Curiosity

"You should have packed a lot more than that. You're not coming back," I told her.

"Please Eric, we need to talk," she whined to my rapidly receding back.

A few minutes after the cab pulled away Andie started calling me. I turned my phone off and shut off the ringers on all of the phones in the house. I went outside on the deck, and sat down. As badly as I felt, there was someone who felt worse.

"Come Mel, misery loves company," I said. "We're going out to eat."

She didn't say anything, she just sat there. So I grabbed her arm and pulled her up, and stuck her in the Mustang's front passenger seat.

We drove around until I found what looked like a nice restaurant. I ordered for both of us, got the food to go and got back into my car. I drove us out to the lake, the same place I'd been driving to every night anyway. We ate in silence, and then all of a sudden Mel started unloading on me.

"Why would he...well I know why he would, but why would she do that to you? Are they crazy? I know that Mike has no respect for me. But I thought that Andrea loved you. I'm sure she does. All she ever talks about is you. Eric this, my Eric that. Why would she do this? I thought she was my friend."

I started rubbing her back and she sobbed a bit and started talking again.

"I know that Mike has been angry at me lately, and this is only his way of getting back at me for a remark I inadvertently made, but this is overkill," she said. "I'm sorry Eric this must be worse for you than it is for me."

"I'm fine," I said. "What do you mean Mike is angry at you?"

"Well, Mike had an accident when he was younger, and can't have kids. I knew it already when we got married. I'm fine with it. I've always wanted kids, but I wanted Mike just as much. So I became a teacher. Lately it just hasn't been enough, and I really want to experience motherhood. Eric I want a family. I want to share all of this love that I have and bring up my own kids instead of teaching everyone else's. So I approached Mike about possibly adopting a baby. He went ape-shit. His exact words were "Oh so I'm not a man since I can't knock you up. Well bitch I'll show you who's a man. I'll fuck that little slut next door and make you watch." It took three weeks, but he did it."

We didn't say much for a while. As it got dark, the love birds came out, and I was really too upset to watch them strolling hand in hand in front of that fucking lake. Besides that, there were just too many big assed rocks that were the perfect size for throwing, so we left.

I went home to an empty house. Melissa went home to Mike. I could hear him screaming at her at first, and her screaming back. After a while the screaming stopped and I saw her sitting at her kitchen table with her papers.

The next morning, I went to work as I always did. Myrna handed me a stack of messages from Andie. I dropped them all into the trash basket and told her, not to forward any calls from Andie to me. If she called me just tell her I wasn't accepting calls or messages from her. Then I gave her my iPhone and had her go over to the AT&T store and have my phone number changed.

At about 10 o'clock that morning, I got a call from Robert Morgan, Andie's dad. He was going to be in town this morning and wanted to take me to lunch.

I met him at the Texas Roadhouse, at noon. I hadn't seen him in about three weeks, and at his age this kind of stress couldn't be good for him.

"Hi Eric," he said. "Let's get down to it. We both know why we're here. I warned you about this before you married her. She can stay with us for a few days while you two cool off, but Martha and I want to stay out of this."

"Well when you and Martha put her out, she can stay with her sisters for a while and then her brother," I said. "Hopefully by that time we'll have some kind of financial settlement made so she can find a place of her own," I said quietly.

"Eric what are you talking about?" he asked.

"Well in this state, it take about six months minimum for a divorce to become final, but our lawyers will work out the settlement long before that," I said. "Just between us I'd rather come up with a lump sum payment instead of any kind of monthly alimony where I'd have to write her a check every month or whatever. I just want this over with and settled so I can move on with my life."

"Eric I still do not understand you. Andrea said you'd had a difference of opinion and you flipped out on her, so she decided to stay with us for a few days while you calmed down. She cried her eyes out last night, and won't eat a thing. I know my daughter. When Andrea is right about something, or believes that she's right, she's as cold as ice. But last night she was crying her eyes out. I know she's done something to push you too far finally. Did she buy another car? You guys didn't have more than fifty bucks a week to live on last time she did that. She couldn't even drive it anywhere because you couldn't afford gas for it. I thought you two were kind of well off financially now though."

"Robert I don't think I should be the person to tell you what Andie did," I said. "It's not my place to talk about someone else's actions."

"God damn it," he said. "She really fucked you over didn't she? And the stupid thing about it is that I can see by the way you're on the verge of tears that you still love her. Eric, I warned you once about her. Whatever she did though, try to work it out. She loves you, and you clearly love her. You two should be together, but don't back down. Maybe you should consider marriage counseling though, before you go for a divorce. I've heard you tell her more than once that you'd do anything for her. Isn't she worth just one chance to save your marriage?"

"Andrea has always been strong minded, I raised her that way," he said. "You know how the two of you like to sit back on that big old deck behind your house and watch the moon? Well Andrea used to like to climb out of her window onto the roof and watch the moon when she was a little girl. I told her not to do it because she'd fall off the roof and break her neck. She did it anyway, so I beat her ass and nailed her windows shut. One week I was out of town on business and Martha was at her ladies auxiliary meeting. Andrea got the hammer pulled all of the nails out of the window and climbed out onto the roof. It had rained the day before and the tiles were still slippery. Andrea fell off the roof and broke her arm. If the bushes hadn't broken her fall, she was falling head-first; she probably would have broken her neck. After that she never went out on the roof again."

"Andrea can learn," he said. "But sometimes she has to learn the hard way by losing something really important to her. Maybe having to be away from you for a little while will solve this. I am going to ask her what she did, and I'll get back to you."

For the next week or so my life moved in two directions at the same time. I started spending time with Melissa. It just seemed natural, she was really pissed at Mike, and I was missing Andie a hell of a lot. Melissa started running with me in the evenings. She also started using my gym. I think a lot of it was just her anger and frustration over Mike. We talked a lot about our situations as well.

"If Mike loved me or treated me nearly as well as you treat Andie, I'd forgive him anything," she said. "But in our case that's the problem. Mike doesn't love me. Maybe he did once, but now I'm just an old shoe to him. I go out to work every day and bring the money in, while he's been unemployed for the last 4 years. When I get in, I have to do the cooking and the cleaning, before I get to grade my papers. I'm tired of being taken for granted and this was just the last straw. I've never told anyone this before but he's cheated on me before this."

"Andie knew that I was totally against this from the beginning," I said. "This time she just pushed me too far."

"Eric, we're friends, so two things," she told me. "Number one, every time anyone mentions her name, you almost start crying because you love her so much, and being away from her is killing you. Number two, you've been together for 10 fucking years, and this is the first mistake she's made, for your own sanity give her another chance. At least talk to her before you give up on her. The easy way out is to just walk away without trying to fix it. I only wish this was Mike's first time fucking up so I could forgive him, but this has happened too many times for me."

Andie showed up at my office the next day. The security guards had been warned not to let her in the building so she sat outside the building and cried until someone called the police. The policemen came into the building asking to see me.

"Sir your wife is downstairs, and she's not in a good way. We need you to come down and talk to her, to keep her from doing something to herself or someone else," said the first officer.

"No," I said. "Have a nice day."

"Sir, this conversation isn't over," said the cop. He was obviously getting pissed about my flippant attitude and wanted to prove something.

"How about, if we book you on refusal to cooperate, and put you in the same cell as your lovely wife. Then you'd have to talk to her sir," he said.

"How about if I snap my finger," I said looking him straight in the eye.

"Uhm, what would that do sir?" he asked.

"When I snap my finger, one of my assistants will call my lawyer. He'll be at the station before we get there. By the time you get me to the building for your bogus investigation, you'll be suspended, and I'll be suing the city for more than you'll make in your entire career. To save us further embarrassment, why don't we take this into my office so I can explain what's really going on here to you," I told him.

When we got inside the office I asked him if he was married. He told me that he was. I asked him what he'd do if his wife asked him about sleeping with his best friend. He told me there's no way he'd stand for it.

"That's what she did," I told him. "I told her I wouldn't stand for it, but she went ahead and did it anyway. I called her a cab and sent her to her parent's while we work our way through the divorce."

"She can't reach me at home so now she's harassing me at work. I'm a partner here and we own the building, I have a right to bar entrance to anyone who could cause a scene or disrupt my business. I treated that woman like a queen and that's how she repaid me." I told him. "I don't want to ever see her again. I have never abused her, hit her or even yelled at her. Don't I have the right to be left alone in my own place of business?"

"Sir you should file a restraining order," he said. "We had no idea of the situation when we arrived. Thank you for explaining it to me. We won't bother you any further. But sir, can I ask you one more thing?" I nodded. "If you really, don't want to have anything to do with her, why are you so sad right now? You look, excuse me, I don't mean to insult you, but you look like you're on the verge of tears. You obviously love her a lot, why not at least talk to her?"

He was of course right. It was time to talk to her. I went down stairs just as she was getting back into a Ford Fusion. Probably Martha's car, I knew Robert drove a Cadillac STS.

I tapped on the window and she jumped out of the car and tried to hug me. I backed away from her.

"Eric I miss you so much, please let me come home. I keep trying to tell you it's, over," she said.

"Andrea if you want to talk, I'll listen but it needs to be in private, I don't want to be embarrassed at work by you. Meet me at my house tonight at about 7," I said.

"Don't you mean our house?" she said. "I'll just go there now and wait. I'll make us dinner."

"Andrea all of the locks have been changed. It's not our house, maybe after the divorce you'll get it who knows. I don't want any fucking dinner. I'm just giving you a chance to say what you need to say, and I have a condition."

"What's the condition?" she asked.

"If you want to have this meeting, you need to tell your parents the truth about what happened between us. None of this misunderstanding shit. Have your dad call me at 7 just when you' re getting there so he can tell me that he knows what happened, or don't come. I won't let you in until I've spoken to him. "

"Eric, can't we keep this between us?" she whined. "No one else needs to know."

"If I don't hear from your Dad, I don't let you in, and this time I call the police myself," I said.

I got some bad news that day at work. The buyer for my nearly completed underground house had been killed in an auto accident. I was pretty sure I could sell the house, so I scheduled the landscapers to go ahead and finish it so I could list it and get it sold. The house was too bizarre to be everyone's cup of tea. But the right buyer would be willing to pay top dollar for it.

At 6:00 I went out for my run with Melissa. We had a good run together. I could run faster alone but I wouldn't have nearly as much fun. "So how are things at the house of Mike and Mel?" I asked.

"Frosty as hell," she laughed. "He doesn't talk to me, I don't talk to him. But you know what, I'm enjoying it. For the first time since we got married he isn't ordering me around. I got one of those brochures from the adoption places and I've been going through it. There aren't nearly as many stipulations concerning single parent adoptions as there used to be. Of course I have to find a lawyer and get the divorce settled first, but I finally realized that he needs me a lot more than I need him."

I got home at 6:45 and had the feeling that I was being watched. I went into the house and showered. At 6:58 the phone rang. I picked it up and answered it.

"Eric," I'm really sorry son. I understand why you're upset. I can't believe that a daughter of mine would ever behave that way. I still think that there's a chance for the two of you to work this out though if you're willing to forgive her and put it behind you."

A few minutes later I put the phone down and went to the door. Andrea was standing there.

"Can I come in," she asked. "I feel so stupid asking you that. This is my house too."

"Let's just talk here on the porch," I said. "It's a nice night and it feels good out here."

"Andie, we're not back together. We're only here to talk." I said. "You were the one who wanted to talk to me so badly so I'll let you go first. You tell me what you have to say. Then we'll go from there."

"What do you want me to say?" she said. "I want our life back. What more is there to say? I know you still love me. It'll take us a little while to get over this and then it'll just be in the past."

"We've been apart now for two weeks, you've called me hundreds of times, sent your dad to talk to me, bothered me at work, lied to your parents about why we broke up, and that's all you have to say?" I was getting even more upset.

"What do you want me to say?" she asked.

"Nothing Andrea," I said standing up. "I'll see you soon."

I started going into the house, and she grabbed my arm and started crying. She tried to force me to turn around but I wouldn't let her pull me around. She came around to the front of me and noticed that I was crying too. Tears were falling from my eyes, rolling down my cheeks and making tiny little drop marks on the tile of the front porch.

"What do I have to say to fix this?" she shouted.

All of a sudden I lost it. I pushed her away from me harder than I ever had. I was really glad she didn't fall off the porch because I'd have probably gone to jail for assault.

"How about two fucking words Andrea," I screamed. "Number one, Sorry. Have you ever said you're sorry for any of this. Are you sorry because you betrayed our marriage vows? Are you even sorry for what you've done to us? Are you sorry for hurting me? You know you really ripped my heart out. How about for fucking up a marriage that was probably going to last forever? I guess you don't know that word, though."

"You know what, I can see now how stupid I've been this whole time. And that brings up the second word. Love. You see ever since we got together Andrea it's never been about us loving each other, it's always been about me, loving you. I'm supposed to just fall down and worship the great Goddess Andrea. Well fuck you Andrea. Wait a minute, Mike already did. That's why we're here."

I went into the house and slammed the door. I left her out there on the porch crying.

After about twenty minutes she rang the doorbell. I looked out the peephole and opened the door a crack. "Andrea I'm done talking to you. Get a lawyer. You're going to need one."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I do love you and I don't want to lose you. I don't want to live the rest of my life without you. This isn't the way this was supposed to happen." I went back out on the porch to listen to her.

"Eric, I'm curious about a lot of things. I stuck a pin into an electric socket to see what would happen when I was a kid. Now, I wanted to find out what having sex with someone else would be like. I found out. It wasn't nearly as good. In fact it was nothing. It was nowhere near as good as what we have. It was a mistake, but you've blown it all out of proportion. It's not like I cheated on you and I don't consider what I did a violation of our marriage vows. I told you what I was going to do. I wanted you to be there but you refused. I wanted it to be exciting and fun, but it was just boring, I didn't even have one shitty orgasm, just fat old Mike humping away on me. I barely even got wet and he doesn't last very long. And for that I have to give up my house, my car, my marriage, my husband and my happiness? That just doesn't seem fair."

"Andrea, I told you there'd be consequences," I said. "You just didn't listen. You never fucking do. Everything always has to be what you want. We really didn't have much a marriage to begin with."

"This was supposed to be something new for us to bring into the bedroom and try out every once in a while," she said. "You'd try out women and bring new tricks home, and so would I. I don't want us to get bored with each other," she said.

"Andrea, I never wanted anyone except you, only now you've ruined that because I don't even want you anymore," I snapped. She looked as if I'd slapped her.

"After 10 years I make one mistake, and that's it. Please give me one more chance. I'll do anything you want. We'll go to counseling like my dad suggested. You can do anything you want for revenge or to make yourself feel better. Whatever it takes I'll do. I promise. This won't ever happen again. Aren't we worth one more shot? You've always said you'd do anything for me. I'm begging you please just give me a chance. Let me have this one mistake. I swear you won't regret it ever."

She looked at me and she knew she had me. "You can move back in tomorrow," I told her. "But you really need to find a therapist for our counseling sessions."

Her smile could have melted a glacier, and she jumped towards me. I backed away from her and put my hands up. "We're not ready for that yet," I said seriously. "I'll see you tomorrow."

The next evening, as I finished my run, Melissa pointed to the porch. "There's your wife," she said. "Forgive me if I don't come up to talk to her. I know I'm going to have to eventually, but tonight just isn't the night."

"See you tomorrow Mel," I said.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't it be? We're friends now, better friends actually because of our shared experience." I smiled.

"Well I just thought that maybe Andie wants to spend more time with you." she said softly.

"Then she should learn to run," I said. "Mel you and I have nothing to do with Andie and I. I learned a lot about her through this incident, and I want things to work out between us, but I'm not sure I'll be able to. Some things you can get past, and some things are deal breakers. In this case I'm the only one who can make that decision, and I don't have a clue. I love her so much that I ached every day that she was away. I don't know if I agreed to this because it was the right thing to do, or just to stop the pain. My skin crawls when she gets close to me, I'm just not sure we can make this work."