Splashdown Ch. 05

Hello good folks! A few notes. Thank you, thank you, for the comments. I'm catching up on them as fast as life allows. I truly appreciate the constructive criticism. I'm talking it all to heart and felt like I owed some explanation. Don't worry, I am taking what you say to heart and will make the changes!

All the following is said in sincere appreciation. This piece is long, it's over the top dramatic, it has a ton of dialog, and even soliloquies. And believe me, I know I am neither the bard nor Hemingway. The reason I tagged this as melodrama is because the story encompasses all of those "shortcomings". I don't think the problem is doing them, it's that I don't do them well enough - yet. I didn't want you to see more of the same and think I was ignoring the time and effort you have taken to help me.

I have written technical pieces, articles, and humor pieces. All thrive on brevity or the addition or subtraction of a single word for the sake of cadence. I haven't done emotions. I haven't done much with "flow". So I jumped in with both feet and here we are. I was probably enjoying throwing off my shackles too much.

Though I thought I was done with this story, I will try to incorporate the wonderful advice I've gotten in later chapters. Thanks again.

Now, lets (hopefully) have some fun.

Solid Booster

Gary

Kathy came over to the house that night. She had done a great job of staying in touch with me. I hope NASA was giving her hazardous duty pay. She didn't knock when she arrived, she simply tried the door. Finding it open she entered. She found me in the kitchen, where immediately upon seeing me sitting at the table, she simply bent to wrap her arms around me.

I asked Kathy, "Did it get better after I left?"

"Yes Gary. It did, which is what you wanted. But... it didn't last." She winced telling me. It seemed all my news was bad, Kathy hated adding to it.

I didn't blink, with dread in my voice I asked, "What else?"

"I think you would've liked it in a different time and place. It just about made an administrator wet himself, the poor guy was already white as a sheet, seeing how awkwardly things had gone with you and her family. Knowing it was Peg's spouse who left trying to make it better gave him cold sweats. That's nail-biting time for those poor folks, and he was right.

"Gary, I know something of body language. I know your wife and that cosmonaut are close, that there's camaraderie. No Russian "comrade" pun intended. But Gary, Peg's wasn't the look of a wife having an affair. It was a person very excited with a partner, like a sports partner, or dancing partner. Yes, their hand holding was inappropriately warm, but not the heat of lust or love.

I answered, "I saw it. I agree," which put Kathy in an unexpected place. She had thought I would be devastated not calm and collected.

"Okay, um, good. You saw that, but you are worried worse is coming. I really think you handled that as well as it could have been handled. I also think you stepped on any burgeoning emotions between them, Gary. It will be twice as hard for Alexi to get through her emotional barriers now. And if you didn't make enough of an impact, your father-in-law set things on fire."

While knowing the situation wasn't good, Kathy couldn't completely contain a wry smile.

"Oh really?" I smiled wryly myself.

"Oh yeah. When he finally spoke, he introduced himself as a "Marine Master Sergeant" and told Alexi he didn't know if Alexi was a communist or not, but that he and his fellow marines had ended the careers and lives of numerous communist aggressors."

My eyebrows raised.

Catching my expression Kathy chimed, "Yep, he said that. He also added that if he got word Alexi ever touched his daughter again, "even to stop a spin or keep her from drifting off into space", that he would personally make sure that the village Alexi grew up in, the city where he lived, the bar where he drank, and every friend and family member Alexi ever had would be turned to ash before consigning Alexi to the infernal region with his own bare hands."

Kathy suppressed a smile watching my face at each passing sentence. I let out a low whistle while Kath nodded.

"He stormed out at that point. Alexi looked angry at first, but as your father-in-law kept going Alexi turned as white as the administrator. Peg's father wasn't speaking with a bluster, but with the cold efficiency of a man giving a blood oath. At the very minimum Alexi knew his fellow space station crewmember's father actually intended to fulfill the promise of Alexi's personal Armageddon if he played the aggressor."

I just whistled louder while Kath smiled and nodded more enthusiastically, adding a happy, "Oh yeah. Definitely Cosmonautus Interuptus."

"I stayed with Peg's mom and sister after her dad stormed out trying to patch things up. We stayed and spoke to Peg after the press conference. She was very alone by then; Alexi was long gone. We patched things up to an extent. But her dad had said all of that looking directly at Peg, not Alexi. Your desire that this be the best day of her life ended there. I hope she will remember that it was her dad that did that and not you." Kathy thought a moment before adding, "Peg has to stop the singular "you" bullshit and restart using that word to describe you both together!"

Kathy was steamed. It was nice feeling I had folks who cared about me. My father-in-law and Kathy were doing me proud. It was a shame I couldn't completely say the same about my wife.

Kathy continued, "To that end I brought up the fact that it was your wish that her wonderful spacewalk performance not be tainted. I explained you understood all too well because you felt Peg treated you like you were tainted before her flight, even though you had no responsibility or even say in most of those nasty episodes. I added the words "just like today" and pulled my hand up as a reminder of her actions with Alexi.

"That resonated with Peggy, Gary. I went on to say that you truly wanted to experience the thrill of what she was doing with her.

"I made sure she understood that if only one thing could be learned from today that you felt nothing should taint her spacewalk, and that you have never been as proud of anything you had ever done as you were of Peggy's accomplishments concerning her space flight. She got it, Gary. I know she did, because later I sent her a message.

"I told her exactly this: Gary loves you. He's nuts about you! He's starving for any knowledge or information of you. Peg, he was almost in tears at the prospect of hearing your voice. You should have seen him watching your spacewalk. I think it was one of the three most beautiful things he has ever seen in his life. Probably right there with you walking down the aisle in your wedding dress, and you the first time you made love."

"Gary, first thing Peggy said was castigating herself for holding Alexi's hand. She said it didn't mean anything except trying to give credit where credit was due. She said she wanted to introduce her spacewalk partner to her family. She thought that would make her space flight seem more normal and therefore more real to them. She was heartily sorry for how it all played out. She knew it looked horrible, especially what it must have looked like to you.

"Peg said she was so happy about what you were saying. She wasn't sure initially why her family was upset, but you were sticking up for her. It thrilled her you were. Then she realized everyone knew she was holding his hand. She said she would never forget that despite everything she put you through, you were still watching out for her and protecting her. She said that was testament to the incredible love of an incredible man.

"Gary forgive me, but I thought I had a chance to drive a few notions home. Peggy has been far too insulated from you and what she did because of her launch prep. I confirmed her actions with Alexi were horrible, they didn't merely look that way. Especially as the two of them floated out of a compartment where they had been alone, apparently changing clothing in front of each other, and hugged. She was beside herself that you and her family saw that. She said they never took off their skivvies, but their shirts were soaked from the spacewalk, they just wanted to don new ones to look fresher to speak to you and the press. Understanding how it would make you feel, even if you never knew about it, made her sorry she did it in the first place.

"I told her that I know the space station and how it works, the lack of private space and time, and so does her husband thank God. But to her family it looked like you two just floated out of the bedroom having had a wonderful tryst, sharing a last moment of togetherness before you had to go live on camera."

"What did she say to that?"

"Oh shit," Kathy beamed.

I confirmed, "Oh shit, indeed!"

"Then I reminded your wife that she hadn't acted like a woman who just got her salad tossed, and that her husband understood that sort of thing is almost impossible up there. Then I told her, "But Gary's drowning. Why have you written to everyone else and shut him off? You're killing him. Stop it! He doesn't want you to feel guilt or awkwardness, he meant everything he said to you. He's dying to share your accomplishments up there with you. He knows how hard and how long you have worked to get there. He knows how much you sacrificed to get up there, Peg. He's your biggest fan!"

"Peg replied, "Yes Kathy, he knows exactly what I sacrificed: him.""

"We know that Peg, but the sacrifice was made. Your presence and success up there right now is precisely what makes all the sacrifices worthwhile, especially Gary's. You made him pay a terrible price for your success, please don't exclude him now. If you do, every fear he's had about you not loving him will actually turn true. What else could he think, but that you don't care for him anymore. And... that you have already left him, and are never coming back."

"Oh Kathy!"

"Peg, it's simple and easy. Gary wants to be excited with you, please share that with him. He will take it, magnify it ten-fold, and give it back to you. He doesn't want to take any credit or steal any limelight from you."

Peg was horrified, "Of course not. That would be anti-Gary. Does he think I feel that way?"

"He wants to love you Peg, let him. He doesn't want to yell or be angry, he's in terrible shape without you. Please Peg, all he needs is a stroke of your hand on his cheek. Please Peg, it's that simple."

"But Kathy, it's hard to believe he wouldn't see my happiness up here and know he paid for it with his misery. That seems like I'm rubbing my success in his face. My job is at its zenith, and I love it, while he's on furlough from his because of me. How can I emphasize the differences in our relative states of happiness and not hurt him?"

"Peg, all the reasons you haven't shared your adventure with him are all the same reasons Gary desperately needs you to share them. Please get that through your head. Your dad may be angry, Gary's just in love with his wife. Okay?"

Finished with her story about my wife, Kathy continued our conversation, "Peg promised to do better Gary. I think it will be good for both of you. We spoke a little more about a different subject. I hope I did well by you, you deserve to be happy. You've been nothing but a stand-up guy." Kathy looked at me with eyes smoldering enough to melt lead.

I also noted that when Peg referred to me when speaking to Kathy, she used the word "you", and when Kathy made reference about me to Peggy she used "we". That was very interesting.

"Thank you, Kathy, really. No one has done more for me in months and months than you have. You've been the "friend indeed" that I so desperately needed. I bet you're famished, how about I take you to dinner? Suddenly my appetite seems to be back."

Kathy, the consummate professional, the woman with ice water in her veins, blushed a deep red, merely nodding to accept instead of entrusting herself to words.

* * * * * *

Gary

Peggy had been up about three months and Kathy was a regular visitor. We hit it off, every now and then I saw her appraising me as a trained NASA scientist wondering about the stress of a spouse's wife in space. We would discuss Peg a bit. After the business was over, we delighted in discussing other things. Anything. It was wonderful to escape the inescapable for however long it lasted.

I slept in the nude and was alone in my house yet had to start pulling on boxers when I went to the kitchen in the morning because Kathy would sometimes come over. The clever girl had figured out what my delay was answering the door. It was nice we had a history that went back a few years. Kathy used to check the house for us when Peg and I were away, so I asked her why she didn't just come in as she had a key. She blushed at my suggestion. I decided to call her on it.

"Wait, is the hero astronaut flustered to walk into a man's house and possibly find him naked?" Kathy's blush turned crimson.

"No. If you must know, I just put the pieces together in a different way." Still blushing Kathy suppressed a smile.

"What's that?" I asked already smiling.

"I've always thought of you and Peggy as a couple. My having your key was no big deal. Now it flashed in my mind." She looked at the floor averting my gaze, "I have a key to a place where there is a guy who could be on the cover of romance novels that runs around naked. It made me seem like a late nineteen fifties Manhattan businessman who put his mistress up in an apartment. And you know, you could be sort of a male version of Marilyn Monroe." Kathy peeked up at me with a toothy grin.

"I'm not sure what to say, except the subway grate scene will be very different."

"Maybe not. Got a kilt?" Kathy said, flashing a coquettish side grin.

I laughed, "No and I don't play the bagpipes."

"That's okay, I do." She started to cross over to me. She stopped suddenly embarrassed as sin. Her face bunched up and her mouth was one tiny puckered hole. Now her eyes scrunched shut, forcing back tears.

I took the initiative as Kathy was immobilized by mortification. I wrapped my arms around her, making her jump.

"Stop it Kath, don't be silly. You're my friend, my one bright spot. You were cutting up trying to help me, and not many are."

Kathy was suddenly angry now. "They don't try to help because they don't know you need help. And that's because you don't tell them, because if you do, they will know about your wife's awful behavior. Protecting her that way has cut you off from the support you need! I know her family knows. How could they not? I spoke to them for a while after the spacewalk. It was a blessing that you told them before Peggy pulled that hand holding stunt with Alexi."

Kathy seethed. She pushed out of my arms.

"I was only trying to be a friend, Kath."

Kathy was quite perturbed and off balance, "I know. I have no problem with anything you've done!" She tried to look away, yet her eyes cut back to look at me out of their corners. Her brow was furrowed with worry and, it appeared, concern, "I just crossed a line. I'm sorry. Gary, you aren't the most handsome guy in the world. They probably wouldn't put you on the cover of romance novels, but you're close. And I know that none of that matters to you, so you take no offense."

Kathy pulled her lips back as though making to hiss as her worry quotient skyrocketed. She looked at me with a wince fearing my reaction, "Gary, the real problem is if I chose the covers for those novels, you would be all over them. Damn it, you need a friend. You are suffering in your dedication and are afflicted by forced celibacy, and..." She hung her head, "Gary, I think you are very attractive. I think at this point it's best to get it out there and not try to hide it. I don't want to keep secrets or tell lies."

Kathy gave me a wide-eyed appraisal, though she could only hold it for a couple of seconds before turning away. Her admission had cost her something, but she'd done it anyway.

I hadn't expected that. I was at a loss for words, "Actually, I am extremely flattered. That's, um well, that's nice. Okay?"

She cut her head towards me only able to look at me out of the corners of her eyes, "And I'm not torturing you? I mean you must be pretty miserable. Having me think it's hot that you're prancing around naked where in a place I have the key to..."

"For Pete's sake woman, stop." I was blue balled but having a beautiful woman flirting and talking to me about it made my blue glow cobalt.

Her tears welled up.

"No. No, actually my ego really needs it. Do you know how humiliating it is for your own wife to cut you off for the better part of a year? And that she did it for career advancement?" I gave a grin at my culmination.

Kathy restrained her desire to make a joke of the low hanging fruit I just handed her. "No, but I can imagine. I really can, and I've watched you the entire time. Gary, you're a sort of superman, with a small "s". You have stood by Peggy while remaining the last sort of man I thought would put up with this situation. I think other men with your physical attributes would be knocking down waitresses and married lady lawyers by the baker's dozen. That you haven't actually makes you hotter. It's sort of a viscous cycle, which defines your life right now, doesn't it?"

"May I take you to lunch?"

"Yes, but only of you do something for me first."

"Let you play my bagpipes?" I gave her a wicked grin.

Kathy was instantly crimson again. Interestingly though, her eyes glowed. She saw me look deeply into them. She couldn't or wouldn't look away due to an equal mix of fear and arousal. Wow. Finally, she shut her eyes probably knowing what she had let me see.

"Gary, we can't do this to each other. I'm physically stronger than most women and might be able to take advantage of a man in your compromised position."

Her smile faltered with her attempt at levity. She was considering something else. I gave her time. I didn't want her hurt. I would give her all the time in the world.

"Alright Gary, I'll share it: by my own decree I haven't found a guy I was interested in that would put up with my life. Dating got to be a hassle, guys were either intimidated by me, or didn't want to mess with my schedule, trips, or being second fiddle to my career."

"That's why I put myself on the group that works with Astronaut's spouses. I really do get it." She paused but only to organize her thoughts now.

"I don't blame the guys for having a problem dating me because I saw it the same way. None of them were worth rearranging my life to accommodate. As none of them wanted to accommodate my life either, it was an easy choice. There's a whole checklist of what can cause relationship problems. I know my lifestyle checked a lot of those problem boxes for my would-be suiters. If untended even small problems can grow astonishingly large. Gary, you're dealing with every damn box on the list."

"Am I? Peggy swears her job is not more important than me."

I could see Kath wondering if she had stepped in it.

I had backed her into a corner, so the next step had to be mine as well, "I don't believe her on that score. I've never believed it. Not even before she got her flight."

Kath wasn't sure what to say so I doubled down on the teasing, "So, if you aren't interested in wind instruments..."

Kathy looked smug. She was not only happy to have been given an escape from the subject she had chosen, but she had a witty reply to what I had said. She flashed a beautiful smile as she launched, "Technically bagpipes are..." she stopped dead in the water realizing her quip would go wrong, "... oh damn... wood winds." She was embarrassed again at her unintended entendre.

I looked at her smiling and slowly said, "What? Are upset your retort blew up in your face?"