Are We Done?

I heard her before I saw her. She stood for a minute in the doorway, waiting for me to acknowledge me. Ignoring her, I shut down my laptop, and packed it away. The desktop, the printer, all the things I need from the file cabinet were already gone. All that was left was the anger.

"Are we over?" She said it so quietly I almost didn't hear her.

"Oh yes," I said, still not turning.

She waited a few more seconds before starting again. "Please, have the courtesy to at least look at me while we talk."

Still not turning around, I answered her. "Oh, you want to talk? Now? Why? I tried to talk to you before you left for your 'girls' weekend at the spa last Thursday. Didn't go so well. Your exact words were 'I don't have time to listen to your whining, it's just a few days away, get over it. It'll do us both good.' You hurt my feelings pretty bad there, I wasn't aware I whined. I was trying to present a reasonable argument, and maybe, just maybe, my emotions got away from me for a second or two."

I sighed, "But you're right, it seems, you being gone was like a fog lifting, and I could see again. Of course, I saw a lot of things I wasn't happy about, but at least I was clear eyed when I saw them. Thanks for that."

"Why are you so upset? All right, maybe I was wrong to go when I knew you felt so strongly about the trip. I knew you didn't really like Ashley or Gloria, but they've always been nice to you, and I've known them since college. Nothing happened except for the consumption of mass quantities of alcohol and some pretty randy girl talk. In fact, I'm still fired up thinking about it. Care to follow me to the bedroom, and help me quench those fires?"

"Odd, that. You went to a spa in the Catskills, when you said you'd be in Nashville. Gloria was at a wedding in San Diego. Ashley was in Miami with her sister and her family. It's amazing how they can bend the rules of time and space, and be in different places at the same time. Really convenient how they were both out of town when you wanted a weekend away. Too bad when I pushed them they wouldn't lie for you. Ashley had no idea what was going on. Gloria hung up when I told her what I knew. So I'm figuring she knew and Ashley didn't. It took me a bit, but then I realized why. Gloria couldn't say anything because of her affair with that trainer. Oh yeah, I know about that, It's actually a pretty open secret at the gym. I finally emailed her with a picture of her and her trainer locking lips, with his hands all over her ass, one of them pulling her thong above the waistband of her yoga pants. Bet Bill would not be happy if he saw that. She called me right back and spilled her guts. I gave her grace, telling her to drop the trainer and change gyms, and if I heard the least whisper of her doing anything like that ever again, all the pictures I had were going straight to Bill. She was still making promises when I hung up."

Don't be surprised if she doesn't take your calls, texts, or emails, because I told her any contact she had with you negated any deal we'd made. Tell me, were you screwing around first and she got sucked in, or was it her telling you how hot having affairs could be? The hopefully great sex, the power of having a naughty little secret, of laughing at your poor foolish husband, plodding along, thinking life was great?

And Ashley, well, when her husband cheated on her it gave her a low opinion of anyone who would disrespect their marriage like that. Good news, I had a pretty long conversation with her, and she seems to be recovering. Told me she actually went on her first date last week."

"And one more thing, if they could actually be in two places at the same time, it stands to reason they would also have the power to assume other forms. It must have taken both their combined powers to morph into a six two bald guy with a goatee and an eight or nine inch dick. I'm just guessing on the size, but it looked pretty big in the pictures."

"And if I turn around, I'm pretty sure you won't be there, just a gaping hole where my wife used to be. So, yes indeed, we are done. Everything is spelled out in black and white on the papers you signed, so there shouldn't be much of a fuss. You'll land well, with enough money to keep you in style for the rest of your life if you manage it correctly. So let it go, Jan. Let's go out with a little dignity. You go fuck anyone who catches your eye, and I'll heal and start looking for another soulmate. It will probably take a long time. After all, I'll have massive trust issues, but I'm hoping I'll eventually get over it."

The gasps came as I talked, then the sobs, as I systematically deconstructed our life together. I finally turned around.

She was a mess. The perfect makeup ruined from the tears, her posture slumped. If I had to guess, I would say this is the last thing she expected. Too bad, it would appear she never knew me at all. A lesson too late for the learning, I'd say.

"I took everything I needed for awhile. Two weeks from now I'll be back, and I need you and all things that remind me of you out of here. And don't get any ideas. This was my house first, and I intend to keep it. Two weeks, Jan."

She wailed and dropped to her knees, grabbing at me as I started to leave.

"Please, Jackie, please. Stay. Let's talk about this."

I not so gently pulled her hands away. "Like I said before, the time to have talked was before this weekend. Surely, somewhere deep in that little brain of yours, you had to know if I ever found out we were done. Was the sex worth it? Was a big dick worth your marriage? You better hope so, because that's all you have left."

She was on her knees sobbing when I closed the door on our life. I figuratively squared my shoulders, ready to venture into the great wide open, and walked away.