I walk into the restaurant and see Chloe and Rebecca already at the table with margaritas in their hands. I did a four-hour shift at the retirement home this afternoon to cover for someone and am running late. They have started without me.

“Hey.” I smile as I take a seat.

“Welcome to the Man Haters Anonymous table.” Chloe holds her margarita up to me in a toast. “All men are fuckers,” she slurs.

I giggle and pick up the margarita that is waiting for me on the table. “How long have you two been here?”

“Long enough to establish that we hate men,” Chloe says in a way-too-loud voice.

Rebecca holds her glass up too. “Hear, hear.”

I giggle. “Well, just so happens I am the president of man hating, so I’m glad to be in good company.”

We clink our glasses in a toast.

“So . . .” I widen my eyes. “What happened?”

Rebecca rolls her lips. “He cheated because I wouldn’t give him anal.”

“What?”

“What a fucking idiot,” Chloe gasps. “I’m going to give him anal with a fucking mop handle.”

“What do you mean?” I stammer. “Explain everything to me. Where did you meet?”

“Okay.” Rebecca sips her drink. “We went to a coffee shop that we always go to. I wanted somewhere public that would force us to have a civilized conversation.”

“Sounds fair.” I listen intently.

“I told him that I needed complete honesty and that if he gave me that, then we may possibly work through this.”

“Right.” I frown. My eyes flick to Chloe, and she pulls her finger across her throat. “What happened?”

“He has been sleeping with her for over a year.”

“Fuck.”

“He says it’s just sex and that he is completely in love with me and had no intention of ever ending our marriage.”

“What a fucking idiot,” Chloe gasps. “I fucking hate this guy. Can we cut his dick off and feed it to the feral cats?”

I bubble up a giggle but try to hold it in. “Right.” I try to stay focused on being a good listener for Rebecca. “How did it start?”

“Get this,” Chloe slurs. She points her drink to me, and it sloshes over the side.

Rebecca leans in toward the table. “He said that he had always wanted anal sex.”

“Right.” I roll my lips. “Is that true?”

“It is, and to be fair, I wouldn’t even try it.”

“Okay.”

“He said that one day he was in the lunchroom with Mia, eating their lunch. They had become friends over time, and Mia said that she was having sexual problems with her boyfriend.”

I frown, and my eyes flick to Chloe, who is giving an overexaggerated eye roll. “Give me a fucking break,” she spits.

I giggle as I sip my drink. “Right. What kind of sexual problems? I’m-a-whorebag problems?”

“Exactly,” Chloe splutters.

“He said that Mia was upset with her boyfriend because he wouldn’t try anal sex.”

“What?” I explode. “Who tells their fucking boss that in the lunchroom unless they want to fuck his brains out? This woman is the living end.”

“I know, shameless,” Rebecca whispers angrily. “Anyway, that opened the conversation for them to talk about sexual fantasies, and yada, yada, and two months later they decided to have one night together at a work conference.”

My eyes widen. “Their first time was anal?”

“Apparently.”

“Fuck off,” I snap. “He is using anal against you to justify him being a fucking sleazebag.”

“Exactly,” Chloe spits. “If he was good at sex, she would have given him anal, wouldn’t you, Bec?”

Rebecca shrugs as she sips her margarita. “Who knows, but he’s not the fucking porn star he thinks he is, that’s for sure.”

“God.” I drain my glass and gesture to the waiter for another round of drinks. “Then what?”

“He said that it was never emotional, that they fell into the habit of having sex, and that she has a boyfriend she is in love with too. They told each other every time that this was going to be the last time.”

“What?” I gasp. “Fuck her.”

“That’s exactly what he did,” Chloe snaps.

I’m shocked to my core. “What do you even say to this?”

“He said that he thinks that we met too young and that he just needed to do some sexual exploration but he knows that it’s me who is the love of his life.”

I stare at Rebecca. “How do you feel about this?”

“Heartbroken.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Can we kill him?” Chloe chimes in from the sideline. “Let’s kill him and bury his body in your backyard, Jules.”

I giggle. “Tempting, although Barry would probably dig him up.”

“Good old Bazza.” Chloe smiles. “He can chew on his bones and shit.”

“He told me he fired her from work,” Rebecca says.

“Is that true?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t been into his office, obviously, but I would assume she would have resigned in case I did go in there.”

“True.” I sip my drink. “What must the other secretaries think of her?”

“They probably all knew. I feel like such a fool.”

“Don’t,” I snap. “He’s the fool. You remember that.”

“And then he did something that really broke my heart,” Rebecca says sadly.

“What?”

“He said that he hadn’t seen her since I found out and that he was never going to see her again.”

My eyes hold hers. “Why did that break your heart?”

“Here we are, laying our hearts out on the table, discussing his infidelity in great detail, anal and all. He’s telling me that I’m the love of his life, apologizing and telling me it’s the biggest regret of his life, and yet . . . he’s still lying about seeing her. I know for a fact he is staying at her house. I’ve driven past and seen his car there.”

My heart sinks.

“And then while he was talking and begging for forgiveness, I had an epiphany.”

“What was it?”

“He’s always going to lie about seeing her. Even in a conversation about saving our marriage, he’s still lying. I can never trust him again. We can’t save this. It’s too far gone.” Her eyes well with tears. “My marriage is officially over.”

“God, Bec.” I take her hand over the table and hold it in mine. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” Chloe says sadly.

The waiter arrives with our new round of drinks. “Thanks.” I smile.

Rebecca takes one and holds it up for a toast. “Tonight, we’re celebrating.” We smile and hold our drinks up to hers. “To new beginnings.”

Wednesday morning

I walk down the corridor of the nursing home. I’m just about to clock out from the night shift.

I’m on autopilot now.

Nothing could surprise me anymore. My faith in the male sex has been utterly and irrevocably ruined.

Rebecca’s heart is broken. My heart is broken.

The whole world is fucking broken.

I get to Bernard’s door and glance through the window and stop still on the spot.

My heart breaks all over again.

Henley is lying on his back in the hospital bed. His father is lying beside him. Bernard’s head is on Henley’s chest, and Henley’s arm is protectively around him. Henley is watching television as his father sleeps.

My eyes well with tears . . .

I know he doesn’t love me, but he sure loves his dad.

Lucky him.