Amber

Brisbane, Australia

Max Pierce was on my mind.

He was stereotypically tall, broad-shouldered, dark-blond, and dangerously handsome. Okay, he wasn't that dangerous if you compared him to snakes, spiders, and sharks in Australia.

We had been married and living in an apartment by the city river for five years. I thought he was a nice guy.

Except he was not.

I wish I had never met him.

Don't get me wrong, the sex was amazing. Max had an athlete's endurance in the bedroom, and I needed a man who enjoyed sex as much as I did. He trained at the gym across the street, so it was no surprise that his body was sin on a stick.

Do I still think about licking it? Yeah, I do.

Max was a lawyer with an office on one of the top floors of the Waterfront building downtown. He knew exactly what he was doing with just about everything.

This meant that he knew exactly what he was doing when I caught him in bed with my ex-best friend, Kelly Champion. She sure was a champion ... a champion bitch and a champion cheater, together with Max.

Jerk.

I had hoped that Max's dick would fall off and he would roll over and die. No, I'm just kidding ... I don't want him dead. Maybe he could:

1. Eat shit.
2. Lose his dick.
3. Shit in his pants.
4. Suffer in his jocks.

Anyhoo, I did not want sympathy for my miserable luck.

However, I did get a little empathy from my new best friend, Zigzag. She was a young, homeless woman who camped outside my apartment building recently.

One afternoon, we sat at the front of the building's brick facade and stared at the people jogging across the esplanade on the side of the Brisbane River.

"I hate today. Do you know why?" I complained, then buried my face into my hands. "A year ago, I lost Max, my ex-best friend, and my job—all on the same day. I felt like I was in a movie, like 'Sliding Doors' or something."

"That sucks, dahl."

"Yeah, it sucks. It didn't take me long to get a new job, though."

"Where are you working, Luv?"

"The Department of Mines and Energy. I'm in public relations."

"Maybe you can be my publicist if I write a book one day, what'dya reckon?"

"I'm not a book publicist. Sorry, hun."

"Ah. Well, it was worth a shot asking. Refresh my memory; your ex-hubby cheated on you a year ago with your best friend, then he piss-farted and did a bloody runner on you?" Zigzag asked.

"Technically, I kicked him out of our home," I said.

For a while, we stared at the river. I took a swig of her cheap Bourbon, then coughed. "Fuck, how do you drink this shit?" I rasped, gasping for air.

"Ah, ya get used to it, dahl," Zigzag said with a twinkle in her eye. I wondered if she was one of God's angels strategically placed in my life to save me. God only knew.

"Nah, I don't think I'll ever like the drink. You can keep it all to yourself." I handed the half-empty bottle back to Zigzag.

"So, this Morty guy—"

"Max, not Morty."

"Yeah, that's what I said. Max," Zigzag said stubbornly. She gazed at the sunset, then continued, "This Max fella. How did youse meet? What's your story?"

I rolled my head back against the brick wall and released a noisy sigh, more like a groan, then fixed my eyes on Zigzag. "Do you really want to know, Zig? Can I call you Zig?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure, dahl. Call me Zig or whateva you want."

"Well, Zig, I'll say it once more. Today hurts more than any other day because it's been a year since I kicked the fucker out of our apartment and filed for a divorce. I'm waiting for a letter from the law court to come any time."

"Oh," was all Zig said, twirling her knotted hair. She glanced down at an ant crawling across a crack on the pavement. She had lovely blue eyes, not as bright as Max's. Hers were more dark-blue.

"Do you know what?" My reddish-brown eyes flashed at her angrily. "The bastard didn't even fight! Not once did he fight for me."

"What's your fella up to these days?"

"He's not my fella anymore. He's Kelly's fella. I haven't heard from him. I try to keep it that way, you know?"

Zig nodded and played with her bare ring finger. I glanced at mine and started playing with it too. It had been a while since I had taken my wedding ring off and sold it on eBay.

"I like your shoes," I pointed out, referring to Zig's sandals with seashell decorations. I usually didn't smoke, but sometimes I felt the need, especially on stressful days. Today was one of those days because it was full of bad memories. I fished out two cigarettes and a lighter from my purse, lit mine, and offered the other to Zig, who took it graciously.

"Taa, Luv. They're from Tarzhay," she sang, lifting one foot to wriggle her toes.

Ah, a Target shopper. In the past, I bought lace lingerie from David Jones, a shopping center with a more exclusive range of clothing. However, I bought my underwear from Target nowadays. It wasn't for the looks, but because the panties were comfortable. Mum scolded me for buying them when we went shopping the other day.

"Who's looking?" I had snapped at Mum at the store. I didn't have much of a sex life these days.

I patted Zig's arm after lighting her cigarette. Curious by nature, I asked, "What's your real name? And where are you from?"

"I'll tell ya when you finish telling me your story," she answered with a half-grin.

"You're in for a wild story," I promised.

A/N: Next up ... meet Max! Like the story so far? Vote and comment, please.

Note that this is just scribbles, completely unedited and I'm winging it. It's a fun outlet to get some energy back from writing my more serious work. I have no intention of doing anything with this story outside Wattpad.