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How It All Fell Apart

Originally posted Thursday August 04, 2005 06:00 AM EDT

Aniston and Pitt in 2004. Photo by: Eric Gaillard / Reuters / Landov

She certainly looked that way at Chicago's RL eatery on Aug. 2 – the day her revealing Vanity Fair comments became public – where she was spotted lunching on a Cobb salad with her close friend, hairstylist Chris McMillan, and two female companions. "She seemed so happy about everything," an observer told PEOPLE. "Very natural and laid-back, just chatting away."

Clearly she has a lot to say. While Pitt, 41, has remained vague on the subject of the couple's split, Aniston offers the most insight yet into what went wrong between the two. When Friends finished shooting in January 2004 – the same month Pitt started filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith with Jolie, 30 – "he just wasn't there for me," Aniston says of the emotional milestone.

She also passionately disputes the much-repeated rumor that an uninterest in having children contributed to the couple's rift. "A man divorcing would never be accused of choosing career over children," she says. "That really pissed me off. I've never in my life said I didn't want to have children. I did and I do and I will!"