"Bad Love" short story

A woman trying to make sense of her marriage after her husband is gone.

Rebecca sat on a padded stool in front of Lacey’s vanity, absently opening and closing the drawers as her friend runway-walked out of her closet.

“What is this for again?” Rebecca said.

“Hmm? Oh, I don’t remember. Burn victims? We’re sharing a table with some of Tom’s college friends. I was going to invite you but Tom said that as the rest of the table will be couples that might be insensitive.”

Rebecca looked up. “You know you’re thirty-two, right?”

“Don’t remind me.” Lacey said, twisting side to side in front of the full length, three-way mirror.

“So why do you still need him to point that out to you?”

Lacey paused, briefly catching Rebecca’s gaze in the mirror. “Not all of us can be as independent as you are Rebecca.”

“Independent?” Her thoughts caught on money Christopher had left in their joint account. “What are you talking about?” It was almost a whisper but Lacey turned away from her own image to look at Rebecca directly.