Page 31 of Come Apart
Chapter Four
Ifeel like I'm reliving one of my worst memories.
This can't be possible. I was in San Diego a month ago. Samantha was happy.
She seemed so okay.
Didn't she?
I think back to the visit, trying to remember every detail.
We were sitting on the hardwood floor of her parents’ house, playing rummy. She was sipping a glass of wine. And she looked fucking happy.
It was such a nice moment.
Cool air. The clear blue of dusk. Just enough light that we could still see the cards.
"I met a guy."
That got my attention.
"Where did you meet a guy?"
"At the store," she responded nonchalantly.
Like it wasn't the first time she'd mentioned a guy in a long while.
"You went to the store?"
"I know I'm staying with my parents, but I'm perfectly capable of driving myself to the store," she scoffed, adjusting her cards.
I don't touch that comment.
"Which store?" I ask instead.
Safe enough question.
"Whole Foods."
Of course she went to Whole Foods and not to any of the co-ops closer.
And of course she met some guy at Whole Foods.
He's probably another rich yippie. Some business casual stockbroker who drinks green juice and drives a Tesla.
He'd be perfect for her. For a minute, I saw a future for her. It was like the future I used to see for us, but it fit better.
She and the stockbroker fell in love fast. He asked her fast. She said yes. The wedding was fast. And then, a year later, they had a kid, a dog, and a house on the beach.
They had everything she pretended she wanted with me. Everything she really wanted with Edward.
She had hope again.
She stayed near her family. In San Diego. Her parents were happy about the match—they loved his clean haircut and his polite demeanor. They told her how proud they were—that she finally found a stable man, instead of some starter boyfriend.
She found a job at a law firm downtown. It was still corporate law, still boring, but it paid well and she felt important. She spent too much on designer suits.
She was happy. They were happy.
