Oh No, Not Another February Sucks

George Anderson wrote a story which has taken legs, running on and on since September 11, 2020, more than three years at this writing. He has given blanket approval to write an addendum, to which I'll take my shot.

You know the story, so I'll not beat a dead horse by going over it again. Nevertheless, I must post a few quotes from Mr. Anderson's story to set the stage for the what ensued with Linda's return home.

The following (in Italics,) are those quotes.

(Linda) "It's still just me, the same old me as always," she said with a tender smile. Of course, she knew what I'd been thinking. "There's nothing different; nothing has changed. My love for you is just the same as it was yesterday."

(Jim) "All right, then. We'll try again. Was it everything you expected?"

(Linda) "Everything and more."

(Linda's thought) He didn't say anything, but I knew then that he wanted much more than a dance from me. At almost the same instant, I knew I would give it to him. I didn't really decide, I didn't think about it, I just knew, as if I'd been told. During the second slow dance, he asked me if I was ready. He didn't have to explain what he meant. I nodded; I couldn't talk.

(Linda) "I keep telling you, I wasn't leaving you. It was no different from running errands or going to work. I knew I would come back when I had finished, just like I will always come back."

Oh No, Not Another February Sucks Conclusion

Linda came home just as she would have come home from shopping or running some other errands. Her nonchalant demeanor spoke volumes to Jim.

"Now that you have summarized your thoughts on this, I can clearly see you have no regrets and no concerns. All is hunky dory, eh?" Jim said.

She replied with a smile, "Yes, I know you love me enough to allow me to have experienced something that I will cherish the rest of my life, and oh my, will the girls in our group be jealous."

I cocked one eyebrow and just looked at her.

"What?" she asked.

Jim replied: "You said: 'It's still just me, the same old me as always.'"

"Yes," she said.

Jim took a long hard look at Linda and said: "Since it's the same old you as always, that tells me you will do it again if the occasion ever arose. If he called and wanted another go, your statement tells me that since nothing has changed you would go."

"Well, I didn't quite mean it that way. No, I would not do that again" she replied.

"But since you did go, and said it's the same old me, please explain how it's the same old you but you would not do it again," says Jim.

"You are getting me confused, Honey," she mumbled, seeming to have lost some voice.

"Do not call me Honey or any other endearment as you gave that all up, when you said it was everything and more, telling me that I am now in second place. Your adventure has given you a gauge to judge me by and that will leave me as being less desirable thus no longer your most loved" Jim said.

"No, no" she said, "I will always love you first and the most."

"The first and the most? So, there is a second and someone lesser, that I must assume is Marc?" Jim nodded to her as he spoke.

"Stop it, Jim, you are confusing me" she said.

"How can I be confusing you when I am only repeating what you have said. That tells me you are confused. You sneaking off with him as you did only confirm that you are one confused person. You could not do that if loved me first and foremost plus remained true to our wedding vows. You said your love for me is just the same as it was yesterday. That tells me that do no love me enough that you would not do it again, given the opportunity" Jim said.

"I said I would not!" she said with volume.

"Then if you would not do it again, and you loved me the same now as yesterday, why did you do it in the first place?" Jim retorted.

"Jim, I have a headache, can we drop this, please?" Linda pleaded.

"Only for now, it would be good for you to get your thinking straight, and while you are at it you might be thinking about how you can explain that you would not do it again when you said 'I knew I would come back when I had finished, just like I will always come back.'" Jim said, emphasizing "will."

We didn't about talk it anymore that weekend. As a matter of fact, we hardly talked at all. Monday came and went as did the next three days. Things were still frosty.

Linda could not take it any longer, she had to get it resolved.

"Jim, we must get this handled, we cannot go on like this.'

"I agree, Linda, the time has come. This has hurt me deeply and I do not think I can get past it."

"But Jim, I said my love for you has not changed."

He replied: "There is the problem. You are thinking about yourself, you do not regret what you have done. It was wonderful, the memories will last a lifetime, you share it with your girlfriends, they tell their husbands and I stand in shame. And that shirt with 'Marc LaValliere Fan Club' makes me sick. No, this is all on you. You have not changed, same old you and 'I keep telling you, I wasn't leaving you. It was no different from running errands or going to work.' Since it is no different than running errands or going to work, then I have no choice but to move on."

With that Jim handed Linda the divorce papers.

Epilogue

Ten years later, we find Jim with and his new wife, with his two children and her three. They get along beautifully. He never heard much from Linda.

Oh yes, she fought the divorce. She told the judge that Jim was "making a mountain out of a mole hill, that what she did was what any other wife would have done."

The Judge: "Are you telling me my wife would do that, too?"

Linda did some useless back pedaling.

With so many witnesses subpoenaed to repeat what Linda had told them, the judge had little choice but to grant the petition. Her lack of remorse was the final seal.

Linda originally got custody of the children and remained in the house, but the pressure was just too much and she broke under it. She just could not grasp what she did wrong, why people shied away from her. Even her own children avoided her. She lost her job. Her own parents, originally tried to help her but gave up.

Her mental collapse left her unfit, she had to be remanded to a facility for the mentally impaired. She normally sits in the sunroom, staring into the garden with a smile. People wonder what she is thinking.