Her Mistake

Once again I appreciate the invitation by BlackRandl1958 to participate in a writing event.

Traci Kilkenny walked into the restaurant at straight-up 7, the appointed time for the reservation she had made. As she walked to the host station, she scanned the tables to see if her guest was already there and seated. He was.

As she approached the table with the host, she got the first close-up look she had at her guest in the past eight years. She had seen him in passing from a distance a few times in the last few years, but as she got up close, she spotted the changes time had wrought on her ex-husband.

Always the gentleman, Al Wentworth stood up when Traci got to the table. She started to lean in to him for a kiss before Al stiffened and took a step back. Traci got a surprised look on her face but took the hint and sat down as the host held her seat.

As she looked into Al's blue-gray eyes, Traci thought that time had been very kind to her ex. At 60, the same age as his ex, Al had a full head of curly gray shoulder-length hair mixed with a smattering of brown. His face was mostly unlined. He gave his ex-wife his signature crooked grin, reached across the table with his right hand and gave her left hand a squeeze. He noticed that she was wearing the engagement and wedding rings he had given her in another lifetime.

Al also noticed the subtle differences the years had made in his ex-wife. She had cut her shoulder-length blonde hair into a short, chic style, and her face had gained several "laugh" lines. She looked to be about 15 pounds heavier than when he had seen her at the final divorce signing eight years ago, but all in all, he thought she was still as beautiful as when he first met her almost 40 years ago.

After making small talk until their orders were taken, Al asked the $64,000 question.

"What's this about Traci? Why after all these years did you want to see me?"

Traci took several deep breaths before answering.

"Because I want you back in my life, at least as a friend, if that works for you," she answered. "In addition to everything else we had going, once upon a time we were pretty good friends, and I miss that.

"How about we give that another go, no strings attached?"

"I can't make any promises, Trace, but I think I'd like to try. I think I'd enjoy sitting down with a fine-looking friend every now and then," Al said.

The pair had a fine evening and repeated it two weeks later. They continued to meet for dinner every two weeks.

Al had to admit to himself that he enjoyed his evenings with Traci. He hadn't dated hardly at all since the divorce, and he found himself enjoying both her company and her beauty.

******

Al had graduated from college six months earlier with a degree in accounting when he and several of his new co-workers were at a bar celebrating the end of the work week. As he had never been in this particular bar before, he was looking around at both the people and the décor when his eyes locked upon the face of Traci Valentine, one of several first-year medical students also celebrating the end of the week. It might not have been love at first sight, but at the very least it was lust at first visage. Al walked -- actually staggered slightly -- over to Traci's table, and introduced himself. When the two parted company later that night, Traci put a soft kiss on Al's lips and put her digits into his phone.

A little more than a year later, the young accountant and the med school student were married. Finances were a little tight because Traci was still in med school, but Al made decent money and was a budgeting wiz. A gift or two from their parents also helped the couple along the way.

Traci decided to go into medical research, and six years later she was two years into a successful career. When the pair got married, they decided this was the time they would start having children, but one night after a big noisy session of lovemaking, Traci quietly admitted to Al that she wasn't ready yet to be a mother. Al admitted he was disappointed, but what do you say to the woman of your dreams: he acquiesced until a later time.

Several years after that Traci was part of a four-person team working on dementia-related illnesses. She loved the team aspect of her work, although like many researchers, she noted that it was more emotional than most people realized with every little triumph or setback seemingly so much more. She would often come home and talk Al's ears off for hours about the events of the day and what the team was doing. Al would sit at the kitchen table smiling from ear to ear as his wife told him practically everything from her day.

For the previous six months much of Traci's evening chatter was about Dr. Steve Kilkenny, a member of her team who was going through a seemingly nasty divorce after being cheated on by his wife of 12 years. Like with the other members of her team, Traci had become close to Kilkenny, and Al had liked the guy on the occasions where they had been together. A few years older than he and Traci, Kilkenny was a handsome, personable guy, Al thought, and Traci in particular seemed very distraught about Kilkenny's marriage falling apart.

Al was actually relieved when Traci stopped yapping about Kilkenny and his marriage woes, but he started to get a little concerned when she hadn't mentioned anything about him at all for about two straight weeks. It was March, though, one of the busiest times for any accounting firm, so Al quickly put his worries behind him as the 10 to 12-hour workdays starting piling up.

The one thing Al did notice, however, was that Traci's late days also picked up. Once or twice a week she would work as late as her husband. She attributed that to her team coming to several critical junctures in their research.

Like most people, Al and Traci didn't have a perfect marriage, but Al would have put money on the fact that they had a very good, maybe even a great marriage. Great communication was a key to that, Al thought, which was why he was so surprised when Traci started to become churlish in her behavior toward him.

"What's the matter, Babe? Have I done something wrong? Please talk to me, Sweetheart," Al said one night after another minor skirmish.

A couple of weeks later, Traci informed Al that her entire team would be going to Sweden for a conference two weeks into the future. Al didn't say anything as the travel was an every other year thing. He thought that maybe a break of a few days would be just what the doctor ordered for the pair.

Two nights before she was scheduled to fly out, Traci seemed somewhat recalcitrant about her recent attitude toward her husband. For the first time in two weeks, Traci and Al wound up in bed doing a lot more than sleeping. After having very rousing sex until the early morning hours, Al dragged his sorry ass into the office.

"Get that man a large cup of coffee," said Larry Barnwell, another accountant in the office."

"Make it big enough that I can jump into it," Al answered back.

Despite being practically dead on his feet, Al was humming a cheerful tune all day in the office. "His Traci" was back, Al thought to himself.

Two days later Al dropped off Traci at the airport, and then headed in to his office. It was another long day as April 15 approached. As he was getting ready to leave the office just shy of 9 p.m., he realized Traci never called him to tell him she had arrived at the hotel. Since it was 3 a.m. in Sweden, Al realized it was too late for him to call, but he set his phone alarm to 7 a.m. Sweden time so her could call her, knowing her itinerary was for a start time of 9.

Al was groggy when his alarm buzzed him at 1 East Coast time, 7 Swedish time, but he pressed Traci's number on his phone expectantly. When it went straight to voicemail, Al knew Traci had forgotten to turn her phone back on when she got off the plane. Since he wasn't planning on calling the hotel directly, he had to get online to find its phone number.

After ascertaining the person answering the hotel desk phone could speak English. Al asked for Traci Wentworth's room. There was silence on the line for about two minutes before the person who had answered came back on and said they had no Traci Wentworth registered.

"Wait, what about Steve Kilkenny, Jing Leong or Russell Curtis? Any of them registered?" he practically yelled into the phone.

"Uh... we have a Dr. Jing Leong, a Dr. Russell Curtis and a Dr. and Mrs. Steve Kilkenny," the voice replied.

"Dr. and Mrs..." Al mouthed out loud quietly to himself. "Thank you, ma'am."

He hung up the phone.

Al was no longer groggy, but was now sick to his stomach. He thought about reaching into his liquor cabinet, but reached instead into the medicine cabinet for a packet of Alka Seltzer. Although his day hadn't officially started, it was already ruined, Al thought to himself.

Al went into his office early to get a head start on the day. At 10 he took a coffee break and called a friend who was a family attorney.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait for Traci to get home before you start the paperwork?" Robert Levinson asked. "I mean... you don't have any hard evidence and you haven't even talked with your wife yet."

"It's a no fault state. What difference does evidence make?" Al inquired. "She's spending a week in Sweden registered as his wife after giving me subtle hints for the last six months. I wasn't born yesterday and I don't need to see any photos or video. We've done well for ourselves and don't have any children. Just split everything down the middle. She can buy out my half of the house if she wants. It's no longer home to me."

"You seem pretty distanced already," Robert commented. "But you know sooner or later your feelings are going to catch up to you."

"Actually, I'm devastated, Rob, but I've already had a lot of time to consider things. I actually considered jumping on the next plane to Sweden and beating both of them to death. But I'm no Power Ranger, or whatever the hell they call those guys who are super spies and can kill people with just a paper clip.

"I guess I just want to know why. If she ever loved me at all she owes me an explanation. Hell, if she ever loved me at all why didn't she have the decency to tell me it was over and ask for a divorce."

Traci was the one who made the reservations for the conference in Sweden. She didn't see any reason to get a room for herself as Jing, Russell and the project supervisor, Amy Carter, all knew about the affair she and Steve were having. Jing in particular had told her she was jealous because Steve was such a handsome and personable guy.

"I was trying to be respectful and wait until his divorce was final before making my move, but you didn't wait, you little minx," Jing had said to her when she realized the pair were an item.

"Well, we started having lunches when he needed a shoulder to cry on, and lo and behold, I must have had a good shoulder. He was hurting, and he's so easy to talk to. I actually started to care for him, and he and I have a lot in common.

"He's a great guy and a... wonderful lover."

Once they started to have sex, Traci and Steve would get together two or three times each week, sometimes at long lunches and sometimes after work. They began to share occasional kisses and touches during the workday as Russell and Amy eventually found out and didn't seem to have a problem as the lovers kept it mostly discreet.

The affair started out innocently enough as Steve needed a shoulder to cry on when he found his wife of 12 years was cheating on him with another woman. The four on the team were already close, and their frank discussions only got the pair even closer. When Steve realized he was starting to capture Traci's heart, he started to subtly draw comparisons between his marriage and Traci's, with the desired effect of Traci unknowingly starting to gradually lose respect for her husband.

Traci and Steve thoroughly enjoyed their week together, so much so that Steve was able to talk Traci into them joining the "Mile High Club" on the overnight trip back to the United States. Knowing her husband was going to pick her up at the airport, Traci at first declined Steve's amorous advances, but the more she thought about it, the naughtier it seemed, and when her panties started to moisten, Traci knew she was going to give in.

The two finished their tryst about an hour before the jet landed, and Traci excused herself to the restroom. Jing grinned at Traci as she sat back down in her seat. Traci blushed slightly.

Al had the trunk open as Traci left the terminal. He walked up to her, took her wheeled bag and put it in the car. He made no attempt to kiss his wife, and she made no attempt at either kissing or hugging him, despite the fact that the two had been separated for a week. Al wasn't sure, but when he took the bag from his wife he thought she smelled of recent sex. He thought he noticed the smell several times on the ride home.

Al fought a hard internal battle against saying something nasty before finally mumbling, "Have a good conference?"

Traci spent the remainder of the trip home regaling Al with stories from the conference. Al pretended to listen, occasionally grunting. If Traci was really paying attention to her husband, she would have seen his knuckles turning white as he tightly gripped the steering wheel.

When they got to their home, Traci began to worry that Al might want "welcome home" sex. She then realized that with the exception of right before she left, she and Al hadn't had sex of any kind in several months. Worse still, she noted to herself, her husband didn't seem all that disturbed about it.

Al didn't hang around the house for long after dropping off his wife.

"Still got a half a day's work I can do," he mumbled as he headed out the door.

Saturday morning Al got up early and prepared a breakfast of bacon, eggs and coffee. When Traci finally showed up in the kitchen, the table was set and Al was sitting drinking coffee. He pointed to her spot and Traci sat.

Both starting eating slowly before Al finally broke the silence.

"So it was so much fun being Mrs. Steve Kilkenny for a week that you didn't even call once?" Al said quietly. "Should we make this permanent?"

Traci starting choking on her food as Al watched her impassively. Her thoughts quickly ran back over the past week. She was sure she called Al when she landed. No, wait, she didn't remember to turn on her phone for more than a day. But there weren't any messages from Al. Could he have actually tried calling her in Sweden? Oh, God, no, she thought.

Approximately two minutes passed before Traci realized she was staring at the table. She knew there were no right answers to Al's questions.

"How long, Traci? Do you love him?" Al asked in a halting voice.

"Over a year now," she practically whispered.

She finally looked up at Al. She wasn't sure how she wanted to answer the second question.

"DO YOU LOVE HIM, DAMMIT!"

"I-I-I don't know," Traci stammered. "It's complicated. I might. I might a little. But that doesn't mean I don't love you."

Al ran his hands through his hair and fought hard to hold back his tears.

"What did I do wrong? All I know is that we've been going downhill for the last six months that I can tell, and now you tell me that you've been fucking around behind my back for over a year. And you spend a week in Sweden shacked up with this asshole, registered as Mrs. Steven Kilkenny. FUCK!"

Traci jumped when Al slammed his hand down on the table. Al could see the wheels turning in Traci's head as she debated what to tell her husband. Hell, she debated with herself what was even true.

Thinking back to the beginning, Traci realized that she probably got too close to Steve while he was having his marital troubles, and started projecting onto Al the pain she was feeling for Steve. Then when she and Steve actually started having sex, she found it fun, exciting, new. She was already close to Steve because he was a teammate, and those feelings intensified as the affair continued. She did still love her husband, while she also loved Steve, at least somewhat.

Her week pretending to be Steve's wife in Sweden might have been the clincher putting Steve in front of Al in what had become a competition for Traci's affection.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Al. I still love you, but I also love him, too," Traci said.

"Aaarrrggghhh!" Al muttered.

"There's no him and me in my world, Traci. I gave you every ounce of my love for more than 25 years. I forgave you for breaking your promise to me about having children. I never looked outside of our marriage for any love or comfort, even though I had my chances. And this is how you reward my love and my trust?

"I didn't have more than a year to think about it like you have, but your sleepover in Sweden gave me a full week to do a lot of thinking and planning. You will be served divorce papers early next week. It's a no-fault state, Traci. We'll split everything 50-50. You can buy my half of the house; I don't want anything to do with this."

"Wait, I'm not sure I want a divorce. Don't I get a voice in this?" she asked.

"No, you don't. You made the choice to fuck the asshole. I make the choice to get a divorce."

It wasn't lost on Al that not only didn't Traci apologize for hurting him, but she didn't apologize for the affair either.

Traci was served at work the next Monday. She came home pissed.

"At work, Al? In front of my boss and team?" she said disgustedly as she threw the papers at Al when she walked into their house.

"Come the fuck on, Traci. They all knew about the affair. None of them gave a fuck about how I felt. Well, now I don't give a fuck about how you feel."

Traci blushed crimson but didn't say another word. She also didn't make dinner. He ordered a pizza for himself. Al had no idea what she ate.

Al moved into an apartment three days later.

Traci bought out Al's share of the house at the divorce signing. Steve moved in with Traci a week later, even though the divorce wasn't official for 53 more days. The two married three months after the divorce was final.

Two years later, Traci and Steve divorced amicably. Living with Steve everyday for two years under the vows of marriage had apparently taken some of the excitement out of the sex, and for Traci it became increasingly clear that she and Steve never connected quite the same way emotionally as she and Al did.

For his part, Al dated from time to time but never again found a connection as she had with Traci before things fell apart. He didn't keep track of his ex-wife beyond her marriage to Steve.

******

"So whatever happened to Steve?" Al asked at dinner one night with Traci. "Why are you back to wearing the rings I gave you?"

Traci knew the questions were coming, but still flamed red at the asking.

"I really thought I loved Steve. Maybe not quite as much as I loved you, but at that time I believed it was enough, all things considered. I found out I was wrong. And I came to the realization that I had given up the man I truly loved and wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I wear the rings to remind me of what I gave up."

Later that night Al brought Traci back to the apartment he had been living in since he moved out of his home. The pair made slow, passionate love, then cuddled together as they once did a long time ago. Traci was remembering the good times as they cuddled in the afterglow. She had no way of knowing that all Al could remember was the bad times.

It was morning when they both roused. Since it was a Saturday, neither had to be at work. Al fixed both of them breakfast. When they finished, Al lifted Traci to her feet from her chair and led her to the door. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes as he opened the door and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. He quietly pushed his wedding ring into her hand as she walked out of the door.