I was already in a bad mood when I walked in on Vincent cheating on me.
The law firm I had dedicated the better part of a decade to was focusing on “cost-cutting measures in these uncertain economic times.”
I get cutting costs. Really, I do.
What I don’t get is why you would cut the person whose brilliant marketing savvy had made you a household name.
“Good luck getting through a recession without any marketing to remind people you exist!” I shouted in the general direction of the office, which was already several Red Line stops behind me.
I may have been a little drunk.
OK, more than a little.
I had stopped at the liquor store on my way home to buy a bottle of gin and some olives. After drinking some of the gin to make room, I had dumped some olives into the bottle and called it a martini. I always liked my martinis extra dry anyway. The vermouth just watered it down.
After disembarking from the train (providing much relief to my fellow passengers, no doubt) I headed home to crash on the couch and pass out in the middle of a Buffy marathon.
If only I had been so lucky.
“What are you doing home so early?” was Vincent’s way of greeting me at the door.
If I hadn’t been so drunk, I would have caught the panic in the way he asked the question too quickly, his eyes opened too wide.
“I wuz furred,” I slurred.
“You were what?”
I stopped and held up one finger, pointing to the sky. I slowed down as I tried to annunciate my next words. “Technically, I was ‘laid off’,” I used air quotes with the last two words, almost dropping my bottle of gin in the process. I recovered by tucking it under one arm and cradling it like a baby. “That distinction is very important fer the purposes of filing fer unemployment.”
“Oh, babe, I’m so sorry.”
The combination of his show of sympathy and the alcohol brought tears to my eyes. I had let myself be consumed by rage the whole ride home. But the gentleness in his voice tipped me over into grief and it hit hard.
“Wutumigodoo?” I whined.
“What?”
I took in a deep breath and wailed, “What am I gonna do!”
“You’ll find a better job. There’s no one who can do what you can.”
He wrapped me in his arms and I instantly felt better.
That lasted until I noticed the unfamiliar bra draped over the back of the couch.
To be continued…