Unreasonable Behaviour For The Divorce Papers by Katy Ward

By storgy in Flash Fiction Friday on
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The Respondent routinely makes lewd remarks about the physical attributes of other women, which makes the Petitioner feel disrespected and unattractive.
“I heard him on the phone to his brother the other day talking about our 16-year-old dogwalker. He said: ‘it should be illegal for her to saunter into my house with such a perfect arse when I’m meant to be a married man’. Then he guffawed.
Of course, it wasn’t technically true when I told the solicitor it made me feel
‘disrespected and unattractive’. What really bothers me isn’t that he says stuff like this, but that I no longer have the energy to be jealous.”
The Petitioner and the Respondent have not engaged in sexual intercourse since February 2020 and he frequently stays up until three am surfing the internet.
“His after-dark activities are nowhere near as scandalous as they’ll sound in court. I know exactly what he gets up to when I’m in bed: research for his PHD. He’s forever going on about ‘working towards a better future for us’. It’d irritate me less if he were watching porn: at least that I could understand.
We did make the effort to have sex on Valentine’s Day (and it was an effort). Back then, we were kidding ourselves the marriage still had some life left in it. The second he fell asleep, I ran into the bathroom and cried. The next morning, he claimed he was ‘glad things were back on track between us’. Sad really.”
Since January 2020, the Respondent has refused to attend family gatherings with the Petitioner, which causes her significant embarrassment.
“He reckons Amy and Brian’s wedding was the final straw. ‘Never again’, he yelled through the bedroom door.
Apparently, he’d thought he was being romantic suggesting we renew our own vows. Insensitive prick. Is that really a good idea when a relationship is in the state ours is?
I probably should have told him I was leaving before the ceremony, mind. Amy is my cousin and she’s always been snotty with him.”
The Respondent frequently drinks to excess and is prone to emotional outbursts while under the influence.
“Don’t think I could handle another incident like last Father’s Day with all the tears and self-pity. I was the one who almost bled to death during the third miscarriage. Not him. How was his drinking half a litre of vodka going to change that?”
The Respondent places excessive demands on the Petitioner’s emotional life and hinders her attempts to form relationships outside the marriage.
“He’s been declaring his undying love every five minutes since I mentioned the word ‘divorce’. It’s really getting on my tits.
The borderline stalking was especially mortifying when I was having sushi with Michael on Tuesday. He called twice demanding to know where I was and who I was with. I almost felt sorry for him.”
*****

Katy Ward

Katy Ward is a freelance journalist from Hull. Her work has appeared in The Metro, LoveMONEY, The Overtake and Independent Voices. She has a BA in English from Oxford University and a postgraduate diploma from City University.

Follow her on Twitter

Cover image by Free-Photos

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