Adulterer Jack

It seems he didn't have a clue until then.

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EPILOGUE

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I just happened to be walking through the front room when the doorbell rang, so I took a quick peek out the side window before opening the door. Standing there was Mary Ellen.

She had changed.

Her hair was nearly a buzz cut on top with a mullet hanging behind, all of it dyed a color somewhere between pink and purple. She was wearing tight jeans and a black leather vest that exposed her bare arms totally covered with tattoos from shoulder to wrist. She had a small ring between her nostrils, another on her eyebrow, and two on her lower lip. She was carrying a helmet under her arm, and, down at the curb, I could see a pink motorcycle.

She was chewing her gum when I opened the door and she turned towards me and smirked, "Hey dipshit, I guess you got your big promotion, huh?" She waved her arm at the house. "I'm not sure Jennie will want to live out here in the 'burbs when she comes back, but I guess you never know.

"Anyways, that's why I'm here. You fucked up big time with that divorce shit. I'm back now but Jennie's decided to stay in Europe a while longer to get more experience." Mary Ellen actually waggled her eyebrows when she said that.

I was about to reply when I heard the footsteps and the voice behind me, "Honey, who's at the door?"

I kept my eyes on Mary Ellen and it was like an animated cartoon the way her jaw dropped and her eyes bugged out, "Marilyn, what the fuck are you doing here with Jack?"

Marilyn was grinning as she stepped up beside me, rubbing the baby bump that was just beginning to show, "I'm here with my husband where I belong, especially now that we're going to have a baby."

Mary Ellen looked to be in shock, but she simply responded to us the way she always did when things didn't go her way; she yelled, "Fuck you!" and stormed off.

We stood there watching her going down the walkway toward her motorcycle and I idly wondered what it was that that young woman had against me. Out loud, I simply said, "I wonder if Jennie looks like that now?"

Marilyn stepped back, looked up at me, and asked, "Oh, do you think that's an attractive look?"

"Well, ... you're the one who suggested I should wait for her to return."

Marilyn slapped my arm, but she was smiling. There was a time when she might have been hurt or gotten angry with me for saying that, but those days were long gone.

-

We had been providing moral support to each other after Gerald left and Marilyn speculated that we were simply two losers who couldn't keep a spouse happy. She started seeing a therapist to try to work through her issues.

"That sounds like a good idea," I told her.

She smiled, "Well, maybe you should try it."

"Well, I would, but I don't want to go alone."

Marilyn became serious, "Well, Jack, group therapy is supposed to be good for you. You get to hear how other people have dealt with similar situations ..."

I interrupted her with a scowl on my face, "I certainly don't want to hear a bunch of losers whining about their pathetic lives."

Marilyn shook her head, "But that's how it works. The only other way you go to therapy with someone else is if you're a couple ..."

She stopped and she saw me smiling and I could see the wheels spinning as she realized what I was saying.

-

We did start couple's therapy and it was the best thing we could have done. We were both completely honest and found that, while we both had issues to deal with, neither of us was nearly as damaged as we had feared. More importantly, we were in total agreement on what we wanted and what we needed in order to have a good relationship.

After that, ... well, ... it was just storybook. It turned out that Marilyn and I, together, had everything I thought I had with Jennie and had hoped to have with Linda. We made a good pair.

So, when I reminded her of her silly suggestion, she knew it was my way of saying I had what I wanted and I wasn't waiting for anything else.

But, still, standing there watching Mary Ellen roar away, Marilyn wouldn't let it go, "Very funny, Jack, but you haven't answered my question. Do you find that an attractive look?"

I kept a perfectly straight face as I watched Mary Ellen disappear around the corner and said, "Actually, ... when you joined us, I was about to remind Mary Ellen that it's still several months until Halloween."

We were both laughing as we turned and walked back into our home and our boring suburban life.