Page 114 of Here for the Right Reasons

‘Yeah.’ My voice was croaky from the crying. ‘It does.’

‘Any kids?’

‘No. We’d been talking about it, but… no.’

‘Then comfort yourself with this: it’s not as bad as it could have been. I got the T-shirtandthe kidandthe custody battleandthe having to look the new wife in the eye, and I can tell you that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.’

‘That sounds horrible. I’m sorry.’

She shrugged. ‘Not your fault. Not my fault either. It’s his fault, the lying bastard. Did yours cheat?’

‘No.’

I kind of wished she had, though. Something about ‘Jac fell in love with someone else’ felt preferable to ‘Jac just doesn’t love you specifically anymore, Amanda, and would rather be alone than spend a single second more in your company’.

‘Girls, you need to come back in now,’ a producer – Suzette, I thought her name was – said, sticking her head out the door. ‘We’re starting the one-on-ones.’

‘Don’t call us—’ my new friend started, but Suzette was already gone. ‘… girls,’ she finished, sighing. ‘I hate it when people call adult women girls.’

‘The one I hate is “miss”,’ I said. ‘I’ve got this customer who calls me “Miss Amanda” every single time he comes into my shop, and I hate it.’

‘Ugh,’ she replied. ‘So, it’s Amanda? Your name’s Amanda?’

‘Yep.’

‘Dylan,’ she said. ‘Nice to meet you.’