One Chapter Short Stories

Loving Lindsay

My name is Blair Cohen and this is my living hell...

Lindsay laid next to me in bed, a wall of pillows between us. I stared at the ceiling, thinking over the events of these last five years. I discovered true love in Lindsay. I moved in with her, married her, adopted a kid with her. We were living the dream... Then, one day, it all stopped. We hated each other. We despised being in each other's presence. How did that happen? How did we fall so far?

"Are you coming with us tomorrow?" Lindsay asked.

Our son, Lucas, had gotten himself in trouble at school again. No doubt because of our deteriorating relationship. We adopted him when he was five years old. He had come from one broken home to another.

"I can't, I have an appointment at eight." I lied.

"Fine." Lindsay replied, remaining silent the rest of the night...

The next morning, I woke up early, getting Lucas up.

As I watched him poke at his breakfast, Lindsay walked into the kitchen. "Shouldn't you be leaving?"

I checked the time on my phone. "Yeah... I'll see you guys later."

I ruffled Lucas's hair, taking my leave...

I parked my car out front of the local diner, tapping my finger against the steering wheel. Remember when I lied last night? Well, Lindsay thinks I've been seeing a therapist. I wasn't. I've been seeing-

The tap on my window startled me out of my thoughts.

I rolled the window down, smiling a little. "You're early." Jane said.

"Lindsay practically kicked me out." I replied.

Jane opened my door for me. "C'mon, breakfast's on me."

I followed her into the diner, taking seats at our usual table in the back.

I know what this looks like, but I'm not cheating. I just didn't know who else to talk to. Emma moved to California a couple years ago to chase her dream. Leaving me to face this alone. Well, almost alone.

Jane took my hand from across the table. "What happened this time?"

I let out a sigh, resting my chin in my free hand. "Lucas had a parent teacher conference this morning and I just... I didn't want to be stuck in the car with Lindsay."

Jane let out a small sigh of her own. "I'm sorry, Blair... Have you guys considered getting a divorce..?"

"We talked about it, but we don't want to lose Lucas." I replied.

"There's no guarantee you'll lose him." Jane replied.

"There's no guarantee we won't either, though."

Jane sat back. "I don't know what happened to you two... You used to be so in love."

I sat back as well. "I still love her... I just... I feel like I lost her..."

Jane studied me. "Why do you think that is?"

I shrugged. "I don't know... I think we just stopped trying... The date nights, the gifts, the sweet talk... It just became like work. Like we were going through the motions, but it had no meaning."

"When was the last time you guys did something for each other?" Jane asked.

I ran my hands over my face. "I can't even remember at this point."

Jane nodded. "Can you do something for me?"

I nodded back. "Sure."

"Get her some flowers on your way home."