Mum, why didnt you invite me to your birthday? Her fingers tightened around the phone until they turned white. You know why her mother sighed. The way you left the family your father cant forgive you. And Dave well, hes always taken Sylvias side, and she doesnt think much of you either.
Katie stood before the mirror, adjusting her eyeshadow. A rare evening without the kidsher friends had convinced her to go out, to clear her head. The divorce wasnt final yet, but she couldnt stand living under the same roof as her husband any longer.
Youre the one tearing the family apart, her father had said.
You always make things difficult, her brother had echoed.
Shed long stopped explaining. What was the point? Male solidarity would never let them take her side.
But it stung most coming from her mother. Perfect people dont exist, youre living in a dreamworld. No one understood what she was unhappy about. Which meantthere must be something wrong with her.
Her phone buzzed. Lizzies voice crackled through the receiver:
Ready? The cabs outside!
Yeah, on my way.
The kids were asleepher mother-in-law had agreed to stay with them. Not her own mother, who was still punishing her for wanting a divorce, but her ex-husbands mum, the only one who didnt seem to curse her name.
Youre sure youll be okay? Katie asked at the door. Call if anything happens. Dont hesitate!
Go on, love! The woman waved her off. Theyre not babies. You deserve a night off once in a while.
She nodded, but something clenched inside her. Once in a while. She hadnt been anywhere in three years except school runs and parent-teacher meetings.
The club was loud, trendy. Katie felt a flutter of nervesit had been so long since shed gone anywhere, danced, felt like a woman instead of just a mother, a wife, a failure whod abandoned a “proper family.”
The music was deafening. Strobe lights flickered, laughter bubbled, strangers pressed close, the scent of beer and expensive perfume thick in the air.
There you are! Lizzie grabbed her hand. We started without you!
Katie smiled and drained her first glass in one go. God, it had been too long.
Dancing?
Maybe later, I
Then she saw them.
At the big table in the center of the roomher brother Dave, his wife Sylvia in a glittering dress, her father with a flute of champagne, Aunt Louise, Uncle Victor her whole family.
What Her voice vanished.
Lizzie followed her gaze:
Oh, look! Isnt that your lot? What a coincidence!
Coincidence?
Thenclick. Wednesday. Her mothers birthday.
Mum, your birthdays on Wednesday, right? Shed asked over the weekend. We always celebrated on Saturdays. Same this year?
Her mother had avoided her eyes.
Oh, who cares about Saturdays? Not this year, love. Things came up
Things? Right. Things like gathering everyonewithout Katie. Celebrating. She was the spoiler. The problem.
You okay? Lizzie frowned.
Katie stepped back.
I I need to go home.
What? You just got here!
But she was already walking to the exit, heart pounding, hot tears blurring her vision. None of them had even noticed her.
In the taxi, she pressed her forehead to the window and finally let herself cry. Silent, soundless. They didnt want to see her. Maybe they never had.
The cab stopped outside her flat, but she didnt want to get out. Everything inside burnedanger, shame, that endless question: why? Whats wrong with me?
Before she could slam the door, her phone buzzed. A message from Dave:
*Hey. Mums birthday today. Did you say happy birthday?*
She sat on the bench outside, typed back:
*I was there. You didnt see me.*
She closed her eyes. Breathed. Deleted it.
Her phone buzzed again. Mum.
Hello? Her voice shook.
Are you all right? Her mother whispered, as if afraid of being overheard. Dave said you werent replying
I was at the club.
Pause.
What club?
The one youre all at right now.
Silence. Then muffled chatter, like her mother had covered the receiver.
You saw us?
Yes.
Another pause. Longer.
Mum why? Her grip on the phone turned her fingers white.
You know why her mother sighed. The way you left the family your father cant forgive you. And Dave well, hes always taken Sylvias side.
And you?
Silence.
The answer was clear enough.
Inside, the kids slept. Her mother-in-law took one look at her face and didnt askjust poured tea with honey.
Drink. Youre shaking.
Katie took the mug and suddenly sobbed like a child:
They were at the club. Threw a big party. Without me. On purpose. They dont want me there.
Her mother-in-law squeezed her hand.
Thats rotten. Cry it out. Then ask yourselfdo you want to be around people like that? Are they worth your tears?
Hard to say. Feels like Ive been alone forever. Now its just official. Katie wiped her face. Why are you on my side? Ive wanted to ask.
I know my son, love. Saw right away you were cut from different cloth. But you tried so hardthat deserves respect. And you gave me these wonderful grandkids.
Katie smiled. She had tried. Too hard. Shed filed for divorce after a year and a half of marriage.
Because she was tired of adapting, bending, forever compromising. Her husband was in the militaryhome only to rest.
Shed been twenty. Shed wanted an easy life, not this endless performance of happy homemaker, the perfect wife who had it all together.
But everyone told her: *Youre the problem. A man like that? Whats wrong with you?* Shed believed it.
Shed swallowed it down, learned her mother-in-laws recipes, had two kids. But nothing helpedKatie was miserable. She never got used to him.
Life was hard enough without forcing yourself to fit someone elses mold. He wasnt cruel.
He just never saw her. Never understood her. After ten years, they had nothing left but the children.
The morning after the party, a text from her father:
*You ruined it again. Mums upset.*
Katie didnt reply. Instead, she opened her laptop, messaged Alice, and started looking for train tickets. She had to leave. Even if just for a while.
Two weeks later, she stood at the station with three suitcases and two kids.
Mum, where are we going? her eldest asked.
On holiday! For the first time in years, Katie smiled.
Will we come back soon?
I dont know!
The train carried them southto the sea, to warm winds, to salt air that would wash it all away: the hurt, the guilt, the lump in her throat that hadnt left in years.
The kids, confused at first, now pressed against the windowthis was an adventure.
Mum, will we really live by the sea? Jacks eyes shone.
Yes.
Shed bought tickets to a little coastal town where shed spent summers before marriage.
Alice, an old friend, had written when the divorce began: *If you need to escape, come. Theres room.*
Alice met them at the stationhugged her tight, no questions.
Itll work out, was all she said.
And somehow, Katie believed her.
The first days were strange: waking to silence (no calls, no accusations), brewing coffee, watching the sea. The kids ran on the beach, shrieking with joy.
Within two weeks, she got her first job offer. Alices neighbors needed a tutor for their son. Katies English was flawless.
A month in, her phone rang. Mum.
Have you forgotten us? Her voice trembled, but not with anger. Something else.
No, Mum. But I needed to go.
Pause.
We we were wrong. Im sorry.
Katie smiled.
Im not angry. But I need time.
And the kids?
She looked out the window. Jack and Lily were building a sandcastle.
Theyre fine.
She never went back.
Ten years later, she still lives in that seaside town, teaching Englishgroups, private lessons. Word of
