Divorce Me on Tuesday
A marriage registrar and a divorce lawyer agree to test whether a perfect breakup can be planned before a first date.
ImagineYourBook writes a fresh draft from this idea.
How it begins
Sam had booked their breakup for Tuesday.
Beth found this interesting because their first date was Friday.
He placed the document beside her coffee with the careful expression of a man offering something he believed would be appreciated.
"Tuesday gives us the weekend to return each other's belongings."
"We don't have each other's belongings."
"Exactly. Excellent time to establish a process."
Through the registry-office window, a newly married couple struggled to fit a balloon bouquet into a taxi. One balloon escaped. The bride watched it rise, then laughed so hard she had to lean against her husband.
Beth looked back at the document.
Relationship Exit Plan. Version One.
"Is there a version two?"
"Usually."
"And you wonder why I call your office the Department of Premature Conclusions."
Sam folded his hands. He was handsome in an irritatingly competent way, with a crooked tie that suggested one small area of his life had escaped review.
"I thought honesty might be refreshing."
"This isn't honesty. It's furniture insurance with eye contact."
He smiled despite himself.
Beth had registered three marriages that morning. One couple had been together forty years. Another had met in March. The third had forgotten the rings and borrowed washers from a maintenance worker. All three had made promises with the same dangerous seriousness.
She knew promises failed.
She also knew that preparing for failure could become a way of causing it.
"What if we don't break up?" she asked.
Sam glanced down.
"The date can be amended."
"Romantic."
"Administratively flexible."
Outside, the balloon had become a pale dot above the harbor.
Beth took his pen.
She crossed out Tuesday.
Sam looked startled, then relieved, then professionally concerned.
"What are you writing?"
"A trial period."
"For the relationship?"
"For your ability to have dinner without discussing its termination."
She signed her name.
Under conditions, she added one sentence.
Bring flowers only if you mean them.
Your idea. Your book.
Keep the spark. Change anything.
Create my bookCreated with ImagineYourBook. Free to use as inspiration.
Outline and characters
- Sam proposes a breakup agreement before their first date.
- Beth accepts as a challenge to his pessimism.
- They test the agreement over a month of ordinary dates.
- Clients hear about the experiment and ask for copies.
- Beth realizes the pact lets her hide her own fears.
- Sam uses a clause to avoid meeting her family.
- They suspend the experiment after an honest argument.
- A client asks whether certainty was ever the point.
- Sam tears up his exit timetable and makes a specific promise.
- Beth chooses him without requiring a perfect forecast.
Characters
- Beth Rowan, 35. A marriage registrar who trusts practical promises
- Sam Archer, 39. A divorce lawyer afraid of making one
Series possibilities
- Beth's colleague asks them to design a vow renewal for a couple who disagree about their original vows.
