The Last Branch Down

"The Last Branch Down" is a short story featuring Bradley, a nearly forty year-old IT Manager who hasn't had much luck with women, and his girlfriend Sharon, who is in her mid-thirties and using the last of her looks to lure in men. Two pair have been in a relationship for several months before Sharon meets her handsome ex-boyfriend by chance one night and sleeps with him. Bradley discovers the affair and breaks off their relationship.

The story details the aftermath of the breakup, focusing how Bradley seeks assistance from his friend, Alex, while Sharon drowns her sorrows with wine with her friend, Joanna.

Author's Note: I got the idea for this story from a Louis CK joke. He jokes about how nerdy or dweeby guys become popular to women when those women get deeper into their thirties and are looking to settle down. Basically, those guys are "the last branch down" as those women drop from the top of the dating tree.