The Spinster Sisters by Stacey Ballis Read Free Book Online Page B

is for me to be single, so I sort of feel like I owe him one. After all, he’s become even less than a footnote in my public persona, which he’s taken in stride, and even though I make no attempt to hide the fact that I have been married, most people assume I’ve always been single.
    Apparently, Mallory used to work for a PR firm here in Chicago before going back to law school. She’s had some trouble passing the bar exam and is working as a paralegal for a large firm while studying to take her third stab at it. They met at a birthday party for a mutual friend, and Brant is very excited about the new relationship. So I feel like I have to be supportive. After all, just because he wasn’t the right guy for me doesn’t mean he should have to spend his life alone. Brant stays in the living room talking to Paige while I walk Mallory through my apartment.
    Usually I’m very proud of my place. I designed it myself, painstakingly picking out furniture and fixtures. Every compliment usually goes straight to my ego. But this time is different; every kind word that Mallory offers makes me uncomfortable. She comments about the size of the apartment, the expansiveness of the rooms, the quality of the furniture and the artwork, the details in the kitchen and the bathrooms. I can just see her comparing it to my old apartment where Brant still lives. A third the size, in a lesser neighborhood, with hand-me-down furniture, and bookshelves made of planks and cement blocks. Not that Brant couldn’t afford better. Computer network guys always manage to make a pretty decent living. Brant never cared about aesthetics the same way that I did. If he has a roof over his head that doesn’t leak, heat in the winter and air-conditioning units in the summer, and the couch doesn’t fall apart when he sits down, that is good enough for him. But five minutes with Mallory makes one thing patently clear. She is ambitious. And I can practically hear the running tally in her head as she fingers the cherry cabinets and stainless appliances in my kitchen. We return to the living room, where the movie is clearly paused on my flat-screen television. Paige makes pointed eye contact with me as Mallory kicks off her shoes and curls up in a corner of the couch. I guess we’re having a real visit.
    “So Brant tells me you’re an expert on relationships,” Mallory says.
    “Well, I’d hardly say that,” I say. “The work my sister and I do has less to do with relationships to other people and more to do with the relationship you have with yourself. It’s about how to embrace your life no matter what your relationship status. And if you are in a relationship, how to not lose yourself. Our primary philosophy is that you can’t be a good partner to somebody else unless you’ve clearly defined who you are and what you want in the future.”
    “Wow,” Mallory says. “I’m just lucky you didn’t have all that relationship expertise when you were married to Brant, or maybe I’d still be alone!”
    Sweet Cap’n Crunch. What the hell is this bitch aiming at?
    “Well,” I say, “I couldn’t ask for a better ex-husband. I’m probably one of the only people who can honestly say that getting married was one of the best things that ever happened to me, and getting divorced was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”
    Brant smiles. “See? That’s why you’re my favorite ex-wife.”
    “What’s that I smell?” asks Mallory. “Vietnamese food?”
    “No.” says Paige. “We had Thai.”
    “Oh,” says Mallory. “I was just wondering because I’m very knowledgeable about Vietnamese culture. I lived in Vietnam for over a year. I speak the language. Do you speak any languages?”
    “French,” I say.
    I can’t look Paige in the eye. I know she’s got a look about her that says, Who the hell is this woman?
    “Actually, there’s a lot of French influence in Vietnam,” Mallory begins. And then proceeds to regale us for a full twenty