Page 2 of Prince Charming

Nothing came for free.

Pushing that specific man out of her mind, she slid out of her coat, hanging it on a peg by the door, then tossed the bag of crackers on the two-person table in the kitchen.

Lana Del Rey sang when Marianna pressed play on the second-hand stereo, turning it up loud before she headed for a much-needed shower.

Afterward, she finished the coffee and crackers, then she blitzed her already clean apartment because she hated being idle. Having nothing to do meant she focused too much on her unhappiness.

No, that was not altogether right.

She was no longermiserableas she once was.

Despair made a person do reckless things in pursuit of better.

One poor decision after another meant she now lived with the consequences.

It was easy to channel her emotions when she was scrubbing the kitchen tiles.

While her hands plunged in hot soapy water, it was easy to forget the life forced upon her and to dream of the life she wanted.

She was a mother, and no one here knew that.

Her heart ached for the day she would hug and kiss her children again. Until that impossible day came, she worked hard.

She hoped she got decent sleep tonight.

Insomnia and heartbreak made for a very good team.

They were long-term friends to Marianna.

Ah, damn, she’d invited herself to another pity-party. The fourth one this week.

Marianna was not unhappy.

She was just not happy either.

Existing in a place between here and there.

There was a gaping wound in her chest and one she would not make the focus of her day. Not only because she hated being tearful, but it was also the day she got to talk to her babies.

It motivated her to keep working as diligently as she could.

As Lana Del Rey, Marianna’s favorite singer, continued, she dusted the brown coffee table in front of a cream couch, then fixed a small salad to take with her for lunch later. And then she dressed in warm leggings, an oversized blue knitted sweater and comfortable white tennis shoes.

Funny how things change so drastically in a decade.

Marianna was now thirty-one years old.

In her twenties, she’d lived for fashion and the frivolous things she deemed so important. Living her twenties being inseparable with her friends.

Partying, laughing, doing incredibly irresponsible things.

There was very little money, and what she had, she wasted. If only she’d been a little more money savvy, she wouldn’t be in this mess now.

One by one, her friends left their wild lifestyle behind. They got married, had children.

Her village of only five thousand people didn’t offer much career wise.

The hair salon she’d worked at for five years earned her very little.

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