clear-headed & clear-hearted

we must protect the sanctity of divorce

newly discarded abby langdon being furious, petty and rude and mean about mel king – she’s like hello rue, you owe me money :)! and then the first chance she gets to catch mel without frank for once, she’s made her mind up to really give it to her. so when she sees her putting gas in her little volvo at the shell on east liberty, abby pulls in, parks, and marches herself right over. with a relish. she’s like oh hi, little miss homewrecker? :))) lovely morning. hey, you know what i was thinking i might do for my first weekend without the kids i love and adore and cherish and never used to have to spend time away from? i was thinking i might do something fun like, i don’t know, find your last boyfriend, whoever he might be, and fuck him silly. i haven’t figured out the point system yet – and for the record as it stands it’s abby langdon zero, little miss homewrecker two – but i do think it’s extra points if he dumped you. you want to give me a head start and tell me who he is, or should i default to sorting it all out on instagram? and poor deer-in-headlights mel’s tank is only half full at this point, darn it, and she lowkey does guiltily feel like she deserves a little bit of the contempt abby is throwing at her (she’s actually been expecting it honestly), so instead of shrinking into the drivers seat and closing the door the way she wants to, she takes it all nobly on the chin and quietly says, “frank is the only person i ever dated, actually.” and waow, if there isn’t just a ton of shit to unpack there. but really abby doesn’t care, doesn’t want to think about the implications of all that right now, she’s too busy being pissed and hurt about everything, so she charges on anyway, and just goes, oh god. fine. how about i’ll just find your father on facebook and ruin your parents’ marriage instead. how’s that sound, huh. that’d be poetic justice enough for me, i think. mel’s tank is three-quarters full by now, and she does wince a little as she says, “oh. my dad is dead.” which does give abby pause for one single second, mostly while she tries to figure out if that’s the truth or not, she really doesn’t know this girl, but then mel, still trying to be helpful in the face of an incident so awful, visibly brightens, and offers in earnest, “☝🏻i have a cousin in florida you could try to date...”

langdonmel working on a patient together who asks if they’re dating and they both immediately answer at the same time but mel laughs and says “no!” while frank gives a very solemn “no….🙁” and mel snaps her head to look at him like ?????