Three is a crowd: After hospital scene, Diane wants to give David taste of his medicine

(Continued from last issue)

David and Diane have been married for years; then there is Julie, the young secretary whose axis collides with the couple’s in ways none of them saw coming.

JULIE

“I want to begin by thanking you,” David’s father began seriously, then went on to clarify: “Thank you for loving my son; for loving him honestly, purely and selflessly. Thank you for being his support system – not just with the Katosi project, which I hear you are handling wonderfully, and I thank you for that too – but for being his support system with life as a whole.”

He paused for a few seconds to catch his breath, and then continued: “He’s soon going to need that support more than ever, and I’m counting on you to continue providing it.

“Of course,” I nodded solemnly. “It’s not going to be easy; his wife comes from a rather powerful family, and she’s no pushover either; so, expect some pushback. Just remember that you’ve got my support, that of my wife, and if my son has any sense, you’ll have his support as well.”

“Thank you,” I bowed my head respectfully.

I had not been quite sure what to expect when David told me that his father wanted to see me, but it certainly hadn’t been this candid blessing, and just like I had been when David put me in charge of the Katosi project, I was determined not to let him down.

I was about to assure him of that when we were interrupted by a disturbance outside in the corridor; I had heard raised voices moments earlier, but David’s father had been speaking, so I had tried to block them out.

However, now that he had fallen silent, it was impossible to ignore them any longer, and as they grew louder, we could make out who they belonged to; David’s mother’s was the loudest, closely followed by David’s, and then a lady’s voice that I could not immediately identify.

David’s father, however, clearly did. “Speak of the devil,” he sighed and murmured under his breath.

DAVID

I could not remember the last time I had been so angry; I was mad at my mother for obviously spoiling for a fight, and at Diane for being so bloody stubborn, and not backing down, even when basic courtesy and respect dictated that she should.

To top it off, she was embarrassing me by not just arguing with me in front of my mother, but also blatantly refusing to listen when I asked her to leave.

“Diane, this is neither the time nor the place for this! We can talk about it at home, but right now, I really need you to leave,” I growled, my tone low and hopefully sufficiently threatening.

For a second it looked like she was about to, but then the door to my father’s room opened and Julie stepped out. I groaned inwardly as I saw the fury and fire reignite in Diane’s eyes.

In sharp contrast, Julie’s eyes were filled with fear, and she kept them firmly focused on me, not so much as glancing in Diane’s direction, though she obviously knew she was there.

“Please keep your voices down, your father is trying to rest,” she said sternly, her voice just loud enough to carry over to Diane, who was now staring at her with hate-filled eyes.

“Sorry, Diane was just leaving,” I gave Diane a meaningful glare of my own. In response, she walked up to us, and from her purposeful stride, I worried for a second that she was going to strike Julie, and braced myself to stop her if she so much as tried to raise her arm.

She, however, stopped just inches from us, her face up close to Julie’s, so it was impossible for her to continue to ignore her, and after a few seconds of silence, hissed a single word through gritted teeth.

“Pathetic,” she jeered in disgust, and then turned on her heel, and stalked off.

DIANE

There was no denying that my visit to the hospital had been a complete disaster, but after I had moaned about it to Tracy – since it had been her idea in the first place – as I had done so many times in my marriage, I picked myself up, shook off my disappointment, and began planning my next move.

After what I had seen at the hospital, the fact that David’s whore had been visiting with his father, while his mother had been strutting around with their bastard son like a proud grandmother, it was obvious that his whore had completely ingrained herself into the fabric of their family, and that my children and I had been shoved to the sidelines.

However, as concerning and upsetting as that was, it did not change the basic facts; one, that David’s father was dying, and David was his heir, and two, that no matter how deeply his whore had wriggled her way into his family, I was still his legal wife – in name, if in nothing else.

Tracy’s idea to go to the hospital had backfired, but I knew she was right about the fact that it would be stupid of me to divorce David right before he came into a huge inheritance; so, I decided that I would put up with all of David’s shenanigans and stay married to him – at least until his father died and he received his inheritance – and then I would make my move and have my revenge.

David’s whore might have him wrapped around her little finger, but I knew he would not want a divorce. Besides the fact that he would not want to split his new assets with me, divorce did not fit in with his status or image in society, especially not for a ‘downgrade’, which is what his whore was, and we both knew that.

That left him with two options; either he could get rid of his whore and try to repair our marriage, or he could keep her, and I would then give him a taste of his own medicine.

If he was not going to be faithful and keep the vows he had made, then there was no reason for me to honour mine either. Being the proud man that he was, there was no way David would agree to the latter – his pride simply would not let him – and that really left him with only one option; getting rid of his whore. Checkmate.

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