The sound of the ringing phone cut through Lisa’s thoughts.
She dove for the receiver, not wanting Grace to wake up early from her nap. There are few things she feared; an overtired baby was one of them.
“Meeghan is getting a divorce,” the words tumbled out of Dawn’s mouth.
“What?!” Lisa’s shout woke Grace in an instant. Her daughters whine turned into a howl within moments.
“Hold on one second,” Lisa said while shuffling into her bedroom to retrieve her daughter. She balanced the cordless phone between her ear and shoulder while making her way to the couch.
“What are you talking about? Since when? Did you talk to her?”
Lisa lifted her shirt and popped a nipple into Gracie’s open baby bird mouth. The baby nursed eagerly and angrily at being prematurely stirred.
“She’s leaving him. I never liked Max, you never liked Max, none of us did, but is she crazy? I wanted her to grow a backbone not uproot her life. She won’t get a penny from him.”
“Did something happen last night? She blew up my cell phone but I didn’t have a chance to call her back, Thomas and I were talking…”
The line went quiet. Lisa heard Dawn take a deep breath.
“About what?”
“Well-“
The front door flew open and Thomas, glistening from both his workout and obvious anger, walked toward her swiftly. He threw a crumpled piece of white paper on the table.
Lisa was as startled as she was confused.
Grace released from the breast for a moment, sensing a change in the room, and then continued to nurse.
“Lisa?” Dawn called, “Are you still there?”
“Hold on a sec, Dawn. Sorry…” she pressed the phone against her chest and looked up at Thomas who was pacing furiously in front of her, “WHAT is going on?”
Thomas stopped pacing. “That’s Dawn? Why don’t you ask her what’s wrong.”
He picked up the mangled sheet of paper and put it in Lisa’s hand.
She read from it: “Dear ma’am or sir, thank you for applying for the position. We at Capisce…oh no…”
Lisa realized what she was reading. “A rejection letter?” she asked aloud, “Why would Dawn send an informal rejection letter?”
“To humiliate me, as if practically begging for an interview at my wife’s best friend’s company isn’t enough,” Thomas raised his voice, doing his best to make sure Dawn heard.
Lisa poured a now sleeping Grace into Thomas’ arms and hurried into her bedroom.
“What the hell were you thinking, Dawn? Thomas just opened a Dear John letter from your company. You couldn’t call him yourself?”
Dawn sounded flustered, “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry, those things go out automatically when I make hiring decisions. My secretary must have taken the notes from my desk and sent out the notifications. I was going to call, Lisa, I swear.”
“Well now I’ve got to clean up this mess. His ego is destroyed.”
“Your husband’s ego isn’t your problem. He’s a grown man…”
“And I’m his wife so my loyalty lies with him.”
Silence.
Dawn cleared her throat before continuing. “Well, I’ll let you two work things out. Talk to you later.”
The line clicked off.
Lisa rushed out of the bedroom and into the living room. It was empty. She saw the missing diaper bag and stroller and knew Thomas had taken Grace out for a walk. Anything to avoid talking to her right now. She sank into the sofa, put her face into the soft cushions and cried.
