Keep Your Friends Close

by Lucinda Berry

Getting married had been her idea too. Just like having kids, and I’d let her talk me into both the same way I let her talk me into everything like a stupid dummy. I gave up everything for her. Everything. Every single piece of me. Why? Why was I so stupid?

Like we were a business transaction or a purchase she’d changed her mind about. But we both knew what this was really about. Liza.

I’d been reminding myself ever since my most recent session with my therapist. That was the biggest thing she was working with me on—to stop seeing and treating my husband like one of my children and start treating him like a responsible adult.

I’d have an easier time forgiving him if he was addicted to actual drugs. Then all his behavior made sense. Then he wasn’t in his right mind. Fury rose in my chest.

They were looking at all of us, and they’d probably be looking at her even more since she was the closest person to Kiersten. Sort of like how the husband was always a suspect in murder investigations? She was the next closest thing.

“Listen, you can look down your nose all snotty and judgmental at me all you want, but it’s a situation where everyone wins. Yes, I have a talent agency. A reputable one that’s constantly filling leads within the industry. But I also have a husband who gambles away our money as fast as I can make it. I worked hard to build this life, and I wasn’t going to give it up just because my husband has a problem. I had to do something.”

“I’m not playing with you, Whitney. I know you’ve spent your life in a big, huge bubble of white privilege, but all that’s about to end. I’m going to lay out how things are going to work for you moving forward. If I decide to come after you—and believe me, that’s not something you want me to do—the first thing I’m doing is going through your list of escorts to see if there are any minors.”

I didn’t see what the big deal was. Dude hasn’t worked a solid job in six years. They were almost bankrupt, and they have a kid with cancer undergoing really expensive treatment right now, so he didn’t leave her with a lot of options.

some instances when working at home went wonderfully and people proved how capable they were of doing it, he was the reason we had the stereotypes about people not being productive when they worked from home. He turned into the biggest bum. He could barely get off the couch. It made me furious. How hard was it to show up on time for Zoom meetings?