An Iced Decaf Coffee

My husband, Jared Cooper, was a university professor.

He was reserved but honest, with a gentle temperament.

On my way to pick him up from work, I felt thirsty and asked him to order me a coffee.

When I got it, it was an iced decaf coffee.

I didn't take a sip and tossed it into the trash can in his office. "Jared, I want a divorce."

He froze, his face full of confusion. "What?"

His new doctoral student, Diana Riley, stepped in to smooth things over. "It's just a coffee. If you don't like it, don't drink it. No need to make a big deal, Mrs. Cooper."

Jared frowned. "Kathy, if you don't like it, just buy another one. Why throw a fit?"

I turned and walked away. "I'll bring you the divorce papers tomorrow."

...

I glanced back, but Jared didn't follow.

Diana cautiously poked his arm. "Professor Cooper, she's upset. Aren't you going to comfort her?"

Jared let out a cold huff, his voice laced with irritation. "It's just a coffee. Who knows what flavor she likes? She's always like this. It's not the first time she's brought up divorce. She'll get over it."

A faint smile played on Diana's lips as she inched closer to Jared.

Their clothes fluttered in the breeze, brushing against each other.

Diana's hair fell out of place, and Jared instinctively tucked it behind her ear.

Their ears flushed red.

They stood close, like lovers, neither pulling away.

I pulled out my phone and called my lawyer friend Claire Winston. "A few days ago, a company in Crestwood invited me to lead a team. I'm leaving the day after tomorrow."

She paused for a few seconds, her voice full of shock. "You talked it over with Jared? You're okay with a long-distance relationship?"

I shrugged, a bitter smile on my face. "It's not long-distance. I asked for a divorce. Can you help me draft the papers?"

She hesitated, then sighed deeply. "Even a perfect couple like you can't survive long years?"

Jared and I were once the gold standard of campus sweethearts.

We fell in love in freshman year, got married right after graduation, and had been together for seven years.

I knew him well enough.

He never drank coffee, and when we ate out, he always stuck with the default menu options.

Yet now, he ordered an iced decaf coffee with precision.

It was because he'd bought that exact drink for someone else.

And I knew that someone wasn't me-it was Diana.

A group of students passed by, their gossip loud and carefree.

"Diana got called to Professor Cooper's office for extra lab help again. She's the first newbie to get so much attention."

"Shh, don't spread rumors. He's married."

"I heard his wife is super controlling, so he stays at the office until midnight every night."

"Is it really not because of Diana that he stays so late?"

Everyone could see his disdain for me and his favoritism toward Diana.

Everyone except him.

While packing my suitcase at home, I accidentally knocked over Jared's notebook on the desk.

A photo slipped out.

Under the disco lights of a karaoke bar, Jared and Diana were playing a flirty game, tearing a tissue with their mouths, surrounded by a cheering crowd.

The mood was charged and intimate.

The photo was covered in fingerprints, proof Jared had traced Diana's face countless times.

My heart felt crushed, like it was gripped by a giant hand.

At 3 a.m., Jared finally came home, reeking of alcohol, with a tipsy young woman stumbling behind him.

When Diana saw my cold stare, she rushed over and grabbed my arm, acting overly friendly. "Mrs. Cooper, we had a group dinner with the lab team tonight. Professor Cooper was so upset about your fight that he asked me to stay and drink with him. We lost track of time, and the dorms were locked, so he brought me here to crash for the night. You don't mind, do you?"

I pulled my arm free and stepped back three paces. "All the hotels in town are booked tonight?"

Jared's lips tightened, his anger flaring suddenly. "She's a young woman. You're okay with her staying at a hotel alone at this hour?"

Diana squeezed out a few tears, looking pitifully at Jared. "If Mrs. Cooper doesn't want me here, I'll leave. Professor Cooper, don't fight with her because of me."

I laughed, my anger boiling over. "Jared, you're a married man, and she's your student. You don't care about the rumors, drinking with her until midnight, and now you're making it sound like I'm the one in the wrong? She's a young woman you're worried about, so I'll leave. That work for you?"

Maybe it was the alcohol, but for the first time, he exploded at me. "If you want to leave, then go. Don't bother coming back!"

Without another word, I grabbed my suitcase and left.

I wasn't coming back.

The cold wind stung.

But it didn't cut as deeply as Jared's words before I left. "She keeps finding excuses to throw tantrums, just wanting me to buy her things to make her happy. This time, she's probably after that LV bag she saw last week. I'm already exhausted from lab work, barely able to speak, and I still have to force a smile and grovel to please her. Diana, if only Kathy were half as understanding as you."

All this time, his apologies, his concessions, his gifts-they weren't sincere. They were forced by me.

But wasn't I exhausted too?

Why was I even angry?

On my birthday, he left me alone at the restaurant with a casual "my students need me."

On our anniversary, he stayed out all night without a word of explanation.

When I had a fever of 104 degrees, his phone was always busy.

And somehow, this made me the unreasonable one.

Dazed, I checked into a hotel. My phone pinged with a friend request.

The profile picture showed Diana in the lab, circling Jared with her finger, her smile radiant. "Mrs. Cooper, Professor Cooper's drunk and keeps saying your name. Can we do a video call?"

After loving him for so many years, I couldn't help but soften.

I hit the connect button.

In the blurry video, Jared mumbled over and over.

"Baby, don't go. Stay."

It was like a bucket of ice water dumped over me, chilling me to the bone.

Jared never called me baby. He always used my name.

The "baby" he was begging to stay was the one he couldn't let go of tonight-Diana Riley.

I didn't say a word. My hands shook as I ended the call.

My mind buzzed with static.

I hugged my knees and didn't sleep a wink until dawn.

Once I had the divorce papers in hand, I didn't waste a second. I rushed back home.

Jared was clumsily carrying two plates of breakfast, the smell of eggs filling the air.

In seven years of marriage, he'd never stepped foot in the kitchen. And he knew I was allergic to eggs.

Those two breakfasts were clearly for him and Diana.

Diana shuffled out of the master bedroom, rubbing sleepy eyes, wearing Jared's T-shirt with nothing underneath. She saw me and said with an innocent smile. "Mrs. Cooper, you're back! I decided not to go to the dorm last night, so I didn't have clothes to change into. Professor Cooper lent me his shirt. You don't mind, do you?"

Jared scratched his head, his tone apologetic. "I didn't know you'd be back now. I'll make you a breakfast without eggs. Next time, just let me know in advance."

I swallowed my anger and shot back. "I need to schedule an appointment to come home now? So you two can clean up the mess from last night's sex?" If I don't see it, I'm supposed to pretend you didn't sleep together, all pure and innocent?"

He exploded again. "What are you blabbering about? Do you know how much this could ruin Diana's reputation? Can you take responsibility for that? Last night, Diana took care of me all night. I made breakfast to thank her, and you come in accusing her instead of being grateful!"

So last night's rage wasn't just the alcohol. This time, too, it was all for Diana.

He used to hate even raising his voice at me.

Tears fell before I could stop them.

He panicked, fumbling to wipe my tears away. "I'm sorry, Kathy, I didn't mean to yell. You just went too far, and I lost my temper. How about I get you that LV bag you wanted? Forgive me."

Another forced apology?

I slapped his hand away and placed the divorce papers, signed with my name, on the table. "Sign it."

I looked at him coldly. "No need for an LV bag. If comforting me is such a burden, don't force yourself. I came back to give you the divorce papers, not to beg for gifts."

Diana's eyes widened in disbelief. "Mrs. Cooper, were you serious about the divorce yesterday? Just because of that coffee?"

Her calculating look was unmistakable.

But Jared couldn't see it.

He picked up the papers, his face darkening. "All this over a coffee? You never told me what you like, so I just picked something. Is this really worth divorcing over?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I turned to Diana. "You usually drink iced decaf, right?"

She nodded, then shrank behind Jared as if struck by a realization, tugging at his shirt with an innocent look. "Mrs. Cooper, Professor Cooper only ordered what I usually get because he's bought it for me a few times. Please don't be mad at me."

Jared stepped in front of her, shielding her, and spoke to me with exasperation. "Stop making a fuss over nothing. If you have time to be jealous and overthink, why not find something productive to do? We can't have kids anyway, and I don't have the energy to coddle your princess tantrums. Take a page from Diana. She's always in the lab early, buried in books. She's only a first-year grad student, but her skills rival third-years. If you had that kind of drive, you wouldn't be obsessing over my every move. It'd be better for you too."

I looked up at him. His eyes were full of exhaustion and impatience.

Who did I quit my job for?

Back then, Jared and I were tied for top of our class. He was the one who wanted a child. When the doctor said my polycystic ovaries needed rest, he insisted I leave my million-dollar-a-year job to stay home and prepare for pregnancy.

Now, in front of others, he mocked me for not having kids and lacking ambition?

I was so angry I clapped sarcastically and sneered. "Jared, why don't you just admit you're smitten with Diana? Why bother tearing me down so indirectly?"

He raised his hand high, his face terrifyingly grim.

The slap never came.

I tilted my face up, staring at him defiantly, a smirk on my lips. "What? Not going to hit me after all?"

Diana threw her arms around him from behind, shouting anxiously. "Professor Cooper! Don't be so impulsive over me!"

He grabbed her hands, not pushing her away, and looked at me with disappointment. "Kathy, how did you become like this?"

Who was the one who changed?

I couldn't be bothered to argue anymore.

I set the house keys on the table with a scornful smile. "Sign the divorce papers and send them to Claire when you're done. She's handling everything. Keep the keys for your star student. Whatever you two do here is none of my business anymore. Just make sure to pay me half the house's current value."

He stared at me intently. "You're serious?"

I didn't answer.

"You'll regret this." He signed his name with a flourish, tossed the pen and papers onto the table, and looked at me coldly. "No need to mail anything. Take them now."

I bent down to pick up the papers, my fingers trembling uncontrollably.

Seven years of marriage ended in shambles.

I couldn't say a word.

I took one last look at the home that used to be warm.

The city's most expensive mattress, bought because of my bad back, had someone else sleeping on it since last night.

Claire called just then. "What time's your flight tomorrow? I'll drive you."

I turned to leave, answering her. "Noon, to Crestwood."

Jared reached out and grabbed my arm, asking out of habit. "How many days are you staying?"

I looked at him deeply, didn't answer, and yanked my arm free before walking away.

Did it matter how long?

I was done with him for good.