Love After Layoffs novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: Declined

"Then make the call," I said.

Justin blinked.

"What?"

"Call his boss."

"Tell them a client manager walked a drunk woman across a street and gave her a bed."

I picked up my purse.

"I'd like to hear you say it out loud, Justin, in a sentence a judge can read."

His spoon stopped halfway to his mouth.

He had expected me to cry.

He had planned for it, I could see that, and now he didn't know what to do with his hands.

"Don't test me," he said.

"I'm not. I'm living in my house."

I walked past him, went out to the porch, and dragged the three trash bags inside one at a time.

He watched from the doorway and didn't help.

When the last one thumped onto the hallway floor, he put on his suit jacket and left for work without another word.

The front door slammed so hard a picture frame fell off the wall.

It was a wedding photo, and the glass cracked across his face.

I left it there.

By noon I had unpacked the bags and found my toothbrush in a drawer where he'd dumped it.

The refrigerator held one jar of mustard.

I took my debit card and walked to the grocery on Forbes.

I picked up eggs, bread, a bag of apples, chicken thighs, and the cheap good coffee my mother used to buy.

The line at the register was seven people long.

The cashier scanned my things, and said "Forty-one eighteen."

I tapped my card.

The machine beeped twice.

"Declined," the cashier said.

"That's the joint account. Try again."

She tried again.

"Declined."

A man behind me sighed loudly and shifted his basket.

My face went hot from my neck to my hairline.

I took out my phone with shaking hands and opened the bank app.

The joint account said, "Access restricted by primary holder."

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