“Alice dropped by yesterday,” I said, trying to brighten the mood. “She brought chicken casserole and said I looked exhausted. But she said it kindly… like she actually cared.”
“Yeah, Alice is good like that.”
“Steve got lucky.”
“Mm.”
Carl never looked up from his phone.
On my way to grab Bradley’s shoes, I caught my reflection in the hallway mirror.
A stained hoodie.
Yesterday’s ponytail.
Once upon a time there had been a woman who wore heels to Friday dinners and put on lipstick just to take out the trash.
She was still somewhere inside me.
Probably asleep.
After dropping the kids at daycare, I slid into my meeting with barely thirty seconds to spare.
I kept repeating the same reassurance I’d clung to for weeks.
I’d carried Carl through losing his job.
Now it was my turn to lean on him.
That’s what marriage was supposed to be.
That evening, after finally settling both children, I collapsed onto the couch beside my husband while he watched television.
“Long day,” I said.
“Yeah, mine too. Job stuff,” Carl replied.
“How’d it go?”
“Slow,” he answered. “Hey, babe. Not to be a jerk, but once things settle down, maybe you should really think about going to the gym. You’ve gained a lot of weight lately.”
I slowly turned toward him.
