Shutdown Fever

That evening as he sat in the cafeteria he happened to look up and see his friend Frank Carpenter walk in. "Frank, come on over and sit down. Where have you been lately? I haven't seen you for a couple of weeks."

Frank joined Hugh at his table and said, "Yeah, it's been a while. They are short of truck drivers, so I've been working a bit of overtime. I've seen you in here a few evening, but you were busy talking to a woman, so I decided not to bother you."

"All, it would have been OK to come over, I was just getting some advice from her on this thing with Donna."

"How's that going, anyway? I've been wondering how you were dealing with all that."

Hugh smiled, and said, "Believe it or not, I think last night I finally made up my mind on what to do. After I read the details of what happened between her and Jerry, I'm almost convinced that Jerry either spiked her drinks with pure alcohol, or gave her one of those date rape drugs. She made some very foolish decisions, but I'm tending toward believing her story. I don't know of any way I can prove he did something to her drinks, as I doubt if I'd believe anything he says about it."

"Well, you're a much more forgiving person than I would be. I wish you luck with it."

The two men drifted off of the subject of Donna and Jerry, and onto the more mundane topics of their work, and the trials and tribulations of working in a remote job site. As they parted they agreed to try to spend more time together, especially at supper.

When he got back to his room Hugh decided he was too tired to reply to Donna's email that night, and would instead leave the task to the following evening. That night he found it very easy to get to sleep, as he now felt there was some hope his family could be salvaged.

The following evening Hugh hurried back from supper so that he would be able to get at sending his email to Donna. He'd been thinking about what to say, and immediately started typing.

********

Dear Donna;

As you can imagine, the details of your time with Jerry were very rough on me, and I spent a sleepless night going over and over what had happened between the two of you. I've spent an awful lot of time reflecting on what you said, and I think I've come to my decision.

First, I've decided to accept that you have told me the whole story. I have no reason to think that you have made up the details of what happened, and I have no other way to prove or disprove what you told me anyway.

Second, it seems very likely that Jerry either intentionally got you drunk, or possibly gave you some sort of drug. Your descriptions of how you felt, combined with your realization that you made some really foolish decisions, both suggest that what happened wasn't what you would have normally ever agreed to.

If I'm going to believe what I've just written, then I'm going to have to work at trying to forgive you for your part in the whole thing. It may take a long time for me to fully forgive you, but I'm working on it. I'll probably never forget about what happened, and it may be hard to trust you completely. I'm going to work on trying not to punish you for what happened. You're going to have to be patient with me on all of this, and you're going to have to be absolutely honest and loyal to me in the future.

I won't promise to never bring this up again, but I'm going to try very hard not to hold it over your head. It won't be easy for us to get over all of this, but I'm willing to try.

When I get back from here we can get together and talk about it a bit before I actually move back into the house. I'm really anxious to see you and Bobby, and I'm looking forward to my last day up here.

Your husband.

********

Hugh reread what he had written several times before he finally hit the Send button. When the message finally disappeared from the screen, he let out a long breath, not having realized that he had stopped to hold his breath as he made his final decision.

On each of the next several days Hugh and Donna exchange emails. She was ecstatic that he had decided to give her another chance, and he was becoming more comfortable with his decision. His sister had written a long email to him, congratulating him on having made the right choice. All in all it was a pleasant time for both of them.

It had been four days since Hugh and Frank Carpenter had last met in the cafeteria. As Hugh entered the cafeteria this time, he could see his friend seated at a table, and immediately joined him after picking up his meal.

"So, Frank. How's it going?" Hugh began eating his meal as he waited for Frank to reply.

"Not so great." Frank reached below the table and pulled up a pair of crutches. "I was checking my load this morning, and some pipes shifted and got my left foot. They tell me I've got a couple of broken bones in the top of my foot, so now I've got a temporary cast on it. It looks like I get to go home early, on compensation."

"Damn, Frank. That's no fun. How does it feel? Is it painful?"

"Actually, it feels fine right now. It's only if I put pressure on the foot that I feel it, so that sort of eliminates driving anything with a clutch. Unfortunately that's all they have up here; nothing but standard transmissions. They've got me on the flight out in the morning, and by tomorrow night I'll be back at home."

"I'm almost jealous of you. I've got another couple of weeks here before I can get back to see how Donna and I make out at getting back together. We've been exchanging email, and so far everything looks good, but I expect having the two of us in the same room will be the real test."

"So you're comfortable with getting back together with her? No doubts?"

Hugh thought for a second, and said "I guess I might always wonder, but I don't really have any way to check up on her story. I won't contact Jerry about it, and what else could I do? Hopefully looking her in the eye while we're talking about it will tell me what I need to know."

"All I can say is you're a better man than me, Hugh. I really doubt that I'd be quite so forgiving. Mind you I've never been married, so it's easy for me to say that." Frank left his comments at that, and the two of them finished their meals in relative silence. When they resumed speaking it was about work related subjects, and the long day that Frank would be spending in airports and on flights the next day.

For the next week Hugh and Donna exchanged daily emails, and he was becoming much more comfortable with the thought of trying to make their marriage work. He knew now that he hadn't stopped loving her, and did have major issues with forgiving and forgetting, but he felt that he could work on those, given a bit of time. Overall though, he was happy and anxious to have his time in Alaska come to an end.

On Friday evening Hugh returned to his room in a great state of mind. One more week and he would be home. It couldn't come soon enough for him. He turned on his laptop, expecting only his daily email from Donna, but saw he also had a message from Frank Carpenter. He was anxious to hear from Donna, so he read her message first. There was really nothing new in it, as she restated to him how anxious she was to have him home. Hugh enjoyed reading her messages as they reinforced his feeling that he had made the right decision, and he answered her post immediately. His reply included telling her how much he was looking forward to being home.

After deciding to leave Frank's message for later, Hugh went down to the cafeteria for a leisurely supper. Now that Frank and Janice Stetler were both gone, he kept to himself. A lot of the workers up there were pretty rough, and Hugh didn't really fit in with them. He preferred his own company to theirs.

Eventually he returned to his room and decided to read Frank's email. As he called it up he could see that there were attachments to it, and wondered what Frank had sent him. He expected to find the latest risqué cartoon or picture making the rounds on the Internet.

********

Hugh;

Before you open the attached photos, you better read my whole message. I'll try and explain what the photos seem to show, as it isn't necessarily obvious.

While I was flying back here I started thinking about your situation with Donna, and decided I'd try and give you a bit of a hand on deciding whether to trust her or not. My car is an automatic so I knew that I could drive it around no problem. Since I'm into photography, and with my wages being paid by compensation, I decided to try to keep an eye on your wife for you. For the last five days I've checked her out at home and at work, just making sure of where she's been. I've also been over and checked out Jerry Black a few times, just to see what he's up to.

Everything has been completely above board until today. At noon I went over to Donna's work to see if the car was there, and just as I arrived she pulled out of the parking lot ahead of me. Since I didn't have anything else to do I decided to just follow along and see what she was doing on her lunch hour.

She went into the mall parking lot, so I parked two rows away and waited while she went into the mall. I'm not that great on my crutches so I didn't want to try following her in there. It's a good thing I didn't go in because she was back within 15 minutes. I could see her coming towards me, and Jerry Black was with her. I got a photo of them, labeled number one.

The way I was parked I had a really good view of them the whole time. They stood talking by your wife's car, and she was leaning back against it with her hands on the hood. That's labeled number two. They were talking for a couple of minutes, but I couldn't tell from your wife's expression whether she was happy about it or not. Her expression was pretty neutral the whole time.

All of a sudden Jerry leaned forward and kissed her. That one is labeled number three. It wasn't just a short peck on the lips; it lasted for two or three seconds at least. I was just going to take a second picture when he stepped back. She didn't move when he kissed her; no attempting to move back or push him away. There's no way to tell what she said to him, and with her leaning back like that maybe she was off balance and couldn't bring her arm up to push him away. I just don't know.

They spoke for a few more seconds and then she got into her car. His car was only about three stalls away, and he pulled out of his spot before she moved. She pulled out behind him, and I tried to get behind the two of them but I got held up by a couple of other cars cutting in front of me. I followed along to the exit, and my last picture, number four, shows both of their cars in the intersection turning left. The traffic light turned just then, and I was trapped behind two cars, so I couldn't follow them any further; by the time I got onto the street neither of them was in sight.

For the next two hours I was driving around trying to locate Donna's car, but I never did find it. I was by your place twice, her office parking lot, and Jerry's place several times, and I even drove through the parking lots of all of the motels down the street from the mall, but I didn't find them there either, I'm happy to say. I simply have no idea where either one of them went. I finally gave up for the afternoon, but when I went by your place at five o'clock her car was there. Out of curiosity, I drove by Jerry's place again, but his car wasn't home.

That's everything I can tell you about these pictures. I'm going to have to leave it up to you to decide what they mean. Man, I certainly hope it isn't what it looks like it could be. There is probably a good explanation, but you'll have to get it from her I'm afraid.

I'll continue to keep an eye on her until you get back. If I don't contact you then you know I've seen nothing suspicious going on. And don't worry about Jerry. I've got plans for him.

Ttyl. Frank.

********

After he finished reading the email Hugh sat there numb, almost in shock. Finally he opened the attached photos, and went over each of them three or four times before he finally closed the email and shut the laptop. He collapsed onto his bed and lay there, staring at the ceiling for almost 20 minutes, in deep thought. Suddenly, he sat up and went back to the computer.

After a lot of thought he had decided to write Donna a message, one that would make or break their relationship. He had already decided on what the message would say, and so he began typing it immediately after he sat down. He knew he would have to make it sound just like the others he had recently been sending to her.

********

My darling Donna;

A thought has occurred to me that I meant to put into my last message to you. Has Jerry been bothering you at all since that second time you were at his home? You haven't mentioned any messages from him, and I'm just wondering if he has been in contact with you at all since then. What about Allison; she must be back from California by now? How have you handled speaking with her?

I can't imagine him leaving you alone after all that went on. Please let me know if he's been a problem, as I can phone him when I get back, just to let him know his attention isn't appreciated by either of us.

I'm a bit tired tonight so I will end this message now, and write you again tomorrow.

Your loving husband.

********

Once the message had been sent Hugh went to bed, but slept very little that night. Most of the night was spent looking at the picture he kept on his bedside table, and thinking about the new sudden turn his life had taken. He had almost convinced himself that his life and marriage had gotten back on track, and that confidence had been greatly shaken by Frank's message. He had never considered himself a religious man, but he found himself praying that Donna would provide a logical explanation for what had happened in the mall parking lot.

The next day passed in slow motion for Hugh. Any free time that he had was spent wondering what Donna would say, and it bothered him greatly that there were no new messages in his email account when he got back to his room that evening; any other day her message would have been there waiting for him.

Hugh ate a hasty meal, and after verifying that no message had come in from Donna, he went to bed. He was almost asleep when he heard the faint 'ding' that signaled an email message had arrived. Immediately he was on his feet headed for his computer, all thought of sleep gone. He quickly called up the email message from Donna, but not before he noted the time. It was 9:30 in Alaska, which meant that she had sent this message at 1:30 in the morning, her time. Why was she writing him so late at night, he wondered? Had she just gotten home? He couldn't wait any longer, and opened his much-anticipated email.

********

My dearest Hugh;

Boy, two messages in one evening. I'm not used to that. I'm glad you asked me about Allison, and whether I'd heard from her since she came back from California. She has called me twice, once last night in fact. I've put her off, as I don't want to see her. I'm afraid I'd feel too guilty about what happened, and would confess it all to her. After all of the strain this has put on our marriage, I don't want to ruin hers. I'm sure she would leave him if she knew. She told me once that she suspected he'd had an affair or two, so my confirming it would probably push her into doing something drastic.

Jerry has called me twice, both times a couple of days after you found out about us. Both times I told him I didn't want to hear from him again, and he hasn't called me since. I saw him driving down the street one day last week, but beyond that I haven't seen him at all. I don't have any desire to ever see him again.

...

********

Donna's message carried on with several paragraphs telling him how anxious she was to see him, and he read them twice to be sure that there was nothing else mentioned about Jerry. When he finally accepted that she had added nothing more on that subject he roughly closed his laptop.

His eyes were glistening with unshed tears as he stepped over to the table beside his bed, and picked up the picture sitting there. He took one look at it, and then hurled it across the room as he shouted, "You lying bitch!" The picture hit the corner of his closet with a bang, sending shards of glass and splinters of frame across the room.

A moment later there was a knock at his door, and someone asked, "Are you OK in there, Buddy?"

Hugh shook his head, and in a moment he returned to the here and now from whatever place his mind had taken him to. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry about the noise."

It took him half an hour to clean up the glass and wood from across his floor and sweep up the small fragments. When they were all in the wastebasket he picked up the photo. It had been punctured in two places, and was ripped half way down the center from the top. Hugh could see that the rip would nearly perfectly divide him from Donna and Bobby if it were to continue. He carefully pulled on the two halves, and when the picture was fully torn into two pieces he dropped them into the wastebasket.

Hugh felt amazingly calm now, and sat back down at his computer. He spent half an hour setting up a new email account for himself, researching how to cancel his old one, and sending off messages to Frank and his lawyer to give them both his new contact information. When he finished he was ready to reply to Donna, making sure he quoted her last message, and attaching the four pictures Frank had sent him.

********

Lies! Lies! Lies! How could you do this to me? Did you think that because I was going to take you back that you could do anything you wanted? Do you think that I'm such a sucker you could feed me any kind of bullshit at all?

I told you before what would happen if you weren't completely honest with me. You will be getting divorce papers from my lawyer. I'll be staying here for a few extra weeks, and he will take care of everything for me.

This email account will be canceled as soon as I finish sending this message. Don't even bother trying to contact me. I don't want to hear from your lying ass again.

It's clear from the pictures that I'm attaching to this message that you lied about seeing Jerry again, and I have to wonder where you were following him to. I also wonder how many other lies you've told me. Honestly though, I'm not interested in knowing the answers.

I won't even bother blaming you for the pain I'm going through right now. That's my own fault. I got some good advice, to go 'slow and easy' getting back together with you, and I ignored it. I thought I could trust you; foolish me.

********

Hugh CC'd the email to his sister as well. He was suspicious that she had known about the lies Donna had told him, and he had no interest in speaking with her either. Before he closed his laptop Hugh canceled his old email account. He felt totally drained and exhausted, and it took no time at all for him to fall asleep, curled into a fetal position.

The next morning, before reporting for work, Hugh extended his contract for an extra two weeks. He wanted and needed that much time to settle himself before he headed back home. The time would also give him ample opportunity to decide what course his life would take.

**********************

Kathy Roberts was seated at her kitchen table, enjoying a cup of coffee before the kids got up. It was barely 7 a.m., but this was her usual time to get up and have some time for herself. This morning, though, she was startled by a slight tap at the kitchen door. When she went to the door she was shocked to see her brother Hugh standing there.

"Hughey, where did you come from? Come in!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him into her kitchen.

"I've been in town for a few days, and I just wanted to stop in to say goodbye before I left."