The dishes you left from this morning are washed, dried and put away. Your underwear and socks are folded as you wish and stacked in the drawers like firewood.
I vacuumed and swept and had the carpets steam cleaned. The surfaces have been scrubbed with Lysol, removing every trace of what was us, so all that will remain when I'm gone is YOU.
I was placing my suitcases in the entry hall when you came home. You walked past me and inspected the great room and kitchen. Then you actually smiled at me and said one thing you'd miss about me is maid service. I could smell Chanel No. 5 on your coat when you dropped it on the floor for me to hang up.
You "tapped" me when I bent down to pick up the coat so I would stumble. And you laughed. You said I never did have a sense of humor.
I kept my eyes downward so you wouldn't see my thoughts. You brute, you liar, you cheat.
I smiled back at you and said that since this is what we both want, why can't we just be pleasant for the last few hours. I hope when some time has passed we can stop being angry. I won't take anything away from you that isn't mine.
You narrowed your eyes at me and said fat chance, looking at my hips and thighs. I'm not going to react to that, I thought to myself. I know what lawyers are for, and I can continue the fight for whatever shit belongs to me from my mother's house. A few hundred miles between us and I'm much stronger for the contest.
I dressed for bed in the bathroom with the door closed. How is this going to go? I entered the bedroom, and there you were already in bed with the light off. I told you I'd sleep on the couch in the living room and took a pillow and blanket from the closet.
One last power play from you. No you won't, you said. You won't leave this room. Sleep on the floor like a dog, you bitch.
Why? The game is over. David will pick me up first thing in the morning, and I'll leave your sorry ass far behind.
I can do this. I get as far away from you as you'll allow. Just inside the closet I put my head down on the pillow and pull the blanket over myself.
I am exhausted. I listen for your breathing to become slow and regular, then I allow myself to drift off.
"It is wrong to think that love comes from long companionship and persevering courtship. Love is the offspring of spiritual affinity and unless that affinity is created in a moment, it will not be created for years or even generations." Kahlil Gibran
