Electric Awakening

Just Unload

Copyright © 2026 Literary Ranger

Veronica came home from work smiling. She had been like this for almost a month. Ever since Don Singletary had started working at her law firm, she came home smiling. I was about to be subjected to another evening of "Don did this, and Don did that, and isn't Don just fucking amazing." And I had enough. I had tried to talk to her, but that only led to dismissal and gaslighting. I began to think about trying out for Ingrid Bergman's part in the local playhouse production of 'Gaslight'. Why not a little role reversal in the classic movie/play.

"Hey, how are you, honey? What's for dinner?" Veronica asked. I guess she was expecting me to weather her emotional affair with another man and still cook for her at night. Fat chance, I was done.

"I hadn't planned anything. I was thinking about going out to eat," I commented without emotion. The abruptness of my words let her know she wasn't going to be invited.

"Oh," she replied without further comment. She watched me as I cleaned the kitchen of the debris we had left from breakfast earlier that day.

"What's wrong, Rick?" She finally asked. She hadn't asked as my wife. She asked like she was interviewing a client who was involved in an accident, and her firm was trying to decide if it was worth their time to represent them. Basically, is your pain and suffering going to benefit me financially? That is how little she appeared to be invested in this conversation about my emotional well-being. She had poured herself a glass of wine and gotten comfortable, like she was going to watch a floor show.

Attorney Veronica Palance was about to get a hostile witness she was unprepared to question.

I looked her dead in the eyes for a moment before answering.

"What's wrong?" I repeated her question back to her and smiled. I know my smile was not kind. It wasn't meant to be. I wasn't feeling particularly kind at the moment.

"Do you really want to know what's bothering me?" I asked. I'm sure she wasn't prepared for the question at all.

"Uh, yeah, I'd like to know," she said apprehensively.

I took a deep breath.

"No, Veronica. I'm not fine. I have a wife who is having an emotional affair with a coworker," I started.

She tried to interrupt.

"Shut the fuck up! I've had to put up with Don's so great, Don's so awesome! Don's just the most wonderful man on the planet. For almost a fucking month now," I started loudly, not quite yelling. "You obviously have an emotional attachment to the man and are probably fucking him, so if you want to know what my problem is, it's that my wife is in love with another man and is probably fucking him."

Veronica looked at me, speechless. I think she was a bit in shock from my tirade.

"It's not what you think," she said after taking a sip of wine.

I started laughing.

"That's just pathetic. Couldn't even come up with something original. You know, based on your lame response, you should just go ahead and fuck Don if you aren't already. Pack a bag, give him a call, and just go fuck him. I don't care," I said. In listening to her, I had concluded that if she wasn't already fucking Don, she was at least thinking about it, and I really didn't care anymore. She had already moved on emotionally from our marriage, so there was no reason for me to stay.

I'm the kind of man who doesn't put up with bullshit like this at all. Veronica may be a lawyer, but I built my own business from nothing. The house we lived in, I designed and had my company build to the highest standards in the housing industry. It was a showcase home often featured in local media. We lived very well because of my wealth, not hers. I started with nothing. I came from nothing. I could start all over again, and I sure as shit didn't need her.

"You want me to leave?" Veronica asked. She sounded emotional, but she was not tearing up. It sounded more like she was just confirming my request.

"Why would I want you to stay? All you've done since Don started working at your firm is tell me how great he is. Obviously, you've developed an emotional attachment to him, so you don't give a shit about being my wife anymore, so, yeah, get the fuck out," I explained.

"Why are you acting like this?" She asked, a little more emotion in her voice.

"Uh, seriously? How would you act if I came home talking about a woman I worked with nonstop all evening, every day after you got home from work, for a month? Imagine I got a new secretary who looked like Sophia Vergara and talked about her all day, every day, and pretty much ignored you. Any time you voiced a concern about her or how I was reacting, I just blew it off and didn't care how you felt about me going on and on about my hot new secretary. How would you react?" I asked. I didn't expect an honest answer.

"Jesus," she exclaimed, rubbing her face. Not sure if the gravity of the situation had hit her, or she was just exasperated with how I was acting.

"Yeah, pack a bag. Go fuck Don. Move on with your life. I'll send you divorce papers," I stated.

Hey, she had asked what was wrong.

"You're not even going to try to work on our relationship?" Veronica asked after a moment.

"What relationship? You checked out of it almost a month ago," I reasoned.

"Jesus, Rick, Don is just a friend," she began to explain.

"Well, okay, friend with benefits then. Go, fuck, him. I don't care. You have obviously created an emotional attachment to him. You don't care about our marriage. I'm telling you, go ahead and fuck him. I, don't, care. Just move out before you do," I was pretty emphatic as I spoke.

Veronica sat there at the table, blinking at me. I think she was in some kind of shock, or her brain just could not understand what was happening.

"Why didn't you talk to me?" Veronica asked.

"Oh, fuck me," I said, rubbing my face. "You have been gaslighting me about Don the entire time. I asked you numerous times, and you just kept saying he was just a work friend, a new guy at work, a new guy who's really good at his job. Fuck, you blew so much smoke up my ass this last month, I am surprised I didn't pop!" I said, tossing my hands in the air.

"Please, Rick, I promise I will tone it down," Veronica begged.

"No, fuck you. I'm not dealing with your disrespect anymore. You just leave, and you can go fuck Don to your heart's content." I stated.

"Why won't you work on this?" She pleaded.

"I did, you dumb bitch. I have been trying for the last month. It's only when I give you a fucking attitude that you notice something is wrong, and you finally ask why your husband is pissed. Can you remember the last time you kissed me? The last time we had sex?" I asked.

"I kiss you all the time. And we had sex last week," she countered.

"You may have had sex last week, but I haven't had sex with you in over three weeks. I think you would have felt you were cheating on Don if you did have sex with me, and the emotional stress was too much for you," I argued.

"Oh god," Veronica said, turning away. The realization that the reasoning behind my argument may be correct must have really hit her.

"Yeah, you haven't kissed me on the lips in almost a month. I don't want to know if you have kissed Don," I continued. "Still want to continue with the argument that it isn't what I think?" I asked.

"You don't have any proof," she countered after a moment.

"So you admit that something occurred," I snapped back.

The look of shock on her face confirmed my suspicions.

"Not what you think!" She blurted out.

"Again, I really don't care. Just leave so I can get on with my life," I restated.

"Why are you giving up?" Veronica whined.

"Why are you trying to stay when you obviously are infatuated with this other man? You don't want to be here. You have been going on and on about this guy for almost a month now. You have obviously done something that doesn't pass the husband test and would count as evidence in a divorce, so just pack a bag and leave. I will be more than fair in the divorce," I announced.

"Husband test?" She asked.

"You did something with him that you would not be willing to do in front of your husband. The husband test," I explained.

"Oh," she commented and remained quiet as she thought.

I was getting hungry and annoyed that this was taking so long. She wasn't acting like she had fucked Don, yet. But she probably had a few heavy make-out sessions with him and probably some acts of mutual masturbation. Maybe gave him a blowjob. Cheating, as far as I was concerned, but not from a legal aspect, and irrelevant in our no-fault divorce State.

"Hey, I'm going to go out to eat. I would appreciate it if you would move out. Find yourself an apartment or condo to move into. I will buy you out of the house because I want to keep it for my business, so it only seems fair. I'm just really sick of being around you and don't want to live with you anymore," I explained.

"Really?" She asked. Veronica was looking at me with a pouty face, letting me know I had hurt her feelings, but I really didn't care.

"Gee, Veronica, the woman I loved has spent the last month talking nonstop about how great some other asshole she works with is. Easy to fall out of love with a person like that," I announced.

"You don't love me anymore?" She asked. Her look of shock surprised me.

"Why would I? You obviously don't love me anymore. You haven't for some time. Your complete lack of respect for me and my feelings showed me weeks ago that you no longer loved me, so I had to protect myself emotionally. Your continued disregard for my concerns over the past few weeks only confirmed the fact that you didn't love me anymore, and I continued to withdraw emotionally. You just finally noticed this evening," I explained.

"You know I will kill you in a divorce. My firm is one of the best in the State," Veronica threatened.

"They aren't going to represent you," I countered.

"Why not?" She asked.

"I talked to Bert last week about your relationship with Don, and he said if feathers started to fly, the firm would have nothing to do with it. He said to do things quietly because if it exposes the firm, both you and Don will lose your jobs," I explained.

"You went to one of the Senior Partners about our marriage issues?" Veronica yelled her question at me.

"Well, it made sense because you are fucking one of the other lawyers at the firm," I said, shrugging. I don't think she appreciated my smirk.

"We're not fucking!" She yelled.

"Not what he said," I commented.

"What?" She exclaimed in indignation.

"Yeah, he was pretty sure you two were fucking, from what I gathered. He said that is what the rumors around the office are saying," I explained.

"Rick, we're not fucking. We kissed a few times, and he touched me through my clothes, but nothing more. I promise," Veronica pleaded.

"Again, I don't care. Look, I'm leaving to get something to eat. I would appreciate it if you were gone when I get back because I am sick of living with you," I stated. I grabbed my coat off the rack by the door and headed out.

"Rick, I really do love you," she yelled after me.

"Actions speak louder than words," I yelled back.

We have this great little bar not too far from my house, just as you get into town. It has the best hamburgers. You know, the greasy ones that are cooked on a grill, with a toasted bun. The other amazing thing about the bar is that they have four different types of fries available. Steak fries, crisp fries, spicy curly fries, and battered fries. You could make a meal out of the fries.

This place's burgers had become a comfort food for me, and boy, did I need it.

I was apprehensive on the drive home because I was afraid Veronica was going to be there, which she was, but she was kind enough to have moved herself into one of the guest rooms.