"Thank you for inviting me over Mary, this tea is perfect", Alice smiled as she rested her warm cup onto the coffee table.
"Of course, I'm glad we were able to bury the hatchet", Mary smiled and added another dash of sugar into her cup. "Besides, it won't be long until we're both empty nesters with our kids going off becoming adults."
"I'll still have JB at home, but she mainly stays in her room and plays some video game I don't understand,'' she chuckles, she hated it took this long for her and Mary to become friends. Not that they were ever enemies, they just always seemed to be at odds with one another.
For the first time in Alice's life she was happy. She had finally mended her broken relationships with her children, which took a lot of therapy and tears. And now she was living with FP, the man that stole her heart all those years ago and never gave it back. She was content and not on the verge of throwing furniture across the room as she had done in her previous relationship.
FP would cook dinner for her when she had a bad day at work, he'd buy her little gifts that he said reminded him of her, and he held her every night, making sure she knew she was loved.
"How are you and FP doing?"
"Hm?", Alice looked up at Mary, she had been staring out the window into her own home subconsciously.
"You and FP, you two seem to be getting serious", Mary raised an eyebrow as she raised her cup to her lips. "Not that I'm surprised, you two have been all over each other since the 9th grade."
She smiled, "Very serious, he makes me so happy Mary, I can't believe it took all these years for it to finally work out."
"Well I can definitely tell you two are hot to trot for each other, I learned the hard way about keeping the kitchen curtain open."
Alice blushed, "Oh my god Mary, I'm so sorry."
"It's fine, I'm just happy to see you happy", Mary poured more tea into Alice's cup. "And he's officially divorced from Gladys, right?"
Alice's smile faded, she hadn't thought about Gladys in months. "Actually, no, he hasn't even spoken to her since the day she left."
Mary frowned, "Alice, if you two are that serious, he needs to divorce Gladys."
"I know, I just...honestly I forgot", she put her tea down and started to feel her mood shift.
"I didn't mean to upset you, I just don't want Gladys coming back to town to see you two together and cause a ruckus", Mary put her hand on Alice's in a comforting manner. "I'm saying this as a friend and a lawyer, she can make the divorce a living hell for you guys and it's not fair to you that FP isn't doing anything about it."
Alice looks down at her cup, "You're right, I guess we've been so caught up in each other since we moved in together we just pushed it off,'' she paused. "Or maybe he's still holding onto her in case we don't work out."
"I don't believe that for a second, he's obsessed with you Alice."
"He ended our relationship last year because of her, he could very well do it again,'' she got up from the couch. "I should go."
"Alice, I really didn't mean to upset you", Mary started walking after her as Alice reached the front door.
"I'm not mad at you Mary, I'm glad you brought it to my attention,'' she put her hand on her new friend's arm. "Tea was lovely." She walked out of the door and towards her own home just a few steps away.
She walked into her home and went straight to the kitchen, popping open a bottle of wine and pouring herself a glass. So many thoughts started running through her brain, she felt so secure in her relationship and now all of that was crashing down. What was the reason FP hadn't sent Gladys divorce papers? Why hadn't he gotten a lawyer yet? Why was he still holding onto her?
