February won't Suck Again

I could hear mumbles around. Everybody tacitly agreed, even. My Dad looked at me with a smile. I think it was pride I saw in his eyes that day.

As we were preparing to leave, Heather took me apart.

"Are you planning on getting back with her?" she asked.

"I dunno, Hetty. I don't think so. I still feel that I was betrayed. I don't think I could ever trust her again. Plus there is Carolyn. I feel like giving this a chance."

She lightly squeezed my shoulder and gave me a warm smile.

***

But my on-and-off fling with Carolyn went out in mid-July. Her presence had been soothing to me, just as she told me mine had been to her. We really had a sweet spot for each other, but we realized over time that we did not have enough in common to be a couple.

And, even if I did all I could not to admit it to myself at the time, Carolyn was just not Linda...

Linda heard through Heather that I was no longer seeing Carolyn. I think that gave her some hope, because she started to organize more family outings with the kids. I was always glad to go, since I enjoyed the kids' presence. And... yes, Linda's as well. But there was still some nagging voice in my head that was holding me back from trying to get closer to her. I guess she felt it, and after a few weeks, her efforts to reach me dwindled from three to four calls a week to one or two text messages. And it was only for kid-related logistical issues.

On the first Friday of September, I picked the kids up at school. They were all excited to tell me about their first days of school, and they were happy to go to my family lake house for the weekend. It was a tradition in my family to always get together at our lake house for Labor Day long weekend. Linda was always looking forward to that weekend because she loved spending time with Heather and Jessica, my brother's wife. But this year, it would be only me and the kids.

I dropped by Linda's house so that the kids could grab their bags for the weekend. When I got in, I saw that Linda was getting prepared to go out. Her hair was beautifully done, and she had some very nice makeup on. Looking at her getting prepared to go out without me gave me a punch in the heart. I think she noticed it.

"Yeah, I... have a date tonight," she said, looking away, almost ashamed.

I was trying not to show my discomfort. To no avail, clearly.

"Someone I know?" I asked.

"No. He's a friend of Cheryl's husband," she said. Cheryl was a colleague of hers she was close to.

"Is it serious?" I asked. I immediately regretted that question. First, because she would have been completely justified to tell me it was none of my business, and second, because it showed that I still cared. Not very strategic.

'Strategic...? FUCK, WHY IS THIS SO COMPLICATED!!' I screamed inside my head.

"It's my first date alone with him. We'll see," she answered, making a big effort to sound as neutral as possible. Her eyes were moist. She looked away.

The kids came back from their bedrooms, with their bags.

"We're ready Dad! Have a nice weekend Mommy!" Tommy said. Linda kissed both kids, and they ran to the car. I stayed there a few more seconds, watching Linda. I took a deep breath, trying to regain control. I gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Have a good date," I said, and walked out the door and jumped in the car.

"Ok kids, here we go!" I said, trying to cheer myself up.

The more we drew away from Linda's house, the more my heart sank. Another month and the divorce would be final. But was this what I really wanted?

'What are you doing, you blinking idiot? Are you really going to let your wife, the woman you love, go away without raising a hand?' A voice in my head started shouting.

And another voice in my head: 'Don't forget, she cheated on you! Remember what she did. Don't be a wimp!'

And the first voice answering: 'Forget about the wimp bullshit and just don't be stupid! She did it once and went through hell. Do you really think she'll do it again?'

WHOA. My attention suddenly diverted, I went through a street crossing on a very reddish side of the yellow light.

Do you really think she'll do it again?

Well... do I...?

"Leap of faith," I said, aloud, without realizing it.

"What did you say, Dad?"

"Nothing. Um, Kids, there's something I forgot to give your Mom. We're going back, it won't be long, I promise."

I did a U-Turn and drove back.

"Wait for me in the car, ok? I'll be quick".

They were focused on their pads, almost oblivious to the rest.

I rang. Linda opened the door. She had put on her emerald dress, my favorite.

"Are you ok, Jim? Is there a problem?"

I sighed as she let me in. It took me a few more seconds to finish gathering my courage.

"Yes, there is, Linda. All this is wrong. All this is completely wrong," I almost yelled, my eyes tearing up.

She looked at me, silently. Her eyes were also wet.

"I know," she said after a few seconds.

"I'm letting my fears get the best of me. And I'm finally realizing that no, this will not make me happy."

I paused. That was hard.

"Why don't you cancel your date, pick up your things and come with us for the weekend, just like it should be? Why don't we go back to what our life should be?"

She looked at me, speechless. I took her face in my hands and kissed her the warmest I could. She melted in my arms.

"I hope you have enough bug repellent, because I gave mine to the kids and I don't have any left here," she said, winking.

EPILOGUE

On our way back from a wonderful weekend, I left a message to my lawyer, asking her to cancel the divorce procedure. Within two weeks, I had moved back to our house, and our bedroom. It took some time and some counseling sessions for things to be completely normal again, but we made it.

Carolyn's ex-husband was killed by his cellmate. Carolyn remarried with a very nice guy, another friend of Adam's! Linda and I were invited, but going there would have been awkward, so we politely declined and sent a nice gift.

The last we heard about our former friends is that the 8-pack is now a 6-pack. It seems that Dee tried to hit on Jane's husband one evening at the club. Jane and Dave were not thrilled by Dee's lusciously massaging Phil's reproductive equipment in front of everybody. Phil and Jane were ok, but Dave finally had enough and filed for divorce. Dee has since moved to another state. So, she finally found a way to make me happy!

Linda and I felt that we needed to do something to break the February curse the following winter. So we organized another get together the last day of February. For obvious reasons, we decided not to go to the same club, and certainly not with the same people. We went out with Heather and her husband Jacob, and with Blaine and his wife Jessica.

But there are certain people it seems you just cannot get rid of... We were having a good time at that other club when guess who entered the place as if he owned it? Marc LaAsshole himself! He was of course with his party of ass kissers. Linda got very nervous and wanted to leave the place. I was not at ease myself, and I tried to hide Linda from the eyesight of LaShitface.

"Jim, you guys are not gonna start to hide from him, are you? You can't live in the fear that you will stumble upon him. We're here, don't forget that," Blaine said, with a hand on my shoulder.

It took Dickhead 10 minutes to spot Linda and come to our table. I felt like my world was about to collapse. Again.

"Hey Linda! Long time no see! Here, come dancing," he said, taking her hand. Linda didn't move.

"I think it's clear she's not interested. Now go back to your friends and leave us alone," I told him, seething.

"Hoooo! Cucky boy is mad! Cucky boy wants some attention here?" LaValliere sneered. "Why don't you just go to Chuck E Cheese's across the street while Linda here can enjoy the company of a real man?"

As I started a move to put myself between Linda and him, he pushed me aside and I fell on the floor. He started laughing and redirected his attention to Linda, who stood up and looked at him with fire in her eyes.

"To think that people speak highly of you, of your good reputation. You're just a fucking asshole!!" yelled Blaine, as he gave me a hand to help me stand back up. My left knee was killing me.

"What did you just say?" LaValliere engaged Blaine. And then, he realized that he had 2 major problems. The first one was that Heather had been filming the whole scene on her smartphone. When he saw that, LaValliere stood up and went around the table to seize Heather's phone. That is precisely where his second problem arose: Jacob was just returning from the bar with drinks for all of us. Since our table was next to the bar, he had seen and heard everything. Jacob was a very nice and extremely intelligent guy, but messing with him was not really recommended. When he was in high school, his nickname used to be "the Friendly Giant". Today, for people who did not know him well, he would go by the nickname "Sir", preferably pronounced in a very polite tone.

"What part of 'get outta here' do you not understand, exactly?" Jacob asked LaValliere very calmly, motioning to prevent him to get to his wife and her phone.

Realizing that almost everybody in the club was now looking at him and giggling, LaValliere stormed out of the club, fuming. His flock of butt lickers followed within seconds.

Heather was able to get everything and, of course, uploaded the video on social media. It only took a few days before it became viral. Unfortunately for our football hero, others in the club had also filmed everything. The league had a strict code of conduct, and LaValliere's inappropriate behavior resulted in the termination of his contract. To top it all, the league sued him for reputation damages due to his public misconduct. And I got a very nice settlement after I had pressed charges against him for assault.

Rumor has it that LaValliere left the state and disappeared from the public sphere. Soon, he was a broke no-name. Quite frankly, I could not care less...

And this late February escape turned into a tradition. Linda and I are now on the tenth of what we call our February ROCKS. And counting!