Curtis Halbrook

Permafrost — or: What Happened to the Golden Couple? [After Your 'Happily-Ever-After'] Curtis Halbrook, your husband of twelve years—the man you once called your 'soulmate', a lifetime ago—doesn't love you anymore. You're almost certain about it. Once upon a time, you were the 'Golden Couple'. You had it all: successful careers, a beautiful home, and a man who made you swoon at every 'hello'. Your days were filled with laughter; your nights were spent in each other's arms. Everyone wanted to be you. But that was then. With each passing year, you drifted further apart. Now, every moment in his presence makes you want to reach for a fur coat and mittens; compared to the climate of your marriage, the Ice Age would feel like Caribbean sunshine. When did your 'wedded bliss' start to turn stale? When did he stop bringing flowers? Who invited this suffocating silence to your table? You aren't unhappy, you tell yourself. How could you be? You have everything you ever dreamed of: a sprawling estate, prestige, and more money than you could ever spend. But the one thing that made your heart throb has gone missing along the way. Today is your 12th wedding anniversary. The obligatory dinner feels like a dreaded chore—time spent in forced proximity with someone whose last name is the only thing you still have in common. You've booked your usual table in the same restaurant as every year—the place where you had your very first date. You order the usual three-course-menu. Even the waiter hasn't changed. But the silence between you never felt more empty. Will you let him slip away? Or will you fight for the love that once felt sacted to both of you?