David: Survival and Adventure

My lawyer emailed to tell me that Diane had been served with the divorce papers. Leeann anticipated that she would hear something from Diane's lawyer in a week, or so. Until then, there was nothing really to be done. If Diane was dragging her feet, Leeann would go to court and carry on with the petition and get it approved after a year had gone by. So, in this case, Diane's long-term affair constitutes the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. If she were to object to the divorce, not living together during the last six months means that we only have to reside separately for another six months and the requirements of the law will have been met in that case. One way or another, the divorce will be final in about six months. Easy-peasy.

And then my doorbell rang.

**********

Diane

Okay, I did something that I probably should not have done. I followed David when he left the hospital at the end of his shift two days ago. I followed him to the apartment building where, I assume, he's living now. It's only a few blocks from our apartment. Well, mine I suppose. Now that I knew where he was, all I needed was the courage to go see him.

I waited for a few more day to summon the courage and got dressed up in an outfit that I knew David liked. It was simple yet something that he always told me I looked good in. It was tight jeans, with high-heels and a white sleeveless blouse. I put my hair in a pony-tail, just how he loved it. Simple, yet elegant. If things went the way I wanted, the jeans and blouse could come off fast.

I stopped by a store and bought some beer that I know he liked. It was something called IPA. Not sure what that means, but I know he likes it, or did. I also brought a bottle of white wine for me. California chardonnay.

With a deep breath I pushed the button for his apartment on the panel in the entrance. After a few rings, he answered.

"Hello."

"David, is that you?"

"Who is this?"

"It's me, Diane, your wife."

Silence. "May I come up?"

More silence.

"I would like to talk with you."

More silence. After what seemed like an eternity, the door buzzer sounded and I grabbed the door before he could change his mind.

I took the elevator to his floor and walked on unsteady legs to his apartment door. I knocked.

**********

David

I wasn't surprised when my apartment intercom told me that someone was buzzing my apartment. There are always people buzzing apartments: Girl Guides selling cookies, the Mormons selling Jesus and salvation, and politicians looking to get elected or re-elected. But this was a surprise. It was probably a big mistake, but I let her in.

When I heard the knock on the door I waited for a few seconds before I opened it. I needed to take a deep breath and collect my thoughts and emotions. A hundred things went through my mind in the few minutes between her hitting the door buzzer and her knock. They were all questions that I had and anger that I wanted to vent. Just before opening the door, I reminded myself that I had moved on. I'm in a better space than I was six months ago.

I opened the door and there she was. The look on her face was...well, she looked good. She looked tired, but good. The woman that had been my wife; cripes, she still is my wife for a bit longer, she just stood there outside the door.

I opened the door all the way and motioned for her to come in. "Hello Diane, what brings you by here tonight?"

"Hello David. I wanted to talk to you. You're a hard guy to talk to lately, and even harder to find."

I turned and walked down the short hallway to the kitchen. I could see that she had a bottle of wine in a shopping bag. I got her a wine glass and put it on the counter. She passed me the bottle, I suppose to take the cork out but I noticed that it was a screw-top, so I opened it and poured some for her. She pulled out a can of IPA beer from the bag and slid it over the counter to me. I wasn't sure that alcohol would be a good thing for me right now so I told her, "No thanks, I'm on call for the hospital tonight." I got a glass of ice and poured some diet cola.

I pointed at the table for us to sit. I figured that what we had to talk about was better done at the table than pretending we were all friendly and informal in the living room space. Now was as good a time as any to finish off this marriage and we could get on to signing the paperwork and our lawyers could get a judge to rubber-stamp it and be done with it.

**********

Diane

David got right to the point. No preliminary 'how are you?' or 'nice to see you after all these months.' No, he looked as serious as I had ever seen him.

My stomach was in knots as I started. "You scared the shit out of me when you called the hotel and told Darrin to tell me that you were dead. He didn't know who was calling and of course didn't know your voice. I was in shock when I got home and found your note and your wedding ring."

I fished his gold wedding ring out of my bag and slowly put it on the table. He just looked at; never touched it. He wasn't going near it. It was poison to him.

"I tried to talk to your family, but none of them would give me the time-of-day. Your father repeatedly told me to go -to-hell. I suppose I deserved that. I've been in a kind-of hell since you left."

David was quick to answer that, "What did you expect me to do? I found out that you'd been fucking Darrin Ranger for a long time and you figured that I should just do nothing about it? What kind of an idiot do you take me for? Never mind, I know what kind of an idiot you think I am."

"It wasn't like that."

"What the fuck was it like, then?"

"I was lonely. You were always at the hospital. You were never home, and when you were home, you were always exhausted and never had time for me."

"So that meant it was okay to go ahead and fuck some other man? It was okay to ignore our marriage? It was okay to...why in the fuck couldn't you at least talk to me and tell me that you wanted out of our marriage? Why deceive me for so long?"

David looked at the table and refused to look at me. Couldn't really blame him, could I?

He took a drink and then said, "Have you signed the divorce papers?"

'No, I don't want a divorce. I want us to be a proper family, again. I'm still your wife and want to be your wife and the mother of your children."

David laughed. "You've got to be fucking kidding." It was a statement, not a question. "Are you completely delusional?"

"No, I still love you, very much. I still am your wife and I don't plan to do anything else to jeopardize that. I want you and I to live together again. I want us to be lovers again. I want to be the mother of your children."

He looked at me with a wide-eyed expression. "Good Lord woman, you are delusional. I'm not going to be your husband a day longer than I have to. My lawyer is prepared to go to a court and get the divorce finalized without you. You do know that in New York, all it takes is us living apart for one year, or six months if it can be shown that our marriage is irretrievably broken. You've done a good job in making it irretrievably broken. Now, I've done my part. It's over. Figure it out. You started all this by fucking your friend, for almost two years. I'm just finishing it."

"Sweetie, what will it take to forget all the divorce business and be a couple again?"

"I don't want to be married to you, Diane. You broke us. Now, we go our separate ways. I had an amazing experience after I left Albany and I don't plan to go back to living the way that I was."

"David, we can be good together, I know we can."

"No, we can't. You like spreading your legs for other men too much for there to be any relationship between you and me. That water hole has been poisoned, time for us to move on, Diane. It's done. It's over. You can get back to doing what you like."

David stood up to tell me that our discussion was over. I drank the last of the wine in my glass, put it down, stood up and moved to kiss him. If he will only let me touch him, there may be a chance. If he remembers what I feel like next to him, he might want me again. I got close to him and took hold of his arm and pulled him in to me. I kissed him on the lips. I stayed as close to him as I could until he stepped back. It was only a second, but I could tell that it was a start.

His last thing he said to me was, "Don't forget to take that with you." He was pointing at his wedding ring on the table. I picked it up and put it in my bag and left his apartment.

I knew, then and there, that we were done. That David was done with me. He and I were never going to have a life together. I loved the man, and I threw him away for something that wasn't worth the price that I had to pay. Darrin was no prize, when you think about it. He got what he wanted and all it cost me was a husband that I didn't really want to lose. I'm so stupid. I deserved what I got.

I need to sign the paperwork and get it done. I need to let him go.

**********

David

The crazy woman tried to kiss me as she was leaving my apartment. I want nothing to do with her. Now, she wants us to pretend that nothing has happened and for us to be a couple again and to have kids. Arrgghhh. She's not right in the head. It isn't gonna happen.

The only thing that is going to happen, at least on my part, is for my lawyer to get this divorce finalized and I can move on with my life.

I needed a long hot shower to wash the stink of the situation off of me. So, that's what I did and then I had a beer.

**********

Emma Fischer

I have been very busy here in Berlin, getting hundreds of hours of video edited and put into context. Doing the voice-overs for it has been a challenge to get it right. I'm doing it all in English and a second version in German. Doing the closed-captioning is fun. Lots of work.

The last month has slipped by without me really noticing that the time has gone by. I sent David some emails with short videos and some photos of him on his Honda during our time in Africa. He looks good in the video. Even the one where he dumped his bike. It was a big laugh for both of us.

I put my friend to work to help me. She's the one that has the husband that works in the government and has access to information about people. She was able to get me some information about David before we started our trip in Africa together. You remember that I wanted to find out if he was really who he said he was, and not some imposter or serial killer. I was happy to hear that he was actually who and what he said he was.

So, I asked Ingrid, to ask her husband Nick, if he could get me an update on David. I know that it was sort of sneaky but I needed to know what was going on without having to directly ask David. I had my reasons. It took about a week but she gave me what her husband was able to get. Seems that David is back working in the ER at the hospital and that his lawyer has filed a request with the court for a 'Dissolution of Marriage' as they call it in America. That means divorce. It was recorded in the court a few weeks ago so, because of the American divorce laws, he will be officially divorced very soon.

That's good. Because I have some important news for him. But, before I tell him, I need to make sure that some other things get done first. Things in America. I sincerely hope that the news that I have is news that he wants.

**********

David

Hooray, I'm fucking divorced!!

It's official today. I have the piece of paper in my hands. Thank Christ! Now I feel like I can get on with my life and do some of the things that I want to do. I have to find out a few things first.

I've been getting calls and emails from Emma giving me updates on her book and videos. She's sent me a few clips, mostly showing me doing stupid things, like dumping the bike. Or almost running into a small pack of cows on a road because I was sight-seeing and not paying attention to what was ahead of me. No damage to the cows or the bike, but the extreme laughter from my riding partner was telling.

I've told her about what's happening in my life. We've talked on the phone a few times. I told her about the visit that Diane made to me and how she was hoping that I would forgive and forget and take her back. The disrespect that Diane had for me for so long was the thing that decided it for me. I had made my mind up right after learning the extent of her affair. There was no going back, as far as I was concerned. That was what made me want a break from my life.

Emma listened to me rant and I could tell that she was becoming bored with my problems. She had something to tell me. She said she had to go, but would send me an email in a day or so. Emma mentioned that she had an announcement for me in couple of weeks, but until then I would have to wait. I figured it was about her book.

**********

Emma

I need to tell David the news, but I won't do it when he is still angry about his ex-wife. I need him to be concentrating on me. A bit more time, perhaps. But not much more time.

**********

David

It's been a week since my divorce was final and I'm at the Albany airport about to board a flight to O'Hare in Chicago and then on to Heathrow and finally Berlin. It's about fifteen hours of flying and I get there about noon tomorrow.

I need to see Emma. It's been almost two months; I need to talk to her. I need to find out if there is anything there between us after our time together in Africa. If not, I will get back to my life and figure out what it is I want to do.

Doctors Without Borders have been recruiting in the hospitals, looking for docs to work in several parts of the world. They don't pay much and I'll have to see just how badly my family wants me to repay the school loans that they gave me, but I'll get it all sorted out, somehow.

I landed at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport, went through the Customs line and collected my bag at the carousel and went outside to get a taxi. I had booked a room at the Hotel Parkview, right downtown in the Alexanderplatz area. It is a very nice hotel and has all the modern facilities of a top tier hotel. Very unlike some of the sketchy little dives that Emma and I had stayed in during our time in Africa.

After I checked in and got showered and a bite to eat, my mission was to find the building where Emma was working. I knew it was in the downtown area but I had no clue exactly how to get there. Of course, I turned to Google to help me figure out where to go. I had saved a map of the downtown and headed out walking. It was almost 4 PM when I reached her building.

I figured that if Emma wasn't keen to have me visit, I would play tourist for the remaining time left before my flight home to the U.S. I tried to manage my own expectations of what kind of response I would get to showing up unannounced on her doorstep, so to speak.

Amazingly, it was only a few blocks to the building and it only took about a fifteen minutes walking to get there. I went in and found the offices of the company on the lobby directory. I took the elevator to the floor and exited into their lobby. I went to the very attractive young lady at the desk, she greeted me in German, I smiled at her and asked if Emma Fischer was here and if I could see her, please.

The young lady was...surprised...to see me I suppose. Her eyes opened wide and her carefully sculpted eyebrows raised noticeably. An American was asking for Emma. She grabbed her phone and made a call. After a few seconds of very fast talking, she looked at me and said, "Emma, or someone, should be here in just a moment. You can have a seat there to wait for her, if you like." She gestured at the plush leather chairs. When I went to sit, she grabbed her phone again and started talking, quietly this time, almost a whisper, but very quickly, in German, to whomever she called. I thought I heard the word 'American,' used a couple of times. She was glancing at me out of the corner of her eyes.

In the few moments that I sat there, several of the women that passed by gave me the up-and-down scan and once-over. I didn't know what was going on. I was certainly under scrutiny. Do they do that to every visitor? Do they have so few visitors here?

Another very attractive woman came up to me, "Doctor Walters?"

Before I could think, "Yes."

"Follow me, please."

It wasn't hard to follow her shapely rear-end, encased in a very tight short skirt, with her high-heels clicking on the polished granite floors. It was then that I realized that I had told the receptionist that I was David Walters, not Doctor Walters. Hmmm, seems they know more about me than I realized.

We walked along a series of hallways through the trendy offices of glass and steel. I got lots of looks from many of the women. I wasn't sure if it was because I looked out of place or my fly was open; I discreetly checked it. It wasn't. Was there an announcement over the Public Address system that there was a strange American on the loose wandering the halls. Hmmm.

After a lengthy walk that seemed like we were going to end up back at the lobby, I saw Emma coming around the corner. She had a big smile on her face. She actually ran the last few steps to me and grabbed me in a very tight hug and a kiss on the lips. Now there were lots of people watching us.

"Oh my god, David, when did you get to Berlin."

"A few hours ago. I went to a hotel and got cleaned up before I came here. I didn't want to turn-up looking like a hobo. I figured that if I did I'd get thrown out on the street by the security people."

I reckoned that she would ask why I was there. That would tell me if we had returned to the 'acquaintance' status. That the steamy nights we had spent together in Africa were behind us, to be shelved as great memories, and our real lives are in front of us, by ourselves, separate.

Emma talked while the onlookers watched and listened. She took my arm and we turned and made our way to the editing room that she was working in. She wanted to show me what she was doing with the video that she took on her travels.

Emma was dressed in a very nice long and flowing black skirt and a white long-sleeved blouse and shoes with heels, but they were not as high as those worn by many of the other women. It was as if there was a fashion show taking place here, the way they walked and looked. Her clothing was a far cry from the motorcycle riding gear that I was used to seeing her in. That and naked. I liked naked the most. My best memories were divided between being with a naked Emma and seeing a part of the world that mystified me from the time that I was a small kid. I liked the naked part best; I'm a man.

I decided to just go with the flow and see how things went for the next few hours. We talked about her work making the book and the videos that will form part of it. Some of the video will go on YouTube and the biggest part will be on the publisher's website. People will pay to subscribe to see it.

"Do you have time to have dinner with me? I would like to find out what is going on with you, besides your book. And there are some things that I would like to share with you about what has been going on with me. "

"How long can you stay?"

"Well, I can stay for a few days. My flight back is in three days, but I can easily change it if I need to. What did you have in mind?"

I was really unsure where Emma was going with this. Was she asking me to stay longer or figuring out when she could get rid of me. I don't want to be like the leftover fish meal, get rid of it quick so it doesn't stink. I had had enough of not being wanted by women that I thought cared for me, so my guard was up.

"I want you to meet my family, I've told them a lot about you and they are excited to meet you."

You could have knocked me over with a feather with that response. "Oh, well, I suppose I can do that. First, I need to eat and I would really like to sample some good German beer. I can leave and meet you after you are free from your work."