Wanda

"Hey, is this seat taken?" asked Sid.
"No, it's all yours," replied Wanda as she sipped her gin and tonic.
"Great, thank you. I'm Sid by the way," said Sid as he extended his hand.
"Wanda," replied Wanda. She shook his hand.
"You come here a lot?"
"Nope, my first time. You?"
"Yeah, I live in the neighborhood. One could say this is my local watering hole."
"Lucky you."
"Why is that lucky?"
"This is a pretty great neighborhood."
"What, this old thing? It's okay I guess. Where are you from?"
"Jersey."
"Where in Jersey?"
"A small town in the middle that you've never heard of."
"That's fair. So what brings you to this neck of the woods."
"I ran away from home."
"No offense but you look a little too old to be running away from home."
"None taken."
"So you're running away from something?"
"Yes, home."
"May I ask why?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"I wouldn't ask if I didn't."
"Fine. You asked for it. As it turns out my husband of five years has another wife. I found out yesterday. So I'm here, today."

Wanda and Raphael met in New Jersey. She was working for the peace corps at the time and he was a detective in the local police force. At this point in her life, she was not looking for anything at all. She had been married twice already and both her marriages ended in divorce. Her former husbands had a tendency to sleep with other women. Men are all the same. Who needs them? Both of her marriages started out as romantic comedies and ended as horror films. Thank god she didn't have any children. After her first marriage ended, Wanda was resilient. After her second one ended, Wanda broke down. She was depressed for the first time in her life. She had always been happy for as long as she could remember, nothing could faze her. But after her second divorce, she was consumed with self-doubt and despair. Why wasn't she ever enough? This all changed when she met Raphael. He was a big strong mountain of a man with old-school values. He always treated her with kindness and respect. He seemed different. When he initially asked her out, she refused. She swore she was done with dating. She told him there was little chance she would be able to trust any man again. But Raphael wasn't any man, he was Raphael.

"What!" asked Sid.
"Yup," replied Wanda.
"How did you find out?"
"His other wife reached out to me."
"What!"
"Yeah, she found out about me before I found out about her, she called me."
"That must've been one helluva phone call."
"Oh, it was."
"That's insane!"
"That's my life." Wanda couldn't help but laugh.
"So you just....left?"
"Yeah. What else is there to do but leave?"
"You didn't confront him? You weren't angry?"
"Oh, I obviously killed him. And then I left." She said with a smile. "Just kidding."
"I can't say I would blame you if you did. He sounds like a piece of shit."
"How old are you?"
"Me? 32. Why?"
"You ever been married?"
"Nope. Still single."
"I'm 37. I've been married three times already. This will be my third failed marriage. I gave up anger a long time ago."
"Huh. Can I ask you another question?"
"Are you always so curious?"
"Only in unique circumstances."
"What's your question?"
"Why do you still have the ring on?" He pointed to the large diamond ring on her hand.
"I don't know."

Wanda and Raphael stayed in touch throughout her stay in Jersey. They became friends. They hung out at the local bars and talked till all hours in the morning. He wore down her defenses, she began to trust him. From that point on their relationship progressed rapidly. They started sleeping together. He told her he was in love with her. She moved to New Jersey full-time. They got married. A small courthouse marriage, she had done the big wedding thing twice already. They bought a house. All of this happened in a year. Wanda was happy again, something she thought was impossible. Their relationship had its ups and downs but she thought it would be forever. Yes, he was a bit controlling and he worked too much, but that's every man, right? She certainly didn't mind the big house or the Hummer he bought her for her 35th birthday. They went on two vacations every year. She was madly in love with him and her life. She was so grateful. He made her forget about her past and all sadness that it contained. She felt good enough again.

"I don't want to take it off just yet. At least not in my current state," said Wanda.
"If I were you, I'd be drinking too," replied Sid.
"I've been here since noon."
"What!" Sid took out his phone. "It's 1 am, you've been drinking for 13 hours?"
"I didn't have anywhere else to go."
"Ah, so you're on a bender. Pretty functional for 13 hours of drinking."
"Oh, I am no stranger to drinking."
"Clearly."
"Fuck! My car!"
"What's wrong?"
"I parked my car on the street, do you know if I have to move it?"
"I don't know. You only have to move it on trash days."
"Is today trash day?"
"No. I don't think so."
"Thank God. I probably wouldn't be able to move it anyway."
"Yeah, you should not be driving."
"Thanks, Dad. So what's your story?"
"My story?"
"Yeah. We've only talked about me so far. What's your story?"
"Oh, today is not a day for my story. Today is only about you."
"I'll drink to that. Wandaday!"
"Wandaday! So, can I buy you a drink?"
"You better."

Then came the voicemail. A strange woman calling you and needing to talk about your husband is never a good sign. Wanda ignored it, she thought it was spam.
Then the woman called again. This time Wanda picked up. She was at home, her safe space, when her world turned upside down. At first, she didn't believe the other woman, so she asked for proof. The woman sent over a photo, there was the proof. Rafael had a dog with the other woman. They lived in another town in Jersey, not even 20 miles away. Wanda hung up the phone. Not again. She was heartbroken yet again. But she wasn't sad this time. No, not sad exactly. She was numb. There was a calmness about her. Raphael was working the night shift, he would be back at 6am. The night shift! Yeah right. Lies! All lies. She went into their bedroom and into the closet. She pulled out a box from the top shelf. Raphael kept his spare gun in the box. She loaded it and put the silencer on. She went down to her living room and sat on the couch. It was 10 pm. She sat there till 6 am when Raphael walked in the door and shut the door behind him. He walked into the living room, Wanda wasted no time. She said nothing. She pointed the gun at his chest and shot him. He let out a grunt and fell to the floor. She shot him in the chest again. She moved closer and shot him in the head. There was a puddle of blood on the floor. She put the gun in her bag, left her house, locked her house, got in her Hummer, and drove into the city.

"Did you get a hotel room?" asked Sid.
"No, not yet," replied Wanda.
"You can stay at my place if you want."
"Oh really? Knowing everything you know about me, you would still have me over?"
"Yeah, why not? Seems like you could use a break."
"I sure could. Let's go handsome."
"Now?"
"Now."

They finished their drinks and left the bar.