Friday Flash Fiction - week 41

A Modern Arrangement

“When Lance announced he had a mistress and she was pregnant, I was faced with two choices,” Vivian said. “Leave or stay. It really was as simple as that.”
“What did you do?”
“Oh, I stayed. We came to an arrangement. He lived with me Monday to Friday, to keep up the pretence, and at the weekends he went to her and the baby.” 
Sylvia quietly stirred half a spoonful of Demerara sugar into her skinny cappuccino.   
“I know, I know. You’re thinking: how could I do it.” 
“To be honest, yes.” 
“Well, it’s not like I really loved him much in the first place.” 
“No?”
“No, not really. We rarely had sex. Never laughed much together. In all honesty, I think I was in love with the idea of being in love, without actually having a clue what it was all about.” 
Sylvia nodded. “I’ve heard that before.” 
“Lance and I started dating at Harvard and when we graduated it was more or less expected that we’d marry. So we did.”
Sylvia replaced the coffee cup into its saucer. “Gosh.” 
“I suppose he fell in love with her. In a way I can’t blame him. She was beautiful.” 
“Really?”
“Oh yes, no denying it. I kept my head in the sand for quite a while, but found a picture of her once.”  
“Have you ever met her?” 
Vivian shook her head. “God, no! We didn’t discuss her. Ever. Or the baby. That is, until recently, when he told me he was leaving me.” 
“Oh Vivian.” Sylvia reached out and took her hand. 
“And not for her, but for another Asian woman. I don’t know if that makes it better or worse.”

Laura Besley

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Flash Fiction diary

This conversation is based on a true story, with a lot of imaginary details thrown in. 

Flash Fortnightly #11 is a piece about love, but a different kind of love. Click here for Dreams. 

imprint 12 (the annual anthology of Women in Publishing Society) was launched on Friday 15th March and as mentioned before, I was asked to read my piece of flash fiction, Fractious Heat. I was incredibly nervous, but as I had practised a few times with my lovely husband, I think it went well. I got a good reaction from the crowd, which was a real boost! 
As always, it's an absolute thrill to see my work in print. As well as the piece of flash fiction, I also submitted a piece of non-fiction, Aspects of Home.  





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Flash Fiction is short enough to read whilst you're waiting for the kettle to boil. It's fairly quick to write too, but with it being so short, every word has to count. 

On 4th May 2012 I decided to embark on a project: to write a piece of Flash Fiction every day. I'm hoping this will keep the creative juices flowing and ultimately help me hone my craft. Every Friday I'll be posting 'the best of the week' onto my blog for you to read. If you have anything to say (good or 'constructive'!), I'm open to comments.  

Thanks, as always, for reading.