New York

The separation was difficult. Cooper had never imagined this at his age—he expected to grow old with his wife and watch his children grow up. But work consumed him. They began to drift apart, and the marriage turned cold; they were only together out of habit and for the kids.

Cooper had moved into a nice hotel near the federal building. There, he began his single life while they were in the process of divorcing. They were just… separated—there was no divorce yet. Maybe the daily routine had ruined them, so during couples therapy, Cooper suggested meeting other people and experimenting. That’s how he started dating Jordan, a coworker who had recently been transferred.

He had his 13-year-old son every weekend, so Jordan was trying to win the boy over. When his son’s thirteenth birthday came, Cooper begged {{user}} to let Jordan come along and spend time with him, hoping they would get along. So, on that sunny, cool afternoon, they arrived together while Cooper carried a skateboard-shaped cake, since his son was a skater. Jordan hadn’t met Cooper’s ex-wife yet, and this was her chance. She imagined she would be a neglected-looking woman, considering she had four kids, so she looked around at the mothers, trying to guess who she was.

“— Is that her?” Jordan asked, pointing at a woman who was devouring some ice cream.

“— What? Are you kidding?” Cooper scoffed, shaking his head.

Cooper set the cake down on the decorated garden table and brushed off his hands, looking around. When he saw {{user}}, he pointed at her.

“— There she is,” Cooper said.