Columbia and NYU in the notebook . If he was paying then I should go to the most expensive school around, right? Oh, wait, I had to pay the other 75%. I scratched out Columbia and NYU and wrote CUNY or Berkeley .
“That’s all the good stuff.” She stopped and took a big drink of wine, and I did the same. “Now for the bad stuff.”
I closed my eyes. I knew what was coming.
“Half the costs to maintain the condo will come out of your monthly maintenance until it is sold or rented.”
I nodded.
“Which is total bullshit,” she said, “because it doesn’t look like you’re getting half of his monthly income. Definitely ask your lawyer about that.”
I nodded again.
“And half of the credit card debt is your responsibility, too. Forty thousand dollars , Roxie? And that’s only half? How the hell?”
I shrugged. I’d developed expensive tastes throughout the years – hair salons, pedicures, spas, shoes, handbags, 7 For All Mankind and Citizens of Humanity jeans – that stuff all adds up and so do the payments. I wouldn’t have racked up that much in credit card debt if I knew my husband was planning a divorce, but there was no point in crying over it now. I was lucky he was going to cover the other half.
“And the maintenance. I don’t know if he’s hiding money or if he just doesn’t make as much as we thought, but it’s a pretty small amount.”
“Yeah, I got that.”
The waiter dropped off our appetizers and Hope ordered entrees for both of us. I was glad she was here. It felt good to have someone taking care of me for a change. I guess that part had been missing from my marriage because I couldn’t remember Caleb ever making me feel like I was taken care of. He kind of ordered me around a bit, but he never made sure I was eating. I wasn’t hungry, but I would go ahead and eat a few stuffed mushrooms to make her happy since she actually seemed to care.
“So the way I see it,” she said between bites, “you can move to another borough, look for someone who has a room for rent and use the 401k money to prepay for an apartment for as long as you can afford, maybe a year, depending on the neighborhood. You can get student loans to enroll in grad school, use your alimony to pay your credit card bills and utilities and serve drinks at night for spending money. I know Wes would hire you back.”
“But what would I do when the prepaid lease was over?”
“Hopefully by then the condo would be sold and you’d have more money.”
“And I can’t work in the Financial District,” I said while shaking my head furiously. “What if one of Caleb’s coworkers came into the bar? Or even worse, one of the wives. I would be mortified! I can’t be the new laughing stock of the firm.”
We munched on our appetizers in silence for a few minutes while we thought of a plan. It probably seems petty that I was basing my future life choices on the chance of running into one of about fifty people in a city of eight million, especially since I wasn’t supposed to care what they thought of me anymore. But, well, I was and I did .
Just the thought of one of those horrible, wretched women coming into a bar where I was working to laugh at me and then stiff me on a tip was too much to bear. They’d run home and laugh about it with their husbands, who would go to work the next morning and laugh about it with Caleb, who would go home that night and laugh about it with his new girlfriend who was probably skinnier and prettier than me and loved anal sex. NO. FREAKING. WAY. Was that EVER going to happen.
“He’s probably got coworkers living all over Manhattan,” Hope said, sounding disappointed.
I nodded. “They’re all over New York, period.”
“So what are you saying? That you need to work in Jersey?” She shook her head vigorously. “I understand you’re feeling a little embarrassed right now, but I think it’s silly to go all the way to Jersey to make less money than you would here just because
“That’s all the good stuff.” She stopped and took a big drink of wine, and I did the same. “Now for the bad stuff.”
I closed my eyes. I knew what was coming.
“Half the costs to maintain the condo will come out of your monthly maintenance until it is sold or rented.”
I nodded.
“Which is total bullshit,” she said, “because it doesn’t look like you’re getting half of his monthly income. Definitely ask your lawyer about that.”
I nodded again.
“And half of the credit card debt is your responsibility, too. Forty thousand dollars , Roxie? And that’s only half? How the hell?”
I shrugged. I’d developed expensive tastes throughout the years – hair salons, pedicures, spas, shoes, handbags, 7 For All Mankind and Citizens of Humanity jeans – that stuff all adds up and so do the payments. I wouldn’t have racked up that much in credit card debt if I knew my husband was planning a divorce, but there was no point in crying over it now. I was lucky he was going to cover the other half.
“And the maintenance. I don’t know if he’s hiding money or if he just doesn’t make as much as we thought, but it’s a pretty small amount.”
“Yeah, I got that.”
The waiter dropped off our appetizers and Hope ordered entrees for both of us. I was glad she was here. It felt good to have someone taking care of me for a change. I guess that part had been missing from my marriage because I couldn’t remember Caleb ever making me feel like I was taken care of. He kind of ordered me around a bit, but he never made sure I was eating. I wasn’t hungry, but I would go ahead and eat a few stuffed mushrooms to make her happy since she actually seemed to care.
“So the way I see it,” she said between bites, “you can move to another borough, look for someone who has a room for rent and use the 401k money to prepay for an apartment for as long as you can afford, maybe a year, depending on the neighborhood. You can get student loans to enroll in grad school, use your alimony to pay your credit card bills and utilities and serve drinks at night for spending money. I know Wes would hire you back.”
“But what would I do when the prepaid lease was over?”
“Hopefully by then the condo would be sold and you’d have more money.”
“And I can’t work in the Financial District,” I said while shaking my head furiously. “What if one of Caleb’s coworkers came into the bar? Or even worse, one of the wives. I would be mortified! I can’t be the new laughing stock of the firm.”
We munched on our appetizers in silence for a few minutes while we thought of a plan. It probably seems petty that I was basing my future life choices on the chance of running into one of about fifty people in a city of eight million, especially since I wasn’t supposed to care what they thought of me anymore. But, well, I was and I did .
Just the thought of one of those horrible, wretched women coming into a bar where I was working to laugh at me and then stiff me on a tip was too much to bear. They’d run home and laugh about it with their husbands, who would go to work the next morning and laugh about it with Caleb, who would go home that night and laugh about it with his new girlfriend who was probably skinnier and prettier than me and loved anal sex. NO. FREAKING. WAY. Was that EVER going to happen.
“He’s probably got coworkers living all over Manhattan,” Hope said, sounding disappointed.
I nodded. “They’re all over New York, period.”
“So what are you saying? That you need to work in Jersey?” She shook her head vigorously. “I understand you’re feeling a little embarrassed right now, but I think it’s silly to go all the way to Jersey to make less money than you would here just because
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