“Good evening,” she says as she catches up to me.
“Hi,” I say.
We walk in silence until we get to the gate that leads up to The Ridge. I let Archie off his lead, and he runs off looking for rabbits.
“Does he ever catch a rabbit?”
“No, he barks and chases after them but never has caught one. I think he only does it for fun.”
“To have the problems of a well looked after pooch.” She pauses for a second, “so did you hear and see the latest episode of the Peters saga.”
“Yeah, getting a bit like Eastenders.” I look for a reaction, “I saw Mr. Peters come outside a bit worse for wear and promptly fall backward off your wall.”
We continue silent for a moment, but then she just bursts out laughing. “Oh, I shouldn’t laugh, but I watched from the kitchen window, and you couldn’t have made it up.” She moves in closer, “I need to run something by you. It’s only an idea at the moment, but before I make a decision, I need to know what you think.”
“Okay, that sounds ominous.”
“Well, it’s scaring the shit out of me.” She says without looking my way.
We walk the rest of the way up to The Ridge in silence. All the time, In my head, I am running through what she might want.
Archie, as always, reaches The Ridge well ahead of us. He’s sniffing around the tree bases and cocking his leg every five seconds, leaving his mark.
“Before we have this conversation, I need you to swear that you won’t tell another soul what I am about to ask.”
“What not even Jenifer?”
“Okay, you can tell Jenifer, but only in that code of yours. But you need to swear no one else.”
“Okay, I swear I won’t tell anyone about this conversation.” I think I would have said anything at this moment just to hear what she wants.
She takes a deep breath. I can see she is still hesitant to say whatever she wants. Once the cat is out of the bag, there’s no putting it back. Finally, she turns towards me and leans in so she doesn’t have to speak too loudly. “Right, you know that Jack and I are having a problem conceiving, and Jack has taken the news rather hard.” I stay quiet because this isn’t where I thought the conversation would go. “When I said you reminded me of Jack when we first met, it got me thinking.” She takes another deep intake of air. “What I was wondering was whether you would consider making me pregnant?”
“What? No, no-no-no. I can’t do that. You’re married to Mr. Peters.” I say, standing up. “If we did that, it would mean you would have to cheat on Mr…..” This is too much to take in.
“Rob, please listen to me.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Peters, but I have always looked at your marriage as……oh, I don’t know…….Perfect, I suppose.”
“Rob, we are far from perfect. We have our ups and downs, but this is really tearing a hole in our relationship.” She walks up behind me and pulls me around to face her. “If I don’t do something soon, the damage will be too much to repair. Rob, you will be saving my marriage.”
“How will you getting pregnant by me save your marriage. Mr. Peters will get twice as upset to know someone else could do it when he couldn’t.”
She looks into my eyes, “please, Rob. He will never know. It will be our secret, he will think he has fathered a child, and everything will return to how it was.”
I look at her with an exasperated look. She starts to cry, “I will think about it, but no promises.”
“That’s all I want; just think about it for the next day or two.” She smiles through her tears and then turns, “come on, we best get back.”
We walk back down the hill in silence. My head is going a hundred miles an hour, and I can only feel sad that something I valued so much isn’t as perfect as I thought.
The weekend goes by in a daze. Mum sends me to bed because she doesn’t want to catch whatever I have. This is one of those times when I wish Jenifer were around. Everything changed on Sunday night; I’m sitting in my room, as usual, finally putting the finishing touches on my Harrier. As I lay the GB stickers on the wings, I hear an almighty crash. I look out, and Mr. Peters has driven his car through the garden wall. My first thought is that he won’t fall off that again, but then I see Mrs. Peters comes running out. She helps her inebriated husband into the house before coming back to check the damage.
She locks the car up, and as she goes back into the house, she looks up at my window. At that moment, I feel her heartbreak, and tears form in the corner of my eyes. At this moment, I decide to help her in any way I can.
******
Monday morning arrives; it’s damp and grey out as I walk over towards the Peters’ house. The car is still halfway through the wall with the front wheels on the grass.
I knock, and a very hung-over Mr. Peters answers the door. “Morning Rob,” he says in an I feel sorry for myself way.
“Morning, Mr. Peters,” I reply in a low voice.
“She’s just putting her face on. I’m off today, got to sort that mess out.” He says, pointing to the wreck in the garden.
“Did you hurt yourself, Mr. Peters?”
“Only my pride Rob,” he gives me a half-smile and returns to the sofa where there’s an Alka-salsa fizzing away.
I awkwardly sit down and wait for Mrs. Peters to finish getting ready. “So, Mr. Peters, how do you plan to get the car out of Mrs. Peters’ rose bed?”
“Don’t mention my Rose bed.” Mrs. Peters says as she walks in, putting in her left earring. “It’s a very sore subject.” Mr. Peters gives me a ‘thanks a lot’ look as he puts his empty glass back down. “Come on, Rob; we’re running a little late.” She picks her shoulder bag and keys up, “I’ll see you later, love.” She walks over and kisses her husband on the cheek before heading for the front door.
Mrs. Peters pauses a moment to look at the car that has destroyed her roses. She gets into her car and leans across to open my door. I get a fleeting glimpse of the top of her right breast and black lace bra. As I open the door, it occurs to me that I had never looked at Mrs. Peters in that way. What is wrong with me, she is a beautiful woman, and I have never looked at her in that way until today?
As she backs out of her drive, I wonder if it has to do with our conversation on The Ridge and the decision I come to the previous night.
“Rob?” Mrs. Peters says, breaking my train of thought.
“Yes. Mrs. Peters?”
“I think you can start calling me Jill. Especially after our conversation the other night.” She pauses a moment, “so, did you think about what I asked?”
“Yes, well, I couldn’t think of much else.”
“And?”
“And, after what happened last night, I have decided to help you.” Mrs. Peters, Jill, gasps, and a smile spread across her face.
“I must admit it made my decision a lot easier.” There’s a moment’s silence. “So, what next?”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking. Can I ask you if you are still a Virgin?” I wasn’t expecting this question, and my only reaction was to go red and look down at my feet. “Oh, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, and it helps me in the way I can approach it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, my biggest problem with this is the simple fact that I will be cheating on my husband. It doesn’t matter how good the reason I am doing it is; I can’t get away from that fact.”