**********
Jim
My stupid wife had done something that confounded any logic that might have previously ruled our marriage. She did something so outrageous to end our marriage that it left me breathless. I was literally unable to draw air into my lungs. I had to sit because I was dizzy. The world suddenly was tilting on a different axis. I must have been having a nightmare, but I was wide awake.
We were at a very expensive restaurant with a group of our friends for a Valentine’s Day dinner and dance. It ended in such a way that left no doubt in my mind that my marriage was suddenly ending. Until that night I would never, and I mean never, have thought that my wife would do what she did and in the cold and heartless way that she did it.
Her friend Dee, tried to tell me that it meant nothing to our marriage. She tried to say that Linda loves me a lot and this would only be one night in our entire lives. She wanted me to ignore the fact that my wife had left the restaurant with some asshole football player.
My own wife had never said anything to me before that she wanted to fuck around in our marriage. She had always professed her love for me and been a great mother to our kids. Now, she had just thrown it all away. On the spur of the moment?
This wasn’t rational thinking at all. Had she been hit with the Martian Slut Ray when she was in the washroom? Or maybe she was inadvertently hit in the head with the Stupid Rock.
I was fuming mad and the looks that I was getting from my so-called friends, told me that they were not going to be any help. I had to get the fuck out of there. I went up to the hotel room that we had taken for the occasion and collected our things. I was so mad that I put all of Linda’s in the garbage. I packed the bag and left the hotel. Dee was waiting in the lobby and told me not to do anything stupid.
“Don’t worry Jim, she’ll be home in the morning and your life together will go on. Remember that she loves you very much. And she’s the mother of your two children. Remember that.” The last part of her words was said to my back as I was making tracks out of the hotel.
I went home and pulled out the bottle of bourbon that was in the cupboard over the refrigerator. I poured myself a good amount and sat at the dining room table trying to fathom just what had happened and why. My brain was in overload and I couldn’t believe that Linda had done what she did. Why did she do it?
Did she hate me that much? I mean, I didn’t have any indication that she was unhappy. I didn’t have a clue that she wanted to leave me. And to run off with some other man without so much as saying ‘I don’t want to be married to you any more,’ that was the part that seemed to hurt the most.
Shit! The kids! They were at her parents’ house for the night. I’d planned on picking them up about 10 AM, after breakfast. I still had to do that.
I didn’t sleep at all. In the morning I went to the shower and stood there letting the hot water try to clear the fog in my head. The image of Linda walking out, behind my back, kept replaying in my brain. Like it was happening all over again. ‘FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!’ I swore to the shower walls.
I had no clue what to do. Was she actually coming back, like Dee had said? Did she expect me to welcome her with open arms and a kiss and act like nothing had ever happened? My world was spinning on a different axis right then and I felt light headed and had to sit on the floor in the shower with the hot water pelting me.
I made some coffee and sat back at the table trying to think. I’m a pretty smart guy. I can solve some very complex problems in my working life. Up to now, my family life had been pretty straight forward. There were always new situations that would take some discussion between Linda and I, but now this, this was quite different.
My disgust was at the point that I wanted to do something right then and there. But I knew that I had to talk to her before I took action.
I called Linda’s mother and father and asked them if they would mind keeping the kids for the day. I told them that Linda and I had a few things to sort out before we picked them up. They were happy to keep the kids. The kids always get spoiled by their grandparents so it wasn’t a big ask.
I went back to another cup of coffee and tried to figure out what I was going to do.
About 2 PM, a very expensive SUV pulled in to my driveway. I could see that Linda was in the passenger seat and a big guy behind the wheel. They talked for a minute and then she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the lips. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My rage peaked; again.
She got out of the SUV and walked up the walkway to our front door. I heard her key in the lock.
“Jim, I’m home.”
I didn’t answer.
“Jim, I’m home. Where are you dear?”
She came around the corner and saw me at the dining room table with my coffee. “There you are Dear. I’m home. Are you okay?”
I just looked at the woman. “What the fuck do you think?”
“Let me get a cup of coffee and then we can talk.”
“Don’t bother. I’m sure that you’d rather be getting packed to go back to your new boyfriend. Or is he your boyfriend that you’ve had for a while now?”
“Don’t be ridiculous Jim. What I did last night was a one-time thing. I’m home and we need to go get the kids.”
“I called your mother and father and asked them to keep the kids until tomorrow.”
“Why did you do that?”
“I told them that you and I had some things to sort out before we got the kids.”
“What things?”
My fuck! Are you brain-dead? “What the fuck do you think! Are you leaving me? Is that why you left with that guy last night? Why didn’t you just tell me that you wanted out of our marriage?”
“What the hell are you talking about? I don’t want out of our marriage. I love you and I love the kids and I love our life and home.”
“Then why did you run off with that guy last night leaving me at the restaurant, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on?”
“Jim, darling, it was something that I needed to do and the opportunity was given to me and I had to make a decision quickly. Didn’t Dee talk to you? She was supposed to explain.”
“Oh yeah, she talked to me alright. She told me that you were leaving with a football asshole and would be spending the night with him. She tried to butter it over by telling me that you love me and would be back today and everything would carry on just fine.”
“Well, I am back and we can get back to our life together.”
“Why did you go have sex with him?”
“Jim, darling, I did it and I know that I’ve upset you, but you’ll see that it means nothing to our marriage and our family…”
I put my hand up to interrupt her, “…It means a lot to me. A fucking lot!”
I stood up and went to the kitchen. Linda got up, put her cup in the kitchen sink and then turned to go to our bedroom. “I’m going to clean up. We can talk when you calm down.”
I couldn’t believe the temerity of the woman. She wants me to calm the fuck down so we can talk.
I waited until she had showered and put on some jeans and a shirt and came back down.
“So, what does this mean for our marriage? Are you going to be seeing him regularly, now?”
“Oh god Jim. That was a one-time thing and I will never be repeating it.”
“I see. So where does that leave us?”
“Dear, the same as it’s always been. We’re a family. We have us and our children and our careers and this home. That’s all the things that makes us a family.”
“What about your boyfriend? Where does he fit into this equation?”
“He’s not my boyfriend, get that fact into your head. There’s no boyfriend.”
“Then what the fuck was last night?”
“That was just one night, that was nice for me, but means nothing to our family.”
“Well Linda, figure this out. It means a fuck-of-a-lot to me and get that into YOUR head!”
I turned and walked away.
**********
Jim
God almighty! I can’t for the life of me figure out why my wife decided ‘on the spur of the moment’ to ditch me in front of all our friends and go have sex with some asshole, just because he’s some well-known football player. I know the guy has a reputation as a ‘man-whore,’ but really, did that mean that she was easy pickings? Was she that weak in her character to just forget that her husband was right there. In front of her. Really?!
She had her friend Dee cover for her as she slipped out the back door of the restaurant. The bouncers covered the exit and one of them even went to the coatcheck, retrieved her coat and took it to the parking lot where fuckhead had his car. This smelled and it smelled like shit to me.
I got in my car and drove to Dee’s house. Her husband Dave answered the door. He looked at me with a sheepish expression on his face and stood in the entrance. It was clear that he wanted to know what I wanted before he was about to let me in.
“I want to talk to Dee.”
“What about?”
“What the fuck do you think!”
“You’re not going to do something stupid or violent are you?”
I exhaled deeply because I was holding my breath. “No, I’m not going to do anything stupid. I just want to talk to her. I have a few questions that I need answers for.”
Dave slowly moved to the side so I could come in. Dee was in the kitchen and I could hear the rattling of dishes in the sink. Dave led the way back to the kitchen. I didn’t even take off my coat. Dee looked at me with a very wide-eyed expression. “Is Linda home?”
I answered, “Yes, she’s home.”
Dee exhaled. “Good, I’m sure that things will be just fine, now.”
My anger was building again. “Is that what you think? You think my wife of nine years can just ditch me without so much as a thought to what it was going to do to me and take off with some asshole football player and have sex with him all night and then casually come home and expect that it will mean nothing to me, mean nothing to our marriage and everything will be just as it was before? Hunky-Dory! Is that what you think?”
“Jim, Linda loves you and the kids and this was just a one-time thing. It was an opportunity that came to her and she took the chance. She knows that you love her and she knows that your life with her will go on. She will work very hard to be the great wife that she has always been. Can’t you see that?”