Page 13 of The Ex Next Door
The marriage vows were for better or worse, not “until things get tough.”
But instead, all he could say was, “Good night.”
Chapter Five
Amy clasped her hands together and remembered the capable, confident woman she’d seen in the mirror this morning. The one who’d kept a household of four running smoothly for nearly a decade. The one whose children were always on time, always clean, always at the top of their class, always respectful and well behaved. The one her children had kissed and hugged before she left as if she was a superwoman going off to conquer the world.
If only this woman across the desk from her, or anyone else for that matter, would see her the way her children did.
“So… You basically havenoexperience?” the human resources representative said, studying Amy’s half-page résumé.
Amy repeated what her mother and Bianca had told her to say. “Not outside of the home. But I’ve balanced our checking account for years, kept track of my hus—ex-husband’s business expenses and filed our taxes every year.”
“I get it. If only the experience we have as domestic engineers—” she held up air quotes. “—counted in the workforce. It should. I know you can do the work, Amy, and certainly be trained. But we’re looking for someone who can just come on board and hit the ground running.”
“I understand.”
The woman was kind enough to let Amy believe she might possibly still be in consideration by telling her a decision wouldn’t be made until next week.
She also walked Amy to the front door. “I’ve been where you are, returning to the workforce after a long break raising my children. It’s taken years to get back to where I was when I left. We say we respect women who choose to stay at home but when it comes right down to it, we don’t. If it were up to me alone, Amy…”
“That’s okay. I’ll find something.”
“You want some advice? Take a course at the local community college, then volunteer your services for someone with a business who might need them. Say a friend, or neighbor. At least you will get experience.”
“Great idea.”
Yet Amy had been working for free for many years. Rob wouldn’t like the idea. He expected her to help out now that they had two homes.
It was almost as if the woman could hear Amy’s thoughts.
“And your ex? He’s just going to have to get used to the fact that you might need a little more time to get back into the workforce. You’ll be expected to get back to work but it won’t be that easy and he needs to understand that.”
“Thanks for your support. It’s honestly nice to talk to someone who’s been there.”
“And come out on the other end fresh as a daisy. You’ll get there, honey.”
The interview took far less time than Amy had allowed for it. It was true what people said: a no comes a lot faster than a yes. She drove back to Charming and decided to stop by and see Bianca. They’d met at the neighborhood park and become close friends when their children were only a few monthsapart. Bianca only had one at the time, her son Matthew. Now she had an adorable four-year-old too, named Henry.
Amy felt a bit like a boomerang driving back onto her street in the neighborhood that had come to be known as “IT alley” since so many of the professionals here worked in the field. Apparently she couldn’t really leave her home. She passed by it, seeing no one in the front yard. They’d sold it to a couple of childless professionals.
“Hey!” Bianca opened her arms wide to Amy. “Welcome back, you.”
“Just got back from the interview. It didn’t take long.”
“Ugh. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. My first try. I’ll get better at selling myself. Though the lady was also a single mom and had some great advice.”
She followed Bianca into the kitchen and told her what the woman had suggested.
“Or maybe you could go back to school and get your teaching credentials like you wanted.”
“I don’t know if Rob would want to give me that kind of time.”
“Who cares? He’s the idiot. Why make life easier for him?”
Funny, Amy still mistakenly thought of them as a team. The team that got to raise David and Naomi. But in many ways that’s what hurt the most. She’d been abandoned by her co-captain in the middle of the playoffs.
