The Best Man Pt. 06

I went through the different options open to me as I walked to the bathroom. I could call her but did I really want to wake her up if she was still with him or seem that needy? I could text her, casual, non dramatic. Something like, just checking you're ok. After flushed the toilet and decided on a text. I was second guessing my word choices when I heard the rattle of our lock then the door being opened. There was quiet footsteps coming towards where I was so I stayed there. The bathroom door opened. Her hand appeared first as she turned on the light. Angelica half stumbled through the door then stifled a scream when she saw me.

"Jesus Col, you scared me half to death! Why the fuck don't you turn the light on when you go to the shitter?"

I didn't say anything, I just stared. Her hair was a mess, the makeup she'd applied before leaving was gone. She was clearly pretty drunk. In her hands she held her coat and shoes. The buttons on her shirt were in the wrong holes suggesting she'd dressed in the dark or in a hurry.

"Move I've got to go." Angelica said as she pushed past me and fumbled with her jeans. When she pushed them down I could see there were no panties.

I left and went back to bed. It was a while before Angelica got there. I could smell her body wash so she must have had a shower. She moved as close as she could get to my body without touching it. I stayed where I was. Her breathing deepened as she went to sleep. As hard as I tried I couldn't. Eventually I got up, got dressed and went to the office.

It didn't take long to get bored there. Unlike every Sunday when I actually try to have a sleep in there wasn't one service call for a lock out or malfunctioning alarm. I did some book work and a mini stocktake of the door hardware we had on hand. Just before lunchtime I headed back to the apartment. I was expecting my wife to still be asleep but she was up and dressed in the kitchen.

"Hi honey," she called out after I'd shut the front door. "Perfect timing. Lunch is almost ready. Go and have a wash and it should be on the table for you by the time you get back."

When I got back Angelica was putting a bowl of salad on the table. We sat opposite each other and didn't speak as we forked food onto our plates. My wife looked remarkable well rested considering the time of her return. There was a brightness and energy to her demeanour although the makeup she had on didn't quite hide the bags under her eyes.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No," I said as I dropped my gaze from her to the plate in front of me.

"Did you try and wait up?"

"No." I contemplated leaving it there but after a pause I continued. "I went to bed around ten thirty. Woke at twenty to six and you weren't here."

"I'm sorry, I should have let you know."

"Too busy I suppose." I tried not to sound bitter. I wasn't successful "Did you go to the game this time?"

"Hey, don't..." Angelica bit back her words, took a sip of water then continued in her more chirpy manner. "Yes we did. And we stayed around afterwards to catch up with Johnno's friend Will. He had a team dinner to go to but he wanted to meet up after that so we said we'd wait at a city bar for him."

"We? Was it just you and Johnno or were there others."

"Two of his old school friends. Different guys from the cricket night."

"So what time was did you meet Will."

"That's why I was so late home. He didn't get to the bar till almost one am. Then we got kicked out because one of Johnno's mates was really drunk. We dumped his other friends then found somewhere else to go. We only had two drinks and suddenly it was after three. Will went home and we, um went back to Jonno's room."

"And had sex for two hours."

"No, we had sex but we were both drunk and it, it wasn't," she stopped and searched for the word. "Spectacular. We passed out then I woke up and it was five and I just wanted to get home."

"Was Johnno awake when you left?"

"Yes, but only just. He sat up when I opened the door to leave. He said I should stay but I told him I had to go."

It gave me some small piece of satisfaction that the date night hadn't been one long sexual marathon. After we'd eaten Angelica suggested we watch a movie together. We flicked through the streaming services and found a mutual agreeable choice. Within five minutes of it starting Angelica was sound asleep with her head resting on my shoulder. Half way through my arm started aching so I moved my position. My wife raised her head briefly while I got comfortable then she snuggled up against me. She was instantly asleep again. Perhaps she didn't actually wake up. As she slept I lightly stroked her hair. It was in no way sexual but because of that somehow more intimate. As the credits rolled over on the screen Angelica woke up. She sat up and stretched.

"Did I miss much?"

"No, not really. You should go to bed. Work day tomorrow." I suggested.

"No, if I sleep the day away I won't sleep tonight. Why don't we go for a walk?"

I agreed. We went up Williams st toward the city. Spent some time sitting in the sun in the park. I pointed out a bar but Angelica felt her liver needed some more rest time before she started poisoning it again. On the way back to our apartment we got some takeaway for an early dinner. As we were eating I broached a subject I'd deliberately been avoiding.

"Did you make any future plans?"

Angelica tilted her head enquiring without words what I meant. Or perhaps she was giving me a chance to not take it further.

"With Johnno. Did he want to see you again?"

"There was some talk about something in May." My wife said but something about her demeanour made me think there was more to it.

"What sporting event is on in Sydney in May."

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about it now." Angelica deflected again.

"Why?"

"We are both in good moods. Let's just forget about it till later."

"Why would it change my good mood."

Angelica put down her fork. She sat quietly picking her next words or perhaps summoning up the courage to say the ones she'd already picked out.

"He want's me to have a sleepover."

In the warped world we now inhabited I guess it was the next logical step. So while it shouldn't have been it was still a shock.

"Col?"

"Um, yeah, sorry, just wasn't expecting that." I drank some of my beer. "So this will be in May."

"Yes, if it works out."

"What's he coming to Sydney for?"

"Um, he's not. He's wants me to go to him."

"To his house."

"No. There's something he takes his ute to every year... a muster or something like that."

"The Deni Ute Muster."

"Yeah that's it."

Now Angelica's reluctance to talk about it made sense.

"It's not an overnight thing. It's a whole weekend."

"Yes. I thought I could fly to Wagga Wagga?" My wife tone questioned if she'd got the town name correct. I nodded. "On Friday evening. We'd stay there that night then go to the muster on Saturday and I'd fly home Sunday."

"Sounds like you've already planned it all."

"Just drunken spitballing."

"It's not a sleepover. It's two nights. A whole weekend."

"We were drunk. He probably won't even remember it."

"But you did."

Angelica shrugged, "you can always say I can't go."

"Yeah, I suppose I can."

We went to bed soon after. For the next month we danced around the weekend away. It was never mentioned specifically but it was there in the background. A little stone in the shoe of our relationship. Annoying but neither of us was going to be the one to stop and dig it out. I could have just said no, it's taking it too far. I wanted Angelica to make that decision. She didn't. On the first of May she asked for my decision.

"If I'm going. I've got to book my flights."

"I've already said it's up to you."

"Okay then." Angelica opened her laptop and began scrolling.

A short time later she closed it up.

"I'm flying out of Sydney at seven Friday evening and I'll be back Sunday afternoon at five."

"So the whole weekend."

"That's how it works out. There's not many flights to choose from."

It felt like a challenge. This wasn't flirting with a fuzzy moral boundary. It was obliterating any semblance of normality. At that moment the emotional bungy cord bringing us back together seemed as thin as dental floss.

For the rest of the week we continue the implausible deniability of our evolved reality. I was waiting for Angelica to call it off while I think she was waiting for me to say no. It was on the tip of my tongue a few times. In the end what happened at the pub at Belton haunted me. If I said no that's the end, could I trust that it wouldn't happen again? The lyrics of the stupid song 'if you love somebody set them free,' rattled around in my head.

On Friday morning my wife kissed my cheek then wheeled her overnight bag to the door. She was leaving for the airport from work so she wouldn't be home again till Sunday. Rather than wait around in the apartment with my insecurities I planned a busy weekend. After I knocked off work I went with three of my employees for a night on the grog. We started in the local then shifted to another hotel that had a Friday afternoon floor show. It consisted of three young ladies getting there kit off individually then for a finale they did it together. To be brutally honest none of the three had a body that warranted much excitement about them getting naked but they were enthusiastic.

Saturday morning I was up early heading west to watch my daughter play netball in a district competition. Then we went to a different suburban ground to catch my son playing football. Both then joined me heading back into the city. One of my bigger clients had been bragging about a new boat he'd bought. He wanted me to come with him for a cruise around Sydney harbour. I'd teed it up for the kids to come as well.

Because I'd spilt half a cup of coffee down my front at the football we had to make a detour back to the apartment before going to the marina. I was coming out of the bedroom after changing my shirt when I heard the front door open. Both the kids were on the lounge so it wasn't them. Angelica appeared pushing her bag. We both pulled up short, surprised to see each other. My daughter was the first to speak as she ran towards her.

"Angelica, dad said you were away for the whole weekend."

"As if I'd stay away when we had a chance to hang out." My wife said as she gave her a hug.

"Are you coming on the boat with us?"

"Um," Angelica peered at me over my daughters head and I nodded. "Yeah sure. As long as I've got time to get changed."

"Come on then." Lilly grabbed Angelica's hand and started pulling her towards the bedroom.

Lilly's presence meant I couldn't go in and ask why she was home early. So I went to fill an extra water bottle and added a bottle of wine to my esky. I only got about thirty seconds to quiz my wife when she stepped into the kitchen before we went down to the car.

"Are you okay? What happened?" I asked as I pulled her into an embrace.

"Yeah I'm fine. I just woke up this morning and decided to come home. Eleven o'clock was the first flight I could get back."

"Why didn't you ring?"

"I..."

Lilly interrupted my wife's reply.

"Come on you two."

I've got to say I felt pretty chuffed to have her back. She stayed close to me all day, often holding my hand. It was a fun afternoon cruising in the early winter sun. We snuck along the foreshore of Double Bay and Point Piper looking at the waterfront mansions of the millionaire's and billionaire's. Then we braved the waves of the harbour mouth on our way across to Manly. Finding a sheltered cove we dropped anchor and had afternoon tea. There was still no chance to question Angelica. We had an early dinner of fish and chips from a cafe at the marina then went home. The kids started watching a movie which gave me an opening to get my wife alone in the kitchen.

"So what happened?"

"He picked me up at the airport. We went out, had a few drinks. I met some more of his friends. We went back to an hotel room. I woke up this morning and thought what the hell am I doing here?"

"What did he say?"

"I don't know. He was asleep when I left. I hoped there was an early flight but it's the weekend so the one I got was the first to go."

"Didn't he call?"

"Yes, but I didn't answer. I just sent him a text. Told him I was going home."

"And he accepted that?"

"I don't know I blocked his number."

"You sure you're okay?" I hugged her close.

"Yes. I've had enough of our little adventure. Next week I'll get the IUD taken out and we can start working on our family."

We were interrupted again by Lilly.

"Dad, that movie is scary. Can you come out and watch with us?"

"Sure honey."

We ended up on the lounge. Me on the end. Angelica leaning into me and Lilly snuggled into her. The song came back into my head but I remembered the poem it was based on. If you love somebody set them free. If they come back it was meant to be.