Chapter Seven: The Waiting Game
Ernest went home and continued the act.
He applied to a few jobs online — fake applications for positions he had no intention of taking. Made sure Kelly could see him doing it. Cooked dinner that night. Pasta with marinara sauce. Nothing fancy.
They ate in near silence.
“Any luck with the job search?” Kelly asked. Her voice was carefully casual.
“Not yet. But I’ve only been looking for two days. These things take time.”
She nodded, pushing pasta around her plate.
“How much severance did they give you exactly?”
“Three months of salary. So about 23,000 before taxes.”
He saw her do the mental math. Watched her face tighten.
Twenty-three thousand wasn’t enough to maintain their lifestyle for long. Not if he wasn’t working. She was running her own calculations. Probably trying to figure out if she should just file now or wait.
“That’s not much,” she said finally.
“No. It’s not.”
Thursday afternoon arrived like a loaded weapon.
Ernest was at work — his actual job, where he’d never been fired at all — when his phone buzzed with a text from Patricia.
She’s been served. Papers were delivered at 2:47 p.m.
He stared at the message.
It was done. No going back now.
His phone rang at 3:15. Kelly’s name flashed on the screen. He let it ring four times before answering.
“Hello.”
“What the hell is this?”
Her voice was shaking. Not with sadness. With fury.
“I just got served with divorce papers. Ernest, what the hell is going on?”
Ernest kept his voice calm.
“I think the papers are pretty self-explanatory.”
