Maeve and Rob Ch. 02

"Is it Maeve? Then explain a few things to me" and I laid out all the signs that pointed to her cheating – besides the night at the Purple Mushroom and the night she brought Jack home with her.

She looked down at the table and then said, "I swear to God Rob, there has never been anyone else."

I just sat there and looked at her.

"Honest Rob; no one but you. Looking at it now I can see that it was stupid. I wish I could take it back, but I can't."

"Take what back Maeve?"

"It goes back to my controlling nature Rob. I let it get the best of me. You never said no to me Rob. You always gave in when I wanted something. I got to wondering if you had any limits – a point where you would push back. But you never did push back. It didn't matter what I did you went along with it so I got the bright idea of trying to find something that you would have to get riled up over so I pretended that I was having an affair. I kept doing all the things that I thought would make you suspicious and demand to know what was going on, but you never did anything. Phony phone calls and you never said a word. Not coming home until late and then taking a shower drew no comment. Nothing I did got a rise out of you.

"I began thinking that you didn't care because you really didn't love me. I started thinking that your walking out of the meeting where Milton brought up the pre-nuptial agreement was a ploy. You knew I'd come after you so you played 'hard-to-get' until I said okay, no pre-nup. I was in that doubting frame of mind the night I saw you come into the Purple Mushroom and I decided to give you something you couldn't ignore. I asked Mack to help me play a joke on you and when you didn't come out onto the dance floor I was sick. I knew then that you didn't care. I just knew that when I got home that night you would dump on me. You didn't say a thing or do a thing.

"But I finally got a reaction. It wasn't the one I wanted, but I got a reaction. You ignored me. The more you ignored me the more pissed off I got and the madder I got the more I wanted to do something that would rock you and that is where Jack came in. When I hit you with Jack you took it calmly, smiled and said have fun and walked away. It broke my heart. It proved that I meant nothing to you. I sent Jack on his way and went to the bedroom you were in to have it out with you once and for all, but you wouldn't let me in or talk to me and the next morning you were gone.

"I swear to you Rob, there was never anyone else."

"Of course there was Maeve. There was the other you."

"The other me?"

"Yes Maeve, there was the loving wife who spoiled me rotten and then there was the scheming, controlling bitch that just had to play her sick games. It has been there all along. The woman who loved me and the slut that had to walk away every once in a while on "dates." Apparently that never stopped. I don't know at what point in our marriage you started going on your "dates" again and I don't care. You games backfired and bit you on the ass Maeve.

"I saw all the signs that pointed to cheating and I ignored them because they must have been innocent coincidences. They had to have been because I just knew that you had to love me as much as I loved you. I saw the signs but I ignored them because I loved you too much to believe they could be true. Then came the Purple Mushroom and I realized that they must have been true after all.

"I never pushed back at you Maeve because I loved you and I wanted you to be happy. Being in charge – being in control – seemed to keep you happy so I let things go. Well Maeve, you wanted to find out if I had limits and now you know that I do have them and you found them and pushed me past them. I hope you are happy now that you know where they are."

"So you will come home?"

"No Maeve, I'm out and I'm staying out. I told you once before that I had a limited capacity for surprises. You have passed that limit."

"Doesn't it matter to you that I love you?"

"Of course it matters Maeve, but I'm not going to go through this shit every time you get a wild hair up your ass."

"It will never happen again Rob. I swear to God it will never happen again."

"You kind of promised me something like that once before and we both remember how that turned out. No more surprises you said, but here we are. Two years, five years or maybe ten years from now I don't want to go through this again. Best we end it right now and move on."

"I don't want a divorce Rob."

"I didn't want a cheating wife either. I listened to your story and maybe some or even all of it might be true, but in the back of my mind I will always wonder if your story was true or made up to suit the occasion. Little things would jump out at me. Things like you saying that at the Purple Onion you finally realized that I didn't care. If you believed I didn't care and you didn't do anything that night why did you take a shower when you got home and before you got in bed?

"I will always suspect that you did cheat and I won't live like that. I'll always see Mack and you grinding into each other and then that long hot kiss when the song ended. I will always see the smirk on Jack's face as you said you were going to be his fuck-toy. It is over Maeve."

"I won't give you a divorce Rob. I'll use every cent that I have to fight it."

"You can stop it Maeve. You have enough money that you can pay Milton to file papers and do whatever lawyers do for years and years and I won't be able to pay my attorney to fight you. But it won't matter Maeve because I'm gone and I'm not coming back. Get used to it Maeve; as a couple we are history and you have no one to blame but yourself."

++++++++++++++++++

Maeve did use her money to keep Milton busy filing motions and briefs and whatever. I paid off my lawyer and got on with my life. It has been over two years now and Maeve and I are still legally married and once or twice a month she will call me and ask me if I have come to my senses yet and if I'm ready to come home. I never give her an answer other than to just hang up.

I've had a lot of girlfriends during that period - a couple have even moved in and lived with me for a while – at least until they find out that marriage is not in the cards for us and then they slowly drift away. I suppose it is a good thing because I'm not sure that I'll ever want to get married again. I figure that sooner or later Maeve will though and when that happens she can take care of the divorce.

Maybe just to be spiteful I'll fight it.