(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

Diane’s appearance at the hospital had filled me with a range of emotions, from fear to anger and embarrassment, and from the hard set of his jaw, and visible pulsing of a vein on his throat, David was obviously just as upset as I was.

Although his father had warned me about Diane, I had not expected to have her in my face – literally – quite so soon, and feeling more than a little rattled, I was overwhelmed and unsure of how to react, especially with David’s mother there.

So, I gave in to my first impulse, which was to flee.

“I need to get Junior to the daycare and get to the site,” I spoke slowly to stop my voice from trembling.

“Yes, of course; I think the driver has arrived, so he can take you,” David agreed, no doubt grateful for the change of subject. “When do you want the car back? Should he come for you after dropping me?”

“I’m not in a rush so you can keep it for the day as usual; if I need to go somewhere, Dad’s car is in the parking, so I can use that,” he said.

“Alright, thanks,” I nodded, then turned to his mother to retrieve Junior. “Thank you so much for coming, and for the basket you brought too,” she thanked me with a warm smile as she handed over Junior.

“Don’t mention it, it was my pleasure,” I brushed off her thanks, and then without quite thinking about it, I went on: “You should come for dinner at the apartment; it’s not far, and it will give you a break from the hospital for a while.”

The invitation had been totally impulsive, and it was only after I had already made it, that I worried that I had been too familiar. It was however a worry that David’s mother quickly dismissed.

“How thoughtful of you! Thank you; I would like that,” she accepted the invitation gracefully.

DAVID

I was caught totally off-guard by Julie’s invitation to my mum to go for dinner at the apartment; not only because it was a very uncharacteristic forward move for her, but also because she had not discussed it with me beforehand.

That was not to say I was particularly upset – if anything, it was actually a very touching and thoughtful thing to do; it was more the fact that she had not bothered to consult me first that disturbed me.

We had always had a rather traditional relationship, at least as far as roles and the hierarchy in our relationship were concerned; I was the head, and the provider, while she was my support system, and homemaker.

I liked it that way, which was why her independent invitation to my mother had gotten me jittery; it seemed to point at a change in her meek character, which had always provided such welcome relief from the dynamics of my marriage to Diane, (which was basically a constant power struggle).

I determined to keep an eye out for any other changes in her that might potentially be red flags. Thankfully, when my mother and I eventually arrived at the apartment a little after six, Julie was back to her usual self, nervously fussing over my mother and I, as she served us a sumptuous dinner.

My mother was on her best behaviour as well, and did not bring up Diane once, focusing instead on Junior, and complimenting Julie on the food. Although she insisted on returning to the hospital, saying she could not leave my father alone overnight, she agreed that going forward, since the apartment was so much closer to the hospital than their home, she would use it as a base to rest and rejuvenate, whether that be with a homecooked meal, a hot shower, or simply a power nap.

This time, it was me who had made the invitation, though Julie had emphatically seconded it, which was exactly as it should be; me taking the lead and making decisions, and her supporting and implementing those decisions.

All things considered, the evening had been a success, but as I drove home to the house I shared with Diane after dropping my mother back at the hospital, I was filled with a sense of trepidation that I would not be able to say the same about the night ahead.

DIANE

I could tell David was geared up for a fight from the minute he walked through the front door that night.

“What was the meaning of that?” he demanded, without so much as a “hello”.

“The meaning of what?” I answered calmly, my tone even, but my voice cold. I knew exactly what he was doing; going on the attack right off the bat, so that I would go on the defensive and not get the chance to attack him over his own cockups.

I also knew that I was not about to let him turn this one on me. “Don’t act the fool! You know exactly what I’m talking about! What was the meaning of you turning up at the hospital like that?”

“I went to the hospital to see my ill father- in-law, like any good daughter-in-law would do; it’s not my fault you had your whore there,” I retorted sharply.

“You knew he didn’t want you there! My mother asked you to leave; I asked you to leave; why didn’t you just go instead of starting a fight?”

“Let’s get something straight David; I didn’t start anything! The problem was not me coming to the hospital, the problem was that your whore was there! If she hadn’t been, we wouldn’t have had a problem, because in all likelihood, your mother might have huffed and puffed, but she would ultimately have let me see your father to try to make peace with him, which was all I was there to do. The reason she didn’t, was that she was there, and we both know that, so don’t try to turn this on me, because you are the one who took her there!”

“You shouldn’t have come,” he mumbled, the fight gone out of him as he realized that I had seen right through his ploy.

“And you shouldn’t have taken her there,” I answered with a flippant shrug, before going on more seriously: “Just remember one thing David; you’re the one who chose to have this affair, and while you’re obviously very happy with it, this is not what I signed up for when I married you.”

“Like I’ve told you before, right or wrong, what’s done is done, and I can’t go back and undo it!” he exclaimed in exasperation.

“Maybe, maybe not, but that doesn’t mean I have to accept it; you can’t just change the rules mid-way and simply expect me to go along with them,” I answered dryly, and then getting up from the couch in the living room where I had been sitting, walked off towards the staircase, leaving him to stew over my words.

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