Chapter 1 #3
Sloan exited the room and hurried to the doctor’s lounge.
She was exhausted. She had delivered three babies in a 24-hour period, and as soon as she had clocked out, one of her mother’s to-be had come into the emergency room.
She loved her job, but the demand was taxing.
It left little time for a personal life.
She had sacrificed so much to get where she was in life.
While most of her friends had partied their way through their twenties, Sloan had pursued a career.
School had filled her days, and work had filled her nights.
She had been so focused on becoming a doctor that she missed out on a part of her life that she couldn’t quite recapture.
She was a reputable and highly successful OBGYN, but she wasn’t sure the trade-off was worth it.
All her friends had families or serious relationships— at the very least. Sloan had no one.
There was no man waiting for dinner at home.
There was no mess to clean up from kids destroying their rooms all day.
There was no confidante to confide in about the ups and downs of her day.
It was just her. She was one of one, and sometimes the silence could be loud.
Her entire life was predictable and routine, down to her drive home.
There were no kids to pick up along the way.
There were no prescriptions to grab for her needy spouse.
There was just her. She drove the same route, day in and day out, by herself.
Her life was designed for one, and she was incredibly lonely.
Today was no different. When she crossed the threshold of her five-bedroom home, she sighed.
She didn’t even know why she had purchased such a large place.
She had thought she would grow into it one day, but it was only a reminder of her solitude.
A pair of shoes sat by the door. One place setting was arranged on her dining room table.
Being alone wasn’t her choice. She tried to date, but it seemed she had waited too long.
At 39 years old, any eligible bachelor now came with baggage.
Men her age had children, bad credit, and bitter baby mamas.
She brought so much to the table that it was hard to find a man who matched her contribution.
Dating was a joke, and even when she did make time, men often lost interest in her because her availability was limited.
She immediately grabbed a bottle of wine from her collection, poured herself a glass, and kept it pushing to her bedroom.
Her master bathroom was her favorite room in the house.
It was her personal spa. The clawfoot tub called her name after standing on her feet all day.
She peeled off her clothes and then turned on the faucet.
Epsom salt and lavender bubble bath felt like luxury as she poured each into the stream of running water.
She sipped from her glass, almost gulping until half the glass was gone, then she turned on the shower.
She swirled the red wine in her glass once more and measured it by eye.
“Definitely a whole bottle type of night,” she mumbled.
Hurried feet carried her right back to the kitchen.
“The one perk of living alone is I can walk around this bitch naked,” she huffed.
She grabbed the bottle and ran back to her bathroom.
She showered first, to get the germs of the day off her body, before submerging into the bubble bath to soak.
The bottle came with her, fuck the glass.
Every part of her body ached, even her fingertips.
Pulling babies from ten-centimeter wombs all day had exhausted her.
She was too spent to even order dinner. The half-eaten bag of veggie straws she had in the kitchen would have to sustain her until morning.
She wished there were someone there with her to help make this house a home.
She didn’t even need a man to do much. Make his own money, change a light bulb or two, and just order her some dinner on her way home from work.
The luxury of having someone to cuddle next to and ask about her day would be a bonus.
Instead, Pinot Noir kept her company every night.
She soaked until her skin wrinkled and then climbed out.
Her routine was almost too routine. There was no spontaneity, no warmth, no love inside these walls.
She had skipped so many seasons of her young adulthood to guarantee success, and she wasn’t sure if it was worth it.
She was almost out of child-rearing years, with no man in sight.
It was a scary realization that she had possibly missed her window to start a family.
It was a heavy reality to face. She had taken a week off to celebrate Christmas, and she couldn’t even remember the last time she had used her PTO.
She was married to her work. She had vacation time stockpiled, and still, there was anxiety about being away from her expectant moms while she spent time with her friends.
Tomorrow, the festivities would kick off with or without her, however, and she didn’t want to miss out, especially since her best friend, Ellie, was coming home.
It would be a holiday to remember, and she was determined to clock out of work mode and tap into girl time.
She felt like the friend who was constantly dropping the ball, and she didn’t mean to be that girl.
She wanted her girls to know that their moments were important to her, too.
Sloan hadn’t purposefully neglected them, but she knew she hadn’t been as available to them as they had been to her.
She would need to spend the next week making up for lost time.
She felt like their friend group only existed in text messages.
They sent memes and social media posts back and forth to each other all day, but they hadn’t all been together in so long.
Sloan spoke to Ellie the most, which was insane, considering Courtney and Shy lived less than thirty minutes away.
Life had simply been busy, and she had done a bad job of maintaining her bonds.
She prayed there were no bad vibes once they all got together.
Too much time and distance between friends could be tricky.
The last thing she wanted to do was spend her long-anticipated days off wrapped up in negative and awkward energy.