w up. How could he do this to me? I am two seconds from completely brea

. "But it's

t!" My raised voice does the trick. With a yel

nts. I must not've been clear; maybe he

I said, Get. T

s the pants and bolts out the door. Two seco

ike a puppet whose strings h

I am still and silent for a long time, my mind blissfully b

Grant liked everything the way it was. He wouldn't let me move furniture around, or redecorate the living room, or reorganize the closet. He eventually relented and allowe

that Grant wasn't willing to

sed to get married. After all the sacrifices I made for him, all the times I p

t heaving as I struggle to breathe. I'm not sure whether I'm mourning the loss of my f

t something today. An

thing that will remove the image of Grant's lipstick-stained grimace from my mind. So I slog my wa

the nonsense assignments. I don't have the brain capacity for legal drama or deep investigat

ing anything, which is disappointing. The winner of the best costume category is a poodle with a laconic grin who goes by "Pawl Newman." Second place

Am I doomed to spend the rest of my days writing articles that nobody will read until I

latest in my love life. She tries to call me several times during the day, but

s. "I was beginning

h a chocolate bar out of my purse and sta

e Grant. What a

going to lose you in the subw

rightly. "I'm on my way

ara

in the morning. There's a bottle of wine on the rack that Grant's boss got us for our engagement that we were supposed to wait unt

ara hisses into the pho

la

e-s

she's also the pushiest person I've ever met. She seeks to control everything in her environment, whic

with my best friend. I'll need to move out of Grant's apar

holding two big shopping bags and bounds up to me, throwing her a

n. "What is that?

kles. "Jus

island, then throws herself across the sofa. Her mass of golden cur

ou feeling

into the armchair

a littl

ng to travel, and then we were going to start our family. Grant wanted a girl first, but I wanted a boy, a little fella I could dress up as a sailo

ave a child in the 1950

doesn't really ma

ot your whole life ahead of you, and it's better to start fresh now than spe