Driving Away

She sped along the midwestern highway with a numb mind. In one week her life had crashed down all around her. Now she was left driving away from the life she had built and driving towards a life she had loved but abandoned.

It’d been two years since she had been home. She was happy to be going home to family and old friends but she was also worried about the damage she had done by leaving them all after her and Robert got married. None of them had approved of the whirlwind romance and quick wedding that they’d had, nor the way Robert had whisked her away to California to follow his career. None of them had trusted him and now neither did she.

When they had gotten to California they were to start their new life together. They bought a beautiful home and he quickly became the newest partner in a huge investment firm. Everything was going just the way they had planned. She had even found a small magazine she could write for to keep her busy while he was away on business. They had also recently been trying to start a family. Everything was picture perfect, even to her, until five days ago.


It had already been a terrible day for her by the time she stopped by the magazine to drop off her latest short story. When she got inside the editors office he had her sit down and closed the door. It seemed that the magazine had gone bust due to the company accountant and would no longer be printing. This had crushed her. She loved writing for this magazine and loved the people that worked there. It was the one place where she could actually put her college education to work. After hearing that news she sadly headed home. She had some relief in the knowledge that at least they didn’t have to count on her income she had had from the magazine. Robert made more than enough to support them. The magazine had been more of a hobby and an outlet for her than anything. When she had arrived home Robert’s Escalade had been sitting in the driveway. It was very unusual for him to be home this early but she was relieved he was there. He would wrap his arms around her and make everything seem better.

Once in the house she called for him a few times but no answer and she went into the downstairs bathroom to clean up the make-up that had run all over her face from crying. After she had finished she looked down and saw a pregnancy test sitting on the counter. She picked it up and her breath caught in her chest. She quickly turned around and ran upstairs. As she tiptoed down the hall she heard noises coming from their bedroom she slowly opened the door and stood there dumbfounded. There in the midst of making love was Robert and his partner from the firm, Natalie. She tried to back out of the room so she could just run but she hit the door behind her and they stopped and looked at her with horrified expressions.

Robert started stuttering trying to explain what was going on and Natalie just sad there unable to look at her. Amy looked at Robert and shook her head and moved her mouth. She wanted to say something but couldn’t. Finally she was able to whisper “Stop” in and amazingly calm voice. She stumbled over to the chair and sat down. They had just sat there staring at her, waiting to see what she would do. Then Natalie’s eyes fell upon the pregnancy test. Her eyes grew wide and she looked questioningly at Amy. Amy had looked down forgetting she even had it in her hand. Quietly she stood up and walked over to the bed. She handed the test to Natalie and slipped her wedding ring off placing it in Roberts hand. She turned around and went to the closet and started packing everything she could in her suitcases. After a few minutes she was done and turned back around. They were still both just sitting there staring at her but they had moved to hold each other. Feeling incredibly drained she looked them both in the eyes and said “Congratulations” then picked up her suitcases and walked out of the door and out of the house leaving her key behind her.

After she had left the house she had gone to their lawyer’s office. Within an hour she had signed the papers and was on the highway. She spent the first four days just driving. She had gone to all the places she had wanted to see that Robert never had time to take her to. She had felt so lost and embarrassed. Finally she knew she wanted to go home.

She gritted her teeth and accelerated as her blood raced with the memory of it all. She felt so stupid for not realizing what was going on. But then again she had only had experience being the other woman; she had never been the jilted wife or girlfriend before. She shook her head as the hot tears streamed down her face each one containing a different memory.