Revenge: A Dish Best Served Cold?

I finally got to say something. "Why should I help the bitch who hurt me?"

"Because she knew she had hurt you and was sorry for doing it. She tried to fix things but chose the wrong way to do it. You then ruined her life and Tom's. You hurt her much worse than she deserved. She still worries you haven't finished with her yet."

"That's silly. All that ended with the divorce."

"That's what I tell her. You can prove it by helping me and showing her you have finally settled things and then hopefully she can start to live a normal life again. And maybe at the same time you can get rid of some of that rage you carry bottled up in you. It must be causing you long term damage and you need to learn to relax and enjoy life."

*****

Jason had given me a lot to think about. He was right. I had gone much further than I needed to.

So a couple of days later I called him and arranged to bring my tools over to Gail's. We arrived together as Jason pointed out that my arriving alone on her doorstep might scare her. I was shocked by how much weight she had lost which brought back to me just what I had done. To say I was not proud of myself would be a massive understatement.

We worked hard and got a good deal of work done and ordered food in. We all sat around the table and had polite conversation.

Over the next dozen visits we got the work finished, Gail had started to become more relaxed in my company. We were never getting back together -- there was too much between us to make that viable.

*****

Years later and Gail had gotten remarried. She had gone back to her previous weight and looked good. They had a nice house and she got to wear nice clothes again. I was happy for her and although I never went to the wedding (I thought it would be weird) I did send a discrete card and a present. He was a fair bit older than her so I don't suppose their sex life was up to much. I could be wrong about that but it would ironic, considering her wanting extra sex was what had broken our marriage.

Not that my sex life was anything to boast about. I was spending most of my time on house renovations. Not the original one. I had sold that for a pretty decent profit. But that and the work at Gail's had made me realise how much I enjoyed working with my hands. I quit my office job and started renovating houses full time.

It was then that I realised that although I was good at my old job it had not really given me any satisfaction. I was now making old houses liveable again. I was hiring some of the local men who did not have full time jobs and those that showed any talent I was showing how to do estimations, project plans and proper invoices. Some of them started up small businesses. I now had a decent retirement fund and the sense I was helping my community. I was relaxed and happy and had lost that bottled up anger and frustration.

But even though I still dated occasionally I realised that nobody would ever replace Gail. I still wondered what would have happened if I had taken up her offer to have a reciprocal affair. Would we still have remained together? What if she had simply stopped the affair as Jason said she wanted to, never told me and I had never found out?

We will never know.

I do know that dissatisfaction with my old job would probably have led to heart problems.

So in a way her cheating may have ended up saving my life.