When I Stopped Waiting

1.

Three days after the wild wedding party for our friends, I asked Julian for a divorce.

"Was it because I drank that round for Lily at the club that night?" He stubbed out his cigarette, his lips curling into that familiar, casual smile.

"Yes."

"Objection overruled." He chuckled, like a lawyer dismissing a trivial motion in court. "Stop fooling around, Nora."

For three of our four years in college, I followed him around like a shadow.

He was used to it―used to me always being there, just