Alex stood and waited outside the dance club. Becca had found him sitting on the curb, with his head in his hands, and went to him.

"What's wrong? Why'd you leave?" she asked.

"Did you see Marcy in there?" Alex asked after a few minutes passed.

"Yeah. She's at the table with those two guys we met at the party."

"Can you ask her to come out?" Alex asked.

"OUr drinks just came, though. Why?"

"Just ask her to come out here, please."

Becca looked at Alex and nodded. He watched her as she entered the club.

Alex liked Becca. They had known each other since high school. It was Becca who introduced Alex to Marcy, a friend she had made in college, on break a few years ago. She was as shocked - and happy - as anyone that Marcy and Alex became a couple. The visit here had been Becca's idea. They'd spend the weekend with Alex, checking out the city where he lived. Maybe that would rekindle the spark between Alex and Marcy.

But the opposite happened.

Alex watched the door and saw Marcy come out. She was clearly annoyed, as if she had been summoned by the school principal and thought it was a waste of time.

He stood and waited for her.

"What's up?" she asked.

"I came out of the bathroom and saw you kissing one of those guys," Alex said.

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

She clearly didn't mean it. The response hit Alex like a punch to the face.

"That's it? You're sorry?"

"What do you want me to say?" she asked, lifting her arms to say "So what?"

"How about you came all this way to see me - something you wanted to do because you've missed me so much. And I'm not even gone 5 minutes and you're kissing a total stranger."

"It just happened. It's nothing."

"I know you. You're not the 'I'm gonna kiss everyone I see' type. Christ, it took three dates for us to kiss."

"You're a slow mover."

"WHATEVER," he shouted.

"Look, don't blow your top with me. I said I was sorry. What else do you want?"

"We're going back in there and I'm going to tell those guys we're leaving - you, me, and Becca. They want to stay? Fine. But they're not coming with us."

"I can't do that," Marcy said.

Alex looked at her. "You can't do that? Why the hell not?"

"I'm having a good time," she said. "Look. Don't worry. Just come back inside."

She turned and left.

Alex sat back on the curb. The anger he felt from the blatant betrayal was dwarfed by the shame. The utter, overwhelming shame that washed over him. He knew it had been a bad idea to stay with Marcy after he got the job. It meant moving to a different city hundreds of miles away. She pushed to stay together. "We can use technology. It'll be like we're still together."

And for a few weeks, it worked. But the demands of Alex's job made it more challenging to connect at the set times. The demands of her final year in grad school also pulled her away. This visit was intended to reset the relationship. She'd be done in a few more weeks and could come to live with Alex. He had leased the apartment - a larger one than he needed - with that idea in mind. And while they hadn't talked marriage, he felt it wouldn't be too long after she moved in that they would get engaged.

But now, the scales were off. He could tell she wasn't serious. And he fallen for a lie.

"Excuse me. Are you ok?" a woman's voice asked, snapping Alex out of his daze.

He looked up and saw a woman standing over him. She didn't wait for an answer but sat down next to him.

"I saw the whole thing," she said. "I even saw the kiss in question and caught the look on your face. I followed you out. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Alex said. And he laughed. He actually laughed.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"The absurdity of this," he said. "I haven't seen my girlfriend in months. I turn my back for 10 minutes and she's kissing another guy. And she's not even sorry about that."

"That is pretty bad," she said.

They talked for a while. Alex unloaded on her about the trip, how the night had gone, what Marcy's visit meant. He was well into it when he paused and apologized.

"I don't even know your name, and I'm dumping on you."

"It's Tricia," the woman said. "Call me Tricia."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Alex."

"I know."

"Well this is probably not how you planned to spend the evening, and it's sure as hell not how I expected mine to turn out."

"But good things can sometimes emerge from the ashes," Tricia said.

A car pulled up to the curb where Alex and Tricia sat. Three women sat in the car.

"Trish, we're going. You can stay if you want, but you'll have to Uber home," the driver said.

"I'm ready," Tricia said and stood up. She turned to Alex, who also got up.

"You want to come with us?" she asked. "We're going back to Sandy's house. Probably have a few drinks before heading home."

"Yeah come," the driver, Sandy, said. "We have room. And it looks like you've had a bad night.

Alex looked at the car full of women. Then looked at the door to the club. If he left, Becca and Marcy would be on their own. Their stuff was at his apartment. They had no idea how to get there. And they were with two men who had tagged alone from a party earlier. Alex felt a strong sense of responsibility to stay.

But then he remembered the look when Marcy said, "I'm sorry." He knew she didn't mean it. Worse, he knew that she knew.

"Yeah. If you guys have room, I'd love to come along," Alex said. He slid into the back set and took the middle position. Tricia got in next to him and closed the door.

Alex's phone dinged an hour later as Sandy drove him home.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!! WE NEED TO GET TO YOUR PLACE AND I DON'T HAVE THE ADDRESS!" the message from Marcy read. Alex moved the message, and entire history of messages from Marcy, to the trash. He went into his contacts and blocked her number. Then he turned his phone off.

He felt free.