The Guy Who Came in From the Cold

This story contains no sex and is not a revenge story. It is in fact the story of a man who is doing what he can in an unusual situation. I thank you in advance for constructive criticism and for the rest of you that write the derogatory and thoughtless comments I feel sorry for you. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this submission and remember it is after all a work of fiction.

I apologize for any weirdness in the layout of the story but every time I try to upload it, somehow the format is changed. So much for word perfect.

_____________________________________

The office was cold when he arrived, but that was not so strange as the snow was falling heavily outside creating the illusion of an untarnished world. He loved the solitude of the office at this time of the day, everything was so peaceful. He turned up the heat in the office and began making coffee so that his co-workers would have something to take the edge off of the cold when they started to arrive in an hour or so. This had been his delegated task during every working day for the last twenty years of his employment. In the summer the office was hot so he would turn on the AC and in the winter he would take care of the heat. Over the years this had become his favorite time of the workday.

As he went about his appointed tasks he thought about the ritual in accomplishing them, a ritual he had established during twenty years of preparing the office to greet its workers. Now that he was quickly approaching thirty years with the company he marveled at how fast the time had gone. He also thought about the fact that in a few months he would be deprived of this morning detail as he had put in his paperwork to retire. He knew it was time, he felt it in his bones and in every ache of his arthritic hands. He also understood the fact that he would be retiring alone, a fact that still ate at his soul.

Finishing all his tasks in preparing the office to accept the daily influx of workers, he grabbed a cup of freshly brewed coffee and sat heavily at his desk. This was the concluding part of his ritual when he got to bask in the enjoyment of his coffee and the quiet reflections on his life before the organized pandemonium of the new workday began.

Sitting comfortably, he considered the photograph on his desk once again. The picture never changed, but his perceptions of it often did. Sometimes he was sad thinking about what he had lost. Other times, he was incensed thinking of what had been his but now wasn't. Today was unlike either of those types of days; today he just felt muddled by the events of the last eighteen months of his life.

No matter how many times he had looked at the picture and observed the way she held both man's hands, a deep aching, borne of the awareness that even on that happy occasion she was already another man's woman would come over him as sure as the tide reaching the shore.

The photograph itself was in a beautiful oaken frame, a gift to him by his lifelong best friend, Gary Gwatarski. As he focused on the photo for the millionth time he took it all in again, reliving in his memory the time they had all flown down to St. Augustine Florida for a small winter vacation, just the three of them, his wife, himself and his best friend.

Gary had been living with them for the last few months after his last wife threw him out. As he had no place to go we offered him a place to stay until he could get back on his feet. This little mini-vacation to Florida was his idea and Janey had fallen in love with the idea. So, there we were, in Florida for a long weekend break. The setting of the picture was a quaint beachside restaurant where the three of us were sitting at a table all clasping hands and smiling at the camera.

Recalling the moment from his memory once again, they had been drinking and all of them were a bit tipsy. When another tourist passed by our table Janey had asked the man to take a picture of us all and had handed him Gary's camera to perform the task. Looking back on it, I should have been tipped by the way she just appropriated the camera without even asking. You see, Gary was really attached to his camera and nobody touched it without his express permission. On that day Janey grabbed it and handed it over as If it was hers. Gary never said a word, which I thought was strange at the time, but I put it down to his just being polite and avoiding any unpleasantness.

The photograph itself showed the three of them sitting from left to the right at a bar's high top table. On the far left of the photo was yours truly, Dan Whitforth, with an actual smile on my face. It had been so long since he had really smiled that he now often wondered if he still had any left in him. Next to Dan was his wife Janey. In the picture his wife wore a smile which clearly showed her pleasure at being the focal point of the two men next to her. Sitting at the far right was his ex-best friend, Gary.

He picked up the frame and absorbed the details of the picture in the same way a military officer would study the photos from a bombing mission in an effort to determine the damage inflicted on the enemy.

Janey, his wife and the love of his life was beautiful. Outside of that statement nothing else really needed to be said. He had loved her since the first day he met her and no matter what age or time had done to change her countenance he never saw it because to him she was as beautiful as the first time he had laid eyes on her. As he looked at her face he noted that her head was turned to her left towards Gary, not to her right to share the moment with her husband. He also noted again the way she was holding his hand. Janey was clasping his hand in a sterile fashion, barley holding on to it. In the previous months he had examined that detail a hundred times and he had determined that the way she held his hand was symbolic; she was only nominally holding on to him as she focused on her true love sitting to her left.

Now, for the millionth time he again focused on her left hand, noting how her fingers were intertwined with Gary's, clasping his hand so firmly you could see the white of her knuckles. Her grip was almost as if she was staking her claim on him and insuring that he would not get away from her. Dan shook his head in dismay as he wondered when it was that he had lost her love.

Finally, Dan now looked to the last person in the photo, his former best friend, and someone he had trusted since they were kids. Gary had been my best friend since grade school. In fact he was the guy who had actually introduced me to my wife. I thought that I knew Gary better than any other person in my life and still had a hard time believing that he would really have slept with Janey. However, realizing that Gary was Gary, it was in retrospect not all that surprising.

In high school Gary was on the weightlifting team and developed a terrific physique. To say he was popular with the girls would have been an understatement. The standing joke in our school was to call Gary "Tarzan". The name really seemed to fit because just like the king of the jungle he seemed to control just about every woman he went after. However, by our senior year the name Tarzan had taken on an insulting connotation as Gary had broken up so many relationships.

Gary really came to hate the nickname but he never saw the harm in stealing other men's girls. During the whole time we were in school I stood by Gary even though it sickened me to watch him take girl after girl and use them for his pleasure. The amount of collateral damage he did was really immense and by the end of high school I was about the only friend he had left. I think that the problem with Gary was that while he could get women, he just never seemed to be able to keep them and this prompted him to keep taking them away from other guys. He once told me he liked the challenge.

I guess that the reason I backed him during that time was that throughout school Gary had never done anything but good for me. I always knew that whatever happened he would always have my back.

After high school I joined the Navy and when I came back on leave it was Gary who set me up with Janey. After she and I met we were inseparable. Even though we had a long distance relationship we both lived for those precious moments when I could return home on leave. When I went back to my ship she wrote religiously and I knew that she was a keeper. Finally, my enlistment ended and I was discharged. As soon as I got home we were married and I went to school on the GI Bill. Gary was actually the best man at my wedding even though Janey's parents hated him with a passion.

I asked her why her parents did not like Gary but neither she nor my in-laws would ever discuss him. Unfortunately, it took thirty three years to find out what Janey's parents had readily discerned about Gary so many years ago. He was not an honorable man.

Invariably, I began to make comparisons between Gary and myself. Even pushing sixty, Gary was still well proportioned and muscular. A product of the daily workouts he had practiced since high school. In addition to his physical prowess, which was emphasized by a tee shirt that showed off his muscles for effect, Gary just looked good. He had kept all his hair which was now highlighted by the gray streaks that made him look distinguished. I on the other hand was almost his opposite, I never developed the six pack abs or the huge cannons on my arms, my hair had thinned out quite a bit and I carried a spare tire around my gut for emergencies. If the truth be told, as painful as it is, I could see why Janey was more impressed by my old friend than me.

The only area that I had surpassed Gary was in reliability and fidelity. Whereas I had kept my wife and job for thirty years and have never strayed he had gone through four wives. At least two of his marriages had ended up in divorce court because of affairs. Add to that he was in danger of losing the automotive repair garage his father had left him because he cut corners and utilized sub-standard parts in his repairs. Since his father's death he had managed to run a proud business once known for honesty and integrity into a cut rate, fly by night operation.

The only reason that I found out about the two of them was due to a disgruntled employee of Gary who tracked me down to tell me about his boss and my wife. With the information he gave me I f confronted them and found out that indeed it was all true. The thing that hurt the most was when Janey held onto him when I confronted them over the depth of their affair. Seeing that, I realized how much she cared for him, so I simply left my marriage with all the dignity I could muster.

I would like to say that justice prevailed but the divorce really went badly for me. Janey got the house and a chunk of my retirement. I, on the other hand, got the satisfaction of knowing that I had always been square with her and had taken care of her right up to the end. From my initial discovery of their affair to the present day was a total of eighteen months. Since the divorce became final it was now approaching a year in just a few more days.

I felt the anger rising again in my guts over the injustice of what they and the courts had done to me, but then I forced myself to regain my composure and returned the picture to its place on my desk. As I was replacing it my eyes read the words on the little brass plaque at the bottom of the frame that Gary had inscribed, "Friends forever". Even in that he had lied.

The first employees began to arrive at work and I turned myself away from personal issues and began to do my job. Work always seemed to be a tonic for me and soon I had forgotten all about the two of them.

The day went quickly and about fifteen minutes to quitting time my phone rang. Picking it up I smartly answered, "Welcome to Worker's Assurance Company, this is Dan Whitforth speaking. How may I be of service to you?

The line remained silent for a few seconds and I was about to hang up when her voice tentatively spoke, "Dan, its Janey, please don't hang up." You could have knocked me over with a feather but I kept it together and with as much composure as I could muster simply answered, "What do you want Janey?"

The phone was again silent for another awkward few seconds before her voice once again came on the line, "Dan, it's been nearly a year since the divorce and I really need to see you. Could you come for dinner tonight?" I was shocked and in a nasty tone that was unheard by her in my old life, I replied, "I don't think I really want to break bread with the man who stole my wife and the woman who so willingly became his concubine, however, I do thank you for your offer." Janey shot back in an almost panicky voice, "Gary will not be here, I promise! I really need to see you! Please Dan!"

I took a deep breath and asked the inevitable question, "Why Janey? What could possibly be so important that after a year you need to suddenly talk with me?"

She hurriedly interjected, "I need to set the record straight on us Dan. I also truly miss you and want to see you again. Please Dan, I've even made your favorite dinner, Pot Roast and all the trimmings. I swear it will be just us and no strings attached. What do you say Dan?" When I did not answer immediately she rejoined, "I remember that you used to be pretty daring, have you changed that much?"

I thought for a moment, "When you say we will be alone, where will he be?

She quizzically replied, "You mean Gary?" My voice sounded hollow even to me as I said, "Yes". Her voice sounded sad as she began to speak again "It's hard to believe that you still can't even speak his name Dan, but don't worry; he won't be home till very late. He is having trouble at the shop so he has been working late.....a lot."

I was displeased, just listening to her talk about him with such a protective domestic attitude and it got to me. I decided that I really didn't need the aggravation anymore so I began, "Gee Janey, as much as I love your pot roast I just don't..." She cut me off sensing my refusal, "Dan, please, I'm sorry but I need to speak to you, give me a chance!" Listening to the emotion in her voice I decided against my better judgment to take her up on her offer. "Ok, Janey, you win. What time do you want me to come over?" I could almost feel the relief in her voice as she hurriedly rejoined, "Come home at your regular time alright? I'll see you then and thank you Dan." What could I say but "You're welcome" and a quick "Good bye."

When I got out of work the snow was still falling pretty good. I almost enjoyed the ride to my old home as it felt comfortable and brought me back to better times. I was surprised at how little things had changed in the old neighborhood. Somehow I just assumed that since my life had changed so much over the last year and a half that everything else must have changed too.

The house looked good clothed in the white of snow. It gave it an unsoiled look although I felt that its occupants now were as morally unclean as could be. The sun was going down early as it always did this time of year and the lights were on inside giving the house a warm glow. I noticed that there were no tire tracks in the snow on the driveway so I concluded that my wife had taken the day off for this meeting. She must have been pretty sure that I was going to accept her offer.

I shut the car off and had opened the car door when the porch light came on. There in the doorway stood my former wife and I felt my heart involuntarily do a flip in my chest. No matter how much she had hurt me there was no denying that I still loved her. As I got closer her face seemed to glow and she was smiling with genuine happiness. "Thank God you came Dan, I was worried that you might have changed you mind! Come on in sweetheart and get out of the cold."

I was confused as to why she was being so familiar with me. After all we were divorced and she was now living openly with my ex-best friend in the house I had bought. Sometimes I can't figure people out; nonetheless, I followed her orders and entered into my old home. Again, I was surprised as things had not changed in the year and a half since I left. There were the same pictures on the wall, the same furniture and even the same television set.

Janey came up and hugged me like it was the best moment of her life but when she moved in to kiss me on the lips I turned my face leaving her only the opportunity to kiss my cheek. She stood back from me and gave me a look that told me she was hurt. However, she rebounded quickly and with realistic concern in her voice proclaimed "My God Dan you are skin and bone! You need to eat honey and put some meat back on those bones!"

I was sarcastic but then again I wanted to be, "Well losing weight just seems to go hand in hand with losing your home, your marriage and your life. But I might be wrong on that."

Her face again reflected the disappointment she was experiencing at this first meeting in a year but she was a trooper and plodded on, "I am sorry about what happened between us Dan; you must believe that I never wanted to hurt you, but things just got out of control. I was hoping in the year we have been apart that your anger might have abated a little so that we might try to make amends, but I can see I was wrong on that point. Listen, let's just have a good dinner and see if we can pack some food into you, alright?"

I looked at her and surprised myself for feeling sorry for her distress. By now I was also awkwardly wondering why I had accepted her invitation, but as I was here, I decided to make the best of it and with sincerity responded, "I am sorry for my actions Janey, please accept my apology for making this meeting uncomfortable. I would like to hear what you have to say but can I freshen up first?"

The light seemed to come back on in her eyes and with almost a glee she responded, "Sure Dan, you know where the bathroom is. I have to go and attend to our dinner anyway."

I smiled and then headed down the hall to the guest bathroom. Gary had moved in with us about six months before my marital collapse. He had been staying in our guest room and therefore utilized the guest bathroom. When I went in, I mentally made a quick check of things to ascertain his personal belongings were there but then left to use the master bathroom located in what used to be our bedroom.

Returning to that room made me feel sadness for all the good years we shared but I drove those thoughts from my mind as I entered the bathroom. Just like the guest bathroom it was impeccable. Janey had cleaned both of them from top to bottom to insure any inspection would yield just what she wanted me to believe, and that was Gary was still residing in the guest room. As I opened the medicine cabinet it struck me, the left half of it was empty. That could be because after I moved out she never utilized my space or it could mean that she recently cleaned out one half and forgot to spread her things out again. I found the idea of her not moving into the space formally occupied by my toiletries for over a year to be rather far-fetched. The most logical explanation was that Janey had moved Gary's things out for tonight.

After using the facilities and checking the beds in both rooms I couldn't help but notice that they too were recently cleaned and changed. I then returned back to Janey and dinner. I was surprised to find that she had set the dining room table instead of using the kitchen. As I noted this, she came out with a bottle of my favorite beer in hand and then she spoke with a lilt in her voice, "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes Dan. I thought you might like one of these while I'm getting everything out."

I accepted the beer from her and wondered what she was setting me up for but with a nonchalance I did not feel replied in kind, "Thank you Janey, this will do very nicely." As she began to turn and move to the kitchen I spoke again, "Where is Gary staying these days?"