The French Exit

Sal gave Lucienne a smile. 'Follow me, ma'am. Your table awaits.'

'What did you just do? Have we got a good meal, one of the Gold ones?'

'Yep, we have to sit out on the veranda and you can't tell anyone, especially your husband how I did it, nor that we've had the good food.'

'This is what you did yesterday, wasn't it? It was. Damn, I never thought of that. I'm too good a girl. You did your disruptive escape thing and then traded behaving yourself for good food.'

Sal smiled. 'I've got moves, what can I say?'

'Honey, after spending a day with you, I can say you've managed to impress me again. Let's have dinner. I'm sorry I can't change and look beautiful for you.'

'Don't change, don't ever change, you're perfect the way you are.'

The two walked into the restaurant and were shown to a table on the veranda.

They glanced at the menu and picked out their items, asking the waiter if he'd be kind enough to arrange a wine pairing with the different courses.

Sal was torn, he'd enjoyed his day with Lucienne. It was as fun a day as the day with Alice had been. Given what he was wrestling with, he was amazed that he'd been able to have any kind of day, let alone enjoy a day. He still wasn't sure of her motivations, how much honesty he was getting from her.

He decided to put out a tasty little bit of information. This could be a test, if Alice got to find out about this, he knew where he stood.

'I've got a call to make after we finish here.'

Lucienne's interest was piqued immediately.

'Honey, who you ringing and more importantly, how are you ringing out?'

'I've got moves, babe.' Sal said grinning. 'I have a mobile phone. Is there anyone you need to call or are you good?'

'No-one I can think of. I'd like to ring my sister but that'd probably be to moan about this bloody place and the way that Donald is treating me and she's heard that enough.'

'Not particularly patient?'

'No, she thinks I should leave him. She didn't like him cheating on me and thinks I should cut my losses and run. Now when I moan about him, I kind of know what she's thinking even if she's too polite to actually say it.'

'Ah, sounds like a sage lady.'

'You don't approve of me staying with Donald?'

'I don't know him particularly and I don't know your relationship, Luce. But I think you're worth a hell of a lot more than a man who fucks around.'

'Easy to say when it's not your marriage.'

Sal could hear the bitterness in her voice. He took a deep breath.

'That's what I've been wrestling with, Lucienne. It might well be my marriage and I'm struggling.'

She reached over the table and put her hand on his.

'Honey pie, I'm sorry. Can you talk about it? Would that help or would you rather be distracted from it?'

Sal laughed. 'Now that's one of the cleverest questions I've ever heard. I'm going to be stealing that one for myself.'

'Um, talking about it could be challenging.'

'OK.' Lucienne paused and looked at him. 'What would make it challenging?'

'It might involve more than my wife.'

'Oh.' There was a moment of silence whilst Lucienne thought about what had been said. 'My husband involved? You trying to protect me, Mr Photographer Man?'

'I don't know. There's a minimum of a smear at the least. That's what the call is about after dinner. To try and get some ideas and options.'

'Who you talking to?'

'Snoopy'

'Honey, I love that name. Can he help?'

'She's an investigative journalist and one of the brightest people I know. I spoke with her yesterday and laid it out for her. She asked for a call tonight, give her some time to think it through.'

'Can you lay it out for me?'

The waiter came over with their first course, interrupting the conversation.

'Promise me you won't go and do anything silly. I need time to think through this and I do worry you might come to a, um, conclusion and do something.'

'Honey, I won't do anything. Anything. I promise.'

'OK. Right. Quick version, you remember I skipped out on the excursion? Well, the first time I escaped to the city and spent a day taking photos. During that day I found a wedding and they had no photographer, so I did it for them.'

'That was kind.'

Sal shrugged. 'I used to do wedding photography to pay the bills. Still do some each year for a bit of extra dough and to keep in practice, so it wasn't exactly difficult. Also, they looked good, different from our white weddings, theirs was full of vibrancy and colour and it was interesting.'

He ate for a moment in silence, savouring the food.

'When I skipped out yesterday, I went back and whipped them up an album of the photos. I went to the father of the bride, a guy called Charlie. He'd been the one who'd welcomed me in. I gave him the album and he was made up; the whole neighbourhood came and had a look at it.'

'OK, this seems all nice and lovely so far. What's the punchline?'

'He found out where I was staying and got a bit upset. Not upset, he looked like I'd popped his balloon if you know what I mean?'

Lucienne nodded, smiling at the metaphor.

'He says that we're at a swinger's resort, you know wife swapping? According to him, the Gold rings are the swingers, the Pink rings know about it and support it but don't get to have the fun and us Black rings are the shmucks. Were deliberately kept in the dark by the resort, kept out of the way, distracted and so on so our partners can enjoy themselves.'

'Bullshit.'

'Yeah, that was my reaction. It was quite strong. I've never doubted Ali in all the time we've been married and she's never for one second hinted at anything like this. I had some words with Charlie and he walked me through it a bit more.'

Sal looked Lucienne in the eyes as he spoke.

'I don't know if he'd telling the truth, but it'd explain some things around here. Last night, feeling all over the place I went for a walk and spoke with Snoops. I had to; I was too locked in my own head. I needed to let some of it out.'

The waiter came back and the conversation stopped for a moment. He cleared away their table checking whether they'd enjoyed the food. Once he was out of earshot, Sal continued.

'I don't have proof. But I'm bloody well going to find out what's going on before I leave here.'

'So that's why you went on the excursion.'

Sal nodded. 'Two reasons, I was able to use going as an excuse to get away from Alice. I don't trust myself around her.'

He looked at Lucienne. 'I'm not the type of guy that hurts women, don't worry. I don't trust myself to not confront her. It'd be sensible to have all of my ducks in a row before speaking with her, rather than go off half-cocked and lose the chance to properly find out what's going on.'

'Sensible man.'

'Second, I was able to trade my good behaviour, going on the excursion, which I was now motivated to do, for some of this good food. Two wins for the price of one. Then I got to spend the day with you, which incidentally, I've absolutely loved.'

'Honey, do you believe Charlie? Sorry by the way for swearing, you caught me a bit by surprise.'

Sal shrugged. 'I don't know. He's no reason to lie to me, he looked genuinely gutted to be telling me. If I'm honest, I think I believe him. I didn't at first, but his explanation does fit recent behaviours. I need proof. I'm not going to call time on a marriage with just Charlie's story. Ali deserves better from me than that.'

Lucienne reached over and patted the back of his hand. 'I'm sorry. This must be painful.'

'Deciding what to do has been pretty easy. It's handling the emotional impact that's been hard. I don't want to believe it, but my gut is telling me it's true. I'm fighting myself. On top of that I don't understand it and all I can think about is how? Why? When did it start? Is my whole marriage a lie? So many questions.'

'Honey, you've done well so far. I knew something was going on, you keep having these distracted moments where you're with me in body, but not in attention. I don't know if I could hold it together as well. So, what's next?'

'Finished dinner with you, savouring every moment. Then the call with Snoopy. She'll have some ideas, if she's not on the plane down here now.'

'She likely to do that?' Lucienne asked with a grin.

'If she thinks there's a story here, and I'm in trouble. Yeah, she'd likely to be on the flight now.'

'I love her name, very original. A reference to her job? Snooping around?'

Sal nodded.

'So, what does she call you if you call her Snoopy? Or does everyone call her that.'

'No, just me. She calls me Flash.'

'I get it. A reference to what you do and your quick wit.'

'Funny. Honestly, I don't know what I'm expecting from her. Hopefully she'll be able to do that rational thinking piece and be able to give me a steer on how to play this.'

'Worst case scenario, Charlie's right and you can get proof, incontrovertible proof that she's been playing around. What's next? Can you forgive and forget?'

Sal shook his head. 'Nope. Sorry, I guess I'm not that strong a man. For me, trust is absolutely everything. Our marriage would be over, finished, dead in the water. I'd look to get out as fast as I could.'

'No chance of redemption?'

Sal shook his head.

'Honey, that's what I thought, before you know, the first time Donald cheated on me. Well, before I found out for the first time, I guess he'd probably been cheating for a while. I thought our marriage would be toast.'

'Why didn't you? I don't mean to pry but.'

'Don't worry. Look here's the waiter.'

Their mains were served and the dishes explained. Sal took up his wine glass and clinked his glass gently in a toast.

'To the truth.'

Lucienne gave him a grin and repeated his toast.

The food was as good as it looked and they enjoyed what they were eating. During the main course they didn't speak of their marriages or the resort, they enjoyed the view, the silence and the well-cooked meal.

'Room for dessert?' Sal asked, knowing that it'd be a tough person who wouldn't after two courses of that quality.

They ordered dessert and then Lucienne spoke.

'Honey, they've ways of persuading you. Of making you doubt yourself, making you think that it was your fault. They let you down, they rip up the marriage but you've skin in the game, you don't want to walk away and admit that your marriage was all for nothing. That you've wasted your time.'

'Is that what happened?'

Lucienne nodded. 'Alice will do it with you. She'll try to minimise what she's done, is doing, whatever. She'll try and put some of the blame on to you. I don't know, maybe you weren't there enough, maybe she was curious about what it'd be like with someone else. She'll kick up dust to try and make you doubt your decision, make it seem like it was a little slip.'

'She can try.'

'Hold firm, don't give in. Don't give in. You're worth so much more than a cheating wife, you really are Honey. I'm so sorry you've joined our club.'

'I might not have. Perhaps I'm worrying about nothing.'

'Fingers crossed. I've been there and it's not fun.'

'Will you leave Donald if it turns out to be true? It's not his first time, but it's a pattern behaviour.'

'I don't know. Part of me wants to, I want my self-respect back, but there's another part of me that's scared.'

'Scared?'

She nodded. 'Better the devil you know. Honey, I don't know if you can understand but he's not a bad husband. He cheats on me and play around; he's a bit of an entitled asshole but there are a lot worse out there. I've a good life, I'm respected in the community. I have a lot I could lose.'

Sal stared at her, he struggled with what he was hearing. 'Do you not think you're worth a bit more? A husband who'll be faithful to you? Keep it in his pants? Don't you think that you have more to gain than lose?'

Lucienne nodded. 'Yeah, I agree, I'd like that. But I guess for me, it could be worse. If I divorce Donald, what am I going to get? Would I be able to afford to live? Will my friends all shun me because I'm a home wrecker?'

'He's the home wrecker, not you. You're not the one who failed, he is. I think you're worth a lot more than what you're saying. You're beautiful, great fun, intelligent. I've loved spending time with you.'

He held up a hand to stop her from interrupting him. 'You can find someone who won't cheat on you, someone who'll treat you with the love and respect you deserve. Lucienne, you're special, really special. Have some faith in yourself.'

She shook her head sadly at his words. The waiter brought desserts to their table and that gave them a pause to think.

'Honey cake, I hope you can be strong; I hope I can be that strong. I know that it's a hard, hard thing when you're confronted with it. You can think and plan, but when its real and it's in front of you. Things feel different. These are the people we love, have built our lives around. They know our soft sides, how to persuade us. Get us to accept what they are doing.'

They ate their desserts in quiet reflection. The lack of conversation didn't feel awkward, they even swapped a spoon of their desserts so they could taste what the other was enjoying.

'Thank you for this Sal, you weren't kidding when you said you had moves.'

'My pleasure. I guess this is what frustrates me about Alice. She knows that if I were the Gold ring, I'd be smuggling her food, ordering courses, and swapping courses with her behind the waiters back. There's no way in hell I'd do to her what she's done to me.'

He shook his head.

'Right, I need to go and talk to a cartoon dog. I guess if my man was right and the Gold rings are off on a couple of days excursion, then can we hang out tomorrow?'

There was a hopeful note in his voice.

'Let's walk out together. I hope your call goes well. I'm on your side Sal. You're a good guy, too good for this.'

They thanked the waiter for his service and walked out of the restaurant. As they were leaving, they ran into Alice, Sarah and Reuben coming in. With them was Donald. Donald split off to one side with Lucienne as soon as he saw her and Sal could see him holding her arm as they spoke in hushed tones.

Sal kept his face expressionless as he greeted his wife.

'Hey, Alice.'

She moved in close to him to give him a kiss and he turned his face so that her kiss landed on his cheek. He felt her freeze slightly.

'I've missed you, Sal. Are you Ok?'

He shrugged. 'You could've chosen to spend time with me, you've chosen not to.'

She looked down, avoiding his eyes.

'I'm sorry, honey. Our day together on Wednesday was the best day of this vacation.'

'For me too. I struggled with how fast you wanted to get me out of your way yesterday.'

'I'm sorry it felt like that. It really wasn't. I was worried that we'd get kicked out of here if you didn't go and I've been enjoying myself.'

Sal stood there, not saying anything.

'Are you ready to eat, sweetie?'

He shook his head, 'I've already eaten with Lucienne.'

'How do you keep eating without me choosing your meals? I don't understand, I thought I had to choose them for you.'

He shrugged. 'I've got moves. I didn't like you choosing for me. I'm a grown up not a child. So, I did something about it.'

'We're about to eat. We've been with Donald today; he's going to join us for our meal, a fresh face. Can you sit with us? It'll give you a chance to get to know him.'

Sal shook his head. 'Nope. I've got things I want to get done.'

'Sal, I'm worried we're not spending time together. You seem to be going off into your own little vacation away from me.'

'You started it, Alice. I wanted to spend time with you. But you've not been available, you're still not. Make yourself available and I'll be with you. We've got the rest of the vacation. Let's spend the day tomorrow together.'

He could see the look on her face.

'Oh, you've signed me up for another excursion? Bloody hell Alice, you bitch that we're not spending time together and you don't know what I'm doing, but in the next breath you've arranged for another bloody day apart. What the hell!'

'No, no it's not an excursion. It's actually a treat. You get to spend the next three days living the Gold ring lifestyle.'

Sal perked himself up. 'Oh cool. We'll get to spend time together doing all the things you've been doing whilst I've been out. That'll be brilliant.'

'Not quite. I'm sorry Sal but the price for giving you the Gold ring treatment is that we're away for those three days.'

'Three fucking days? Then, I don't want it. I'd rather have you here and endure this Black ring crap.'

'I'm sorry I thought you'd want the luxury.'

He shook his head. 'Bullshit. I don't know what's going on here, Al. But I do know when you're lying to my face.'

'Look, have your dinner and a bloody good think about this. I'll come and join you guys for a drink. But take this time to think whether you want to go Ali, really think about it. OK?'

He turned to go. He saw that Lucienne and her husband had broken apart and he was now re-joining their group.

'Hi, I'm Donald. You must be Sal. I've been waiting to meet you.'

He walked up to Sal with his hand outstretched. He was a tall man, probably about six foot two, broad shouldered and lean. Sal could see that he was a good-looking guy with an open face that suggested honesty and trustworthiness. This was a guy that had glided through life. He was well dressed, not flashily, but well dressed and he looked good.

Sal ignored him. He turned to Alice.

'I'll come back in what?' He looked at his watch. 'I'll give you guys a couple of hours for your meal. Then I'll meet you in the bar. Enjoy your meal, the trout is excellent.'

He started to walk away. Lucienne was waiting at the door for him and she joined him in lockstep as he walked away.

'I see why you don't want to leave him. He's a good-looking guy.'

He heard a snort from Lucienne.

'You jealous?'

He stopped and looked at her. He felt a surge of anger.

'He looks like he's walked through life with a silver spoon in his mouth. He's tall, he's good looking, he's trim. He looks better on his worst day than I ever will on my best. He's cheated on you and you're willing to give him another chance and another chance. Of course, I'm jealous. What man wouldn't be?'

He started walking again, angry at himself. Men like that had bugged him all his life. They had the money, they had the looks, they had the girls. He'd just glide through life taking the best of everything and not appreciating it at all. He'd met politicians like that and top businessmen. They frustrated the life out of him, the injustice of them having so many opportunities frustrated the life out of him.

He carried on walking, then realised that Lucienne was still stood back, she hadn't moved. He walked back towards her. He could see that she was upset.

'Lucienne, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken like that to you. It wasn't fair, it's my frustration, I should've managed it. Not had a go at you.'

She looked at him and he could see tears in the corner of her eyes. He put his arm around her.

'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you.'

She shook her head and snuggled into the crook of his arm. He put his other arm around her and held her. He could feel a slight shaking suggesting that she was crying. He wasn't entirely sure what to do, but she hadn't broken out of his embrace so he stayed still.

'Honey, You didn't upset me. Your words made me think.'

She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand and stepped slightly away from him. They went into Reception and again, Sal made a fuss over Mr Jacobs or Samuel as he insisted that Sal call him.

'I'm going back to my room. I've a few things I want to do and I need to freshen up whilst they have their meal. I've said I'll join them in a couple of hours for drinks.'