My Husband’s Best Friend Toasted To Me As “The Temporary One” At Our 3rd Anniversary Dinner. I Just Found The “Future Plans” Folder For His Ex In His Locked Desk. How Do I Get My Revenge?
New Beginnings
The community college had a continuing education photography course that met Tuesday and Thursday evenings. I signed up online and paid the fee without asking anyone’s permission or justifying the expense. The first class was in a building I’d never been to before, a newer facility with big studios and equipment rooms. I showed up 15 minutes early because I was nervous and didn’t want to walk in late.
The instructor was a woman in her 50s who introduced herself and told us to grab any seat. I picked one near the middle where I wouldn’t be too visible but could still see the board. Other students filtered in, and I realized most of them were older than me—people taking classes for fun or career changes. Nobody knew me or knew about David or knew anything except that I was here to learn photography.
The instructor started by asking why we’d signed up, and people gave different answers. Some wanted to take better family photos; some were interested in starting photography businesses. When it was my turn, I said I’d always been curious about it and finally had time to take the class. That was true enough without being the whole truth about how I was rebuilding my life from nothing.
We spent the first class learning about camera basics and different types of photography. The instructor showed us examples of portrait work and landscape shots and street photography. She gave us an assignment to take 20 photos of things that interested us and bring them to the next class. We could use any camera we had, including our phones. I left feeling excited about the assignment, already thinking about what I wanted to photograph.
I sat at my kitchen counter 3 months after the anniversary dinner that had destroyed my marriage. My coffee was getting cold while I looked through the photos on my laptop from my latest class assignment. They weren’t perfect, and some were badly composed, and the lighting was off in a few, but they were mine. I’d taken them because I wanted to, not because someone told me to or because they fit into someone else’s vision.
There was a photo of the sunrise from my apartment window, one of Saki laughing at something Dominic said, several of random objects I’d found interesting like a rusted bike chain or raindrops on a leaf. The instructor had said I had a good eye for finding beauty in ordinary things.
I thought about Lucas calling me the temporary one in front of 12 people. It had been the worst moment of my life, but also maybe the best thing that could have happened. If he hadn’t said it, I might have stayed married to David for years, always wondering why I felt like something was missing, never knowing I was just a placeholder until someone better came along.
Now I was building a life where I wasn’t temporary or secondary. I wasn’t waiting for someone to decide I was good enough or comparing myself to whoever came before me. I was just Jennifer, and that was enough.
