"Getting What I Wanted" by Alex LeGrys

Getting What I Wanted

I was loitering outside the divorce
attorney’s and heard the good news —
the Disney movie ended like
a Thomas Hardy novel

you two stumbled down
the stairwell, making sure not
to brush one another’s arms

I scurried up to the office with
two bottles of champagne — one
for him and one for me in honor of
your newly-found solitude

all I had to do was graze
him under the chin to find out
how much you were paying
her in alimony

I loosened his tie and he told me
the story: Mrs. Ransom took the cats
and walked Mr. Ransom on a leash

good for her I whispered, as I
tickled his waist: the dog wanted to
go out so she brought him to the
dog house, is that right?

something like that, he replied
with a shiver, drawing the office
curtains and refilling my glass

you’ve got something in your
trousers, I said softly, reaching into
the pin-striped pockets and retrieving
the check signed by the dog himself

don’t smudge the ink, the
lawyer said, biting my neck:
don’t worry darling,
I just want to admire it

he laughed, re-buttoning
my cardigan and remarked:
now you know what it’s like
to be a lecher.

alex legrys

Alex LeGrys is 23 years old and received her bachelor’s degree in sociology from Bard College. Her work has appeared in Apricity Press, Better than Starbucks, The Whistling Shade, Bonfire Lit, Blue Lake Review, and Flora Fiction.

Headshot: Shay Limoges

Photo Credit: Staff