November Rain

Chapter 5

April 5th, 1974

Today was the day that Robert was waiting for. Today, he would leave his home. He cannot be in this marriage anymore. He found something better. He had his suitcase all packed and he will be staying at Jenna's apartment. His plan was all set for leaving his house. Sandra told him that she would be taking Amanda to the park that was about 10 minutes away from their neighborhood. She told him that they wouldn't be back for at least two hours. Perfect. He knows that Amanda loves the outdoors.

Robert even prepared a note for Sandra and he left it on the kitchen counter. This was the final goodbye. He cannot be in a marriage that's not really going anywhere. Everything is the same day after day. The sparks that were between Robert and Sandra were long gone. She was fine with her life, but he was tired of it. It's not her fault; she adjusted very well to the housewife role. She accepted her duty and fulfilled it quite well.

Looking back on his marriage, he realized that he was in love with the idea of love. He thought if he got married and had a child, then his life would be perfect. It was the opposite of that. He used to have so much fun when he was in college. Even Sandra was very conservative during her time in college, but once they started dating she finally started having fun. She became a fun person to be around. That's what he loved about her. It seemed to him that after Amanda turned three Sandra turned all her attention on her and she left him on the sidelines. He just became the person who brings home the bacon. Well, he wasn't going to stand this any longer. He even went to a divorce lawyer's office and filed the petition for a divorce. Everything was filled out, except for Sandra filling her part of the paperwork. He doesn't even care about what she wants to be hers and what things he could keep for himself. He would give her any possessions she wanted as long as he doesn't have to stay a minute longer in this marriage.

Robert bent down and got his suitcase. He started to walk forward when the front door opened. No, this can't be happening. This was not how the plan was supposed to go. They were supposed to be still at the park. He would have been already gone by the time they got home.

Sandra walked through the door and Amanda was standing beside Sandra. She looked down at Robert's suitcase and then looked at Robert's face. She seemed very confused.

"Robert, what's going on? Why do you have a suitcase? Are you going on a business trip?" Sandra asked. He never talked much about his work, so she assumed he was going to be out of town.

Robert scoffed at her question. "Sandra, don't be stupid. What does it look like to you? I'm leaving for good. I want out of this marriage."

"What? You can't be serious. Robert, what's going on? Have you lost your mind? Our daughter is witnessing this. Can't we talk in private?" Sandra asked him. Robert wasn't even looking at her. His mind seemed to be somewhere else.

"Sandra, can't you see that I'm no longer happy in this marriage? I haven't been for a while. Of course you won't notice that because you're too busy being the perfect mom all the time. You just pushed me to the side and it's like you forgot that I exist." Robert hissed at Sandra. He didn't want to talk about his inevitable leave. He wanted to leave as soon as possible. This house was suffocating him.

"Robert, you can't just leave like that. Why didn't we have a discussion about this earlier? How would you even leave, we're not divorced?" Sandra asked. Was this some weird dream that she would eventually wake up from? This could not be real. This must be a parallel universe. This is not the Robert Carlson that Sandra married. This man is a stranger who just happens to have Robert's face.