Promotion Comes With Strings Attached

"If you want to talk to her, then do it. I've got nothing to hide."

Her mouth twitched and the smile struggled to shine through. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Sarah's nice."

We stood up together, and I led her through the apartment, starting with the kitchen, which was part of the open-plan living area. Then the bathroom, which I had only finished days before, the bedroom and the spare rooms. Then it was downstairs to check out the studio. After introductions, we sat in as the guys finished the recording session.

We walked out into the sun, and she asked, "What happens now?"

"I don't know, Coby, so much has happened. Could we put the past behind us?"

She couldn't hide the grimace. "I would like to try. I know I fucked things up, but I do love you, and it's hard trying to picture a life without you."

"Coby, I have never said I don't love you, as well, but sometimes that's not enough. There's gotta be respect and loyalty, trust. I'm not sure those things exist in our relationship."

"I have never lied to you, Darren. Never once. I put everything on the table."

"Maybe you didn't actually lie, but you certainly misrepresented the situation."

"How? I told you everything."

"Coby, when you sold that whole cockamamie situation to me, you said it would be just sex. Jesus, girl. You started sleeping with him from the outset. It was an affair, not just sex."

"Darren, you haven't exactly been honest either. You've had affairs. I saw the look in Kailami's eyes. She was in love, as well."

"That's the difference, though, we were broken up then."

"No, we weren't. We were apart, but we were still married, still seeing each other. I thought we were trying to figure shit out. Find ways to make it work."

"Yeah, you're right. I have been an asshole, as well, and I'm not proud of it."

She started sniffling, "Neither am I. I know I fucked everything up, but without that situation, none of this would have happened. You could give me the money back, but it doesn't change where it came from."

As she stood there, she ripped up the check. "I never wanted your money. Just your love. And you're wrong. I never stopped respecting or trusting you."

She got in her car and drove away. At least we got through it without yelling.

That night, I felt alone for the first time in ages. Having Coby there in my home reopened the old memories and emotions.

Unless you have experienced a love this powerful, you would never understand. We talk of taking bullets for somebody, dying in their place. That is how I felt about Coby. Yes, I would die for her.

So why was it so difficult to accept what happened? It was something that Sarah had talked about. Loving enough to forgive...

Sarah once said, "If you would dive in front of a truck to save her life, why can't you forgive something that although it caused pain, didn't kill anyone?"

At the time, I couldn't answer. Now, I was starting to comprehend.

I didn't see or hear from Coby for a few weeks, and it got me thinking maybe she had changed her mind.

The following Saturday, I was doing my usual chores, laundry and cleaning. At lunchtime, the main door buzzer rang. When I opened the door, there was Coby, her arms full of pizza boxes and a bottle of wine. "Are you hungry?"

I got the plates, and she loaded them with pizza and sides. I poured a couple of glasses of wine and we retired to the big fluffy floor rug in the living room.

"How's work?"

She nodded as she chomped into a huge slice of pizza. "Good, I take over from Wyatt at the end of the month. I was hoping you might like to come along to the celebration dinner."

"Congratulations, I would be honored to attend."

"What about you, Darren? How have you been?"

"I gotta say, I've been better, our last meeting caused me to do some thinking. I guess I don't like who I see staring back at me from the mirror. I've done some shitty things."

She sipped her wine somewhat uneasily. "I had the same problem. When I think about how we got where we are, I'm uncomfortable."

"Why so?"

"I broke the principles that I held dear. I sold out. I had all these lofty ideals, but when it came down to it, I sold out. I loved my job, and I was proud that I worked my ass off to get there.

"Then, Wyatt came along, waved a big wad of cash under my nose and I folded. I let him buy me. Yeah, I made excuses, like everybody else is doing it, why not?"

"You can't let it get to you, Coby. You're there now. The important thing is, you recognize you made mistakes, and you don't make them again."

"Easy to say, Darren, and I think I could do it. But that would depend on whether you were going to be on my side, standing beside me, supporting me."

I didn't answer straight away. I filled my face with pizza and beer. Wine's okay, but for me, pizza needs beer.

Coby, though, had things burning in her belly, things she wanted to say. "I've been seeing a therapist. I needed to try and understand why I did it."

"Oh yeah, anybody I know?"

"Yes." She snickered. "Sarah. And you were right, she is wonderful. I can see why you enjoyed being with her."

She reached for my beer. "Did you know she's a sex therapist, as well?"

I laughed as I watched her down what was left of my beer. "Yes, I seem to remember her saying something about that."

Coby jumped up and got two more beers. "She really helped me, Darren. She helped me understand why I did some of the things I did. I'm sorry I was so stupid. I will carry that guilt forever."

"Then Sarah didn't really help, did she? Look, Coby, if you and I were ever going to make a go of things, we have to let the past go. We both made mistakes. We let ourselves down, we sold our souls for money."

She looked shocked. "You want to give it another try?"

"I do, but not unless we can move forward. I don't want to be arguing over the same shit in ten years. We have to let it go. I know I hurt you with Kailami, but if I'm going to be saying sorry forever, then there's no point in trying."

"I want to try, I want this to work, but what happens when we fight?"

"We fight, we let it out, we yell and scream, shit, we're good at that. But this shit, it has to stay in the past."

She nodded as she drank her beer. "Coby, Sarah made me write a letter to you. In it, I put all the things I hated, everything you did that hurt. I put that letter in a box the other day and burnt it out in the parking lot."

"Wow, she made me do the same thing. I still have mine."

"Then we will need to have a ritual cleansing. We will burn it out in the parking lot at midnight."

She giggled playfully. "Won't we need a full moon?"

"Probably, but I think we can pretend. We have to be naked though."

"Oh yeah, were you naked when you burnt yours?"She giggled. "Maybe we could take one of her sex therapy classes, they sound awesome."

I laughed, wondering if we were in a strong enough place. In the end, I just let it out. "I've already taken her class, and I passed, top of my class."

She frowned, then smirked. "Yes, I suppose you did. You always were an over achiever."

"Funny, that's what she said."

After we finished the pizza and a few more beers, she said, "I don't suppose I could get you to show me?"

With a casual shrug, I replied, "I could try, but you were never much of a student. I'll probably have to go over some of the stuff multiple times."

"Yeah, I'm a big stupid, you will have to teach me."

"I guess I better call Sarah and get a refresher. I don't want to get it wrong."

"Well, I better book one, as well." Coby said trying to keep a straight face. "She said she would love to teach me. She said I had a glowing aura."

Life... It throws up good and bad. We fought through the bad and we fell into love all over again. Coby had to take some time off work when we had the kids, although she couldn't stay away from work. Luckily, I worked from home. Living in the studio meant work was only down the stairs. The kids really brought us together. Everything else seemed unimportant after their arrival. I loved being a stay-at-home dad.

Things got tricky as time went on. Wyatt did make a return, but by then, Coby was the CEO, and although she had to listen to him and heed his advice, that's where it ended.

When Kailami asked me to produce her second album, things again got a bit uncomfortable. Although, one night after way to much to drink, Kailami, Coby and I talked everything through. It was a bit rough at times, and there were tears. But like the Phoenix rising, Kailami and Coby managed to form a strong friendship. The kids love having a world famous singer and actress as their Godmother.

It all became part of our story. Not that we tell anyone, but we know, and our marriage is stronger than ever. Yep, it was a bumpy rude, but we saw it through. It was part of moving on. Maybe we were too young, maybe we didn't have enough trust in each other. At least we rode it out, and now our lives are better than ever.

The end.