Teacher's Pet Ch. 06

"I'll hold you to that," she replied, before giving him one last sympathetic smile and turning to leave the office.

"Hey," he called out.

She turned back, looking at him with a little lift of the eyebrows.

"I love you," he whispered.

Tears sprang into her eyes, and she smiled through them. "I love you too, Professor." She blew him a kiss, then turning again, went out the door, closing it softly behind her.

He waited for what seemed like an ample amount of time before closing the office himself, shutting off the lights and locking the door as he left. He took the quickest way out of the building and off campus, not wanting to encounter any inquisitive colleagues or students. He tossed his messenger bag into the passenger seat of his Civic as he slid in. He sighed. Then he started up the car and made his way home.

Strange, he thought as he pulled into his driveway. It's nearly noon and it doesn't look like Monica's up yet. Could she really be leaving the kids alone for this long in the mornings? Suddenly his leave of absence looked even better to him. At least now he would be sure his kids were taken care of.

He left the messenger bag in the car as he got out, wanting to make sure the kids were okay. He stood outside the door, listening for any strange happenings. He could hear the sound of a Blue's Clues tape being played, and the kids shouting out that they had seen a clue, trying to get the attention of the little man in the TV. But there was another sound, he determined as he focused in, a muffled thumping, which didn't seem like it was coming from the living room where the children were happily solving the day's Clues. Very slowly and very quietly, he opened the front door.

As soon as he opened it, he resolved that the thumping sound was definitely not coming from the living room. In fact, it sounded like it was coming from the bedroom – HIS bedroom. He froze. Only one thing made a sound like that. It was a sound he hadn't made in this house for almost three years.

A sudden cry of, "Daddy!" brought him back, as little Eric and five-year-old Lizzie jumped up and ran to him.

He caught them up in his arms and shushed them urgently, saying, "Guys, Mommy's still asleep, be quiet."

"She's not asleep, Daddy," Lizzie informed him. "She's in the bedroom with Jake."

Out of the mouths of babes, his suspicions were confirmed. "Who's Jake, honey?"

"Well, whenever Mommy gets a headache, Jake comes over and gives her a massage and fixes her," Lizzie replied.

Kind of a loud massage, he thought. Aloud, he said, "I see. Listen, guys, why don't you go on and play in your playroom? I'm going to see if I can't help Jake fix Mommy up." He fought hard to keep the menacing tone from his voice.

"But Daddy, why are you home? Why aren't you at the big kids' school?" Eric asked.

"I'll tell you all about it later, buddy. Go on ahead and help Lizzie build the biggest tower in the world out of Legos, okay?"

"Cool!" Eric replied, and grabbed Lizzie's hand, pulling her along to the playroom. They shut the door behind them.

Ben's stomach flipped inside him, his heart raced. This was perfect, it was better than perfect. So perfect he almost felt guilty – Monica had no idea about his affair, and yet she was having one of her own. Now he had caught her in the act and had every resource available to him to end this once and for all. It was just too bad there was no one around to see the Oscar-winning performance he was about to give.

He was almost giddy as he tiptoed down the long hallway, approaching the bedroom door. Of its own volition, his mind rapidly began to cover the bases: The house was in his name, the savings account was his, the kids' college funds had his name as the guardian, her credit cards were hers and his were his, he had a lawyer on retainer already, and every important piece of paper he owned was locked in a fire safe in his home office, and only he knew the combination. This was too perfect. But it was time to be serious now, time to be the devoted husband walking in on his cheating wife.

Quietly, ever so quietly, he tested the doorknob. Locked. That was okay. He had learned during one fight with her that with the proper application of force, the door could be kicked open if it was locked. He stood back a couple of paces while listening to the goings-on in the bedroom. Then suddenly it hit him: This woman had left his children unattended while she fucked around with some guy just down the hall! The proper flare of anger overtook him, and before he knew it, he had the door furiously kicked in.

The male voice shouted, "What the fuck!" before the so-called Jake whipped his head to see what had caused the disruption. But Monica was ahead of him, knowing it could only have been Ben, and as she scrambled to get out from under Jake and cover herself with the sheet, Ben crossed the room headed directly for the male intruder.

Wide-eyed, Jake began to back away, rambling, "Look, man, I don't want no trouble, I didn't know, man, I didn't know," and meanwhile Monica began to exclaim, "Ben, don't! Ben, please, don't – the kids, Ben, they'll –"

"Oh, fucking talk to me about the kids!" Ben shot back. "Fucking talk to me about our fucking kids, the kids YOU left in the goddamn living room by themselves so you could come in here and get fucked by this white-trash piece of shit!" At this last word, Ben lurched over and grabbed Jake by the hair, dragging him off the bed. "Get your fucking clothes on, you piece of shit, before I throw you out naked. Did you know I had kids out there, fucker, huh? Did you know that?"

"Yeah, I knew that," Jake said meekly as he found his shirt and slipped it over his head.

"You got kids, motherfucker?" Ben shouted.

"Naw, I ain't got kids," Jake muttered.

"And it's a good fucking thing, too." Ben turned to Monica. "What the fuck are you doing just sitting there? Get your ass up and get dressed, now!"

"Don't fucking tell me what to do!" she snapped.

"Oh, I'll tell you what you're gonna do, bitch. You're going to get your fat, lazy, worthless ASS up off that bed, throw some clothes on yourself, and you're going wherever the hell Jake goes. This shit is OVER, Monica, do you hear me? It's OVER. I want you out of my house, out of my life, out of my face, and OUT of my bed. NOW!"

She jumped out of the bed, running for him as if she would hit him, but he didn't budge. "You've got a hell of a nerve," she seethed. "If you think I'm leaving my kids –"

"You don't have a choice!" he screamed at her. "This house is mine, the money is mine, and those kids? MINE! Now, unless you want them to see their mother in a pair of handcuffs headed off to jail, I suggest you get the FUCK out, now!"

She had been dressing as he shouted at her, and now she froze, tears rising in her eyes. "You'd call the police on me, Ben?"

"You're damn fucking right I would. I want you out. It's over, Monica. I'm finished. You fucking treat me like shit, and now you're cheating on me. I want you out. Right now."

Jake pulled at Monica's elbow. "Come on, baby, we don't need no cops over here. Come on with me and let's let the man be."

She looked at Jake for a long time. Then she turned her fiery gaze at Ben and said, "This isn't over. You're not gonna keep those kids, Ben Foster, I'll see to that, you hear me?" Jake began pulling her toward the door, and as they drifted out the door Monica was shouting, "This isn't over, asshole! You have not seen the last of me!"

Ben couldn't help but chuckle at the cheesy-villain line, even as the slamming door shook the house. But he wasn't feeling giddy anymore. He felt the way he did when his appendix was removed as a kid – good thing it was gone, but didn't he need it for something, anything?

Well, he didn't need the appendix. And he didn't need the wife. And suddenly he felt two hundred pounds lighter. He stood very still, staring down the hallway, soaking up the silence. It was over. He had done it. Christ, he had done it. And now everything would change. He must call his lawyer as soon as possible. He must call the bank and freeze the checking account, the only asset which bore her name. Maybe he would just open a new one for himself, and transfer everything into it. He must call his mother, she would be thrilled, and she would offer her help with the children, of course. She was a good grandmother. And maybe he would call Thorne, and let him know, just for the sake of knowing, that he had ended his marriage and the future looked bright.

He heard a sniffling sound, and hurried to the playroom to check on the kids. Little Eric was standing in the doorway, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

"Hey, buddy, what's the matter?" Ben asked.

"Our tower," Eric said sadly. "Our tower fell down, and broke."

Ben smiled sympathetically. "So did mine, buddy. So did mine. But hey, we can build a new one, can't we?"

He took his son's hand, and went in to help him build a new tower.