By Alice Burton
Hilary got home from work at about 12:30 a.m., promptly sat down on the couch, and exhaled deeply. That day had been worse than others; Jeff had called. Gertie hadn't told her who it was, but the moment he said, "Hilary," she had slammed the phone down and glared at her. She didn't show it, but she was extremely affected by his voice. How could he try to speak with her after what he did? She glanced over towards the bookshelf and saw their photo albums. She recognized the top one as the one where they had put their pictures in from their first and second honeymoons.
They had been so happy then, if only for a brief time. She had never thought in her wildest dreams that he would have done some thing like this; something that would hurt her. She got up and walked over to the bookshelf by the mantle and took out the album. Leafing through it, she suddenly stopped on pictures of them from their first honeymoon. They had been unbelievably content for the first few days, but then they had started arguing. She closed her eyes as she remembered their first big argument:
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"Hilary, what? What on earth did I do wrong this time?" Jeff asked angrily as he paced up and down her hotel room. She was sitting on the bed, not talking. He let out an exasperated sigh, knelt down by her, and asked in a much calmer voice, "Mittens, what's wrong?".
She eyed him in disgust and finally spoke, "You told the entire company that we are married."
Jeff ran his fingers through his hair. "Hilary, what's wrong with that? I'm happy that we're married, aren’t you?"
She glared at him as if he was the stupidest being in the entire world. "Jeffrey, don't you understand? Now that we're married, and since you've told the whole cast, they're all going to think you got the part because of that. They're also going to think worse of me." Her expression softened a bit. "Oh, Jeff. Why couldn't you have kept quiet?"
He stood up and started pacing again. "Well, I'm very sorry if you have that much faith in my acting ability! If that's what you think of me, then maybe you don't want me here anymore!"
Angry, because he wasn't supposed to be mad at her, she leapt up and shot back, "Fine, Pumpkin! Leave, and then maybe I can suffer through less embarrassment every day!"
He opened his mouth, but, finding no words, he grabbed some clothes, and left, slamming the door behind him. She stared at the closed door in shock, not quite believing that he had actually walked out. But, she recovered soon and they stayed mad at each other until that night.
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Hilary shut the album; it was too hard to look back on those moments. Even when they were arguing, they had known that they still loved each other. Unwillingly, the words from his letter sprang to her lips, "Life is too short. I have to learn who I really am. Pavla's like no woman I've ever–" she broke off and started sobbing violently. She put her head in her hands and tried to calm herself. After a few minutes, the sobs subsided and she stood up and put the album back on the shelf. She walked upstairs and lay down on the bed, hoping that, by sleeping, she would be able to escape her life. But every time she closed her eyes, memories of Jeff came back. (ok, I'm starting to cry right now) She almost started sobbing again in frustration, but she was able to control herself. She couldn't sleep, she couldn't walk around the house without thinking about him. "How could you do this to me?" She screamed.
She picked up a pillow from his side of the bed and threw it angrily against the wall. She then got up, grabbed a blanket from the bed and walked back downstairs to sleep on the couch. "At least it's better than sleeping in that bed," she murmured to herself. As she began to drift off, she thought of Jeff one more time, and then forced away his memory from her subconscious.
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The next morning found Hilary unexpectedly cheerful. She was determined to go on with her life and not dwell on the past. 'How unusual for me,' she thought with a grim smile. She wasn't quite sure where to start, but suddenly a glint came from her hand. She looked down and saw her wedding ring. It was supposed to have stayed there forever this time. That's what he had told her as he had slipped it back on her finger. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to take a first step this big, but again, the words from his letter came to her mind. She shoved them back and resolutely slipped the ring off and put it on the coffee table. She didn't know what she would do with it later, but for now, it was fine just as long as she didn't have to see it all the time. She went upstairs to dress for work, leaving the ring on the table, forgotten.
THE END
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