Around the World in 80 Pages

  How silly of her! Yes, he had done it before. Didn’t she know how lucky she was? He’d come to her and offered her a second chance. She was acting as though she were the one granting favors! Absurd. At least he didn’t have to hit her again. She made him do that, too.

  He went outside and got in his car to go downtown. The first time he’d visited this place was with her. He’d decided to move there; he was sure that if he just lived in the right town, his life would change.

  There was the restaurant where they dined al fresco. He’d thought her especially radiant on that day and told her so. He snapped her photo as they sat across from each other.

  Of course, that was before she had the nerve to fall sick during his vacation. Her labored breathing and congestion had kept him awake. It was completely unbearable. He’d cut the vacation short; how on earth was he to sleep through that?

  She’d said it was his choice. Well, obviously! He had driven, after all. When he said they were leaving, he’d meant it. She really should have been more considerate and remembered that he was a light sleeper. Rather unthoughtful, to say the least.

  She hadn’t even apologized; she just asked to go to the drugstore on the way out of town.

  And that was another thing: the drive home. She said the medication made her tired. Well, so what? He was driving, after all. She’d asked to stop at a particular place on the way back to get some grape drink she liked. It was her own fault he’d missed the turnoff; she should have been paying closer attention. It was her responsibility to remind him of where the turnoff was, even though they’d been there many times. He could not be expected to think of everything. And she was the one who wanted the grape drink, not him. It was her fault.

  He always knew better , and always knew best. If she’d been able to accept that, everything would have been fine. But no. She wasn’t even smart enough to reach the right conclusions -- the same one he had. So, he had left her -- which was her own fault. Now he had to start again with meeting people and finding a partner. It was her fault he had to do that.

  This was a whole new town. Surely the right person would be found here, waiting for him. Anyone could see what a catch he was.

  And if not, he could always move again.

  About the Author

  Sharon E. Cathcart has been writing for as long as she can remember, and generally has at least one work in progress. You can visit her web site, https://home.earthlink.net/~scathcart1964/sharonecathcart, or find her on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/sharon.e.cathcart.

  Sharon lives in the Silicon Valley, California, with her husband and an assortment of pets.

  Be sure to explore these other Sharon E. Cathcart titles:

  In The Eye of the Beholder: A Novel of the Phantom of the Opera

  Les Pensees Dangereuses

  Sui Generis

  You Had to Be There: Three Years of Mayhem and Bad Decisions in the Portland Music Scene

  2010 Hindsight: A Year of Personal Growth, In Spite of Myself

  Bestseller Bound Short Story Anthology, Vol. 1 (Contributor)

  Born of War ... Dedicated to Peace (Co-Author)