“I have just destroyed my life,” Jackie says to herself as she sits up in her bed in the middle of the night.
She is in a hotel room. Her husband is asleep next to her. They got married yesterday. Jake, her husband, is a good man. He loves her. He has a good stable job, and he wants to have children. But this is the problem. She doesn’t want children. She wanted children a week ago but now she doesn’t want any. She feels terrible. She feels she has just destroyed her life. And she feels she has destroyed Jake’s life.
She gets out of the bed. She goes to the bathroom. She has a shower. She brushes her teeth. She puts on some clothes. She packs her suitcase. When she is finished, Jack is still sleeping. She looks at him. She is sorry for him. But she is more sorry for herself. She writes a note on a piece of paper. She puts the note on the bedside table. She leaves the room. She takes a lift downstairs. She passes the reception. She waves a taxi.
Jack wakes up. He looks for Jackie. The bed is empty. He looks around in the room. It is empty. He finds the note on the bedside table: ‘This was a huge mistake,’ he reads. ‘It is not going to work. I know you love me and I love you, too. But I don’t want to be your wife. I don’t want to be a mother either.’
Jake puts down the note and lays down on the bed with his hands behind his head. He thinks. He is not angry. He smiles. He doesn’t want to be a husband. He doesn’t want to be a father either. He gets up and opens his wallet. His wallet is empty. She has taken all his money. He smiles again. Marriage would cost him much more.
Originally posted 2020-05-09 19:18:00.