“Maybe I’ll just destroy them and never do it again.”

“What are you talking about Mallory?! That’s crazy. Just stop throwing parties at my house before you break anymore of my furniture.”

“We agreed that when we got married we would make compromises for each other. Throwing parties with my friends is part of my life. Our marriage would not work if we only did what you wanted.”

“Breaking my kitchen table from having people dance on it is not essential to your life. I’m going to be honest, you are being ridiculous. I’m going to go for a walk before I get too mad. Don’t destroy the rest of the table while I’m gone.”

With a rattling slam of the front door, Mallory let out a huff and threw herself on the couch. Mallory and Matt had just gotten married a week ago, and they were already facing the troubles they were worried would come up. The couple mutually decided to move into Matt’s 5th floor apartment in Chicago. He liked to keep his space tidy and simplistic. His place also included his 2 year old pitbull, Luna, who inhabited a soft dog bed in the corner of the room. Mallory glanced out of the tall windows that let in the dull light from the cloudy day. The feeling of disappointment in her marriage boiled in her throat. There were no noises in the room, except for her deep breathing and the pattering of Luna wandering around. Her anger towards her new husband shifted to hatred for herself. She really thought it could work this time: maybe she was not destined for love.

After making it down the last set of stairs to the apartment entryway, Matt pushed through the glass double doors. The wide sidewalk provided a walkway for him to let off some steam. The irritation in his brain began to calm down, and started to feel physically tired. This made him sad because this was not the first fight they’d had since they said, “I do.” He was exhausted from being the bigger person in their arguments: he was the one who did not yell and told her how he felt. In his head, he started to get mad at her again, but at the end of the day he loved her. I must have said ‘I do’ for a reason, he thought. The day was fading away, and so he made is way back to their home. They did not speak to each other for the rest of the day, and went to sleep in separate rooms.

Mallory woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. She was already breathing heavily, and shivers went down her body.

“Matt!” She screamed. He came rushing into the bedroom to hold her. All the hatred from the day before melted into unconditional love to care for his distressed wife. She reciprocated his hug with holding his arms.

“I’m so sorry Matt. I will do better to listen to you. I promise.” Mallory said through intermittent sobs. Matt did not respond, not wanting to get his hopes up, for she had said this before. Though, he gave in and internally decided to give them another shot. They both fell asleep in each other’s arms with the moonlight softening their faces.

The next morning, Matt had to go to work at his business office. Luckily for Mallory, she had the day off.

Mallory, still in her pajamas sipping some fresh coffee said, “have a good day at work, Matt.”
“I’ll see you tonight. Don’t. . .” He hesitated, and decided not to finish telling her to not destroy his house. There’s no way, he thought, that she would throw another party.

Matt’s work day was long, and he was anxious to get home to Mallory. The long time without seeing her made him grateful that she was in his life. Bubbly on the walk home, he noticed purple and blue lights flashing from their apartment window. He stomach dropped as he ran up the stairway.

Later that day, once Matt left the apartment, Mallory wallowed around aimlessly. She felt lost: it was going to be the first Friday where she did not throw a get together party with her friends. Mallory slumped onto the couch and watched TV. Then, she tried getting ready for the day. These distractions were not working, and so she thought about a way to invite her friends over without having a rager. As a compromise, she called her party loving friends to come over for a casual lunch.

The door bell rang, and in rushed sparkle-decked woman with champagne and assorted food platters in their hands.

“Hey Mallory! I was worried you weren’t gonna have us over again since we broke your table last night. Sorry by the way!” The girls all laughed, clearly not too sorry.

“It’s okay. We just can’t go crazy like we were in college anymore. Not here, anyways.” Mallory still felt guilty about the broken furniture, and was starting to regret inviting anyone over.

“Don’t worry, Mal! We’ll be chill. Hey, someone want to help me pop this champagne?” One of her friends chirped.

As the afternoon progressed into night, the casual talk turned into drunken cherokee, and the lamp light was replaced with the party lights they had used the night before.
Matt shoved his apartment key into the lock, scared of what he would see. Throwing the door open, he caught Mallory having another party with her friends. The music was so loud, no one noticed at first that Matt was home. He stood in the doorway, watching Mallory’s friends dance on the tables and spill champagne on the couch. Mallory, who finally turned around, was so startled by his sudden arrival that she jumped backward. This knocked her friend into the platter of pre poured champagne glasses. The flute filled with bubbly party fuel clattered to the ground, shattering upon impact with the floor.

“That’s it,” Matt stated, “we’re done.”