Lori had always played by her own rules. She’d made mistakes, she had plenty of regrets, and she made messes. She talked too loud, drank too much, and never stopped for a minute to worry about what people thought of her.
She never finished her degree - she was probably twice as smart as most anybody else around, but she just couldn’t focus. The idea of taking classes just because they were required flew in the face of everything she believed in. She took calculus courses to see if she could handle them (she could), political science courses to see if they bored her (they did), and art history courses because she thought she’d find them interesting (she did).
All the while, she worked odd jobs. She waitressed and washed dishes. She answered phones. She entered data. She was a bike courier for a while, a cashier for a few times, and a house painter for one interminable, hot, horrible day.
She dreamed of selling everything she owned and moving to Europe. Where specifically in Europe didn’t much matter. That wasn’t the point. “Everything she owned” wasn’t much, and that was by design. Lori felt too many possessions pinned you down, and nothing was worse than being held in place.
She didn’t have a boyfriend. She had a few guys in orbit around her most of the time, at varying levels of seriousness, but she didn’t commit. Men bored her, overall. Getting laid from time to time was nice, but she didn’t have the time or the inclination to be in any sort of relationship.
And then, there was Chad.
He wasn’t Lori’s type. He was rich, spotlessly groomed. His last name was on libraries and hospital wings. He used ‘summer’ as a verb. One time he talked about what kind of boat he was going to get once he sold his current boat. Lori nearly vomited.
But he had a certain type of charm that Lori kept being drawn to. The way his eyes crinkled when he laughed. The way he could sit down in any room, anywhere, and immediately look like he was born to be there, utterly comfortable and at ease. Also, he was fantastic in bed, which didn’t hurt.
Lori found herself spending more and more time with Chad. She spent the night at his place, which she’d never done with a guy before. Gave them the wrong idea. Chad had a nice place, though. And his TV was amazing. Huge, with some sort of ultra-HD screen that was probably just marketing bullshit, but really did look incredible. Lori sat up all night watching it sometimes.
Somewhere along the line, she got pregnant. It was odd how much it didn’t bother her. At that point she’d been staying at Chad’s every night for… wow, almost two months. Somehow it just felt… expected. Like it was a natural next step. While she cooked Chad’s breakfast, as she did every morning, she thought about the future. Traveling through Europe, learning new things, having adventures… none of those even occurred to her. Her vision of the future now centered all around Chad. Dressing nicely for Chad. Keeping up Chad’s house. Marrying Chad. Having Chad’s babies. Being Chad’s pretty, sweet, demure, obedient housewife.
Lori - Lauren, she corrected herself, out of nowhere - smiled and hummed to herself as she cooked. Everything seemed so nice now, so pleasant and soft and easy. Maybe while Chad was at work she’d watch a few hours of TV, she thought. She always felt so nice after that. Everything always made so much sense.
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