Cascade; A Spicy Novella

The Proposal

3 Months later.....

We were well into the divorce, we had only hit a few snags but for the most part everything had gone pretty smoothly. I stayed at the house during the divorce because I was going through all of our possessions to decide what either of us wanted. And we had agreed to keep things amicable.

We had been living like roommates for so long anyways that this wasn't much of a change. I wanted all the pictures of the girls and the art projects from when they were younger but John was pretty much keeping everything else.

We agreed to have a sale to sell a lot of the excess that we really didn’t need so that neither of us would have that burden.

Its been a slow process but we were almost ready for the sale and we have a lot of stuff to sell.

I was taking a box of pictures and baby keepsakes I wanted to keep over to my parents house. They had agreed to let me keep some things in their pole barn while I figured out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go.

I sat in my car, outside of their house and answered a call from my best friend Jen.

“Oh my god Nat! I am so sorry hun, are you ok?” she said. I hadn't really told anyone about the divorce but once word got out, everyone knew and I didn't have to say anything anyways.

“I am, it’s weird but I am not that upset” I said.

Jen took a big breath, “I should’ve been there for you more, I didn’t even know that anything was wrong or that something happened. I know John was always kinda an ass, but did something happen? I am so sorry for being a shitty friend.”

“Jen, it’s really ok, it wasn’t any one big thing. It was a death by a thousand cuts. I think we just realized we were not happy but we both have been pretending for so long. Even though John asked for the divorce he seems the most upset. I really am not.”

“You know that is because you are a Capricorn. I know you don’t believe in any of that but I’m telling you girl, you are 100% a Capricorn.” she said dead serious.

I just laughed, “Yea maybe, anyways, what is new with you?”

I haven’t caught up with Jen in a while. We both worked at the same school teaching 3rd grade nine years ago. Turns out, neither of us liked it. She got out of it but I stayed.

She was divorced, 40, blonde, slightly curvy and a sleeve of tattoos. You know those girls that are chunky but not fat? The ones that are like “plus size” models? That’s Jen, she does not see it, but she is so gorgeous and her confidence only makes her prettier.

Five years ago she went through a nasty divorce, her husband Craig tried to prolong it and it financially ruined her.

Craig was a d**k, he was always trying to control her and talk down to her. Whenever I was around him I always wanted to punch him in his face. The way he talked down to her always pissed me off. I think he was just jealous of how confident and amazing she was.

He was trying to control her light but with a girl like Jen, that’s just not possible.

Once her divorce was finalized she decided to leave teaching, move to Seattle and get into event planning.

She loved it, she was an event coordinator and would run the day of stuff at these big fancy events. The events were for big companies and wealthy clients. She had been doing it a couple of years independently until she got hired by a big event planning firm and worked her way up.

Five years with them and she had a large team of people under her and was always juggling events, calendars and vendors. When we talked about it on the phone she always sounded so excited. It was a lot of work but she never said anything bad about it. She was always telling me about the flower arrangements, the music, the people.

“Nothing is new with me, working, traveling, f*****g, eating and sleeping.”

I laughed, “So just out here living all our dreams right?”

She laughed hard “Ugh girl, so what are you going to do? Are you staying in Ann Arbor?”

“I don’t know, I guess I will keep teaching. I might try to find a small district up north. I imagine it would have to be less stress.” I said but I knew I wasn't convincing her.

“Babe, you hate teaching. You hated it years ago and you stayed anyways. Apparently that's a pattern for you. You know you could come here right? The girls are in school, there is no reason you couldn’t come here.”

“Jen, I love you, but I don’t have a job there and moving my license and everything would be such a pain in the ass.”

The thought of starting at another school sounded exhausting. Even a school up north. She was right, I hated teaching but I tried to love it, and I was good at is. It was not fulfilling or exciting anymore, it hadn't been in a while and I was so bored with it.

“I’m not saying to teach, I’m saying, come work with me! We are desperate for people. You could come just for the summer. If you hate it then go back in the fall.” Jen said.

I paused and thought it over. “Yea I guess I could come for a few weeks, I was going to stay with my parents anyways since I didn’t really want to stay in the house with John, especially with the girls gone and the divorce almost done.”

“Then it is settled! You are coming here and we are getting you some d**k!” she proclaimed.

“Jesus Jen! I said to work, I’m not worried about getting d**k or into a relationship right now.” I said laughing at her.

“Who said anything about a relationship? I am not going to push you into anything with anyone but it’s ok to let loose and worry about yourself too. And if you get some d**k in the process, well then so be it!” she said.

I laughed, she is always to forward. “Ok, deal, but do you mind if I stay with you until I find a rental for the summer? I don't know how short term rentals are there."

“Nat! I am not making you pay for a rental! Of course you are staying with me! Now buy a ticket and get your ass out here!”