How About Them Apples? Ch. 02

"Sally, we need to talk."

"Jim, I'm so sorry..." He cut her off.

"I apologize Sally, my opening was confusing. I'm going to talk for a few minutes. Then you will have the opportunity to reply or not. You may decide you want to take the night and sleep on it, that will be OK, but your only job right now is to listen. Do you understand?"

Sally was not used to Jim being so forceful. She always knew there was strength in him. He was former military, although he never spoke about it. Six years her senior, he never made her feel he knew more or didn't care about her opinions. He was usually very kind and tender with her. Sometimes too accommodating to her pouting or stubborn streak. She nodded she understood.

"No Sally, not a head nod, I need to hear your response."

"I understand"

Jim leaned forward, "You understand what?" His look was more intense than she'd ever seen. Sally was genuinely fearful of this version of her husband.

"I understand that you are going to talk and I'm going to listen until you are done and then we will decide what to do next."

He leaned back. "Correct." Before he began, he rose from the table and grabbed a bottle of water out of the frig. He offered one to Sally, she declined. He sat back down, unscrewed the top and took a long swig. Looking into Sally's eyes he screwed the top back on and set the bottle on the table. His pause was intentional. He wanted his wandering wife off balance. He had certainly accomplished that.

"Sally, in a few moments I'm going to ask you one question. It is a simple and straightforward question. It is also a question to which I know the answer. The reason for my question, therefore, is not to learn what I don't know. Rather, it is an opportunity for you to begin to learn to be an honest person. I say begin, because fundamentally, you are dishonest and selfish. We made promises to each other six years ago and you have broken those promises. Your dad warned me about this. I should have paid more attention. As you know from the conversation you just had with your dad, he's more astute than you gave him credit for.

"However, now, due to your infidelity you have my full and undivided attention. I'm not sure what's gotten into you Sally. How could you be so foolish as to fall for a serial cheater like Josh Taylor? Anybody who knows him for more than five minutes knows he's a dick. He's slept with more married women than Charlie Sheen. I thought you had a good head on your shoulders but obviously, I was mistaken. He gave you his puppy dog, aw shucks look, and you came running like a bitch in heat."

"Had I been a less observant husband, you'd have jumped into bed with him and probably contracted several STD's. If you were married to an imbecile, you would have destroyed our marriage and done serious emotional harm to our daughter. Thankfully, I'm not a sucker and I don't lack basic powers of observation. It's been clear for a while you've been panting for him to become your paramour. The two women who contacted me, didn't give me new information. I already had acted on my suspicions and learned the basics of what you were up to. They only served to confirm my growing understanding of your infidelity."

"This is your chance to come clean Sally. I'm not saying if you do, we'll be OK and live happily ever after. But if you don't make a complete confession right now, we will sure as hell will be divorced so fast it will make your head spin. No sugarcoating it. I have no interest in excuses. No, 'honey I love only you' bullshit. Just the plain and ugly truth. That is the only possible way forward. Our chances are slim and none, but for the moment, slim is still on the table. So, my dear wife, the floor is yours. The question is What happened between you and Josh Taylor?"

Sally was dazed and confused. Who was this man to whom she was married? How on earth could he know about Josh? She had been so careful and wise, or so she thought. Sally believed she truly loved her husband. Josh was just a little harmless fun on the side. Suddenly it dawned on her, this is what her mother had believed about cheating on her dad. Sally never spoke to her mom about Josh, but dear mother's influence was becoming clear.

Sally was leaning forward in her chair, her hands rubbing her temples. She wasn't trying to figure out what to tell Jim and what to leave out. She was terrified, she'd forget something, omit a small detail and her marriage would be over. Looking up at Jim, she had zero doubt he knew everything. She had misjudged him on several levels. She felt shame for her actions. It was obvious Jim was a man of character; a man not to be trifled with. It was dawning on her that Josh, in contrast was nothing but a shallow cad. But what did that make her? She knew in the blink of an eye; she was a fool.

"Jim, you have every right to be furious with me. While we have not yet had sex, you are right. I would have ended up fucking him. I have no excuse; I was a complete idiot. You are a good man, no, that's not enough, you are the best man I know. My dad is close, but you have an inner strength I've always known was there but never thought much about. Dad doesn't quite have that in his heart, but I think one of the reasons I fell for you is you reminded me of him. And now, I have, perhaps thrown that all away."

"I'm so afraid Jim. Not of telling you. I want to tell you. I want to become an honest person. I want to be an honest and loving wife to only you the rest of my life. I hate what I've become. I'm afraid I'll forget something, leave something out and you will perceive it as a lie. I think I want some time tonight to rehash everything in my mind. I'll probably be up all night, but I want to review my calendar day by day and write down every last detail. I want to begin to show you my heart's desire to be completely truthful with you. Will that work Jim? Can you give me tonight? I promise by the morning I'll be ready to talk with the goal of complete transparency."

Jim studied Sally for a moment and replied. "Sally, I've never talked to you much about my eight years in the military. That was part of my life that had some dark moments I decided to keep in the past. Perhaps that was a mistake. However, one of the things I became very good at was determining a lie from the truth. I am well versed in the ability to see when a person is lying and when they are speaking with honesty. Right now, you are being honest, so of course, I will honor your request. I'll do some work in my office downstairs for a couple of hours and then sleep in the guest room tonight. Take the time you need. We'll speak in the morning."

Sally wanted Jim to hold her for a moment, but he didn't. She wanted to cling to him, but she knew it would be the wrong move. From what he said she had reason for some small hope she would be able to hold him the rest of her life. She looked up as he began to leave the kitchen. "Jim," he turned toward her, "Thank you."

Jim was up at his normal time, 0:530. He threw on his shorts and running gear heading out the door. Thirty-eight minutes and six miles later he returned to his front doorstep. Clicking off his stopwatch he did the math. "6.3-minute mile for six," he thought. "Not terrible, but Gunny would be chewing my ass for being fat and slow if he were here." At that moment, Gunny Sargent Michaels (retired) was across the country cleaning his gear from his previous day's mission of supporting Captain Patterson.

When he came in the door, he saw Sally in the kitchen dressed in very flattering Lulu lemon black spandex, barefoot and with a loose-fitting tee-shirt, no bra. Her hair was in a short ponytail, just as he liked it, and she was wearing simple makeup, just as he liked it. Sally had cooked his favorite breakfast, the works omelet, hot black coffee, and sourdough toast. "Damn," he thought, "Sexy and cooking. My wife, isn't too bad at counterinsurgency!" He kept his game face on.

"Good morning, Jim. I thought you'd enjoy some breakfast before we spoke. If you want to grab a quick shower, this will all be ready in about five minutes." He was back in four.

"Jim, I've carefully traced my interactions with Josh over the last couple of months. I've reviewed and then gone back and reviewed again every aspect of my disrespect of you" She slid a piece of paper across the table to him. "I want you to have a copy to follow along in case I begin to meander. My intention, as I said last night, is to tell you everything. I'm praying I haven't left anything out."

"Before I begin, I must say, I'll understand if you decide I'm not worth it. Nobody should have to live with dishonesty. No spouse should have to wonder if their partner is being faithful. If my answers are not satisfactory, I will not ask you for a second chance. I won't try to corner you into staying with someone you can't trust... OK, now I'll start."

For the next hour Sally spilled her guts. She went back to the genesis of her infatuation with Josh. She didn't blame him or play the victim. She was clear, she wasn't some sixteen-year-old gullible teenage girl. She knew what he was doing, and she responded of her own freewill. No excuses or blaming others. She laid it all out on the table. Sally shed a few tears, getting choked up as she spoke of her infidelity. She was ashamed of herself, but her husband had given her this chance and she wasn't going to try and manipulate anything. If he decided they were done, it wasn't going to be because she had held back. Even if the marriage was over, she determined to do all she could to be completely honest with him. He deserved that.

For his part Jim watched his wife closely. He never once looked at the paper. In truth, he knew she may inadvertently forget or miss one or two small details. Jim was watching her face to determine what was in her heart. What he saw was someone telling the truth. It was an ugly truth, an embarrassing truth, but it wasn't shaded. Nothing was glossed over. Some of it hurt him deeply. To hear her admission to gladly go along with this clown's seduction was emotionally painful. But listen he did, and when she was done, he knew his wife had intentionally held nothing back.

Sally sat silently, giving Jim a chance to digest everything. She was trying to read his reaction and what he was thinking, but she was out of her league. Captain Patterson gave nothing away. After two minutes which seemed like an eternity to Sally, Jim responded.

"Sally, first, thank you for being truthful. I believe you missed one conversation with Josh outside the coffee shop about five weeks ago, but it was a miss, not a lie. So now, I have a follow up question. What is it you want?"

Sally's heart leapt, but she was trying to learn to keep a poker face as well. She wasn't very good at it. "Jim, I want to be married to you. The man I want to love the rest of my life. I know I've failed to respect you as a wife should. But I believe with help and commitment I can become the wife you thought you married. A faithful wife." She'd said enough, but she wanted to add one more thing. "But Jim, what do you want? That is very important to me, even if the answer will hurt."

"You've already said it Sally, I want a wife who loves me and is faithful. You're an amazing woman Sally, but that isn't enough. We have some deep wounds, and we will need healing. We'll need to change a few things and address some pretty deep hurt. In return, I will be loving and faithful. For a while, I really wanted to hurt you, Sally. I wanted you to experience the pain I felt when my wife was pining after another man. But I see your honest desire and what I want more, is to get on a better path, a genuine path; a path with you."

Sally had kept her composure to this point, but now she lost it. She knocked her chair over jumping up and into her husband's arms. She straddled his lap, hugging him tightly and smothering him with kisses. He wrapped his strong arms around her and returned her caresses and kisses. Jim had determined earlier not to become affectionate with his wife today. It was too soon, too early, they had a long road ahead of them. Jim rarely failed at something he put his mind to. His plan collapsed in an instant.

An hour later, in their marriage bed, they came up for air. They showered and, at Jim's request they returned to the kitchen table. "Sally, let's talk for a few minutes about next steps." Sally listened intently as Jim laid out some parameters.

• "We'll need counseling. We're committed to being together, but I don't think we can go it alone. Together we'll pick out a marriage counselor and begin ASAP, hopefully, this week."

• "This is the only time this can happen Sally. If there is ever a repeat, we will be done for keeps."

• "We both need your dad back in our lives. Emily needs her granddad in her life. I'd like you to go to his house this afternoon and have a long talk with him. I suggest you mostly listen, but you need so share your heart with him."

• "We can't kick your mom out of our lives or out of Emily's life, but we need to address her cheating. For starters, I need you to tell her what you've done and how close we came to disaster. She needs to understand she helped plant those seeds, and unless she changes some of that attitude her relationship with us will be severely limited. It's not my job to punish her, but I won't abide her idiotic notions of entitlement at the expense of others."

• "Along these lines, you mom needs to stop by tomorrow morning wish Emily happy birthday, but absence herself from the party, since you dad will be there. By the way, your dad picked Emily up this morning from my folks' and is spending the morning with her. I'll go with you over to his place and bring her home with me. He can give you a lift home when you two are done."

• Finally, I need your word, you'll be my wife. I don't want a servant or someone afraid to speak her mind. I want a full-blown marriage with all the good and bad. When I screw up, I want you to fuss at me and set me straight, not think you've lost your voice because of past sins.

Sally, smiled at her husband with eyes full of love and respect. "Yes Jim, that all sounds right. I may want to add a few ideas of my own but I'm all in. I do have one question though... What will we do if Josh doesn't relent?"

Jim smiled wryly, "I don't think that will be a problem."

Sally broke out in an ear-to-ear grin and offered only two words. "Roger that."

"Shit," thought Jim, "What have I created?"

Later that afternoon as Sally began mending fences with her dad and Emily was napping, Jim sent a cryptic note to three men.

"FOB secure, Lucy a success, IDF silenced, continue recon but stand down for now, Tango Mike... out."