Just Once... And Yes, I Mind

So, for my first published story, what do I decide to do? Take on Kalimaxos' story invitation, flawed characters and all. I, therefore, owe him my thanks for the push.

And here we go...

"So, Rick? What do we do?"

I sat, gathering my thoughts. Leslie watched me, a hungry look in her eyes.

"Get out," I said, my voice almost a whisper. I didn't trust myself to allow my emotions free reign, so I kept my composure and control and quietly repeated "Get out. You need to leave. Now."

Leslie's expression turned almost sad, not heartbroken, just the look of someone who realized that they were not going to get what they most hoped for. "Okay, but if you change your mind..." She didn't finish the sentence, but I understood what she was saying.

***************One Year Later*************************

Rhonda was getting married. My little girl, my baby, was about to settle down with a young Ltjg. They had met at her last duty station, and since it was still frowned upon for enlisted and officer to date, she had decided to get out when he proposed and would allow him to continue his Naval career. She had made good use of her time and the military educational benefits, and would be starting her own work from home business.

However, her getting married meant that I needed to come home for the wedding. I hadn't been back to our hometown in a year...hell, I hadn't been back in the US in that long. My thoughts went back to that day when Marcy destroyed our marriage, and I decided that what's good for the goose, etc.

As soon as I had kicked Leslie out of the house, I went through and started packing everything I would need in the immediate future. Then, I went through and started putting everything I wanted to keep, but couldn't carry with me, into the spare bedroom. It took the entire rest of the day, but one of the benefits of military life is that you tend to keep possessions to a minimum, since you knew that there was always a chance of moving shortly after arriving at your duty station.

Another benefit to military life is planning. You plan for every contingency. For instance, a lot of military members have Powers of Attorney drawn up, so their spouse can step in and take care of whatever pops up while the military member is deployed. When I was still active, I gave Marcy a durable POA - if anything happened, she could act in my stead. For this trip, since Marcy was the one deploying, she had done the same for me. Which was her downfall.

The next morning, I arranged for separate moving companies to come and pack up the house. Everything that I would want to keep would go to one storage facility, everything else would go to another. Having set that up on an expedited schedule, I then contacted a realtor and told them that I needed the house sold, and that it needed to be done in 4 weeks. With the house being in Marcy and my name, this would have been impossible without the POA.

I sold her car - after all, where was the car going to sit when the house sold - and deposited the money into our combined checking account. When the house sold, I would do the same with whatever we had, if anything.

I contacted my boss, told them that I was open for a consultant's job out of the country. I was fluent in a few European languages, so that kind of narrowed the number of locations I could go to, but I just wanted out of the country. I explained what was going on and he understood. He made sure that my report no later than date (RNLTD) was about 6 weeks away, giving me time to wrap everything up. The good thing about a RNLTD is you can always arrive early, just not past that date.

Before everything was packed up - which actually took 3 weeks - I scanned the letter my wife had left and saved it to my laptop. On the day I left the US, I sent the following email to my children:

Kyle and Rhonda

By the time you read this, I will be somewhere in Europe. I can't tell you where, not because it's classified, but only because I am still in transit. I will be based at SHAPE Belgium and then moving around as needed. I am sorry to drop this on you this way, but if you read the attachment, you'll understand.

Your mother is correct - Diedre and I did have a moment. We were under fire, and had just returned from an attack. It was unplanned, one time, and I regretted it since. What your mother did, though, was calculated and planned out. There is no regret, this wasn't a one time blowjob - she's with her Dr. Tray, living as man and wife for the past 6 weeks. And I can't allow that to pass.

She told me nothing about it beforehand, and actually tried to have one of our friends sleep with me during her time away...why? To make me okay with her underhanded tactics.

So, why am I telling you this? Simply because your mother is going to need you. I have sold the house and her car, and will need some support. I imagine Dr Tray will assist her, but I think he will wear thin after a short time.

If you need to contact me, you can do so through this email. The cell phones will be shut off by the end of day today. My attorney has my new number.

I love you both, and hope you can come visit me at some point.

Love,

Dad

I sent the email, and closed up the laptop. I was in the rental car, looking one last time at the house, with the red and white SOLD sign. I sighed, a moment of melancholy sweeping over me. I knew I had done the right thing, but I was going to miss Marcy.

But I couldn't handle the deception. Marcy had to go, not because she had a fling - if she had come home and told me about a one time encounter, fine, I could get past that. This? No. Which is why I also cut ties with Leslie; she had admitted that she knew what Marcy was doing and didn't tell me. Same for Vince.

Did I hook back up with Diedre? No. She obviously couldn't be trusted to be discrete, as Marcy's letter amply made clear.

However, there were a few pieces of unfinished business still to play out. My attorney filed the divorce papers for adultery, with her letter as evidence. I made sure that he knew that he should call Penny Washington as a witness, if it came down to that. He was to serve Dr Tray as a co-respondent. I further wanted the medical board to know what he was doing with his nurses (I mean, how was I supposed to know how many nurses he slept with) and had my attorney file paperwork with them, as well as the hospital. I knew that there was no hope of a successful suit against the hospital, but I was willing to bet that they would part ways with Dr (hopefully soon to be Mr) Tray to keep their name out of the media.

With all that done, I left for SHAPE.

Marcy attempted to contact me through my attorney a few times, but after being told that I was overseas and unable to respond, she quit trying. She wasn't hurting for money, as we had plenty of income going into a rather healthy checking account, and my lawyer had the address and key to her belongings in storage. I was surprised that it was only a few attempts - I thought that she might have a little more invested in our marriage, but rereading the letter, I figured out the truth. "Either take me back or walk away". "I need a vacation from 'us'". This is not what a woman who wants to stay married writes. This is what someone who couldn't give a shit about their relationship writes. It's what someone who plans on cheating writes.

And now, I'm back. I'm back because my baby girl wants me to meet her beloved. And more importantly, she wants her mother and I to clear the air so there are no issues at the wedding.

To be honest, I have no idea what I'm going to say. I don't know what happened after I left - I poured the gas, lit the match, threw it, and walked away. Did Marcy stay in town? Did she keep her job? Did she and Mr Tray make a go of it?

I check into the hotel, and head to my room. Rhonda will be coming by tomorrow, and Kyle the day after that. I sit on the edge of the bed, tired from all the travel, and the memories running through my head. I feel every minute of every day of my age. I'm not used to second guessing myself, and I didn't the entire past year, my job keeping me occupied to the point that introspection was impossible.

I hear someone in the hall, and they stop at my door. A pause, slightly uncomfortable in its pregnancy, then a knock. I'm reminded of Schrodinger's Cat - so long as I don't open the door, it could be anyone on the other side, but once I open it, it's done. Another knock, slightly more confident this time. This is why I came, so no use in putting it off.

I reach for the handle on the door...