(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 had just started on dinner when David walked into the kitchen.

“I’ve got to go,” he announced, a slightly apprehensive tilt to his tone.

“I had just started on dinner; can it wait, so that I can have my hands free to take Junior?” I answered.

“The sooner I leave, the better. Diane left the children at my parents’ place and has asked me to pick them up on my way back. Considering the traffic, it’s going to take me quite a while just to get there and even longer to get back to the house.”

It was an explanation that made absolutely no sense.

“She’s the one who took them there and the one who left them there; so, why should you be the one to pick them up?”

“I know, but I don’t want to worsen things by arguing over it.”

“What is there to argue about? She took them, she left them, she should pick them up.”

“Like I said, I know that; I just don’t want to fight over it; there’s been enough of that for one day,” he answered tiredly.

His tone told me I had pushed as far as I should; so, I backed down and changed tact. “Will you be back after you drop them?” I asked.

“What for? So that you can ignore me for the rest of the evening? I don’t think so.”

Although totally justified, his response still felt like a slap in the face, and I had no comeback to it so; instead, I turned away so that he would not see the hurt in my eyes. Perhaps realizing he might have been harsh, David softened his tone: “By the time I pick them up and get back to the house, it’ll be late and I’ll be tired; I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Fine,” I murmured, then blinked back tears before turning back to relieve him of Junior.

Once he was gone, I turned off the cooker and picking up the pan, poured its contents into the bin.

DAVID

My parents and the children were having their evening tea when I arrived and while the girls as usual rushed forward to greet me, Daniel murmured a quiet ‘hello’, staring fixedly into his cup.

My father apparently found it too much effort to answer my greeting, simply giving a short reluctant nod in response and leaving it to my mother to make some attempt at being receptive.

“Should I get you a cup as well?” she offered awkwardly.

“No thanks, mum; the traffic is already pretty heavy; so, we should go before it gets worse.”

“Alright,” she nodded readily, sounding relieved that I had turned down her offer, then turned to the children: “You heard your father; finish up your tea and come kiss me goodbye.”

Thankfully, they were pretty good at taking instructions from their grandparents, and in less than two minutes, the cups were empty, both grandparents had been kissed goodbye, and they were set to go. 

I hurriedly said my own farewells and in a new record, less than ten minutes after I had driven up the driveway, I was driving out again and breathing a sigh of relief at being out of the still tense atmosphere. My relief was, however, short-lived as no sooner had we driven out the gate, than the questions began.

“Daddy, who was that woman with you in the morning?” Samantha began.

My heart skipped a beat, but I forced on a casual air as I answered, “She’s a friend of mine.”

“How come Mummy doesn’t like her?” Stephanie joined in.

Now I felt a sweat beginning to build on my brow, and turned up the AC.

“Well, Mummy doesn’t have to like all my friends; some she does, others she doesn’t,” I shrugged defensively.

“Grandpa doesn’t like her either; when I asked him who she was, he said she was nobody,” Samantha volunteered.

“Then why does she visit him if he doesn’t like her?” Stephanie challenged her sister’s opinion.

“Maybe she doesn’t know he doesn’t like her,” Samantha suggested, determined to stick with her idea.

“That’s stupid; how can she not know?”

Normally, I would intervene to warn Stephanie about her language, but I was so relieved the discussion had shifted from one directed at me, to one between themselves that I let it slide this time.

While the girls’ debate raged on, Daniel remained conspicuously silent, sullenly staring out the window for the most part, but when our eyes met in a brief glance in the driving mirror, there was no mistaking the angry, accusatory glare in his.

DIANE

It was almost eight o’clock when David and the kids finally got back and I was secretly pleased to see him looking like he had just been taken through the wringer, though I could not be sure by whom – the children or his parents. Either way, it did not really matter; as far as I was concerned, he totally deserved it and I did not feel the least bit of sympathy for him.

Since they had school the next day, there was just enough time to get them showered, changed and fed, before it was their bedtime, and with them dispatched to their rooms, and the maid out of sight, David and I were left alone in the living room, engulfed in a heavy and awkward silence.

I knew he expected me to bring up what had happened at his parents’ home, but he was in for a surprise because I had no intention of raising the subject.

Not that I did not want to, but I had spent my afternoon alone doing a lot of soul- searching and reflection, and had come to the conclusion that fighting over it was not going to change anything.

The truth was that no matter what my feelings on the subject were, David clearly considered that whore important enough to introduce to his parents, and me fighting over it was not going to change his feelings about her.

I, however, was not convinced that what he felt for her was love; it was probably lust, or an addiction to the sense of power he no doubt got from being with someone so inferior to himself, or maybe even some severe mid-life crisis; that did not even matter, because whatever it was, it was obviously very strong and was not going away anytime soon.

All that really mattered now was how I dealt with it, and how I ensured that the children and I were not short-changed because of it.

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