No Fault, In 750 Words

Another 750-word story from the man trained to be parsimonious with words.

Thanks to MissJenny54 for editing help.

The call I received was expected, but not its ferocity. "What the fucking hell? What's gotten into you?"

I had to hold the phone a few inches away from my ear as her rant continued, increasing in volume. The what of 'what the hell' was easy: I had her served with divorce papers at work, in front of her coworkers.

I kept quiet. I'd known Shiree for over ten years. When in rant mode it was all about venting her feelings, not getting answers. So I let her vent... until finally, she inhaled and said in a pitiful voice, "Brent, I love you, and I thought you loved me. I thought we were happy. This came out of left field, what is wrong? Why didn't you talk to me? What caused this, this, despicable surprise?"

"Do you want to hear answers?"

Sniffling, she replied, "Yes, please."

"Going backward, what caused this is simple: you fucking Gustav Pierson, your boss. I don't like being cheated on, so I'm ending the marriage."

"But—"

"No, buts. If you have questions, write them down and ask me when I'm done. You asked multiple questions and I will answer them. Then we can discuss those answers... if you still want to.

"Okay, back to your answers. We live in a 'no fault' divorce state, so I don't need a reason to divorce you other than I no longer want to be married to you. And I don't, because you decided you'd rather fuck someone else.

"Your question before that was why didn't I talk to you. If you remember, I did talk to you, several times. After the last Christmas party, I told you that you spent too much time, and danced too closely, with your boyfriend, Gustav, which made me unhappy. You made me feel like a bump on a log. I'm your guest at your company party, but you abandoned me, and left me to find somebody else to hang out with while you flirted with your boyfriend. If you remember, I did talk to you in the car afterward. I also talked to you when you started working late so often and missed our kids' plays, games and other occasions.

So, yes, dear, I did talk to you. Your response? You either ignored me, pooh-poohed my concerns or told me I'm overreacting and to get over it. Well, now you got your wish. I am getting over it by divorcing your cheating ass.

"Before that, you said this came out of left field. No, it didn't. It has been building for months, you even commented on how we were pulling apart, falling into a rut. There was a rut alright—you rutting with Gustav. You only call it left field because you've been so focused on your new love you didn't notice our kids and me living a life separate from you, by your design.

"Next, you said you thought we were happy. That shows how clueless you've become. The only happiness you care about is yours and your boyfriend's. How can you call it happy when Stella or Nora cried because you missed their plays because of 'work commitments.' We all knew the only work commitment you had was banging your boss. You were happy because you got all the dick you wanted, and you never noticed the rest of your family was unhappy.

"And as for your first statement, that you loved me, well, slut, that's a bald-faced lie. Actions speak louder than words, and the way you've neglected me and prioritized your fuckbuddy tells me you love him, not me. As for me loving you, yes, that was true. Was, not is. You singlehandedly managed to kill my love with your campaign of humiliating, ignoring and disrespecting me. So no, I don't love you anymore. For the last month or two I never said I love you, never kissed you hello or good-bye, and never held your hand or touched you in any way. You didn't even notice. So your assertion that I love you is not true."

"Are you done?" Fire returned to her voice.

"Yep."

"I never slept with Gustav, I've never cheated. You have no proof."

"I'm not going to argue with you, I don't need to argue. I don't need to prove you slept with the creep. No fault state, remember?

"All I need is I don't want to be married to you anymore.

"And I don't, so just sign there where it says."