Unhappily Married ✓

05. Friends

"Women marry men hoping they will change. Men marry women hoping they will not." -Albert Einstein

It's been nearly two hours and I haven't been able to write even a single sentence. Sometimes, I don't understand what happens to my brain that it stops working all at once.

David will make sure to kick me out if I don't complete my pending work soon and certainly, I don't want to be jobless at the age of twenty-six.

On the other hand, Todd is playing some Zombie games with his friends and I can still hear their loud laughter, their useless talks and whatnot. I don't like inconsiderate people because they think they can do whatever the hell they want to. Here, I'm dying with the pressure of work and there, these people don't seem to give a damn. I mean, it's exhausting to sit blankly in front of your laptop and it's even more painful to stare uncertainly at the blank screen.

Writing is not easy, even if I write articles and not full-length novels. I want to concentrate on the topics of my articles, so that people can relate to that, so that they can have fun while reading, but it's impossible for me to do that because I'm unable to focus my attention here.

Sighing, I place my laptop on the bedside table and slowly look around our bedroom. I still remember we had a big argument when we were planning to paint this room again. I wanted some vibrant and fresh colors while Todd wanted something else. Eventually, Todd won the fight and painted the walls with lemon yellow color. Not that I hate this color, but I don't adore it the way Todd does.

A few seconds later, I hear the rock songs booming out from Todd's music system. I close my eyes tight, trying to ignore their annoying behavior. But soon I give up because I can't control myself anymore.

I swing my legs out of my bed and jog towards the door. I open the door and walk over to where Todd is playing with his friends. All of them are sprawled out on the couches, continuously stuffing popcorn into their mouths and chewing it noisily. A good number of Dr Pepper cans and Pringle chips are lying messily on the table. 

I can't help but cringe when they groan altogether. Well, I'm glad the Zombie has eaten their player.

Taking a deep breath, I walk towards the TV and stand in front of it, making all of them jump from their positions. At once, Todd presses the pause button and stares at me for a bit too long.

"Sorry to disturb you guys, but I was trying to work and couldn't concentrate because of the loud noises," I say, darting my between all of them.

"Stella? You're here?" Jim asks.

"I suppose I am." I shrug.

"But Todd said that you two were going to get a divorce," Lenny says, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Yes, we are getting a divorce," I say, my lips pressed tight.

"Then why are you still here?" Scott muses.

I frown. "I can come here anytime I want because it's still my house, okay."

 Todd clears his throat."Guys, we're, um, attending some counseling sessions."

Gazing at me, Lenny runs a hand through his curly blonde hair. Well, it's not his fault that I'm wearing my teddy bear print pajamas and an oversized sweatshirt. However, I decide to ignore his stares and focus my attention elsewhere.

"So, you're trying to mend your relationship or something like that?" Jim says, a frown creasing his forehead.

An awkward silence lingers for a while before Todd speaks up again, "Uh, sort of."

I don't know what to say after this. Todd is trying to hide the truth from his friends, which is somewhat strange, but I don't mind it at all. I mean, these people don't have any right to invade our privacy.