(Continued from last issue)
David and Diane have been married for years; then there is Julie, the young secretary whose axis collided with the couple’s in ways none of them saw coming
JULIE
I was tidying up the living room in preparation for David’s daily visit when there was a knock at the door, and I frowned in a mixture of surprise and confusion since it was only four thirty. David was not due to arrive for at least another hour.
I headed for the door with a faint sense of irritation that he had not let me know he would be early; it was important for me to have the apartment in order when he came, and even though he was coming to see Junior, I liked to have showered and freshened up before he arrived.
However, when I opened the door, it was not David standing there, but Kenneth!
“Kenneth!” I gasped in shocked surprise. “Hi, Julie; can I come in?” he asked quietly. “Uhm, yeah, sure, of course,” I stuttered, and quickly stepped aside to let him in.
I was delighted he was here, but the knowledge that David was coming as well, got me nervous and jittery.
“How are you?” he asked conversationally, bending down to pick up Junior who had until then been engrossed with a set of blocks, but was now bouncing up and down excitedly, his hands raised in a plea to be lifted.
“I’m alright, thanks; you?”
“I’ve been better – I’ve missed you,” he answered candidly, his voice sombre.
For a few seconds I was not sure how to respond, but then decided the only way to, was by being as honest as he had:
“I’ve missed you too.”
Encouraged by my confession, his tone became passionate as he went on: “I want us to make this work.”
“So do I, but I don’t know how to. You know what my position is, and I got the impression when I left that you aren’t able to accept that position; has that changed?”
“I have to admit that it’s not going to be easy; there’s no man who’s going to be alright with another man looking after his woman, but this time apart has shown me that it’s even harder to be without you; so, if I’ve got to accept David’s part in your life to keep you in mine, then that’s what I’ll do,” he promised.
DAVID
I quickly developed a routine that was designed to keep both Julie and Diane satisfied; I would go to the apartment each day after work to spend time with Junior and take him off Julie’s hands for an hour or two before going on to the house, arriving just in time to freshen up for dinner.
After dinner I would help the children with their homework, before Diane got them ready for bed, and once she was done with that, we would typically sit and talk or watch a movie over a glass of wine before heading up to bed, and the next day, I would do it all over again.
It was a simple routine that worked perfectly; so, I stuck to it until that Thursday afternoon when my last meeting of the day ended earlier than expected, and with nothing else on my desk that needed urgent attention, I decided to head to the apartment early and catch a bit of extra time with Junior.
I arrived as it was approaching five and was just about to knock at the door when I heard the key turn in the lock and assumed Julie had seen my car arrive in the parking lot and was meeting me at the door; but then it opened and I felt my blood run cold, for standing right next to her was that bloody doctor.
At the sight of me, she looked like she had seen a ghost and actually staggered back a step; shock, horror and guilt on her face.
As for that doctor, he remained as cool as a cucumber, apparently totally unfazed by the fact that I had just caught him in an apartment that I paid for, with the mother of my son.
His cavalier attitude infuriated me and for a fleeting second, I considered turning around and leaving, but the thought of leaving him with Julie and Junior stopped me; he was the intruder, not me; so, if anyone should be running off with his tail between his legs, it was him, and not me.
Ignoring him, I focused on Julie.
“Where’s Junior?” I asked coldly.
“Uhm, in his crib, I…” she started to stammer. Not waiting for her to complete her answer, I brushed past her and went into the apartment, leaving her at the door with the doctor.
DIANE
In the days since my discussion with Tracy, I tried really hard to follow her advice, but found it increasingly difficult to do so.
Not that David was not coming home each night, or that he was not spending time with the children or giving me money; just knowing he was spending time with that whore and her son each day grated on my nerves.
I quickly discovered that having your husband return home smelling of baby powder was worse than having him return smelling of another woman’s perfume, and that a patch of milk spit on his shirt cut deeper than a lipstick smudge on his collar.
While David still doted on the girls and I had no worries about the strength of their bond, the same could not be said for his relationship with Daniel.
Daniel had always been a ‘mummy’s boy’ mainly because he felt his father was too demanding and that he could never meet his high standards; so, rather than try and end up feeling like a failure, he had chosen to retreat and find refuge and solace with me instead.
David, on the other hand, felt that because of his poor health, I coddled and spoilt Daniel and that he now used his health as a crutch to get out of applying himself to his full potential.
They were both right and over the years, I had come to accept that although they were father and son, they were very different people and that’s just the way it was.
However, now that there was another son in the picture, I could no longer accept the status quo between David and our son, and since neither one of them seemed to be concerned enough about the state of their relationship to fix it; it fell upon me to try to find a way to bridge the distance between them.
But how do you fix a relationship that’s been broken for so long, and how do you bridge the distance between two people, when neither of them is prepared to take a step towards the other?
These were questions that gave me sleepless nights.