The Wife Between Us

Now in third person, Chapter 1 opens on Nellie, who wakes early in the morning to a woman standing over her, dressed in her new lacy, full-skirted wedding gown. Before she can scream and reach the baseball bat beside her nightstand, the hallucination fades. She falls back, wishing her fiancé Richard was home to comfort her. Since childhood, Nellie has suffered from insomnia, but her sleeplessness intensified after an incident in college. She briefly saw a counselor but was not willing to open up fully and soon stopped going.

As Nellie prepares for a long day of parent-teacher conferences for her preschool class, she receives a call from a blocked number. Then comes a voicemail: quiet, rhythmic breathing. It is the third one she has received this week.

Nellie convinces herself that her anxiety is a result of all the upcoming changes in her life. Soon she’ll be marrying Richard, moving in with him, and beginning an entirely new life. A sweet text comes in from Richard, and Nellie’s worries dissipate. 

Vanessa is awoken by the shriek of her Aunt Charlotte’s kettle. She lays in bed, curled up on the left side, leaving the right side cold and empty for the memory of her ex-husband. She thinks of Richard, remembering the sweet things he would whisper to her and sure he is doing the same to her replacement, the young woman who is as “soft and innocent” as Vanessa was before she met Richard (11).

Moving through the motions of her day, Vanessa compares her present life to her life with Richard. Noticing her roots beginning to show, she pulls out a box of hair dye to touch it up rather than have Richard pay for an expensive salon appointment; reaching into an antique armoire, she remembers her walk-in closet, filled with the designer clothing she would put on just before Richard got home. Though she preferred a sweater and leggings, she is grateful for the clothing now. She pulls on a white Chanel dress—now too big from the weight she has lost—to look her best for her sales associate position at Saks.

Vanessa joins her aunt for breakfast, meditating upon the sacrifices Aunt Charlotte has made to accommodate Vanessa and the times she swooped in to take care of her as a child. Charlotte believes her niece to be the victim, cast aside by the man she loves for a younger woman. However, Vanessa indicates that she played a role in the destruction of their marriage.

Throughout Vanessa’s workday, thoughts of her ex-husband haunt her. She encounters Hillary Searles, the wife of one of Richard’s colleagues. Hillary forgets a platinum bangle in the dressing room. Vanessa rushes to return it to her but overhears Hillary telling her sister that Richard got everything in the divorce and Vanessa has been a disaster ever since. Vanessa is stunned. She places the bangle on her own wrist.

Vanessa remembers the last time she saw Hillary at a party Richard and she hosted. The caterers were late—which Richard blamed Vanessa for—so they were serving their guests themselves. Vanessa recalls the dread she felt as Richard asked her to retrieve a case of Raveneau from the wine cellar—a case Vanessa knew was not down there.

Hillary returns for her lost bangle, her eyes dropping to the platinum band on Vanessa’s wrist. Vanessa quickly hands it back to Hillary, explaining that she was keeping it safe. Hillary believes her and the women exchange niceties before Hillary begins to leave. She stops, turning back to gently inform Vanessa of Richard’s engagement. Vanessa makes it to the dressing room before collapsing into a sobbing heap. 

On her way to work, Nellie passes three turn-of-the-century grave markers. She is drawn to the headstone of Elizabeth Knapp, a young woman of 26 or 27 years old. She wonders how Elizabeth died, if she was married, and if she had kids. The church bell chimes, warning Nellie of her impending meetings.

Her first conference is with the Porters, an Upper East Side set of overbearing parents. Though Nellie praises their son for his kindness and generosity, the Porters only care about his academic performance. Nellie’s frustration builds as the Porters talk over her with condescension. Mr. Porter asks if she’s from Florida. His question alarms her, as she’s been so careful to never let any personal detail slip out. The meeting ends abruptly. Irritated, Nellie remembers all the sacrifices she has made to serve her students, including taking a second job because she is underpaid. Nellie leaves and runs into Mr. Porter. She asks him why he thought she was from Florida. Casually, he replies that his niece went to Grant University and someone mentioned that she did as well. Though it is likely the Porters asked for her credentials, she is unsettled, searching Mr. Porter’s face unsuccessfully for the familiar features of a classmate or sorority sister.

Nellie rushes from work to meet Richard at a restaurant, regretting the two glasses of wine she had with her colleagues. Running late, she remembers how much Richard hated his ex’s lateness. All Nellie knows about Richard’s first wife is that she lives in New York and has long, dark hair. When she sits down with Richard, she tells him she’ll only have a small glass of the bottle of wine he ordered. He sends the bottle back, pleasing her, as he remembers that she gets headaches when she drinks during the day, the very first thing she told him about herself.

Nellie recalls their first meeting: She was flying back to New York from Florida when the soldier beside her was offered a seat by a first-class passenger. Richard took the seat next to her, soothing her anxiety about flying with a drink and a story. She noticed immediately that his ring finger was bare, and the two spent the flight talking. As the plane landed, he asked for her number; while she wrote it down for him, he reached over to admire her long blond hair and told her to never cut it.