'Leftovers' by Jacqueline Doyle

So first he says, I had to stay late at work. But then he says, okay I wasn’t at work, but I had to go out with a client after work. Then he says, not a client you know, a client from a couple of years ago that we’re hoping to get back. Who cares whether it was a client? Why are you always asking so many questions? If you didn’t ask so many questions, I wouldn’t have to make things up. And besides, if I go out after work it’s on you. Don’t blame me. I don’t need the third degree every night when I get home from work. So I missed dinner. Jeez, I’m the one breaking my back to put food on the table and don’t you forget it. You’re lucky to have dinner. Don’t bother to warm up the leftovers. I ate out.

I wasn’t planning to warm up the leftovers, I told him.

 

---

Jacqueline Doyle's flash fiction chapbook The Missing Girl is available from Black Lawrence Press. See more at her website: www.jacquelinedoyle.com.