“Are you freaking kidding me, Erin?” The words of my lover had cut me deep many times before, but this was different. A voice full of contempt and anger filled the void of the room as I blankly stared at the marble countertop in the kitchen. Was that stain always there? Maybe I should clean it.

I glanced over my packed bags ready to make a break for the door. I knew this conversation was going to be tough, but Tim was not exactly making things any easier.

“Erin! Are you even listening to me?” Tim’s emerald eyes were locked on mine. He was always an intense and passionate person. Which led to amazing sex but tough conversations with Tim were always unpleasant.

“No, I am listening, Honey, I’m just—”

“Seriously! We had your mom’s funeral yesterday and you’re just going to walk out on me, on…

“US.” He shouted as he paced in the kitchen. I looked at one of his paintings on the wall. It was of a lighthouse sitting in the darkness of Lake Michigan. He had done the lighting in a very abstract way, and it was my favorite painting of his. I always loved spending time up there. God, I wish I was there now.

He continued his barrage of anger and contempt. “Babe, I know we talked about this a million times, but I always thought you were going to stay.”

“Stay…STAY… You’re the one who refuses to come with me. I want nothing more than for you to come with me. In fact, you forgot the part—”

“Are you kidding—”

“LET ME TALK” I shouted. Tim stopped dead in his tracks. He slid to the ground with his back to the kitchen cabinet under the sink. Hunched over, his hands on his long blonde hair. I walked over to him and crouched down to meet him, looking into his eyes for the first time.

Tim's face although in distress was still beautiful. I always called him my Thor and he called me his Jane. That was probably due to the fact that he said that my facial features reminded him of Natalie Portman. I always disagreed with him, but Tim was a lawyer. He knew best.

“Look, honey.” I took his hands into mine and kissed them. “How many times are we going to beat a dead horse?” I said in a gentle tone. Tim sighed and took a deep breath. “I love you so much honey, yes, I am leaving but I am not leaving you. I am upset that you can’t come with me but sweetie I need to do this.” I was always good at talking him down. In fact, I was good at talking anyone off a ledge. This probably was because of my choice of profession. Being a nurse post-COVID talking fast was a requirement.

“I know, I know, I know. I just freaking hate this so much. I wish I could come with you."

“And you can visit me anytime sweetheart,” I said with a gentle smile.

“Why can’t you just sell the house? We can pay someone to deal with it. I think it is unfair that your mom never told you anything and then out of the blue she just has this massive estate.” Tim said in frustration. “Because of her, you are now set for life. You can go back to school and be a nurse practitioner. Hell, you can do anything you want.

“And I want to do this.” I looked at him stoically.

“And what does THIS even mean.” He said in a mocking tone.

“Tim, what THIS means if you have actually been listening to me the past few hours, consists of me checking out the house that my mom left me and trying to figure out how and why she was able to acquire all of this wealth. She was a teacher, none of this makes sense. I feel like she lived a double life or something."

“Yeah, it’s easy, she was a drug dealer. Take the money and move on." He said dismissively.

“Says the criminal defense lawyer.”

“Ma’am, I will have you know that it’s innocent until proven guilty.” He smiled at me; his savvy smile always made me feel better.

“Okay, so now that we are actually getting somewhere with our conversation, can we talk about the elephant in the room?" I stood up and reached my arms out for him. He accepted them and I pulled him up.

“Ah, yes, that would be EGG-scellent!” he jested. I ignored him. Giving Tim the satisfaction would only encourage him, and I needed to keep him on task.

The kitchen had a giant island table in the middle of the room. I was always annoyed that Tim used it as a storage place for all of our mail. In fact, I told him often where all of our mail was supposed to go. I had a filing system and everything. I always thought lawyers were organized.

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“Alright, Khaleesi let's break this sucker open.” He ran to the opposite side of the table and rubbed his hands together blowing on them like an idiot.

“Tim… focus,” I said as I rolled my eyes.

I looked at the table. Where junk mail and books that Tim would never read also sat a mysterious egg. It was purple and around the size of a basketball. It looked as if were stone. If I imagined a dragon egg this was what it would look like. Next to it sat the last letter my mom ever wrote. The day after she died our lawyer talked to Tim and me, telling us of the vast fortune my mother had left us. He also gave me the keys to the lockbox and an address for the bank where the box was located. He stated that my mom wanted me to visit it.

My mom was a very dramatic person and even upon her death, I was still dealing with her theatrics. She always loved to as she called it—create— ‘positive drama.’ I followed the address that the lawyer left me and found her letter, three keys, and what appeared to be an egg. Her letter said how proud of me she was and that in her will she left me a house, along with a ‘little bit of money’ I would later talk to the estate attorney telling me that it was in fact a rather large sum. Her will stated that everything needed to be done in a particular manner.

In her letter, she told me that she wanted me to live out my dreams. She also expressed her feelings that I was not living life the way I wanted. ‘For myself', as she stated. I never told Tim about that part. I just told him it was her telling me how much she loved me. I wasn’t lying, but I didn’t tell him everything. My mom was my best friend and knew me even more than I knew myself.

Her instructions in her letter said that I needed to go into the house with the egg and ask myself If I am truly leading the life that I wanted to live. Unfortunately, I already knew the answer to that question. I thought it was sad that Tim could not see it, and thought it was even sadder that I couldn’t communicate that to him.

In truth, I was happy that Tim could not go with me. A part of me was relieved. I hadn’t felt free in a long time. This was the perfect excuse to get time on my own. My mom was offering me that chance and I’d be stupid not to take it. I didn’t know or even care what that chance entailed. I fucking missed her and wanted to feel closer to her. Something Tim would never understand. He was estranged from his parents from a young age.

“Earth to Erin, do you read me, Ms. Evans?” Tim held up his hand to his mouth to imitate a walkie-talkie. So, glad he’s in a great mood, I thought.

“Sorry honey, I blanked. What did you say?”

“Well, as I was saying…why don’t we just put the egg in the oven and see if it hatches.” He joked.

“And how do you know it’s an egg? It just looks like a stone sculpture to me.” I narrowed my eyes questioning if he read my mom’s letter. The argument would make more sense. His contempt would make more sense.

“Babe…Babe…BABE. I am way more qualified than you in this realm,” Tim said.

“Yeah? How so inspector?" My eyes locked onto his.

“That’s Mister Inspector to you missy! Okay, so hear me out. I have read and watched way more fantasy movies than you have. And either one of two things are happening.” He said.

“I’m waiting, Mister Inspector,” I said in a sultry voice. His eyes perked up. “I love it when you talk to me—”

“Babe focus,” I shouted to him.

“Alright, alright. So, option one.” I knew Tim was waiting for a dramatic drum roll.

“I’m not doing it.” I crossed my arms in defiance.

“you’re a brat,” he said in annoyance.

“don’t…tempt…me…” I looked at him with the best bedroom eyes I could conjure.

“Hey, I thought you wanted to me focus,” he said in protest.

“Maybe.” I walked into the living room where all my bags were waiting for me. He followed close on my heels grabbing my waist.

“Do you really have to go, babe?” He asked. As he turned me around.

“Yes, I do,” I said coldly. “So, what were your theories, professor?”

“No, it’s inspector to you,” he jested. Pulling me in for a kiss. I kissed him back biting his lip as he pulled away. “You can’t get me excited before you leave.”

“Already have.”

“That’s no fair.”

“Come visit me then.”

“Well, now I’ll have to.”

“So glad that is the only reason.”

“So not true. It is so much more than that.” He countered in playful delight.

I loved our banter. Truth be told that was my favorite part about Tim. Yes, he was a selfish person most of the time, but his intellectual banter was among his best qualities. I picked up a couple of my bags and Tim got the rest following me out the door.

I opened the trunk of my car and threw my bags in. Tim followed suit. “Anyways, so I’m dying to hear your theories.”

“Oh yeah,” he chuckled. “My first theory is that the so-called 'egg' has a dragon inside of it, and we need to throw it into a fire in order to hatch it. After that, we take over the whole kingdom.” Tim seemed very amused with himself.

“And the second theory?” I asked as he handed over the ‘egg’ to me.

“Well, the second is that your mom was a drug dealer who took way too much of her product during her lifetime.”

“Tim, that’s not funny,” My tone shifted as I leaned into the car putting the ‘egg’ and the letter in the passenger seat.

“Too far?” He shifted his head down to the sidewalk.

“You know better,” I said in a solemn voice.

“I’m sorry babe, I don’t want you to go.”

“Let’s end our conversation on a good note,” I said reeling in my emotions. I wanted to punch him in the face.

I got into my car and closed my door. Tim looked at me as if he was a puppy dog. His lips were quivering. I waited for what I thought was a decent amount of time and rolled my window down.

“I thought you weren’t going to roll it down,” he said thankfully.

“I am not mean like you are,” I said.

“I am just passionate babe,” he leaned in for a kiss.

“Same difference honey,” I reciprocated making sure to tease him with my tongue.

“I love you so much, don’t forget about me,” he joked.

“Couldn’t even if I tried babe. I do love you believe it or not,” I teased as I smiled looking him up and down. He bowed in dramatic fashion.

I pulled my car out of the driveway waving at Tim as I left the house. I couldn’t stop thinking about what surprises my mom had in store for me. More importantly, I felt free for the first time in a very, very long time.

A new beginning, I thought to myself as I drove with a smile plastered onto my face.