Chapter One
Laurie
Growing up, my mother told me that a lady never says fuck, shit, cunt, bullshit, or asshole, because those words are offensive. You know what word is far more offensive than fuck? Divorce. Now that word will fuck you over the millisecond it comes flying out of the mouth of the one you thought was the love of your life. Here is an entire sentence that is far worse than any curse word. Your husband is leaving you with nothing. After six years of marriage, and an entire lifetime of being together, my husband leaves me penniless. Now that, my friends, is offensive.
I met William when we were five. His family moved in next door mine, and from that moment, we were inseparable. We did everything together; he was my best friend, my first kiss, and the man who took my virginity. We were so cutesy in love that it made people sick. Against my parents’ wishes, we got married straight out of high school. We were young and in love, and we didn’t want to wait a moment longer to spend forever with each other. I worked two jobs to help pay for William to go to law school. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make so William could give us the life we dreamed of when we were kids. We wanted to travel the world and have a big family. All of which costs money.
After William graduated from law school, he got the job of a lifetime working as an entertainment lawyer for a big firm in Los Angeles. Our dream was finally coming true. A year after we moved to LA, William began to change. Suddenly, expensive suits and flashy cars were more important to him than starting a family. He wanted me to look like the other trophy wives at the firm, rail thin with big, fake tits. And when I wouldn’t starve myself to make him happy, he slapped me with divorce papers. That’s a fine how do you do after spending most of my life taking care of him. I did everything for that man, and he leaves me with absolutely nothing. This was a man who promised he would always take care of me and love me. Now I see all it was… a big pile of empty promises. Pretty words to get me to be his fucking slave.
“Come on, Laurie, you have to get out of that bed.” Josie pulls back the blankets covering my head. The light pouring in from my bedroom windows burns my blood shot eyes. Another night of crying myself to sleep has left me broken and exhausted.
“Go away, Josie,” I growl, pulling the blankets back over my head. “I’m not getting out of this bed until that asshole gets impaled by a reindeer.”
“That’s the Christmas spirit,” she says, plopping down on the edge of my bed. “Laurie, William was a complete asshole, and I know what he did to you is extremely painful, but you can’t give him the satisfaction of hiding out. You are too damn gorgeous to become a crazy spinster. How about you come with me to my parents’ new place in Seattle. You can sit by the fire with some spiked hot chocolate and read.”
“I don’t know. I’m not in the best mood to deal with people,” I say. The last thing I want to do right now is sit in a room with a bunch of strangers having to make small talk like, “What’s life in LA like?” “Oh, it’s a wondrous place that will eat your soul the moment you step foot off the plane.” I’d rather stick needles in my eyes. I haven’t been much of a people person. Most of the time I keep to myself. There are only two people that I have truly felt comfortable around, my ex-husband and Josie. Now Josie is the only person I trust.
“It’s just going to be my parents and us, my brother is spending Christmas with his girlfriend’s family in Portland. It will be a fun girls’ road trip. I got all your favorite snacks, and you can bring as many books as you want,” she says trying to entice me. Josie knows me better than anyone. She was the first friend I made when William and I moved to LA. We lived in a crappy one bedroom apartment in the valley, and Josie lived next door. William was always working long hours and she kept me company. We spent a lot of nights talking books and drinking wine.
Maybe getting out of LA is what I need. Every stretch of road in this damn hell hole reminds me of William and the pain he caused me. I need a chance to catch my breath, clear my head, and figure out what the hell I’m going to do with my life now.
“Give me an hour to pack and shower.” I reluctantly sigh.
Josie leaps on my bed and starts jumping up and down like a wild monkey, cheering and clapping. I get out of bed just to get away from her crazy ass. She’s still dancing on my bed when I close the door to the bathroom. I rest my hands on the edge of the sink and check myself out in the mirror. I look like a train wreck. My normally lush blonde hair is a ratted mess, and the dark circles under my eyes could scare a small child. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since the divorce papers were signed.
I turn on the water and splash a bit of cold water over my face. The bite of cold shocks me awake. “You can do this. You can get through anything, Laurie. Now put on your big girl panties and move on. William will not win this divorce,” I say, giving myself a pep talk. He may have gotten everything in the divorce but I won’t let him stop me from moving on. I can’t… no, I won’t let this divorce destroy me.