Gangy's Gap Ch. 03

I beat myself up about being totally ignorant at the time and not seriously recognizing any signs of her trauma. How could I be so insensitive? How could I not protect her? How could I be so fucking ignorant? I also thought of that point of time when her brother sodomized her in our act of double penetration. She was crying and I ejaculated in a moment of self-gratification.

There was also the issue of Rachael's father who could be any of the males of arcadia. I wonder whether Claudia's decision in leaving the family could also have been driven in some way by guilt of her pregnancy with Rachael. I desperately hoped not.

I have never told anyone about the photographs and certainly have not brought them up with Claudia. No other images have emerged

For a while I was left with nightmares from these photographs and wished to bloody god I had never developed them and instead destroyed them outright. I became depressed for a while and for the only time in my life I contemplated suicide. This was stuff I would have to bottle up. I felt I could tell no-one.

Well despite everything, we finally had Claudia home. How was she now? Would we have her back for good?

Rachael ran in while I went around the car to open the door and Claudia emerged. We stood facing each other for a moment then hugged a full body and soul hug. "I see all of you is as excited as me to have you again," murmured Claudia.

Just then a commotion broke through the front door as two very excited little girls exploded out screaming, "Mummy is it really you." Little Miriam went directly to her Mum and with eyes fixed on her hopping up and down wanting to be picked up and hugged. Emma came around behind me then hugging one of my legs nervously stared at her mother sucking on her fingers with her other hand. By now Miriam was hanging from Claudia's neck, Claudia's left hand barely hanging on to the little over excited bundle. Claudia reached out to Emma with her left hand, who rushed over until both little girls were lifted high in the air both kissing Claudia's cheeks. I could see the tears begin to run in Claudia's eyes.

Whatever had caused Claudia's indifference to her children, whatever ghosts had caused her depression were well and truly exorcised at that moment.

I had thought that Emma would barely remember her Mother but among the shouting, I heard scraps of stories and poems and realized that the memory of Claudia had been kept alive by my bedtime tales of her mythical quest. Claudia turned to me her tears now freely flowing, saying the simple words, "Thank you my darlings, for staying so strong for me." Again I involuntarily fingered the Toki at my throat. I noticed that she was still wearing her wedding rings and I took her hand. Our eyes met. She glanced down saying that she had never taken them off.

At that point Rachael burst back out, my mother in tow. We crowded Claudia and ushered her into the house. Bye and bye we were joined by Aunties Georgie and Suzy as they arrived from work. Sue invited her flat mates up from the apartment below. Bubbly was broken out, food prepared and music played. All the time her girls skipped happily about always keeping close to her; never letting her out of their sight. Meanwhile I noticed Georgia hanging back uncharacteristically looking sullen.

Before long Claudia's Parents arrived with my father. We rang my sister Miriam to tell her the good news. Photographs were taken to record the occasion.

As the night wore on it was clear that Claudia was actually exhausted. I finally managed to prize her from the family for a one on one in our bedroom. She was feeling overwhelmed and never expected the welcome.

"Thank you, oh thank you Mark. I thought you would all hate me. You know when I first saw you with those children at the school a wave of warmth enveloped me. I felt my heart thumping and I so wanted you."

My ears pricked to this. "What did you say?"

"Oh... she dithered; repeated, " I so wanted you."

"You know, I felt exactly the same when I recognized you. You realize that after all these years and despite whatever adventures and trials you and I have had, we still love one another."

She looked into my eyes, "I had not thought if it in that way, but what you say is absolutely true."

In my mind, my staying true for her was then vindicated. We had not declared such honest love for one another since, well... way longer than the six years she had been away and possibly not since our first year of romance. What was reassuring is that what I felt, she felt. Or so I thought.

Unfortunately in this first rush of reconciliation we both had emotional baggage to contend with. I had years of pain and resentment and even hatred toward her in my struggle to cope and who knows what she had experienced. She caught me staring at the bruising on her face and she dropped her head. The first night was going to be difficult and that was just the start.

We decided that we should not sleep together that night and knowing that Sue had a spare bed in her flat, I approached Sue. She was only too pleased, even overjoyed to have her stay. They were fairly close in age and Sue's response was, "Sure, as long as Claudia likes."

We agreed that we would talk later about her years away as there was too much to tell on this night. I thought that a one on one time with female company would help at this time.

We all spent the rest of the night talking about ourselves. The girls had much to tell and their stories eventually meandered off into their bedrooms where Claudia put them to sleep. From there she retired early to downstairs and the adults were left to say their goodbyes and departed.

Events from there were curious. Sue seemed to take over Claudia and I did not see much of her in the following week. I still had school to attend.

Since Claudia had arrived in nothing more than the clothes she stood up in and no underclothes as well, we agreed that Claudia must have a new kit and I would put up the money for that. Sue also insisted Claudia have a full makeover. That took care of the first weekend but Claudia ended up on the Sunday night looking absolutely stunning. I did not recall her looking so beautiful. We decided on the Sunday night we would have a regular Sunday dinner. It was to be our place as it had a big enough dining area for us all.

The first Sunday did night did not go well. It was the first night since Claudia had arrived that Georgia turned up. Georgia had recently graduated in law and through her father had organized a good position in a top old established local law firm for her. She seemed to have had a lot of boyfriends but had never settled. She usually came around every Sunday night to spend time with the kids and often came on outings with us. Georgia's relations with Claudia had never been particularly good and when she arrived she seemed quite down and did not look her best.

At the dinner table Claudia was sitting next to me dressed all in white and immaculately made up, her curly mane of black hair tamed into classic 80's chic. She had her hand on my thigh and from time to time during the conversations would nuzzle my neck.

It was at a point when Claudia was doing this that Rachael piped up with an eewww!

Georgia suddenly exploded; "You fucking bitch! You go and fuck off, desert your kids for six years and try to walk back in here as though nothing happened. I know you, I know your game and it's all fucking going to end in tears. Why don't you just fuck off and go back to where you belong!"

Claudia's Mother and my parents were stunned into silence. The girls began to cry. Sue seemed to know it was coming and was already moving toward Georgia before she could say any more.

Claudia just gaped then turning to me started say, "Did you two... are you?"

I shook my head vigorously to say I had no idea what this was about. Sue tried to grab Georgia but she threw her off, bursting into wild sobs, she ran to the stairs and disappeared, slamming doors and yelling "Fuck you". Her car started, backing up there was a crash and a squeal of tyres and she was off, revving down the road leaving all of us stunned in silence.

Claudia pulled back from me and refused to look me in the eye. There was a mood change; a small barrier went up between Claudia and I that we would not recover from easily.

Following that episode I really did not see much of Claudia for two weeks. Sue and her party animals were monopolizing her time leaving me somewhat resentful. I desperately needed to discuss a lot of issues with her and we were not getting time alone. I got to the point that I felt I had to book her in, and I did just that. There was an opening night function for a play on a coming Friday. My plan was dinner, function, and late night drinks, just us two, to commence our intended dialogue.

The Saturday before, I was woken with a car door slamming. I heard Claudia's overly loud voice and some laughing voices, Sue and males. The next day I did not see Claudia until dinner where she arrived obviously still hung over. I reminded Claudia about the function on Friday. With that Claudia sat back. She was looking at Sue. "Oh, I won't be able to go...Sue and I are..." with that I got angry. "Claudia, you and I are still married, we have children, don't you think I have first dibs. You and I have a lot to talk about and we should be doing that!" Claudia was taken aback and then started apologizing, "Sorry, sorry, it's so good being so free I was forgetting myself."

And free from what I could only guess.

Friday started well. Dinner was just us and relaxed with wine. We talked around ourselves and mainly about the girls. Claudia asked about Miriam who was coming up the following week, just to see her.

We arrived at the function. I got Claudia a wine then she spotted two old friends and went to chat, leaving me with a couple of my own friends. Bye and bye we were joined by Joseph Franklyn. He was a director, writer and theatre critic in his own right. Appearing often in the media he was very well known.

I should say he joined my friends as this was the first time I had met him. He was tall, around my height with striking looks with dark complexion, bright green eyes and immaculate parted hair. He was slender in build and wore a blazer and bow tie. The mesmerizing thing about him was the way he gesticulated; punctuating is speech with raised manicured hands. He did not talk with us for long. I was introduced to him and we talked a bit about a coming play he had written which was planned to turn into a film. He moved away.

Once gone I noted the mesmerizing way he had with his hands. My friends chuckled saying he has a way with women with those. They began to gossip. He had a poor suffering wife, Pamela and a girl with a disability. They said his marriage was pretty rocky as he was a well-known philanderer. Pamela was not with him as usual tonight, so they reckoned he would be on the prowl. And with that they nodded in the direction of Claudia. "Well it didn't take long to find her. I would watch your wife if I was you she would be fresh meat for him."

Looking back at Claudia, they were locked in conversation her eyes looking directly up into his. I felt my hackles rising. Claudia was reaching out and touching his arm. I could see the way the she was speaking and smiling, their heads were close and she was openly flirting. Never had Claudia behaved in the past like this in my company. I watched for a while, then suddenly Franklyn gestured toward the door and they turned and began walking closely side by side toward it. He raised his arm to her back then literally lowered it to her butt as he was passing through the door. The whole act was astoundingly crude for a person in this company. I hastily made for the door; I caught them partly down the corridor.

"Ah Joseph... Can I have a word?"

"Well I am busy, what can I do for you."

Claudia did not know where to look and was silently looking away.

"I see your wife Pamela is not with you tonight. Is she home looking after your daughter?"

"What the fuck, does that have to do with you?"

Grabbing Claudia's hand I raise it so that her wedding ring came in to view.

I invoked the spirit of Gangy's Gap.

"Listen you stuck up, self-entitled, turd. I know you're a media darling, but the media do love a scandal and if your wife knew about this I think she would just about take you to the cleaners. I suggest you forget about the play, Oh, Looks as though you already have. Why don't you just fuck off now before there is a scene? Maybe Pamela and your daughter might like to see you. If I catch you anywhere near my wife again your divorce may be the least of your worries."

Through all this his mouth was opening and closing like a fish gasping. He finally turned and without a word and headed hastily back toward the exit.

I turned to a wide eyed Claudia. "I can see you and I do have a lot to talk about."

"You are coming home with me now. From tonight you are sleeping with me. You are moving out of the flat. I want to reclaim you as my wife and I would hope you would likewise as me as your husband. Do you object to that?"

In an instant Claudia's face turned from horror to a broad smile. She did not do that very often but when she did you know you had scored. I once joked that with that smile she could melt the heart of Sauron at 500 paces.

"I'm not objecting to that, you big hairy beast. Come on sweep me away on your big silver stallion."