September of 2018

"Don't forget, we have the Lenning's dinner party on Saturday," Alex told her as he sat at the far end of the dining table. "Do me a favor, and at least pretend you wouldn't rather be anywhere else."

It was hard to forget something you'd never been told. He'd done this frequently, waiting to tell her of plans he'd made for them until nearly the last minute, pretending they'd already talked about it.

The thing of it was, he was rarely home enough to talk about plans, or anything else. Normally, he spent his spare time with her, though that may have been plural for all Hailey knew. But she wasn't his wife, and he expected Hailey to put a smile on and play along in a happy marriage that didn't exist. "This is the first I'm hearing about it," she said.

"I'm certain I told you."

"You didn't."

Alex let out a sigh and rolled his eyes at her as he cut into the steak in front of him. "Well, I meant to. This is my boss and his wife, along with several co-workers. It's important to our future that I get this raise."

Not that Hailey saw a dime of anything he made now, nor would she if he made more. The truth of it was, they had no future. She'd remain his wife on paper until the day she died, trapped in a hell of her own making. Divorce wasn't an option, and Alex had made that very clear the only time Hailey had brought it up. The conversation had left her with a bruise on her face, a split lip, and a dislocated shoulder she had to pop back into place herself.

It wasn't the worst situation she could be in. Mostly, Hailey was left alone, more or less invisible in his life. She could probably even get away with having affairs of her own, so long as it wasn't with anyone who had ties to Alex's friends or colleagues, and so long as she didn't end up pregnant.

Hailey wondered often what her life would have been like if Dylan hadn't changed his mind that night. The note he'd left her was still packed in a box of random things from her past, hidden down at the very bottom. She hadn't looked at it in at least five years, but couldn't bare the thought of throwing it away either. He'd chosen to do what he thought was best for bother of them, and disappear so she could find happiness with Alex.

Except she hadn't found happiness with him. Had she known what her life would have been like, Hailey would have driven away that night, with or without Dylan by her side.

True to his word, no one had heard a damn thing from him in seven years. His apartment had apparently been cleaned out while they were on their honeymoon. For all Hailey knew, he was dead with no next of kin hearing of it to claim the body.

"This weekend is Robin's bachelorette party, which I'm a bridesmaid in."

"Hasn't Robin been married twice already?" Alex asked.

She had. "Third time's a charm."

Alex tossed his fork against the place, causing Hailey to jump. "That's the problem with the world today. People toss away commitments at the first sign of trouble. They forget the 'death do you part' in their vows and hop from one person to the next, thinking that problems will just magically disappear if they find the right person."

Hailey knew better than to point out the hypocrisy of it all. Alex was committed to the marriage, but not to the person he was married to. He'd been hopping from one bed to the next for the last six and a half years. The only thing he took seriously in his rant was 'from death do us part', and he'd made it clear frequently that the only way she'd be getting out of this marriage was in a body bag.

"You'll be at that dinner on Saturday. I'll pick you up at six and expect you to be ready by then. After dinner, there are some things I'll have to catch up on at the office. If you want to join the party then, that's fine."

Some things at the office. On a Saturday night. Unless that's where he met up with his newest mistress, Hailey highly doubted that's where he'd be going. More than likely, he just didn't want to look like the hypocrite he was so soon after talking about the importance of commitment.

The bachelorette party went from Friday and Sunday morning, with them returning Sunday afternoon. Luckily it was only one city over, only an hour and a half drive. Everything in Hailey wanted to tell her not-so-beloved husband to go fuck himself, but knew very well how that would go.

"I'll be ready at six," Hailey agreed instead.

Alex gave her a short nod and continued his meal. "I have to step out after dinner. Prior engagements. I doubt I'll be back tonight."

If it were up to Hailey, he'd never come back at all, but the nights he was only home for a short period, they got along well enough. It was when he was home all night that she was bound to say something that would set him off on a screaming fit or destructive warpath. If he was there only an hour or two, it was almost like she just had a regular sucky marriage.

Though his plans were to put his dick in another woman, at least cheating kept her barely on his radar. At least she could pretend she was single eighty percent of the time.

"By the way, I purchased you a gym membership," Alex added in after he finished chewing. Last time we went over to my parents for dinner, my mom asked me if you were pregnant. You're beginning to let yourself go, and that doesn't look well on me in front of my colleagues."