Accidentally in Love

1: Three Months Earlier

Alice Susanna (Smith) Cooper had a seemingly easy, perfect life. Two beautiful daughters, a loving husband, a successful career and a beautiful home. Which was why she was quite blindsided when her husband came down to breakfast one morning with an interesting proposition.

"I think we need to spend some time apart, Alice."

The blonde practically dropped the orange she was squeezing into fresh juice (just one of her many morning duties) and she stared back at her husband in shock.

"And just what the hell does that mean?"

Hal Cooper was an interesting man. A former college football player (a player in general--but more on that later), the co-owner of the Riverdale Register, a devoted father and a somewhat less than perfect husband, which in Alice's mind was getting less and less perfect by the second. 

"Ali--we can't keep living like this. You know that and I know that. I can't keep up this charade anymore. Our marriage has been deteriorating since the day we said 'I do.' You're just too stubborn to realize it."

She let out a huffy sigh and tossed her locks behind her shoulder, "Well I'm sorry I'm so difficult to live with, but you aren't exactly a picnic to be with either!"

Hal ran his hand through his hair frustratedly and leans against the kitchen counter, "If it wasn't for you trying to keep up this 'perfect life' persona, we'd have split up ages ago!" 

"Well lucky for you, frankly I don't give a damn about that anymore. I expect you to be out of the house by this afternoon." 

Alice goes back to preparing breakfast for her teenage daughters, ignoring her husband at all costs. She can hear him groan and storm upstairs--presumably to start packing. Feeling the sudden anger from the impending situation she aggressively slices the next orange against the cutting board, trying to figure out where she went wrong in this sham of a marriage. 

"Mom--are you okay?"

The voice of her 15 year old daughter, Polly, echoes behind her, making her jump a little. Alice turns quickly and smiles at her, and the youngest Cooper girl, 13 year old, Elizabeth (affectionately known as Betty) looking concerned by her mother's unusual aggression. 

"Yeah! Of course! I'm perfectly fine!" 

They look unconvinced, but the two young teens grab some pancakes and sit at the table without another word.

Their father joins them downstairs, greeting them like normal, pretending that everything is absolutely perfect. Alice glares at him--he's the fake one, not her. She can't lie to her own kids, they deserve to know that their father is going to be out of the house by the time they get home from school. 

"Girls, your father has something he'd like to tell you," she says, each word full of spite.

Hal looks at her, shocked, as if she had no right to put him in that position. He takes a deep breath, forcing a smile at his wife, "Oh, it's not just me--your mother is plenty involved in it too."

"Well what is it then?" Polly asks. 

"Are you having another baby?" Betty questions.

Alice chuckles to herself considering she can't remember the last time she had sex with Hal--the thought of her being pregnant by him was downright hilarious.

"No, honey. You're father and I are separating for a while." 

Both girls stare back at her--Polly looks quite impressed actually (she never really got along with her father, as sad as that was) but Betty is nearly in tears.