Take a Chance

It hurt her terribly to think of that. He was supposed to love her, but ever since 'The Doctor's Visit,' things between them were never quite the same. She wondered if he felt that way because he truly wanted children, or if his inability to have them pointed out some failing in him.

Over the next several months, through summer and into the autumn, she tried to improve their marriage -- special dinners, going back to cheering Mike on at his matches, extra lingerie. Nothing seemed to make much of a difference. He thanked her for her efforts, but there was no reciprocity.

He was more focused on mucking around with his mates or lazily trying to climb the ladder at the bank that his family managed. His father wanted him to knuckle-down, grow up, and be more responsible. He was merely thinking about it.

Annie didn't lose her confidence, however. Although she wasn't enjoying her marriage at the moment, she believed she could fix it. There was the tiniest of sparks that she held onto, knowing that somewhere on a planet of nearly eight billion people, there was one man that believed in her.

* * * * *

Autumn gave way to winter.

Annie clung to her belief in herself, and it showed at work. Her work in Vietnam earned her another trip, but this time to a much nicer company location in Auckland, New Zealand for almost two weeks in late June. Her workmates were jealous of this trip. Apparently, her husband was, too, because he didn't approve of her going.

Mike asked, "Why do you have to go?"

"I want to go. It's good for my career. If it goes well, I may even get a promotion."

"Career? Don't I make enough at the bank?"

He was overpaid for his loan officer position at the bank, and they both knew it.

She said, "Why can't you be happy for me? This is good for us. If I get a raise, it will allow us to get that boat you wanted."

He did want a certain boat, but it bothered him that he needed his wife's help to pay for it. If his dad would just pay him more at the bank, he wouldn't need her help.

The real problem was that even though he was considered 'the good looking one' in their relationship and had been considered a great 'catch' when they were younger, his lack of career growth was now being contrasted to hers. His athletic attributes were at or slightly past their peak, while her musical voice continued to get stronger with age. He still had his family prestige, but he had relied on it for a long time. So, Mike needed for her to question herself a little so that he could continue to feel better about himself and his position as the superior one in their relationship.

The past several months had put that into question.

He replied, "I just don't understand why you want to be away so much. It's like you don't want to spend time with me?"

She just looked at him stunned. That was rich. How obtuse could he be? He was the one that spent most of his free time blowing her off to be with his mates. She was the one forced to cook, clean, and then usually spend her free time with her mum or friends to keep from being so alone.

"I'm always willing to spend more time with my husband. Why don't you arrange a date or two for us before I go and after I get back? I would love to spend more time with you."

She looked at him defiantly. This was a different Annie from the one that was so nervous about going to Vietnam. He could see that her work there had changed her into a more determined woman. He wondered how her trip to Auckland would change her further.

He said, "Okay. I'll do it."

She knew that he wouldn't. He never did.

Her trip was another success with more compliments and more responsibility. As a result, she was given an employee to help develop and to help her develop her managerial skills. For years, she felt like her contributions were not being recognized. In the last six months, it seemed as if she had gone from a laggard to someone on the rise.

Everyone noticed, including her manager, her colleagues, her friends, her family, and her husband. Mike seemed to think that spending time away from Annie would minimize the comparisons. It did not.

Even in bed, the impact of her growth and confidence impacted them. What could have put them at odds resulted in some of the best sex of their lives. She wanted more and was determined to get it from Mike. He was happy to have a woman that was more active in the bedroom.

Unfortunately, that was the only area of their marriage that improved. Everywhere else, the decay was becoming harder and harder to ignore.

Annie began to seriously think about leaving Mike. She was trying to nurture their relationship, but their sex was not love. All questions about his work were quickly shut down. She had begun to resent even more the amount of time he spent with his friends playing stupid games. The byproduct of that was her burying herself in her own work to get ahead. If he wasn't at home, why should she be?

By late November, she had just begun to resign herself to the fact that things with Mike were not going to improve when her manager asked her to join her in her office. They connected with her second-line manager in Sydney who offered her a promotion...in Sydney, at headquarters. She was thrilled. She said she was interested but needed time to talk with her family and consider it. They congratulated her while her head swam.

That Friday night, when Mike was out with his friends, again, she decided to go out with some of her girlfriends. She met the girls in a nice restaurant, not a bar nor a club, but they were the most boisterous ones there. The self-assured Annie joined right in. She wanted to tell them about the job offer but wanted to speak to her mum first. She had a good idea of what she was going to do.

Natalie, or Nat, her longest known friend said to the group, "Hey, have they found out any more about the guy that put up those billboards?"

Annie asked, "What billboards?"

Nat looked at her incredulously, "What billboards? Have you been living under a rock? Oh, you have, because you've been at work for most of the last month, and this isn't the kind of thing that Mike would talk about. I cannot believe you haven't heard about it on the radio. Every time a woman approaches and tries to talk to him, he just smiles and keeps on playing."

"Playing? Playing what?"

Beverly, another friend, said, "I've heard that he's had at least a dozen marriage proposals since he started."

An exasperated Annie demanded, "Started what?"

Beverly made a few swipes and taps on her phone and showed Annie the message on one of the billboards that they said were replicated in a dozen places around the city.

Annie spewed the wine from her mouth upon seeing it and whispered, "Oh my God!"

* * * * *

Chapter 2

Jerry's trip home was uneventful. Like Annie, three sleeping pills and two mini-bottles of Kahlua later, and he was comatose on the long flight droning over the Pacific. He spent a layover at LAX in another lounge, then a few more hours to Austin.

While he was tired of the travel, his work, and his wife, he was looking forward to seeing his daughter, Sara, and watching her perform. He was sure his arriving home several days early to watch her perform would be a pleasant surprise.

The Uber dropped him and his luggage at home and when he opened the garage, he was the one that was surprised that Sara's and Linda's cars were gone. It was 7:00 am, so he must have just missed them, but the garage was missing the smell of a recently started vehicle.

"Curious," he thought.

He turned off the alarm, and when he went inside, everything looked in place. He decided to text Sara.

"Hey Pumpkin, all ready for your show tonight?"

"I am. All of my clothes are laid out on my bed for when I get back from school. I wish you were going to be here."

"Me too. Tell Kelly good luck from me."

"She'll really like that. She misses you too, you know. I'm driving her to school again this morning. Love you, Dad."

"Love you, too."

He didn't text Linda. Why bother.

He smiled. She was at Kelly's. That made sense. She was such a good young lady. Kelly was her best friend, and their friendship had lasted over a decade. They had met at a local musical theater program when they were little and became best friends through that. Unfortunately, a few years ago, Kelly and her mom were in a terrible accident that had killed her mom and severely injured Kelly.

The doctors were able to save her leg and foot, but they basically had to piece and pin it back together. She still had one of the sweetest signing voices in her school, but she would never dance again, nor walk without a limp nor a cane. It was too bad because she was such a loving and caring girl. His whole family loved her.

The previous year, during COVID, she had stayed for many months with them. Jerry couldn't travel, so he stayed home and did most of his work on Zoom. Kelly's dad is a surgeon, and he didn't want to potentially expose his daughter to anything he might pick up at the hospital, so she stayed with them ten out of thirteen months before things mostly returned to normal after the vaccines were rolled out.

While Jerry actually enjoyed her staying with them, it had been an uncomfortable time. Or at least everyone seemed uncomfortable. Jerry tried to reassure her that she was always welcome and to stay as long as she needed to. He did enjoy watching the interaction between Sara and Kelly. They were more like sisters than friends.

When Jerry had arrived home from his last trip before COVID, as cases were spiking and governors were shutting things down, Linda decided that she would sleep in one of the guest bedrooms to ensure that if one of them got COVID from their normal grocery and errand running then at least one of them could stay up and going.

Given the poor state of their relationships, Jerry didn't really complain. It had been years since things had been good between them. He wondered if that was what had Kelly on edge. Or maybe it was her dad working at the hospital which was bothering her. He thought it would probably bother him too.

The only time Linda slept in the same room with him was when Kelly slept at her home. Apparently, Linda was willing to take a risk for a little sex. As their relationship had struggled, Jerry was accustomed to long dry spells of no sex. He didn't complain when Linda would visit him those few nights and use him for sex because he used her in return.

If anything good could come from COVID, he proved to his managers that he could still be effective remotely. When the COVID travel lockdowns ended, he returned to his road-warrior ways because some clients urgently needed his onsite assistance, but now, he was much more in control -- hence his coming home several days early this time.

Having skipped an airport coffee to rush home, he decided to brew some now and maybe eat a bite of cereal before getting busy. He brewed his usual French press of coffee and poured the bowl of cereal. When he pulled the milk from the fridge, he was confused. He could tell by the date that it was the same container that had been there when he left home a little over two weeks earlier. The container was almost empty, and when he opened it to smell, he could tell that it had already gone bad.

That was odd. Sara usually went through a half gallon a week on her own.

He opened the fridge again, but there wasn't any other milk. As he continued to look, he saw two shriveled and black avocados. Were those from the same batch that he had bought? Also, the green onions in the veggie drawer were watery and slimy.

What the Hell? That would mean...

He found his phone and opened the security app. He tapped the history icon and his stomach rolled. Since the day after he left, no one had been in his house.

He had spoken to Linda on the phone twice and both times that he facetimed Sara, she had been in her car. Remembering what Sara had said earlier, he trudged his way to Sara's bedroom. There were no clothes laid out for that night's Christmas performance.

A little snooping in closets and bathrooms revealed that Linda and Sara were missing some clothes -- or they were being stored elsewhere.

He opened the location app that would allow him to see Sara's phone and she was on her way to school. Hmmm. He didn't bother to try to locate Linda, because she had blocked him a couple of months before COVID started.

Now what? What did it all mean? Think, Jerry.

"They haven't been home in two weeks," he thought. "So, they are staying somewhere else. The most likely explanation - Linda is getting ready to serve him with divorce papers when he gets home...but two weeks?"

He had a better idea now. It appeared that she had already found someone else, and had moved in there, but she still had most of her clothes in her closet. And that would mean that Sara knows what's going on. He wondered, "Why didn't Sara tell me?"

It was pretty obvious to him that his plan to divorce Linda after Sara left for college had been moved up by six to nine months. He had expected the divorce to come. Neither he nor Linda used that word directly, but things had been so bad for so long, that it wasn't that big a surprise. What was beginning to anger him, though, was that he had planned to spend most of the next six months working from the Austin office, with only a few short domestic trips so he could spend more time with Sara as she worked her way towards graduation. Linda would have a fight on her hands if she tried to take Sara away these last few months.

He shook his head. That presumed that Sara wanted to stay with him and given how much he had been gone the last few years, maybe she wouldn't want to. Damn.

Staying away from Linda was on purpose. Now he wondered if he had screwed himself when it came to his daughter. But she, and often with Kelly, always seemed happy to facetime him and do things with him when he was home. He was confused.

"I guess I'll just have to talk to Sara," was the only option he felt that he had. Clearly talking to the lying skank Linda would do no good.

Now what? He guessed he needed to wash his clothes and pick up a few groceries. Then he would get to work or maybe play on his piano a little. Sigh.

"Welcome home, Jerry," he thought.

He would attend Sara and Kelly's Christmas program that night. He expected it to be enlightening.

* * * * *

On the way to the program, he picked up some flowers to give Sara and Kelly after the performance. He knew what kind Sara liked, but wasn't sure about Kelly, so he would give her the same thing.

To ensure that he didn't accidentally bump into anyone he knew, he sat in the balcony section of the school's large auditorium. He was tempted to peek over the edge while the lights were still up to see if he could spot Linda, but he had always been a patient man, so he placed the flowers in the empty seat next to him and ensured that his binoculars were clear.

Rather than record the concert himself, he knew that the school would charge an arm and a leg for a copy of the performance, but it was in 4k and the quality was always very good, so he wasn't going to complain too much. He could afford it, and it was so worth it this time.

Sara sang like an angel -- not that he was a biased father or anything, but his realizing that this would be one of her last performances nearly brought tears to his eyes. Kelly sang well, also. He would have to congratulate Robert, Kelly's father, on her performance.

At the end of the show, as the students were dispersing, he watched as Sara was with Kelly and was helping her down the steps leading from the stage. They were all smiles looking at each other. At the base of the steps, he saw Sara hug Linda and then Robert. Robert hugged and picked up his girl, who pretended to be indignant.

What happened next made everything much clearer. Linda handed Robert two roses, and he gave one to each girl. Apparently, Robert didn't know that lilies were Sara's favorite flower. Jerry watched as Linda put her arm through Robert's, who then leaned down and kissed her. Linda quickly looked around as if people might see them, but nobody appeared to be paying them any attention, so she pulled him back for a quick kiss on the lips, grinning like an idiot.

That show of affection knocked the smile from the girls' faces, and they said something to Robert and Linda. The girls seemed to shrug off the few quick words from Linda, in reply.

Jerry could feel his blood begin to boil...though he wasn't sure why. This was who Linda was, so why was he surprised? He didn't appreciate being made a fool in front of the school. Not that either of them knew many parents at the school, but still.

Now he wondered how long this had been going on. Since COVID ended? During COVID? Before COVID?

No matter. For a moment he watched as the four of them conversed with several other students and parents. Not knowing how long Linda and the girls would be sticking around, he quickly walked down the back stairs, through the front door, and out towards his car. The flowers for the girls were tossed to the ground, in his wake.

Back inside, Sara was pleased that the show had gone well. She wished her father could have seen it. She knew he would buy a copy, but it isn't the same thing. Maybe she would call him later once they returned to Kelly's house. She thanked Robert for the rose but was irritated with her mother for the affection that was being shown between her and Robert. It was too soon. Word could still get back to her Daddy. She didn't want him hurt, much less humiliated. Her mom didn't seem so concerned.

Kelly alternated between using her cane and leaning on Sara. Kelly wasn't happy with her dad either. She was purposefully using the special cane that Jerry had given her. He had used his contact with one of the companies he worked with to have a special carbon-fiber quad cane made for her. It had a tri-spiral central column connecting to the carbon-fiber quad base. The handle was a durable stiff rubber but had been notched in a beautiful diamond pattern to make it easier to grip and more elegant...as elegant as a quad cane can be. The entire thing was in black.

It was a third of the weight, and much, much slimmer than the gaudy aluminum one the hospital gave her, and many adults asked her where she got it because they had a loved one who would appreciate something like that.

Kelly was thinking, "Yes, Dad, I'm reminding you that you're screwing the wife of my best friend's dad, and I'm not happy about what the two of you are doing."

As they made their way out the front of the school and towards the cars, Sara was surprised to see lilies strewn across the ground. They were her favorite and she hated seeing that someone had dropped them.

Maybe she wouldn't call her father that night. She would feel too guilty.

Later that evening, Jerry could see that Sara's phone spent the night at Robert's house. He spent an hour pouring his soul into his piano until he was calm enough to take a sleeping pill and go to sleep.

* * * * *

Jerry worked all the next day from his home office. He wasn't supposed to be home for two more days. That evening, he sent Sara a text.

"Hey Pumpkin, could you go down to my home office and take pictures of the few papers in the red file on my desk and send them to me? I wouldn't ask if it weren't really important."

She replied. "Sure, Daddy. Give me a few minutes, and I'll text them to you."

He knew it was only about five minutes to Robert's house, and he wasn't disappointed.

To Sara's eyes, when she arrived at her home, nothing looked out of place. After entering the garage, she turned off the alarm and went inside. The timer on the Christmas tree had turned on. The house lamps were on also, according to the schedule that had been set. She checked the handle on the patio door, and it was still locked.