My wife of three years was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at her phone when I came in from my Saturday morning bike ride.
Without looking up, she said, "How was your ride Jack?"
"It was good Jesse." She still hadn't looked up from her phone. I had hoped she would because she would have seen the manilla envelope in my hand. Instead, I had to slide it under her hands holding her phone. She finally looked at me after seeing the envelope.
"What's this Jack?"
"I want a divorce Jesse."
"Why Jack, why all of a sudden do you want a divorce without even discussing it with me first?"
"I'm thirty Jesse and you'll be thirty next month. This is not where I saw myself at thirty. I want the classic American dad thing, a couple of kids, baseball games, dance recitals, the whole thing. I don't see that happening with you."
The tears were forming in her eyes, mixed in with bouts of rage.
"We can keep the divorce pretty simple Jesse. We don't have a lot of assets. You keep your car, I keep mine. The lease here expires in two months. I agreed to pay the rent through then. You can keep the apartment if you want, along with furniture. You may need a roommate, whatever you want."
"What I don't want is a divorce Jack, we can work this out."
"Jesse, you cheat on me, I cheat on you. We've had this tit-for-tat cheating going on for so long I can't remember who started it. It's like we're still in high school. Is this where you wanted to be at thirty? Still in high school."
"I've never cheated on you Jack!"
"Jesse, it was almost four when you came in last night. Who was it this time, Brian from the gym, Ted from your office or that guy from the club, I think his name is Matt. Or was there someone new?"
Jesse had her face buried in her hands crying.
"I dreamed of having your children when I was thirty Jack. The affairs meant nothing to me, just sex. I'll break them off. I promise never to cheat again. Please Jack, reconsider."
"Jesse, you promised never to cheat when you said I do. There's no reason to believe your promises."
"Let's try Jack, please I'll show you I can be faithful. Just hold onto the divorce papers and let me prove I can be faithful. And you can prove to me that you'll be faithful too. And if I ever step out again, you can file the papers, and I won't put up a fight."
"It's too late for that Jesse; I've accepted a promotion to the Company's office in Maryland. I start there next month. My sister lives near there so I'll be staying there until I can find my own place."
"You're breaking my heart Jack."
"I know how that feels, you broke mine when I saw you dancing with what's his name last year. I can't remember his name. There's been a few since then. Now I remember, you cheated first, a couple times with that guy."
"I'll fight this Jack."
"Neither one of us could afford a legal battle Jesse. Just accept it, we can move on with our lives and maybe we can still be friends."
"You're not listening to me Jack, I don't want to be your friend, I want to be your wife, and I won't settle for anything less."
"This conversation is going nowhere Jesse; I'm going to get out of these clothes and take a shower."
The shower felt good, I didn't want to get out. I did not expect Jesse to put up such a fight and be happy to move one of her fuck buddies in. There were things I had to do, and I had a list on my phone. We never merged our finances, she had her bank accounts, I had mine, She had her credit cards, I had mine.
After my shower, I stepped into the master bedroom and Jesse was giving me a Playboy pose, Head on her hand, a see through baby doll on, her pussy bare, with her legs spread.
"That pose might look appealing if your pussy wasn't so red from the pounding you took last night from your lover, not to mention the love bite on your belly and left tit."
"My lover wouldn't have been pounding my pussy if you took care of my needs."
"For a long time, I tried to take care of your needs, but you still felt the need to cheat on me, after that I was afraid of catching a disease."
"Fuck you, Jack. What about your little fuck buddy, what was her name, Melanie?"
"Yes, I told you we both cheated, my affair with Melanie was short lived but I did cheat. Your affair with Brian has lasted at least six months, I stopped paying attention so I can't remember when you started letting Ted or Matt in your pants or if there are new ones."
"Fuck you Jack, just stop with this horse shit."
She tore the baby doll off and began going through her dresser looking for something to wear.
"I'm going to my girlfriend's, and I'll be back in a couple of hours. You better rethink your decision here, I'm telling you, this will not end well for you."
After she stormed off, I started going through my list, mostly telling me family members I was getting divorced and changing my passwords. I had already told my sister who said she was going to do cartwheels in her front yard.
Jesse came in two hours later as promised. She was still stomping her feet like a little child.
She started to say something, but I put up my hand, "How's Brian doing Jesse, was he happy to hear about your upcoming divorce?"
She sat down on the couch and buried her face in her hands again.
Finally, she said, "No, he doesn't want to see me again. He never intended for our relationship to become anything serious, and then he said mean things to me."
"Like what Jesse?"
"He said, any woman who would cheat on her husband would cheat on her husband whoever he might be. Then he said I was nothing more than a good fuck and he would miss that. What am I going to do Jack?"
"You should find a lawyer, but my lawyer has followed every state guideline so what I presented this morning was fair. You should take a hard look at your finances and see if you afford this place on your own or do you need a roommate."
