Wrong Number [EXCERPT]

Chapter Three

Jolie blinked down at her phone, her fork halfway to her mouth, covered in chocolate cake. She set it down and typed back, Jesus, your life is just as depressing as mine.

As she finally took her bite, two texts buzzed in quick succession.

Tweedledick: I don't know why I told you that.

Tweedledick: Sorry.

Jolie shrugged as she chewed the dark chocolatey goodness, rolling it around in her mouth. It's easy telling a stranger all of your problems, she sent back. And it was. She didn't know this guy—this doctor—and he didn't know her. She had nobody to talk to about her marital woes in real life, her only real friend being her husband's sister. It's not like this stranger could bring the information back to anyone she knew. He didn't even know her name.

Tweedledick: Do you have kids?

She barked a laugh through a mouthful of cake, spitting dark crumbs all over the white tablecloth. A woman at a table nearby wrinkled her nose, and Jolie stuck her tongue out, still covered in chocolate. The woman visibly gagged and turned back to her date, and Jolie couldn't help the thrill that went up her spine at having disgusted her.

Fuck you and your date, staring at my pathetic ass all by myself on Valentine's Day, she thought, and wiped her lips with her napkin before switching her phone to her right hand. God no, she texted back, I'd be a terrible mom!

Tweedledick: You can't know that.

Jolie rolled her eyes and ran a finger through the thick icing on her plate and popped it in her mouth. I can't take care of my husband, how could I take care of a fucking kid?

She chugged the rest of her white wine and caught the waiter's eye before raising and wiggling her now-empty glass.

Tweedledick: I've heard that kids are easier than husbands.

Jolie grinned stupidly at her phone, the alcohol finally doing its job of dulling the ever-present ache in her chest. The waiter appeared with a fresh bottle and began to pour. When he stopped at halfway, she shook her head.

"Fill that sucker up," she instructed. "Save yourself the extra trips."

He stared down his nose at her, but responded in a polite customer service tone. "Very good, ma'am."

She scoffed under her breath at the title, but he had already disappeared. LOL you're probably right, she sent back to the doctor. You got kids? While she waited for his response, she changed the name on his contact.

Dr. Tweedledick: Yeah

Of course he had kids. He was a doctor. He probably had a big, beautiful mansion, with a gorgeous wife and three straight-A student kids and a Golden Retriever. Maybe they even had a nanny or a maid or whatever that helped the kids with their homework while daddy worked his fancy-pants hospital job and mommy was out fucking her mistress.

Instead of being an outward bitch, she sent, Do you like it? and finished off her cake while she waited. The woman she'd distracted at the table nearby leapt up from her seat with an excited squeal.

"Ugh, perfect," Jolie muttered, taking another deep gulp of wine as the woman extended her hand to her date, now on one knee before her. He slid a ring on her finger with a rock so huge that Jolie had to squint against the blinding sparkle.

There was a smattering of applause as the young couple embraced and kissed. He dipped her back over his arm with a flourish, and it was Jolie's turn to wrinkle her nose with disgust. She couldn't pinpoint when in her life other people's happiness began to make her stomach sour, but it was for sure a thing now.