One Last Request

My husband is the director of a private hospital. During the three years of work, he would always find his "female best friend" with all kinds of excuses.

The first time he went, he bought me a new purse I had been longing for.

The second time he went, he credited one thousand dollars to the beauty salon I frequented.

Only after he gave his family member's spot for the hospital's retreat did I finally ask for my one-hundredth request.

He simply signed the form, thinking that it was some kind of order for a luxurious item.

"I've neglected you lately. Shall I take you to see the aurora after I come back this time?"

When he gracefully gave me that promise, I calmly smiled.

That was because he didn't know the last thing I asked him to sign was divorce papers.

As the candles I set up went out again and again, the passion inside of me died as well.

Then, my phone, which had been quiet for so long, started to ring. I picked it up. "I gave Kat the spot for this year's retreat that’s meant for a family member. If you want anything, call my assistant. And I won't be home tonight. Kat just moved into her new place, and she's having a hard time settling in..."

I looked at the cake on the table that was meant for our anniversary. The candle that was shaped like a 2 on the cake felt like a joke.

At the end of his call, as if Jason Smith felt guilty, he added, "I've neglected you lately, so once I'm done with this busy period, shall I take you to see the aurora?"

I hung up, and our home went completely silent. Even the air seemed to be mocking my marriage. What a failure all of this was.

It was at this time that Jason's assistant sent me a message on WhatsApp, asking in that familiar way what I wanted reimbursed this time and telling me to just name it.

I suddenly felt that everything was so pointless. Eating cake felt pointless. Buying luxuries felt pointless. A life like this felt so, so pointless.

-

The next day, I went straight to the private hospital to see Jason.

He was staring so hard at his computer that he did not even notice me walking in.

When I called his name softly, he quickly closed the page he had been looking at in a panic. It was a ticketing page for a popular boy band's tour. "Why are you here? If you needed something, you could have called."

We had dated for three years and been married for two, and this was only the third time I had ever come to his office. I did not complain about how strange he was acting, and I just handed him the papers in my hand. "I need your signature on a few documents. The holiday is coming up, and their office will be closed, so I thought it would be better to take care of it early."

Jason took them with a knowing look, his voice teasing. "Oh? Did you fall for some limited-edition item? Were you afraid you would miss it if you waited too long? Look at you now, covered in designer brands. Even your image has improved somewhat!"

It was rare to see him this relaxed and cheerful. Maybe it was because the holiday was almost here, and he could finally go have fun with his "female best friend", Kat Brown.

I no longer cared whether he was happy or who he wanted to spend the holiday with.

That was because the papers I had just handed him were our divorce agreement. He did not notice it. Or maybe he was so caught up in his own mood that he did not care what I had given him at all.

He had abandoned me repeatedly to go find Kat, and I was never allowed to complain or cry about it. Whenever the two of them hugged without any sense of boundaries, Jason would say, "Kat's just one of the guys. I don't even think of her as a woman!"

Then why was she still able to take my husband away just because she was afraid of thunder?

Every time Kat called him away for one reason or another, Jason would say, "We're brothers, the kind who have gone through life and death together. If anything were to happen between us, it would've happened already. Don't be so petty."

So, why was he willing to fight to get concert tickets for her, yet never spare even one vacation with me?

Things like that had already happened ninety-nine times.

And yesterday, when Jason said he had given Kat the spot for family during the retreat, that made it a hundred.

Jason, I don't want to forgive you anymore.

I gave the signed divorce agreement to my lawyer. All that was left was to wait through the mandatory waiting period. One month later, the names "Jason Brown" and "Ida Hershey" would no longer appear together.

I actually felt calmer now that it had come to this. I'd had enough of feeling sorry for myself and beating myself up.

-

It was the twenty-sixth day of the countdown to the end of the waiting period and also the first day of the holiday.

Jason's vacation was very enjoyable. He had practically gone to every fun place in the city in a single day.

I was not jealous. Oceanton was beautiful, but I was already tired of it. After the divorce, maybe I should go to Medhel and see a different world. I even started humming as I thought about it.

When Jason came home to grab something and saw me like that, he seemed even happier.

"It's rare to see you not giving me any attitude, Ida. How about I take you to see the aurora the day after tomorrow? It's a once-in-a-hundred-year event, and they say wishes made there come true!"

I looked up at him and agreed. I hoped for an easy finish for this last stretch. I did not want him to get suspicious and make things harder. Maybe he had even forgotten about it himself. The address was sent to me later by his personal assistant.

-

It was the perfect place to watch the aurora. It should have been packed, yet only a few people were gathered near the front.

"Today's aurora is a once-in-a-century event. Good thing the director loves his wife so much that he booked out the whole place for her!"

"Exactly! Otherwise, we'd just be staring at the backs of other people's heads!"

I was a little surprised. Jason had always kept work and home separate, so the people at the hospital should not have known who I was. There was even less reason for him to book out a whole place to watch the aurora.

Sure enough, in the very next second, Kat and Jason were escorted straight to the center by the crowd.