Lucky Day Ch. 01

She swung open the door at her mom's and heard the laughing and squealing. She smiled inwardly as she walked in. Her father was lying on the carpet, wrestling and playfighting with the girls as her mom took some photos of the mayhem. Her mom saw her first. "Hey, Honey, what are you doing here so early?"

Shrugging off-handedly, she groaned. "I wasn't much help, Glen sent me home."

The girls freed themselves from rolling around with their granddad and rushed to her. She knelt and absorbed their frantic jumps with her arms. She held them tightly, enjoying the feel of their warmth, the energy and love. After lots of kisses, she stood slowly to fall into her father's arms. He whispered, "I'm sorry, Darlin. Mom told me what happened. I'm still in shock."

Annie grinned, kissing him on the cheek. "Thanks, Daddy."

Her mom interrupted. "So, what happened? Did you confront the lying bastard?" Her biting tongue startled Annie, so different from the previous afternoon. She glanced at her mom who snapped back, "What... Sorry, Hon, but it burns me up, I want to say something deep and meaningful, but he is a shit."

Annie nodded before replying. "Yeah, we had it out last night."

Her father asked, "So what happened?"

"Oh, he said all the shit I wanted to hear: he loves me, it didn't mean anything, it was just a fling and it's over."

Her mom interjected, "So who was it?"

"Some girl who he works with. Two months, two god damned months and I didn't know. What sort of idiot am I?"

Her mom pulled her back into her arms and they hugged. Her father said, "So what are you doing? Would counselling help?"

"I don't know, Dad. Not at the moment, I'm too angry. Just now it would be a waste of time."

He nodded in response. "But you are going to try and work things out, aren't you?"

Annie felt a little shocked at his desire for her to resolve the issue, to excuse him. Her father sighed. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart, but come on, you guys have a strong marriage; he is a good man."

When he saw his daughter's face twist into a sneer he quickly added, "Hon, I'm not defending his actions, but surely it was a mistake, just a bump in the road. Go to counselling, sort things out, don't go off on a tangent."

"So, you think I should just forgive him then? Jesus, Dad, he cheated, he lied to me, he betrayed me." With a scowl she snapped, "Don't you care? Is it because I'm a woman? Is that it, Dad, I should just move on, give him another chance? Christ are you more worried about losing a golf partner?"

Frowning deeply, he retorted angrily, "That's not what I meant, and you know it, but if he said it's over and he still loves you, then surely it's worth trying to save it, try and make it work?"

"No, Dad, you're wrong. Right at this moment, I don't know that it is worth saving. I don't think you understand how much this hurts."

Biting his tongue, he replied quietly, "I can see it, Sweetheart. You are usually so in control, seeing you like this is a bit of a shock, so yes, I know how much it must be hurting."

Her mother whispered, "We could keep the girls for a few days if it helps?" Annie gave a short nod of acceptance. It was probably best because the girls didn't need to be exposed to the anger; plus, they loved staying with her mom.

At home, she changed and caught up on some housework. She mindlessly pushed the vacuum around, angry with her father, his taking Henry's side annoyed her. Actually, it pissed her off.

With the laundry done and the housework caught up, Annie had time to think. She knew in years gone by, women were supposed to forgive and forget, but not today. Now she had rights and he wasn't going to piss all over their marriage, not and get away with it anyway.

Henry walked in, early for him lately. Not spending time with the skank he could be home on time, she guessed. She was in the kitchen when he walked in. Striding up behind her, he said, "Hey, Hon, I'm home."

Turning slightly and pushing away his attempt to kiss her, She snapped viciously, "What, you didn't stop off for a quicky with slut-face tonight?"

He leaned back, swaying out of the way and a deep grunted sigh emanated from his gut. "Can we not fight tonight Hon, please, I was hoping we could talk sensibly, like adults." It was then he realised the kids weren't home. He frowned. "Are the girls with your mom?"

She nodded, mumbling, "Yes, I thought they shouldn't see us fight."

He nodded in agreement, "Dinner smells nice."

She scowled. Did he think it was going to be this easy, a quick apology and everything was good with the world? Hell no, fuck that shit, he had to pay.

At dinner, she summoned up the courage. "Did you fire the skanky bitch?"

He grimaced at her cutting jibe. "No, Annie, I can't. I don't have that level of authority and you know it."

"Was she at least moved to another department?"

He shook his head slowly muttering in a barely audible whisper, "No, Annie. Christ, be reasonable, what the hell was I going to say? No, I'm sorry but for the time being she will still be working with me."

Stunned at his immoveable stance, Annie sneered, "Perhaps I should call your boss and tell him? I bet she gets moved then!" she snarled.

He flinched at her words, the thought of it cutting him down. He growled like a caged lion. "Yes, you could do that, but my career would be over. I would get the sack, is that what you want? Everything we worked for gone?"

She barked angrily, "You stupid prick, everything is already gone. There is no us any more."

Slamming his palm down on the table he bellowed, "Oh for fuck's sake, Annie, stop acting like a spoilt brat. Okay, I fucked up; I did a bad thing but c'mon, Hon, we can get past this."

"Oh no we can't. I can't. Right now, all I want to do is strangle you, squeeze the last vestiges of life out of you, watch you die."

He was stunned at her vicious response and the burning angry glare highlighted she meant every word.

The silence became deafening, excruciating, overwhelming. It was like a thick blanket of cold dense fog had settled over them. They glowered back and forth, their eyes saying as much as their words.

Annie eventually barked. "Well, if she is staying, you are leaving. I will not let you stay here while she is still in your life. I will not be openly disrespected."

"Honey," he whined, "I have spent too much time working on my career to walk away. I love that job."

She sniggered derisively, her contempt clearly visible, "I wasn't talking about your job. You made the decision; you chose to protect her. No, what I meant is you can get out, move because you are not living here with me, not under this roof. This is my house."

Stunned, he cleared his throat and took a sip of water. "You don't mean that; you're angry at me and I get that, but Hon, I'm not leaving. This is my home, too."

Annie stood, pushing her plate away. "Henry, I will give you an hour to pack. I want you gone. This is my home, the girls home, and I want you gone immediately."

He shook his head determinedly. "Annie, I said I'm not going anywhere. This is my home, and I am staying. We can't fix this if I'm not here. I love you and I'm sorry I made such a stupid mistake, but fuck, c'mon, Babe. Give me a chance, let me make it up to you."

"Nope, it's done. I said an hour and I meant it. At the end of that hour, I am going to ring the police screaming and crying, explaining you just beat me up. I'm sure the neighbours have heard some of our screaming, so they will back up my story."

He slumped back in his chair, his arms falling by his sides. "You're joking, you wouldn't do that. You know I love you. That could destroy my life."

She snapped back, "Yeah, well welcome to my life, arsehole. My marriage died, my life is destroyed, why not yours? I said an hour, and Babe, guess what? The clock is ticking."

"Oh fuck, this is bullshit, you're bluffing, you wouldn't do it." As the words flowed from his mouth he grimaced. He had never seen such a fierce look of determination. She meant it, all right. As they stared each other down, a cold shiver ran down his spine. He had never met a woman like her. Strong and independent: she was so resolute.

She glanced at her watch to reinforce her intentions.

He whispered, "Can't we just sit down and talk? Please, Annie, Christ you're treating this like it's the end of the world."

She turned and walked away, "Just get out, Henry, get out before we get to the stage where we all lose." For the first time in her adult life, she felt like she wasn't going to be able to hold it together and she didn't want him to see her cry. "Get Out!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

It was shriek that rattled the windows, and he realised it was as much for the neighbours as for him. He stood and walked off to the bedroom. She had won this round, but he would go and talk to her parents, see if he could get them onboard. He was gone within the hour. He drove out to a local hotel and found a room. 'Christ what a fucking nightmare.' He mused. Why couldn't she get past it? Damn it, wasn't like it was that bad. It was just a stupid mistake.

He took the day off and went to visit the children and have a word with Annie's parents. John and he got along so well. They played golf together, fished together, he would understand... hopefully.

He knocked, and Kristen opened the door. The moment she saw him her face dropped. "Henry, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?"

He tried to smile, but failed, his sad drawn features creased as he announced, "Annie kicked me out. I took the day off so I could see the kids and hopefully have a chat with you and John."

"I see," she rumbled unconvincingly. "I suppose you better come in." She opened the door and he walked in, only to be assaulted by the girls when they heard his voice.

John heard him, as well, and walked up to shake his hand. "Good morning, Son, how are you?"

From the moment they first met, they had been friends, Henry admired John's attitude toward life. He had been a very successful businessman in his day, and over time, had given Henry sound advice. He had called him Son from the moment Henry proposed to Annie. They had a very close bond.

John ushered him out onto the patio out back. "Okay, Henry, can't say I approve of your behaviour, and I should be kicking your arse, but we need to fix this. I know you love Annie, and I know damn well she loves you. If you promise me this thing is over, then I will do my best to help you."

Henry grabbed Johns shoulders and gushed, "I promise, Dad, I made a mistake, it was a big mistake and I regret it every second, but it's over. I have already cut it off with her."

John sighed. "How the hell did you let this happen?"

"God, I don't know, it was stupid, I let her seduce me. I mean I didn't go in search of her, she chased me."

John shook his head. "Jesus, Son, the worlds full of bimbo's, every office has dozens of them. You need to be stronger."

Henry nodded his agreement. "Yes, don't worry I know that now, and it'll never happen again."

John directed him into one of the big cane chairs, "Okay then, what the hell is going on?"

"Annie threw me out. She said if I didn't leave, she was calling the cops and accusing me of assault."

John sniggered. "Damn she is a headstrong girl, that one. I was so happy when she met you."

Henry nodded, accepting his father in laws words. "What the hell am I going to do?"

John snapped, "Time, Son, you need to give her time to settle down. She will come around. she's a clever girl, she'll figure it out."

Just at that moment, Kristen walked out with a tray carrying coffee and muffins. She placed the tray on the table and snapped, "Henry, I love you. You're like the son we never had, but you're a horse's ass. My daughter is heartbroken, and it's all your fault."

Henry sighed. "I'm sorry, Mom. I have tried to tell her, it was a mistake. I did an awful thing, but I promise it was nothing more than a stupid mistake, a grave error of judgement."

She turned on her heels and walked back inside to look after the girls. As she reached the doors she turned back, glaring angrily. "You damn well fix this, Henry, because if you can't you will lose her. She will throw you away like yesterday's sandwich wrapping."

The two men both stared quickly at each other and John sighed. "When she's right she's right. Son, the first thing to do is cut your ties with that girl."

"John, you know as well as I do, it's not that simple. Whatever I say to my boss is going to reflect badly on me. I am at a tricky stage with my career. I can't afford for any bad press. I need Annie to just accept the fact it's over and let me deal with it."

John laughed loudly as he munched on a muffin and sipped his coffee. "Son, you don't know Annie at all. She is never going to accept that. You need to get her ass out of your office. Talk to her and get her to ask for a transfer."

Henry took a big bite from his muffin. "Yeah, I suppose, but questions will be asked. I'm in the shit if she says anything."

"Yeah, well, you should have thought about that before you got yourself into this mess, don't you think?"

Later, after a further dressing down from Kristen, he drove home to see if Annie was there. He pulled into the driveway and the first thing he found was his key wouldn't work. He walked around the back, and still no luck. All the locks had been changed.

He pulled out his phone and called Annie. He tried to keep a lid on his anger, taking a deep breath before saying, "Annie, what has happened at home? My keys don't work."

"That's because you no longer live there. I told you, Henry, that is my home."

He couldn't hold it in any longer and snarled, "Okay Annie, I know you're angry, but this is ridiculous. This is my home as well. I pay the mortgage, I pay utilities. You can't kick me out of my own home just because you're angry. What time are you getting home?"

"I have to pick up the girls. I will be there about six, Mom invited me to stay for dinner."

Swallowing the nasty retort, he quickly called Kristen to see if he could come for dinner, as well. He was shocked when she said no. Her response stung a little. "Henry, you need to give her time. Tonight is not going to work, not unless you can say that girl has left."

He disconnected the call and snarled, "Fuck..."

There was no use hanging around. Annie and the kids weren't going to be there for hours.

The next day he called Kaia into his office. She looked sexy as ever, her hair swept back over her shoulders, that beautiful smile beaming. "Good morning, Henry, ready for another big day?"

He waved her towards the chair in the corner, "Take a seat Kaia, we need to talk."

Her smile disappeared as she collapsed uncomfortably into the chair. Henry sucked in a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry for the way things have turned out. I really like you and in other circumstances things may have turned out differently, but the truth is I need to get some space between you and me."

She nodded listening intently. "Kaia, is there some way we can work this out? My wife is holding me to ransom, If I can't get you out of this office then I can't try to get a reconciliation happening."

She nodded. "I'm sorry, as well, Henry. I know this must be difficult for you. If you want, I will hand in my resignation right now if it helps."

As he stared at her, his heart skipped a beat and he thought, 'Yes, do it.' But he sighed. "No, there's no need for that; all I need is for us to find a way to get you transferred to another department."

"Well, I could ask Daphne if I could work with her. I have been spending some time working on her project."

He nodded appreciatively. "Oh god, that would be amazing. Would you do that for me?"

She stood, moving close to him, her perfume cloaking them I sensuous aura. "Henry, I would do anything for you. I hate the fact your wife has taken this so badly, perhaps I could talk to her for you."

"What? Hell no! Jesus, Kaia, she would freak out. If you could just get Daphne to approve the transfer, it's all I need."

His day was stressful, and he watched as Kaia worked with Daphne and then with the boss. She still had tasks to complete for him, and she worked diligently trying to wind them up quickly.

There was an uncomfortable interview with his boss as he tried to get to the bottom of why Kaia, who had been working so well with Henry, wanted a transfer. He was no mug and figured there was something going on, just what... Still, he could find nothing to stop the transfer. By the end of the day, it was done.

On the way down to the car park, Kaia waited to catch him in the elevator. As they rode down, she pushed him up against the wall, her arms circling his neck, her lips grazed his. "I am going to miss you, Henry, hopefully we can still catch up occasionally."

He sighed, "Kaia, please, you are wonderful, and I like you a lot, but we need to take things carefully."

Her lips closed the distance opening wide, sucking him into a deep kiss. He wanted to fight, to say no, but it was impossible. His mouth opened and her tongue slithered inside, gliding sensuously around his mouth like a starving snake. His saviour was the bing-bong alarm as the elevator hit the basement.

"Goodbye, Henry. Please don't forget me; I want to work together."

That night Henry arrived home, hoping that the news would smooth things over and Annie would soften her stance.

He went to open the door before remembering the locks were now changed. He rapped on the door. Annie opened it, groaning, "What do you want, Henry? I told you, this is no longer your home."

He pushed past her snarling, "Like hell, Annie." The girls saw him and came running over jumping into his arms screaming, "Daddy, you're home, where have you been?"

He kissed them both. "I have been working baby, somebody has to pay the bills."

Annie snarled, "Yeah right."

He walked with the girls into the living room where they dragged him down to the floor to play with them. This was the hard part for Annie. She saw how much the girls loved him, and of course, he might be a bastard, but he loved them, as well.

She went back to getting dinner and it was a while later when she had to call loudly to get them all to the table. The girls were noisy and raucous, Henry urging them on to cover the otherwise dreadful silence.

It was after the kids were bathed and in bed when the discussion started. Henry tried to get things moving, "Hon, I organised for Kaia to be moved. She's no longer working with me."

"But she will be on the same floor, the same department, right there, and I'm picking that if somebody from your team is off sick or something she might get called in?"

He sagged, his big announcement shot down, "Hon, I did what you asked, I got her moved, we don't work together."

"Lies, lies, lies, that's nothing but bullcrap. She's right there still on the same damn floor. You will see her every day. God damn it Henry you will see more of her than you will of me."

"I've had enough of this Annie, I did what you asked, this is just ridiculous." He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "I have done everything I can. I made a mistake, and I'm sorry for that. But shit, it's time to move on."

Without speaking she turned and walked away. She called back. "Close the door on your way out. I don't want to have to call the police."

He had no choice but to leave.

For Annie, there was no getting past it, she felt betrayed, let down and disrespected. Henry broke the most important promise he ever made to her, and there was nothing she could do to move forward.

Her father argued on Henry's behalf, he tried to convince her to let go of her anger, embrace the good things that Henry had done. He was a good father and provider. He worked hard, he held nothing back. Until the cheating was uncovered, they ran a joint account, both depositing all of their money into it to help pay off the mortgage as quickly as possible.