Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

Overheard: One Side

At first, I thought she was one of 'those ' people, you know the ones you see walking down the street talking to themselves but then I realized she was talking to someone on a Bluetooth devise. I wasn't sitting next to her but she was talking so loud I had no trouble eavesdropping on her side of the conversation. It's not that I'm that nosy but when I'm using public transportation, I tend to notice other riders and wonder about them as we all head to our different locales.
"Hi, it's me; I just called to say I left him last night. Yeah I'm heading to the lawyers right now to start proceedings."
I looked around to locate the person expecting to see a troubled woman whose life was falling apart but instead I saw that she was absent-mindedly twirling her hair with one hand as she did a crossword puzzle.
"No, Claire he is not my sixth husband he is my forth, how could think I've been married six times. OK, that better, I can't believe my bad luck with men. NO, it's not my fault; they seem to change after I get married to them."
Now here I'm thinking that after four failed marriages, some responsibility should be on her shoulders, even if only for her poor choices of husbands. As I heard, her go on, I noticed that Claire was thinking along the same lines by this woman's reply.
"Now look, Timmy was really sweet and I know he loved me but we married so young and, and geese Claire he was such a wimp. Yes, I remember telling you about walks in the park holding hands and all that cuddling but after a while a woman needs a man, surely you'd understand that. I know I broke his heart, but I had to get out before he smothered me. Then Steve, no I mean Mike was kind of a rebound marriage, he was a real man so different than Tim. Yes Claire I know it was a mistake now, but back then I was sure Mike was the man of my dreams."
Here I heard her laugh at something the other person said,
"Yeah I know it was a nightmare not a dream but at least I shed him before he turned me into some kind of housewife or something. Next was Steve, honestly Claire, what was I thinking, what a loser. He couldn't even keep a job and when I told him if he wouldn't go to work then he could stay home and be a househusband he packed up and left."
How could this woman not see that this Steve was a lazy bum before she married him isn't that what dating and courtship is about, getting to know each other.
"I really thought Mark was the one..."
I watched her stand to get off the bus; no, you can't leave now I thought, finish your story, and tell us about Mark. Sadly, I never heard about how horrid Mark was. I saw her through the window still talking but now to a new audience. As for me, I was already wondering what number five would be like.

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