Teagan woke. She heard a sound. A familiar sound, but one she couldn’t put her finger on.

It came again. Her phone. When she found it, it showed a picture of a drained battery in bright red. She’d turned it off on the journey home and forgot about it. She plugged it in and turned it on, finding that she had several text messages. All from Aaron.

Please call me.

I tried to call again, but it goes straight to VM. Call me when you get home.

Teagan, please call. I’m worried.

She shook her head. No. She couldn’t talk to him.

But curiosity nipped at her, and she felt an irritating rush of pleasure at seeing his texts, like Pavlov’s dog salivating at the bell that he’d learned to associate with food. Even now, after the devastating truth, a text from him still felt good, no matter how worthless that feeling was.

Suddenly, the phone rang. It was Aaron. And before she could think, she answered it.

“Hello?”

“Teagan… it’s me. Aaron.”

She said nothing in response. Only tears came to her eyes. She wanted to hang up on him, but she couldn’t.

“I’ve been trying to call you for days. Did you get home okay?”

“Yes. I’m home.”

“Good. I was worried about you.”

“You don’t need to worry about me. Worry about your marriage.” It just came out, before she could stop herself.

A sigh. “I’m sorry. I know it’s fucked up, and there’s so much I want to say—”

“Don’t.”

“Teagan—”

“Did I leave my notebook there? My Saturn notebook?”

“Yeah. It’s here.”

“Just throw it away—”

“I’ll send it to you—”

“No,” she said, louder. “I don’t need it. Throw it out. And please… don’t let anyone read it,” she added, her voice breaking. Don’t let your wife read it and ridicule you about it, about the nerd who writes science fiction. “Are you really going back to your wife?”

Another sigh. “Look—”

“Just throw the notebook away, okay?” She hung up the phone.

Tears blurred her eyes, so much so that she couldn’t see the display on her phone anymore. And no matter how much she tried to stop them, they flowed from her. The images invaded her mind again, the ones of her and Aaron together, but they faded quickly as more disturbing images replaced them. Aaron hugging his wife. Kissing her. Sleeping in the same bed as her. Any guilt he felt would be quickly subsumed by the pleasure of reconnecting with a woman who was so intriguing and special that he would throw away what he and Teagan had.

Her phone rang again. Anger surged through her, until she saw it was Diana.

“Hey,” Teagan said.

“Hey!” came Diana’s happy voice. “Happy New Year!”

“You too.”

“How’s Tucson? Is the weather gorgeous?”

Teagan hesitated. “I’m in Denver.”

“Oh. I thought you were spending New Year’s with Aaron…”

“I was. But he’s spending it with his wife instead. They’re getting back together.”

There, she said it. Let the shame and judgment begin.

“What?” Diana said, shock in her voice. “He isn’t divorced yet?”

“No.” She told Diana about Aaron being “almost divorced” and about what happened, including her $1000 drive home.

“Jiminy Christmas, Teagan!” Diana cried.

Teagan couldn’t help but giggle at Diana’s substitute for “Jesus Christ.” Despite having shed the religion of her devout family, Diana was still unable to take God’s name in vain. “Aren’t you going to chastise me for dating a man who wasn’t divorced yet?”

“Of course not. You didn’t even know until pretty late in the game, and it sounds like they were past all the nitty-gritty and ready to move on.” She paused. “I just… I don’t get it. He seemed so… the way he looked at you on that camping trip? It was like you were the only woman in the world.”

“Apparently not.”

“I’m so sorry, sweetie. That’s awful.”

“It’s okay. I’m home now.”

“Do you need some money? I’m happy to help out…”

“No. I’ll be okay. I starting teaching in a few days and I can start paying it off.” She sighed. “Let’s talk about something else. How are you? How was your New Year?”

“I met someone,” she said in a sing-song voice.

“You did? I take it you and Stovi didn’t go anywhere…” Part of her was relieved about that. Less connection to Aaron.

“He’s great, but we live too far from one another, and our work schedules would make things too difficult.”

“So who’s the guy?”

“His name is Matthew. I met him through a friend at the school’s holiday party. He’s a divorced dad whose kids go to my school, and he’s very sweet. He’s stable and nothing like the problem cases I usually date, I swear.”

Teagan smiled. “I’m so glad to hear it. Tell me more. Tell me everything.”

“Are you sure you want to hear this, after all that’s happened?”

“Yes! It’ll get my mind off it.”

Diana told Teagan all about Matthew. As they talked, Teagan felt better, knowing that at least her friend was happy. Diana had been with her share of jerks and broken men, and the prospect of a divorced father of two sounded promising.

Later, Teagan got cleaned up and bundled into her down coat and sweater cap. She headed out into the chilly air in search of breakfast and coffee, since she had no food in the house. She was back in the city, which meant someplace would be open on New Year’s Day. Just as she stepped onto her porch, she heard a voice.

“Hey.” Ben stood in his doorway, his hair messy and his face swollen with sleep. “I thought you weren’t back for a few more days.”

She sighed and told Ben the quick-and-dirty version of what happened, already tired of explaining it and no longer caring what anyone thought of her.

Ben just stared at her. “Are you serious?”

“Completely.”

Ben came over and put his arms around her. Teagan succumbed to Ben’s bear hug, and tears came to her eyes at the unexpected gesture. Ben could be supportive in his own way, but tender? Never. Not until that moment. He let her go and pondered a moment. “You want me to go down there? Rough him up a little?”

Teagan gave a half-smile. “Would you?”

“I’ll leave tonight.”

“I’m heading to the grocery store. Need anything?”

“Eggs. Please.”

That night, fully unpacked and her fridge stocked, Teagan began preparing for the inevitable. She had to begin teaching on Monday. This time, she didn’t dread the prospect. All the work she’d done to prepare for fall semester would make things easier for spring. Besides, it would feel good to be busy again and get her mind off the emotional apocalypse she’d suffered through. She realized there was one good thing about LDRs: when everything blew up, you could make a clean escape. You didn’t have to see the guy in your building, at the office, or strolling through your neighborhood with the woman he left you for. There was something to be said for that.

When her phone rang, she scowled. Who was calling her now? She smiled when she saw Hannah’s name.

“Hello, my fair lady,” Teagan said.

“Happy New Year. Although D tells me it’s not so happy.”

“Yeah,” she sighed.

“What are you doing tomorrow?”

“I don’t know, why?”

“Feel like going skiing?”

Teagan clipped into her skis and followed Hannah’s blonde ponytail down the trail. It was cold out, in the teens somewhere, but it was white and peaceful and still, with only the sound of their breathing and their cross-country skis swishing along the snow. Teagan already felt better.

Into the tall forest they went, skiing along the path as they breathed fog and Teagan began to warm up. What a perfect way to spend the day, especially when the downhill ski resorts would be overrun with holiday crowds. Hannah liked to cross-country ski as a way to maintain her cardiovascular fitness during winter. They skied the trails for a few hours before they finally went to the lodge for some lunch. And at lunch, Teagan told Hannah what happened.

“You should’ve told me sooner,” Hannah admonished.

“I couldn’t. I only told Diana because she called and found out I wasn’t at Aaron’s. It’s too humiliating. ”

“Why? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Besides pick another guy who left me for some other woman?”

Hannah raised her eyebrows. “Why do you keep blaming yourself for what these guys did? It’s not like Aaron was always talking about his ex or going over to her house all the time. They hadn’t talked in months.”

“I know. It’s just… I was just getting over what happened with Shawn. When I met Aaron, I had no intention of dating him or having anything beyond that night at his house. He’s the one who kept pursuing it. And I finally opened up and trusted someone again, and it’s like my worst fear came true. Being dumped is bad enough, but being dumped for another woman? It’s the worst.”

“I know. But it’s not the same, Teagan. Shawn was a lying, cheating asshat who never appreciated you. Aaron… I’m not saying what he did is okay. It’s not. But it seemed like he was good to you, and I doubt he cheated—”

“You don’t know that. He acted that same guilty way Shawn acted when he was lying to me. For all I know, he was cheating with her the entire time he was in training.”

“But—”

“Hannah, I know you’re trying to help. But I can’t talk about it anymore. I just want to forget about it and move on with my life.”

Hannah watched Teagan with those green eyes. She had that look, the one she gave when she wanted to school you but decided to cut you a break. “Okay. Just… don’t be so hard on yourself. You didn’t do anything wrong, Teagan. At least you’re willing to take a risk. Unlike some people…”

Teagan smiled. Hannah was notorious for keeping men at arm’s length. Once they got too close or threatened her independence, she showed them the door. “You just haven’t found the right one yet. The one who can scale those lofty walls of yours.”

Hannah rolled her eyes. “I don’t think he’s out there.”

“He’s out there. And he’s going to sneak up on you when you least expect it, and he’s going to blow the other guys out of the water, and then all you’ll want to talk about with D and me is whether or not to go strapless with your wedding dress.”

Hannah laughed at that. “Never happen. You know I hate anything having to do with weddings.”

“Whatever.”

Hannah stuck her tongue out at Teagan and changed the subject. “How’s the new book?”

Teagan smiled. “I like this one. I wrote it while in Tucson, but I’m revising it and… something isn’t right. I’m kind of stuck.”

“What’s it about?”

“It’s a desert-inspired science fiction adventure with a human-alien love story.”

“Does the love story end well?”

“Not quite,” Teagan said. “The heroine and alien don’t make a good couple for the long term.”

“Change it. Have the relationship blow up in some dramatic way, but then she reconnects with some smoking hot bad-boy space pilot who you introduce earlier in the book… and they wind up together at the end.”

Teagan laughed. “Wait. A romantic ending? Who are you and what have you done with Hannah?”

“My mom reads a ton, and I read that kind of stuff when I was a kid. Trust me, everyone likes a bad boy with a good heart. Men, women… everyone. And people love a happy ending.”

That night, Teagan thought about Hannah’s story suggestions. Maybe she was right. Maybe her novel needed more romantic drama and a happier ending. Sure, a happy ending wasn’t realistic—she was living proof of that—but wasn’t that what novels were for? To escape the realities of real life? Teagan would probably never get her happy ending… but her heroine could. With that, Teagan got to work on revising her novel, feeling better about everything.

Later, she checked Facebook, and immediately felt worse.

Right at the top of her feed was a photo of Aaron with an attractive brunette. He hadn’t posted it; someone else had and tagged him. In the picture, the brunette sidled up to him and he had his arm around her. A stab went through Teagan. Aaron’s wife. Teagan hid the offending post. Then she unfriended him.

She went through her email messages to and from Aaron, all of which she’d saved, and deleted them. She did the same with their long history of text messages. She deleted Aaron’s contact information from her phone, blocked his phone number, and then called her service provider to block any texts from him.

That was it. The Age of Aaron was over. She was single once more, and she would never make the same mistakes again.