The Truth

"May I come in?" he asked.

She could only nod. As he passed her she had the presence of mind to push the door shut. She meekly followed him into the house.

"I understand you would like to talk. Where would you like to sit?"

She pointed to the kitchen. Her thoughts were all jumbled; she followed and sat where he indicated. He sat to her right hand side.

She noticed he had a large envelope in his hand. Again her thoughts went wild; her brain could not stay long on any one thought. She was starting to hyperventilate.

"Perhaps a drink might be in order to calm you down."

The last thing she needed was liquor.

He reached into the refrigerator for the ever present pitcher of ice tea, and went to the cupboards for some glasses.

After they drank some he began; "Do you agree that this photo is of you?" He held out the infamous photo from the newspaper.

She looked up at it and hung her head, and then slowly nodded "Yes", her shame was overwhelming.

"You know this was a setup and you fell for the entire thing."

The look was incredulous. "What are you talking about?" she blurted out.

"Emma Barker came into the store and wanted me to sell her a new washer at a loss. I refused. Don't you remember?"

The dazed look slowly disappeared and changed into a look of pure anger and hatred. "I remember you mentioned it."

"If you had asked me I could have reminded you. You chose to become headstrong and destroy our marriage." He pulled the envelope of questions out. "Do you have any answers you wish to change?"

After a short time she said "...just one. The question was 'Did you do anything while we were separated that you would not do in front of me?' I answered that I had kissed a man in anger." She paused before she added "I allowed him to feel, or should I say I did not stop him from feeling, my breast. I quickly realized that he was taking advantage of me and I stopped him; maybe not as fast as I should have. I was so confused then. I realized at that moment that I still loved you. I had no idea what to do about us, so I did nothing hoping you would cave in." After a pause she added "I told him to get out. That was the night he was beaten so badly. How did you find out?"

"You just told me. I knew nothing until just now. I told you, in court, I was not involved in the assault."

She started to sob heavily. I pushed her glass of tea over to her.

After she settled down again she took a sip and said "Thank you. I am sorry for all of this."

I again held out the envelope, "Is there anything else?" She saw it looked sealed still.

"I can't think of anything."

"Be at Arnold's office tomorrow at 12:30. Bring your worthless brother with you". Then I walked out the door.

Eileen's heart sunk to a new low, what was she to do? She knew in her heart that her marriage was over. How could she have been so wrong about all of it?

The next day her brother almost had to push her into the office. When they were seated in the conference room Arnold and Michael entered from a side door. Arnold walked over and he sat down. Michael was conspicuous by standing and leaning on the door they came in through.

Arnold spoke "You have a choice. You can either sign these documents here and now, or...."

Eileen saw a standard divorce contract in his hand. Her heart sunk to an all time low as she read the document. They would pool all their money and split it down the middle; she would revert to her maiden name and never bother Michael again. The tears started as she knew her happy life was now over. Her brother was reading over her shoulder and proclaimed the terms to be unacceptable. She shouted at him to "Shut up! I came to you for advice and you gave me the worst advice possible."

As she was looking away to chew out her brother another form was laid on the table beside the first one.

She read the first line and her heart began to pound wildly, she felt it might just jump out of her chest. "I wish to consider the continuation of our marriage and agree to the following terms."

She looked up and saw him right in front of her. "Monkey?"

He directed her gaze back to the document. The first condition was "I agree to ALWAYS talk to my husband before I make any decision that might have a lasting effect on our marriage." There was a notation that said if you agree initial the space below. She could not sign fast enough; in fact she kept dropping the pen because she was so nervous.

The second was "I will not believe anything I read in the local newspaper" She signed again, much quicker this time.

The third read "I agree to replace all the clothes and personal belongings I threw out in the front yard." She signed again.

The fourth was "I agree to create a sign admitting I was a foolish woman and this was my entire fault and post it in the front of the house. She didn't even stop to think, she signed.

The fifth read "I agree to tell the entire truth all of the time, no matter how badly it makes me look." She signed

There were 18 in all. Number 17 read "I agree to allow Michael any of his heart's desires as long as it will do me/us no harm." She looked up and smiled as she signed it

The final one read "I agree to discontinue the use of birth control devices and accept the consequences." She reached in her purse and threw the almost new container in the trash and signed the form.

At the very bottom of the form there was a notation that she agreed to go for individual and couples counseling. She signed.

She looked up to see him and said "Monkey, I love you. Thank you for the chance."

We walked out of the office together after receiving the schedule of our first counseling visits.

In the car she said "I don't want to push my luck but what made you decide to take me back?"

"You answered the questions fully and honestly and Mom recorded the conversation you had with her. The look of despair on your face said more than your words".

"How did you know the answers, the envelope was sealed still."

I gave her the envelope, the right side seem was pulled open and she could pull the contents out. "If you had not changed your answer we were through. Arnold told me about the incident when you threw him out yesterday afternoon, before that I only knew there was an incompletely answered question."

We stopped in front of the medical clinic and I directed her to get out. We both went in to be tested for STD's. "Number 12" he said. "If you do it so do I"

I dropped her off at the house. "You need to prepare the house for my return. I will be back by Sunday. I am needed at work for the rest of the week; I took too much time off to be with you and need to get up to date again at work. My phone will be on again, but don't call during business hours."

Saturday afternoon at 4:30 I called "Dress in some nice clothes, we are going to go out."

Eileen looked stunning as she walked down the sidewalk to join me in the car. When asked where we were going I just said "You'll see."

We pulled up outside the resort and conference center just outside town. As we walked in, there were curious stares and a few people pointing. We walked proudly into the building and stopped to look around near the fountain.

Eileen heard an icy voice just behind her and to the left, the words sounded like "Are you back together?" The owner of the voice was just a little too close and got knocked into the water in the fountain as Eileen turned to confront her. "I'm so sorry!" Eileen said as she looked at Emma Barker in the pool. We turned and walked away. Eileen couldn't help giggling just a little.

The next week the results were back from the tests, both of us were clean. "Monkey," she said "when can we make love again."

"Not yet" was all I said

We were living and sleeping together but there was a distance between us that grew a little each week. She soon returned to work only to be told at the end of her first week back that she was not to return for 2 more weeks. She was hurt beyond belief.

When she returned home that evening she found me bringing luggage out of the house and throwing it into the trunk. She broke down and cried right on the spot. When I guided her to the car she was confused. I got in the other side and began driving west. We only stopped for food, fuel and bathroom breaks. We said nothing as I drove; the only sound in the car was our breathing and the sound of soft music from the MP3 player in the dash. She soon fell asleep and I kept on driving. Just before breakfast she felt the car stop and turn into a gravel road. The road looked and felt like it had not been maintained in years. We stopped in front of a small log house. In the background you could see the mountains on one side and a lake on the other. In front and behind us you could not see the forest because of the trees being in the way. It was cold that morning and she started to shiver.

I simply looked at her and said "Yet", and then we walked to the house together. The inside was clean and warm.

After closing the door I grabbed her and we kissed. She was startled at first then returned the kiss with even more excitement than I was putting forth. We kept it up trying to out do the other. When we came up for air our hearts were beating as hard as we had ever felt.

We did not leave the bed for 2 days, other than for food and drink and other necessities. Neither of us had any idea where we got the energy to continue, not that it mattered.

Nearing the end of the first week we began to take walks along the lake shore, along the paths in the woods and out the road to see all that there was to see. We took frequent breaks to satisfy our passion as we moved from place to place.

Near the end of our 2 weeks we were exhilarated and exhausted at the same time.

On the drive home we talked about everything and nothing. We made plans, only to change our minds and remake them. I had to keep my eyes on the road, but every time I looked at her she was watching me with the most delighted facial expressions. We came back a day earlier than needed and stopped whenever we felt like it or for no reason at all. As we neared home she asked "Monkey, where did you ever find that place?"

"My father and his brother owned it together, when Dad died we stopped going up. Mom still pays half of the expenses each year. Uncle Dan was delighted to see us use it again. He was the one who made all the arraignments, bought the food and cleaned it up for us."

The next month we were disappointed to see she was not pregnant. Then she had the worst flu ever. A few months later she started to get sick again, the doctor told us we had succeeded, this time she was pregnant.

In all we had 3 children, all boys. We decided it was time for me to take a raise and her to retire. We finally had the life I always wanted.

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There should be a row of "X" to divide these comments from the story, sometimes they are omitted bt the site.

Like they say in Chicago, vote early, vote often.

Be kind in your comments, I reserve the right to persecute any and all jerks.

I am feeling masochistic and decided to enter it in LW category.

I wrote it and edited it, if you find mistakes blame it on Mitt Romney. I found that I had written the story in 2 different persons, I hope I found all the 3rd person instances and made them 1st person.