I’ve never been through a hard breakup, or a divorce for that matter, but I’ve seen the toll it takes on a human when they see their loved one slowly slip away. I watched my mom go through it with my dad. Sure, it wasn’t a divorce, but as my dad became weaker, I saw the light dim in my mom’s eyes. I saw her come to the realization that the man she once loved, the man she married, was no longer the same person.

And just like I was there for my mom, I’ll be there for Scottie.

“You okay?” I ask after a few minutes.

“No,” she says, answering honestly, giving me hope that she’s going to open up.

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” she says.

“I understand.” I clear my throat. “But I do want to apologize about today. I thought I was feeding off your energy, trying to show Sanders that we’re a couple in trouble. If I’d known about the divorce, I wouldn’t have⁠—”

“Please don’t apologize,” she says, shaking her head. “You didn’t know. There’s nothing to apologize about. We actually did a good job convincing him. Maybe too good of a job.” She lets out a breath and then lifts her head up. “I think the piercings really threw him for a loop.” She chuckles, which gives me hope.

“I’m pretty sure it’s the first time he’s ever seen a couple fight about that.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind,” she replies.

“And I know I said it before, but I really want to reiterate—us bringing it full circle at the end with the piercings, that was poetic.”

She shakes her head in mirth. “I’ve found that I don’t want to play into your ridiculousness, but I’ll admit, that was a nice touch at the end.”

I chuckle. “See! Isn’t improv fun?”

“No. It’s stressful, and I don’t want to be a part of it anymore.”

“Well, it seems like we have a hole we have to dig ourselves out of for the next seven days.”

“Yeah. Any ideas on how to do that?”

“No clue.”

She nods. “Perfect. Glad we’re being smart about this.”

“Ready for dinner?” I ask Scottie, who just slipped her shoes on.

“Yeah.” She stands and presses down her shirt. “Can you tell I’ve been crying?”

I shake my head. “Not even a little.”

“You sure?”