Frank and Cookie

I was just up the street from her office when she came out at lunch time. She got in her car and drove to the Burger King and went through the drive thru and then drove back to her office.

I went back to work and spent most of the afternoon wondering about how the evening was going to go. I'd made up my mind that if Cookie went on her girl's night out we were done. She would come home and find all of her things in the spare bedroom; the bedroom that was supposed to be for our next child. The one we wouldn't be having.

I let everyone go and closed the shop a half hour early and drove over to the mother-in-laws to pick up JR and then drove home. Cookie wasn't there, but I hadn't expected her to be since I was home early. If she did come straight home she wouldn't get there for another half hour. I parked JR in front of the TV to watch Sponge Bob Square Pants while I started dinner. I worked with one eye on the clock and when Cookie wasn't home a half hour after her usual time I fed JR and then started moving Cookie's things out of our bedroom and into the spare bedroom.

I was carrying an arm full of dresses out of our bedroom when Cookie came up the stairs and saw me. I hadn't heard her come in the house. She saw that my hands were full of her clothes and she asked:

"What are you doing Frank?"

"Moving you out of our bedroom" I said as I walked across the hall and dropped the dresses on the bed. "Since you are home now I'll let you hang them up while I finish moving the rest of your stuff."

"What is wrong with you Frank? Are you out of your mind? First there was all that nonsense this morning and now this?"

I looked at my watch and saw that it was five after nine so I said, "You got off work four hours ago Cook; where have you been?"

"I told you that I was stopping after work with the girls."

"And I told you to make sure that you were willing to pay the price if you went. The price is the end of our marriage. You will be staying in the spare bedroom until I can work out the finances for one of us moving out and into an apartment. I'll be seeing an attorney in the next day or so and get the divorce paperwork started."

"Are you fucking insane?!!! A divorce over me stopping for drinks after work?"

"Come off of it Cook. I told you this morning that I knew a lot more than you thought I did. I know about your seeing Jason for the last six months (Pauline said two or three but I was going for shock value) and I know for a fact that there was no girl's night out tonight with the girls who work in your office. What you did tonight was meet Jason after work and I can guess what you did with him for four hours. Face it Cook; you are busted.

"I gave you a chance to hang on to your marriage this morning when I said what I said. You should have been smart enough to figure out that I knew what was going on from the things I said. It isn't all bad though. In six months or so you will be free and you and Jason won't have to sneak around. Hell, now that you are busted and we are through you don't have to wait six months. In fact, why don't you go call the asshole and tell him to come pick you up? You can spend the night with him and not have to sleep in the spare bedroom. But I will tell you one thing. If he ever sets foot in this house I won't be responsible for what I do to the both of you."

I left her standing there as I went back to what used to be our bedroom for another load of her stuff. When I got back to the spare bedroom she was sitting on the bed and she looked up as I came into the room.

"We have to talk about this Frank."

"The time for talking is long past Cookie. The time to talk was six months ago. It should have started with a "Guess who is back in town" but I never got that did I? Instead you have been seeing him behind my back. No matter. It is over now so you just go and do whatever."

I went downstairs and pulled JR away from the electronic babysitter and told him it was time to get ready for bed. Cookie was still sitting on the bed in the spare room when we walked by it on the way to JR's room.

"Why is mommy crying?"

"She got some bad news tonight and I guess it has upset her."

I got him put down for the night and headed back to my bedroom. Cookie had moved from the spare room into what had been our bedroom and was sitting on the bed. She looked up as I came into the room.

"We have to talk Frank. I didn't do anything wrong. It isn't what you think. You have to listen to me."

"Why should I listen to you Cook? All you are going to do is lie to me."

"No I won't. Honest Frank; I didn't do anything wrong."

"See Cook? There's your first lie right there."

"No it isn't Frank. All I've done is have lunch with Jason a couple of times and I had dinner with him tonight. I never told you about Jason coming back to town because I knew how much you disliked him. I wanted to see him, but I didn't want to cause problems between you and me so I didn't say anything. Okay, so maybe it was wrong of me to do that, bur Jason and I haven't done anything wrong. I swear to you Frank, nothing happened between us. I haven't done anything wrong."

"No? Well all I can say is that your definition of wrong is a lot different than mine. To me a wife kissing another man is wrong. To me a wife making out with another man is wrong. To me a wife lying to her husband is wrong and you have done all of those things Cook. And those are just the things I know about. God only knows what you have done that I don't know about."

"But I...."

"Get off of it Cook. I told you that I know more than you think I know."

I decided to keep Pauline out of it because I might need her to play spy again so I said, "I was in town at the bank seeing about a larger line of credit and I decided to stop by your office and take you to lunch. I got there just in time to see you get in a car with Jason and slide over next to him and kiss him. It was on the mouth Cook; not a good friend peck on the cheek, but on the mouth and you didn't break it off in any hurry either. I followed you to Antonio's and I was watching when you came out, got in the car and made out like a couple of teenagers for the next half hour. I didn't see what your hands were doing below window level, but I have a pretty good imagination.

"Being the curious guy that I am I was back yesterday to see what you might be up to and I'm sure that you can remember just what I got to see and after seeing that I'm pretty sure you can figure out what I think you did tonight. All of that adds up to "wrong" in my book Cookie. You can say you did nothing wrong until you are blue in the face, but again, what you consider wrong and what I consider wrong have nothing in common so if you don't mind get on over to your room because I need to get to bed."

"This is my room too. I belong in here with you."

"I don't see it that way. I don't want to touch you or have you touch me after what you have been doing with Jason."

"Bullshit Frank. You made love to me last night after seeing me with Jason at lunch."

"True, but all you did was neck at lunch. I suspect that you did a lot more than that tonight."

"Damn it Frank; I told you that it was just dinner."

"True Cook, that is what you told me, but I don't trust you anymore so I am not going to waste any of my time believing anything that you say. Now lave the room so I can go to bed."

"No Frank, this is my room too and I'm staying."

I grabbed her, picked her up and carried her across the hall to the spare bedroom and tossed her on the bed. I went back to my room and pushed the dresser over to block the door and then I went to bed and tried to fall asleep. It was hard to do until Cookie stopped beating on the door demanding to be let in. Eventually she did stop and I fell asleep.

++++++++++++++++++++++

In the morning she was sitting at the table in the kitchen when I came down. She looked like she had been crying all night. JR was sitting there eating his cereal so nothing was said between me and Cookie regarding our new circumstances. I poured myself a cup of coffee and toasted a bagel and then sat down and talked with JR about what he would be doing in school that day. Then I poured myself a cup to go and headed off to work.

It was a busy morning in the shop and it was almost noon before I had a chance to sit down with the Yellow Pages and scan the listings for divorce attorneys. I was looking for one close to the shop and there were a couple. I was wondering if I should ask around for some recommendations (since I did know several divorced guys) when the phone rang. It was Cookie.

"I made arrangements for mom to keep JR overnight. We need to sit down and talk things over Frank. I taking off early from work and I'll have dinner ready when you get here. We can eat and then talk without being interrupted or having to worry about what JR hears."

"What would be the point Cook? I'm pretty sure I made my position clear last night. Also there is the fact that I'm not likely to believe anything that you say."

"It won't kill you to talk with me Frank. I'll see you tonight" and she hung up.

I put the pone down, stared at it for a couple of seconds and then went back to making my list. I looked at he finished list and decided to ask my divorced friends about the names on the list.

Dinner was waiting when I got home and Cookie even had a chilled Cabernet on the table. We ate in silence and then Cookie cleared the table and put the dishes in the dish washer. She sat down, took a sip of her wine and said:

"I love you Frank. Don't ever doubt that. I don't want a divorce. I belong with you."

"Then why were you doing what you were doing with Jason?"

"I had a special relationship with Jason. At one time he meant the world to me and I fully expected that I would spend my life with him. Circumstances split us apart and for one reason or another we were never able to connect again. You and I also had a special relationship and I cared for you deeply, but even though I did love you it wasn't a love as deep as the love I had for Jason.

"I'm not sure that we would have ever gotten married if it wasn't for JR, but JR happened and we did get married. In the years that followed I began to realize what a treasure I had in you and I came to love you as deeply as I had loved Jason. Three months ago, and it was only three months ago and not the six that you said, Jason called me and asked me to have lunch with me and I did. We talked about what happened in the past and brought each other up to date with our lives. I enjoyed myself so I said yes when he asked me to have lunch with him the next day. I did and I enjoyed his company.

"He told me about his wife and his twin girls and I told him about you and JR. He left and then three weeks later he was back in town and he called me again and asked me to have lunch with him. This set a pattern. He would come to town every two or three weeks and he would call me and ask me to have lunch with him and I always said yes. I never told you about it because of your past history with Jason and all I could see was trouble if you knew. All that it was was two old friends getting together for lunch once in a while. After the second time I kissed him on the cheek the same as I usually do with old friends. You've seen me do it.

"Anyway, the third time I went to kiss him on the cheek he turned his head so that I hit his mouth and he grabbed my head and held it as he gave me tongue. When he let me go he said he missed me terribly and that everything was wrong. It should be me he was married to. Then he said that he knew I felt the same and he asked me to come up to his room in the hotel. What was your favorite term for him back in high school? Asshole? Well that is just what he is; an asshole. A wife and two kids at home and he was trying to get me to go to bed with him. I realized if things had gone differently I would be married to him and the asshole would be out cheating on me.

"I was pissed. He missed me terribly? Then why no phone calls or letters after he moved. Why no attempt to contact me at all? And he had such a poor opinion of me that he thought I'd leap at the chance to cheat on my husband with him. I decided to fuck with him. I decided to lead him on and make him think I would eventually do it. I would go just far enough that he thought he was going to score and then back off. The make out sessions got a little hotter each time and he was sure that he was going to get me. He told me he would leave his wife and that we could be together like it was always meant to be.

"When I agreed to have dinner with him he thought for sure that I was going to end up in his room before the evening was over. I told him that you were out of town for two days and that my mom had JR and was keeping him overnight. I could see that in his mind he was already undressing me and planning on me spending the night. Halfway through dinner I got up to use the bathroom and while in there I called my mom and told her that I was in a meeting I wanted to get out of and I asked her to call me in twenty minutes. When she called I pretended the call was about something that happened to JR and that I had to leave. I could tell he was pissed that his prize for the evening had gotten away from him and it made me smile inside."

She got up and went over to the counter and got her purse and came back to the table. She reached into her purse, came out with a piece of paper and handed it to me.

"What is it?"

"The post office receipt for the package I sent Jason's wife. I sent it 'Return receipt requested."

"You sent his wife a package?"

"When I decided that I was going to fuck with Jason I started carrying a voice activated cassette tape recorder in my purse. I sent her the recordings of what he said when we were together along with a note explaining who I was and I ended the note saying that I thought she should know what the asshole she was married to was up to when he was away from home. I very much doubt that Jason will be calling me the next time he comes to town."

I looked at her and was silent for a bit and then I said, "I'm not sure that I can believe that story Cook. There are still things that happened that make me doubt it."

"Like what?"

"Every time you met him you came home happy as hell and you would never make love with me on those nights and then after he had gone back to wherever he lived you were snappish with me and irritable as hell for a day or two. That doesn't add up to being pissed at Jason. To me that meant you were happy as hell when he was around and you could be with him and moody and upset when he left and you had to come home and be with me. And the fact that you always turned me down for sex on the nights after being with him during the day told me that you were either afraid of me finding out I was getting sloppy seconds or you saw it as cheating on Jason."

"You can't possibly believe that of me!"

"Of course I can. All I have to go on is what I saw with my own two eyes and what I saw was a married woman making out with an old lover. Making out is all I saw on the two times I followed you, but who knows what you did on all the other times I wasn't watching. How do I know that those other times didn't end up being long lunches in a motel room somewhere? No Cook; your actions have put you in a position where I don't trust you enough to believe a word you say."

"That's not fair Frank. If I felt that strongly about Jason why would I have sent that package to his wife?"

"It could be that after I moved you into the spare bedroom and confronted you you decided that you needed to cover your butt. Maybe you really didn't believe him when he said he would leave his wife for you and you decided to force the issue. You sent her the package so she would kick him out and then he could be with you as soon as you could dump me."

"Jesus Frank; you can't possibly think that. It just isn't so. How can you believe that I would do something like that after what we have had since we got married? You love me Frank and you and I both know that. I love you and you should know that too. You have to believe me Frank, you just have to believe me."

I just sat there and looked at her. I wanted to believe her, I really did. I had loved her for so long that a part of me was screaming "Believe her you idiot" but another part of me was hollering "Believe your eyes Frank and remember how she was when Jason came into your lives."

Finally she said, "What can I do to prove it to you Frank?"

"I don't know that you can Cook. For one thing I notice you didn't respond to what I said about being happy when Jason was in town and pissed off and irritable when he left and all you had was me."

"That's because I had no idea I was that way. If I had to guess I'd say it was because I really appreciated you and was happy to be with you after spending time with an asshole like Jason. As for the irritable part? Probably because I was upset with myself for going behind your back no matter how good I thought my reasons for doing it were."

"And your refusal to make love?"

"That had to be just coincidence. I must have had some legitimate reason for not wanting to make love on those nights. Help me out here Frank. Tell me how I can prove to you that I love you and I was just messing with Jason's head?"

"I don't have a clue Cook. If you are able to do it you will have to be the one to figure it out."

"Will you at least hold off talking to a lawyer to give me time to think of something?"

"I guess I can for a while, but it won't be a long while so you will have to come up with something quick."

I got up and went out to the garage to do some work on my truck. As far as I was concerned Cookie and I were history. I didn't think there was any possible way she could prove to me that she was just screwing with Jason's head and not doing what I thought she was.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

There would come a time when I would have to face Cookie's parents over our split and I had no intension of coming out of it the bad guy so I had to get something that I could use to show them it was their daughter's actions and not mine that caused our marriage to end. I didn't see how I could do it though since I never knew when Jason would come to town so I couldn't hire a private investigator to be in place waiting.

We had two phones in the house so I went to Radio Shack and got three voice activated tape recorders and hid one near each phone and put one under the seat in Cookie's car. It was a wild shot and I didn't really think I would get much from them because I figured that Jason probably called Cookie at work, but I had to try something.

I called Pauline and asked her to meet me for a drink after work. I told her what was going on and asked her to keep me up to date on anything she came across and she said she would. Two days later she called me and said:

"I don't know if this means anything, but she just got a phone call that upset her. I heard her say "Fuck you asshole" as she hung up."

I of course wondered what that was about. That night when I got home I collected all the recorders and listened to them. There was nothing on the one from the bedroom phone or from the one under the seat of her car, but there was something on the one from the one by the phone in the kitchen. I had no idea what time the call came in, either after I left for work or just after Cookie got home from work, but the call was obviously from Jason's wife. After saying "Hello" the conversation went:

"This is she."

"Yes, I sent it."

"The note I enclosed should have explained it."

"He's lying to you. There is no way I went after him. I had no idea where he has been since he moved from here. I hadn't seen or talked to him until he showed up where I work and asked me to have lunch with him."