles.

I touch my stomach at one point, wondering what it would be like to get pregnant. To have a baby.

That would put the finishing touches on this cliché middle-class suburban life.

On my lunch break, I buy a pack of cigarettes.

Wednesday.

Chad thinks I have a stomach bug, but I threw up from smoking a couple cigarettes. It’s been a long time and the rush of nicotine plus the fog blanket of smoke in my lungs is what makes me feel like crap.

I throw the pack of cigarettes out, hiding them in the middle of the trash.

Chad plays basketball tonight.

He just shows up to the gym and hangs out with some guys.

He’ll get home around nine and be tired and sweaty.

While he’s gone, I make some cupcakes and icing, for fun, watching videos on YouTube, dreaming of entering a competition, winning, then becoming famous on social media.

I clean up my mess, shower alone, and crawl into bed with a book.

I read the same page ten times.

Not a single word sticks to my brain.

Thursday.

Tonight is sex night .

I really don’t remember when we started this. I think it was for fun in the beginning. Like we wanted to make sure we stayed connected even though life is busy.

There’s really no good reason why we can’t have sex every single night.

I still get off when we have sex.

I like the feel of Chad’s cock.

It’s nice. It’s subtle yet firm. He’s… comfortable.

I like it best when he’s behind me only because I can then touch myself. I have to rub my clit to push myself over the edge.

If I do that while we’re having sex in missionary position, Chad will finish in seconds.

He laughs when that happens and tells me my vagina is evil and too good.

I guess that’s a nice thing to hear.

Although sex that lasts longer than a commercial break would be nice once in a while.

But it’s okay.

We have a beautiful house on a quiet street in a great neighborhood.

We have a good life.

We do.

We have a really good life together.

Friday.

Chad still uses the phrase TGIF .

It irks me. I don’t know why.

He’s always in a great mood on Fridays.

He wears his favorite suit, kisses me a bunch of times, and heads out, ready to get his work week done to enjoy the weekend.

MaryBeth’s rich mother shows up to pick up the cake I’ve made.

I offered to bring the cake directly to the birthday party.

Her mother insists on picking the cake up herself.

I think I insulted her.

MaryBeth’s rich mother looks at the cake and studies it for a while.

She’s paying a lot for the cake, but I take pride in my ability to do my job.

“She’ll love it,” MaryBeth’s rich mother says.

After paying she then leans toward me and whispers that one of her friends is going through a divorce and they’re going to have a divorce party and maybe I’ll make the cake for it.

I smile and tell MaryBeth’s rich mother of course I’ll make the cake.

Just call. Or text. Or message.

Friday night is taco night.

I ask Chad to pick up a bottle of tequila.

He flirts in his texts, asking if we’re going fool around.

I would love to have sex on a Friday night.

I end up sipping too much tequila and I fall asleep on the couch.

Chad can’t really pick me up and carry me to bed, so he wakes me up.

It’s kind of a fantasy of mine to be carried to bed…

Saturday.

Chad plays golf early.

Then we go out to dinner.

We sit outside on the rooftop of a fancy restaurant.

There’s a little flame between us on the table.

It’s actually really romantic.

Chad looks dapper and I feel sexy in my dark red dress.

At one point he reaches across the table and touches my left hand. His thumb strokes the large diamond on the engagement ring.

For some reason, I catch myself swallowing hard. Way too hard.

Regrettably hard.

“Been almost a year,” Chad tells me.

I nod.

It has been almost a year.

He proposed to me. Surprised the heck out of me with it.

I said yes .

Wedding plans never really moved on from there though. I’m not sure why.

“Maybe we should do something crazy, Kate,” Chad says to me.

“Oh?” I ask.

“Let’s go to the airport and buy two plane tickets. Pick a city. Or pick the next flight with two seats open. We fly there. Get married right away. Spend the night. Then come home.”

The excitement in my heart when he says that…

Chad laughs and takes his hand away.

He was only joking when he said that.

For me, I would have definitely done it.

Sunday.

Chad is at a pickleball tournament with some friends.

I’m home alone.

I’m bored out of my mind.

Then there’s a knock at the door.

I ask the cliché thing in my head— I wonder who that could be .

I open the door to find my ex standing there.

He’s been in prison for the last ten years.