"I'm going to start looking for a new job this week. Maybe in the city. I can live in Hoboken with my cousin until I find something of my own."
She was shocked. Although she knew that living in the same house as roommates would not be as easy at it sounded, she could not imagine having to live in their large house alone.
They built the house just four months earlier, but had been planning it for almost two years. Excitedly naive, they laid on their bed pouring over different house plans, dreaming of the children they would fill the rooms with. Modifications were made, rooms added, color swatches chosen-all for a house they were not yet even sure they could build. Her parents owned land, and talk of gifting it to her for as a wedding present made them sick with anticipation. When the time finally came, they not only knew which house they would build, but also which face plates they would have on their light switches. Life was that predictable.
"You're moving out? When?"
She couldn't help it-she sounded nervous. She hated letting him see how affected she was by the thought of being without him.
"I don't know. I have to find a job first. I can Hoboken until I find my own place if I get a job in the city. I'll just keep my things here and come back when I need them."
It irked her when he said things like that-just assuming that anything he did would be okay and that no one would ever question his thinking.
"If you move out, you're out. I can't keep having you come back and forth, never knowing when you'll be here and when you won't. That's no way to live."
"It's my house too. I'll keep things here if I want. I won't be living here and we both know I travel a lot so I won't be here for any significant amount of time. Besides, I pay for most of this house, don't forget."
He stared at her, daring her to counter him, daring her to argue so he could make her feel inferior.
And with that look, he defeated her always.
