What Are the Odds?

P R O L O G U E

; Juliet ;

The lights of the front hall flickers on; I can see it from the living room. A heavy sigh escapes his lips as he runs a hand through his messy hair and loosens his tie with the other. He walks straight past me and into the kitchen, greedy palms searching for the whiskey I hide in the cupboard below the sink. He takes out a crystal glass from the cabinet above the counter and spins on his heel to put it on the marble island in the center of the kitchen. The sound of the cork popping almost made me jump– just almost. The gold liquid flows out of the bottle and into the small glass, barely hitting the half mark. I watch as he takes a long gulp, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

I look at my watch; it reads half-past two in the morning. I decide to make my presence known and turn the lights in the living room on. His brown eyes go wide in surprise and his hand flies over his chest where his heart would be– if he had one. With my eyebrows raised I stand from my position on the couch and walk to the opposite side of the counter.

"Sweetie," He laughs his shock off, looking nervous. "What are you doing up so late?"

"I think the real question is, "where have you been these past couple weeks?" You've been getting home past midnight for the last three months, Caleb." My voice is monotonous as I already knew the answer. My eyes trail to the ring finger on his left hand where his wedding band should be. It wasn't present, and I had noticed that he hasn't worn it since the beginning of the year.

Caleb and I were high school sweethearts, getting married right as I turned eighteen with our parents' consent. He was now twenty-two while I am twenty. The two years of being married to one another was full of love– is what I thought. All this must've changed somewhere in that time span as lately he's been coming home at the hour of dawn; back from his "special relief" treatment.

"This case requires so much of my time, baby." I cringe at the pet name, it didn't seem appropriate nor heart felt. "I'm drowning in all the paperwork. The client insists I do it as soon as possible, I'm sorry." He tries to reach out for my hand, but I pull away faster than a fly.

"Does your client also require you to not wear your wedding ring?" I fire back, crossing my arms and nearly letting a chuckle slip from my mouth as his face pales instantly.

"No, I just misplaced it the other day when I took it off before my shower. I'm sure it's on the dresser."

"The dresser? Try bottom of the trashcan, cleverly thrown into a pack of chips, sweetheart." Digging into my pocket, I fish out the gold wedding band that was supposed to be a promise of love and threw it on the surface between us. He looks at me with his deep brown eyes filled with sorrow and regret. He opens his mouth to speak but I cut him off before he could let out syllable. "Divorce papers are on the coffee table, you have the until the end of the month to pack your things and leave. If you're still here on the thirtieth, you will be evicted. I'll take the couch tonight."

"Juliet, no, can we please talk this out? I'm so-"

"I don't want to hear it, Caleb." I shake my head, pushing myself away from the island and walking towards my bed for the night. "By the way," I call over my shoulder, "Angelica called, she's asking if you can meet with her tomorrow night for a "special treat". Don't worry, I told her I was the help. Good night, Caleb."