could have been there for you.” Julia considered her. “But why didn’t you call to tell me?” A hint of hurt crept into the other woman’s voice.
Molly shrugged and looked around the restaurant. What could she say that would make any sense? That bizarre things kept happening around her and sometimes she thought she was going crazy while at other times she felt certain she was causing them? She had been working hard to hold everything together for the past few months, but Austin and his infidelity had sent her over some kind of edge.
Finally she replied, “I know you would have been there for me, but I was so exhausted, all I did was check into a hotel, order room service, and fall into bed. And yesterday I was busy. I had to go to the bank and look for a lawyer. In fact, I have an appointment with one on Monday. After that, I just slept.”
She had been so tired. She had lain in bed watching the reflected sunlight on the wall until the room slowly fell into darkness.
She was still so tired. She felt like she could sleep for weeks.
“So you’re doing it.” Julia watched her face closely. “You’re really leaving him.”
She nodded. “I’ve already left. Now I’m going to divorce him.”
Julia’s expression twisted, a brief response, and then it smoothed over. “Good riddance then. I always said you deserve worlds better than Austin. But where are you staying?”
“Like I said.” She shrugged. “At a hotel.”
“Would you please come stay with us, so I can make you home-cooked meals and hopefully put a little meat on those bird bones of yours? Austin and Philip might be partners in the same firm, but you know how men are. They compartmentalize. They’ll keep the private stuff separate from work.”
“That means a lot.” Feeling warmed, Molly smiled. “But I’m quite comfortable at the hotel. I’ve got one of their executive suites with a kitchenette.”
Julia’s hazel gaze was serious. “You’re still welcome anytime. I want you to know that.”
“I do.” Molly looked down at her napkin, smoothing the edges with her fingers. “You might as well know I’m thinking about leaving Atlanta too.”
“Noooo.” Julia’s pretty mouth turned down at the corners. “You’re just reacting, that’s all. And it’s understandable. Austin acted like a pig, but this is your home. Your friends are here. Your life is here. Your mother’s only forty-five-minutes away!”
Biting her lip, Molly waited until Julia sputtered into silence. Then she said, “My life as I knew it is over. It was slowly smothering me anyway, and I want it to be over. I’m not flying off the handle or doing anything impulsive. I just can’t imagine staying.”
With a tiny lunge forward, Julia grabbed her hand again. Julia touched people. Molly had seen her do the same thing a dozen times before.
“That’s just how you feel today,” Julia insisted. “Everything has got to be feeling off right now.”
Not wanting to argue further, Molly nodded. “You have a point. In my mind, Atlanta has this huge cloud of unhappiness hanging over it. Eventually I’ll figure out what I need to do. It just may not be here, that’s all.”
“I find this totally unacceptable,” Julia declared while tears sprang to her eyes.
Molly caught their waitress’s eye and tapped the rim of her glass. The waitress smiled and nodded.
Halfway through their second lemon drop, Julia said bitterly, “You’re going to go off and find yourself and leave me here to be a corporate law partner’s wife without you. I’ll bet you’re going to eat all the calories you want and stop shaving your legs and wearing a bra, and you’re probably going to have one-night stands with sweaty mechanics in small towns.”
Despite herself, Molly burst out laughing. “You never know, I might.”
She had a doctor’s appointment after lunch, so she said goodbye to Julia and went in for her checkup. And since she had no idea how often Austin had cheated on her or with whom, she had her doctor run tests for HIV and STDs. Again.
Then she spent the afternoon shopping for the various items she needed. She could have gone back to the house to pick up her own things, but the thought of possibly running into Austin made her feel nauseated and furious. Tiny sparks appeared again at the corner of her vision, and she thought she might stroke out.
Eventually she would have to go back to the house. Probably.
She could technically survive without ever going back, but later