The Halloween Party

"Mom, Dad, this is Abigail Velazquez. Abbey this is my mom and dad, Peter and Esmeralda Johnson."

His parents were both standing and staring, wondering what the heck was going on. Hank continued, "I've learned some things about Jennifer recently that weren't good. Abigail, is my best friend, and she wouldn't let me be alone for fear that I would do something stupid."

His parents hadn't said a word and were still staring.

Hank let out a nervous laugh and said, "She even threatened to handcuff herself to me, if necessary."

His dad said, "And the two of you aren't hand-cuffed? I thought you were smart, Hank."

"Pete!" exclaimed his wife. Esmeralda went over and hugged Abigail and her son. "Thank you for looking after Hank. We appreciate it. Let's all sit down, and you tell us what happened?"

Hank showed them the front page of the Austin paper, where a naked Jennifer was being led to the police van. Very tiny black bars were put in the strategic places to keep it publishable, barely.

The headline read, "Prostitution Scandal Rocks Local Investment Bank."

Hank heard his dad say, "Holy Shit!" He could count on one hand the number of times he had heard his father curse. This was probably a qualifying event.

His mom said, "I'm sorry, Hank. You must be heartbroken."

"I have been for a long time; ever since I suspected something was going on, which is why I haven't been very talkative lately. Now that I know for sure, I'm disappointed, but relieved to simply know the truth. I'm not as depressed as I should be because Abbey won't let me be alone."

His mom said, "Well, I thank you for that, Abbey. Hank can certainly become broody and moody if we let him."

Hank, trying to make friends of Abigail and his mom, said, "Some good did come from this?" His parents looked at him perplexed, wondering how anything like this could bring something good. He continued, "Abbey convinced me that I didn't really have a good reason for staying in Austin. I asked my company, and they are letting me transfer to Dallas; effective immediately."

Both of his parents were grinning and commenting excitedly about that. His mom stood up and kissed Abbey on the cheek and thanked her.

With the major theatrics out of the way, they moved to the dining table where lunch was served and enjoyed. Hank told them about everything that led up to that weekend, and Abbey filled them in on how she fit in and her new job and house in Dallas. By the end of lunch, they were sad that Jennifer had made so many poor choices, but ecstatic that Hank was going to be nearby. Esmeralda had been watching the interaction between Hank and Abigail with great interest.

Once lunch was cleaned up, Pete asked, "Hank, I don't think I've shown you my new toy, yet. Why don't y'all come out to my shop and have a look."

Esmeralda said, "Abbey won't have any interest in that. I'm going to show her the rest of the property including the lake. You two can find us there."

"Mom, that puddle of water isn't a lake. It can barely be classified as a pond."

"Tomato, tomahto. You and your father bring the bags inside as soon as you can."

Abigail had a deer caught in the headlights look. Esmeralda shooshed her. "Let the men go play. Us women have more important things to do," like talk about her intentions for Hank, she thought privately.

First, Esmeralda showed her around the house and talked about some of the improvements they had recently made. She showed her Hank's room and the guest bedroom. Outside they walked around the property, and she showed Abigail some of the landscaping work done over the years, including several satsuma trees that were loaded with ripe fruit. Finally, they reached the cushioned bench swing that was hanging from a large oak tree near the pond.

Esmeralda lit a couple of citronella candles to keep any mosquitos at bay and asked curiously, "tu hablas?"

"Si. My father's family has been here for many generations. My grandmother on my mother's side was actually born in Mexico. It was what I spoke at home."

Esmeralda said, "Me too. Both set of my grandparents were born in Mexico. When my mother gets upset, she jumps from English into Spanish."

Abigail laughed at that. "Mine does too."

Esmeralda smiled at her and changed the conversation, "Sooooo... How long have you been in love with Hank?"

Abigail was startled by the question. She began to respond, "I, I'm not....," but froze. She would not lie to this woman. It would be better to have her as an ally than an enemy. "Am I that obvious?"

"Only to me. Does Hank know?"

"I've never used the word 'love', but he knows that I care for him a great deal."

"Care to tell me about it?" This was said as a question, but it was not a request.

"I met Hank and Jennifer several years ago when she joined the company. I've seen Hank at every company party, so we've gotten to know each other a little over time. I never flirted with him until recently. How I've really come to know him is through Jennifer. For the first few years, she kept telling us how wonderful Hank was; all the things he would do for her; his good job; his loving nature. He would occasionally send her flowers to work or surprise her by taking her to lunch. The picture she painted of him was one of a man that any woman would love to have in her life. Then about a year ago we got a new manager, and she began to change.

"Having experienced too many bad men, I know how rare the good ones are and always wished I could find one. I've known what Jennifer was doing for a long time. Honestly, I tried to talk her out of it and back to Hank. I kept trying to give her a chance to do the right thing and go back to him. The longer she kept cheating on him, and the more I knew about Hank, the more I realized that if he found out, it would be too much for him to forgive.

"So, I arranged for him to come with me in disguise to the Halloween party this past Thursday." She pulled out her phone and showed Hank's mom a picture of the two of them in their costumes.

"Oh, wow, Abbey. You look spectacular. The two of you should have won some kind of prize."

"Thank you. I had fun with him. He even pulled me out to dance."

Esmeralda said, "My Hank actually initiated a dance? You must be rather special to him."

"I hope so. When we came off the dance floor, we bumped into Jennifer and her date, which was her manager. They told us they had just finished having sex multiple times and even invited us to their room. Hank was right there when she laid out what she was doing and why, and that when it was all over, she would basically screw her way, forgive my language, back into his good graces, without him ever being the wiser."

"Not only did I want to help him pick up the pieces after it was over, but I want him. I would never treat him with the disrespect that she showed him. I'm not saying I'm perfect or even that I deserve him. There are some things about my past that are not good, but I would certainly make the effort. I'd always be true, and he would always be loved. I know he's special, or at least special to me, and I want that in my life.

This was quite a difference in declaration of affection between Jennifer's comments over time, and the statement by this woman who clearly had seen a bit more in life.

"You aren't worried about catching him on the rebound? Could this relationship be too much too soon?"

Abigail replied, "It could be. Honestly, I really don't want him to be alone right now. If you would rather be the one that spends time with him instead of me, I understand. I just know about being lonely after painful events in your life. I didn't want him to feel lonely."

Esmeralda liked that answer. "If I asked him to stay with us and commute to Dallas?"

"I'd support you. I just want a chance; a good chance, but a chance. I've never wanted something so badly my entire life."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, each collecting their own thoughts. Esmeralda looked directly at her and asked, "So, what is it that has you so nervous? What haven't you told me? This is my son's future we are discussing."

Abigail really did have the look of an animal that desperately wanted to try and get away. Esmeralda took her hand and held it, gently. "So far, I only have one question, which can wait. I approve of everything you've told me so far. Go ahead, finish it."

"I'm afraid," replied Abigail.

"Nothing can be that bad."

Abigail said, "You don't know. You may throw me off your property and forbid him from seeing me."

"I wouldn't do that, and I think he's a little too old for me to forbid anything. It will be okay. I promise."

So, Abigail opened up. This was the first conversation about her past that she ever had. She would do anything to have Hank in her life. She hoped his mom would understand. Abigail poured her heart out to his mom. What happened. How long. The pain she had endured. The unseemly things she had done. The embarrassing things she would rather forget. The death of her father. Her strained relationship with her mother. Everything she did to let Hank know what Jennifer was doing. She told her everything. Halfway through the conversation, Esmeralda pulled her to her and held her while she finished.

In the end, Esmeralda felt terribly sorry for the things Abigail had endured. Most of those wounds were self-inflicted, but she appeared to have learned from them.

When Abigail was finished, Hank's mom asked, "I'm his mother, so I have to ask this. If you didn't say anything or take him to the Halloween party, would Richard have gone away, and Jennifer and Hank been able to continue their marriage? Do you think that letting Hank know was the right thing to do for him or for you?"

Abigail sat up from resting on Hank's mom and took a moment to think about how to answer the question, "I understand why you needed to ask that question, even though it hurts me a little. Hank mentioned to me that he suspected something during our end-of-summer picnic before Labor Day. He asked me, as a friend, to let him know if I discovered anything that would help him know the truth.

"When I told Mr. Wilcox I was leaving, he wanted to know why. I told him I couldn't work for Richard anymore and that initiated my move to Dallas. We discussed what Richard was doing, and Mr. Wilcox was determined to see if I was telling the truth or not. I encouraged Jennifer not to go through with yesterday's affair. I wanted Hank there so he could see what she intended to do. If I had simply left town, not saying anything to Hank, Jennifer would have done what she did, and he would have bailed her out last night, always wondering if she was telling the truth or lying. Jennifer would have lied and tried to placate him, but she would never do what was right.

"I did it for him. He deserved the truth, but I do hope he rebuilds his dreams and life with me included."

Esmeralda asked her, "When the time comes, will you tell him what you told me? Will you promise me that?"

"I will. I promise."

Esmeralda hugged Abigail to her; A strong embrace. "Good answer, my girl." She liked Abigail; a lot.

When the men came around, Esmeralda and Abigail were chittering away in Spanish. Peter said, "okay, enough of that. You know neither of us hablas."

His wife replied, "Good. Now I have someone I can talk about both of you with, without your knowing what we are saying."

They cackled together and both men just stared at each other. Jennifer and his mom NEVER acted like that together.

Late in the afternoon, they were sitting on the patio getting ready to grill when Hank's phone rang.

Before answering he said, "I really cannot believe she is calling me." He hit answer and put it on speaker.

"What do you want Jennifer?"

"I want you to come home. Where are you?"

"I'm at my parents. A good friend suggested I shouldn't be alone after the recent death of my marriage." He looked at Abigail and smiled.

"I'm not on speakerphone, am I?"

"Jennifer we were together how many years? Have you ever known me to deliberately put the private conversation of someone I love out there for others to hear?" His mom raised an eyebrow at that implication.

"Oh. Uh, okay. When are you coming home?"

"I don't have a home anymore. You slowly took it apart piece by piece over the last several months, and then yesterday you lit what was left on fire."

Completely ignoring his dig at her she said, "We can't fix our problems nor our marriage, if you aren't here for us to work on them together."

He looked at the others and just shook his head. They were all thinking that she must be delusional. "So, for the last six months, my telling you we had a problem didn't matter to you, but now, all of a sudden, you recognize there is a problem? I'm curious; to what problems are you referring, Jennifer? Are you referring to how I was acting like a spoiled schoolboy who didn't get to go to prom with his girlfriend; those kind of problems? Or were you referring to something else?"

She told him, "I was angry that you just walked out on me. I shouldn't have said that."

"Jennifer, were you angry because I walked out, or because if you had known I was going to walk out you could have just spent all afternoon, your time at the party and all night with your lover?"

"I don't have a lover."

"Says the woman who was dragged naked out of a hotel yesterday afternoon. Besides, what WERE you doing naked in a hotel room with some other man, or men, besides your husband?"

Ouch. That one stung.

"It was just a little party. Things got out of hand. I'm sorry. The police have blown it up into something it isn't. I'll admit, I was drunk and made some mistakes, but I didn't set out to cheat on you yesterday."

The group on the patio couldn't believe her audacity. Hank was smiling at this point.

"You know, I may not be as smart as you, but most people tend to think I'm a fairly bright guy." All of them guffawed a little at that, because he was easily smarter than Jennifer and possibly the smartest guy any of them knew. "However, I have never had anyone insult my intelligence the way you just did."

"Well, it's the truth."

"So, you are saying it was all just a big misunderstanding?"

"That's right."

"And the charges are false, and you haven't spent the last nine months or so cheating on me with Richard and others and getting paid for it."

"Absolutely not."

"I'm going to be fair in the divorce, Jennifer. We'll split everything 50-50, even your secret account. Good luck with your court case. Goodbye." Then he disconnected the call and turned off his phone.

He said, "see, mom. I'm a fairly forgiving guy, but there is no coming back from that kind of deceit. Can you imagine counseling with her? By the end of the first session she would be trying to convince me and the counselor that it was all my fault. I'm sorry, but I cannot go back to that. I won't."

They understood.

His parent's house phone started to ring, and Pete got up and unplugged it from the wall.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said I was here."

His dad replied, "No. It's okay, son. She won't call long."

Abigail said, "I'm sorry, Hank. I hate to see you hurting."

He replied, "that's okay. I've been hurting a long, long time." He paused for a few seconds and said, "Hey, Abbey?"

"Hmmm."

"Smile for me."

She gave him a questioning look for a moment and then she smiled at him; one of her glowing, wonderful smiles that was full of caring and a longing for him to be in her life. He told everyone, "But every time I see that smile, I hurt a little less. I think I'm feeling better already." This thrilled Abigail to hear.

The mood picked up noticeably after that, and they enjoyed their evening.

Early Sunday morning, they drove up to her house in Dallas. Hank loved it, and what wasn't to like? It was a beautiful two-story house, also with a stone facade located in University Park. It was actually closer to his work than to hers, which was close. It was over 4,000 square feet and had a lot of similarities between it and her house in Austin. It was on a nice lot and the back yard even had a large covered patio and a small pool with a jacuzzi built in.

It was really a magnificent house. When she gave him the tour upstairs, she told him, "You can have any bedroom you want."

In reply he asked, "And if I choose the master bedroom?"

"Then you'll be sleeping with me, and I won't mind that one bit. I slept very well Thursday & Friday night. I missed snuggling with you last night."

He replied, "I believe we can arrange a little snuggle time tonight."

She smiled in response. God, he loved that smile.

Later he asked, "I realize this is venturing into personal territory, but you must have invested really well while working at Wilcox to be able to afford your house in Austin and now this house here."

Abigail had prepared for this question and said, "I like you being in my personal territory. To answer your question; I didn't have any student loans, and I had good bonuses plus a side gig. I wasn't married, so I saved everything. I got a really good deal on my house in Austin, which has almost doubled in value, and I've poured all of that into this one."

He asked, "Would you mind if I paid you rent? I would feel guilty otherwise."

That sly smile returned, and she replied, "I'd be happy for you to, but I'm going to need you to sign a lease agreement. If you sign the short-term agreement, it might be kind of expensive, but if you sign the life-time agreement, you can stay rent-free forever -- but if you sign that one, only the master bedroom is available."

Her smile continued; that same hopeful, loving smile from the night before. He told her, "My God, Abbey, you have no idea what your smile does to me -- that beautiful, wonderful, amazing smile makes me want to do things for you, makes me want to do things with you and makes me want to do pleasurable things to you. I see a million different things every time you smile at me. A man could lose himself in that smile."

"Actually, I only smile this way for you. I don't normally smile this much but being around you makes me happy. Your giving me complements makes me happy. Having you in my life makes me very happy, and you could never get lost in my smile, because a man cannot get lost in his own home."

It was his turn this time to kiss her. She was so good to him. Where would he be without this woman right now?

"Abbey, I want you to know something. Any hesitancy on my part right now in having a relationship with you, has everything to do with getting the bad taste of Jennifer and my dead marriage out of my head and my heart. She did most of that Thursday night and last night, but remember that Thursday morning, only three days ago, I still wished that my marriage could be fixed. On Thursday night, I realized that it cannot.

"Also, I want to tell you that on Thursday night when you dropped your dress and I watched you walk up those stairs, that was the single sexiest thing I have ever seen in my life. I have never wanted to have sex with a woman as much as I did at that moment. I wanted to chase you up those stairs, throw you on your bed and screw your brains out."

She interrupted, "I was hoping you would. Why didn't you?"

"I wish I could adequately describe how much I wanted to. You are so beautiful and there isn't another woman on the planet that I desire nearly as much as I desire you. However, if I did follow you into your bedroom that night, it wouldn't have been just me and you. I know that some of my frustration that I had at that moment; I would have taken it out on you. I care for you too much to hurt you that way. If, or more likely when, you and I are intimate together, I want it to be just the two of us, without any of my ghosts tagging along. I hope you understand."