Cafe

This is my first submission into the Loving Wives category. It is not a quick read, but rather a deep look into the minds of a struggling couple dealing with an event that could end their relationship. There is no sex involved, so if you're looking for that, you might want to move on.

As always, my stories are complete works of fiction, and all persons are of legal age. Your votes and comments are important to me, so after you read it, please share with me!

*

This wasn't the way it was supposed to be.

As he sat alone, the last light of the fading sunset being swallowed up by the impending darkness, Shawn searched back through the last eight years, looking for evidence that could have led to what had transpired earlier today. What had he missed? What could have been done to prevent it? Why hadn't he seen this coming?

He slowly sipped on his beer, now warm after having been out in the heat of the evening for over 30 minutes. He still didn't know where she was, or even if she was coming home. He had been texting her since 2:00 p.m. this afternoon, reminding her of the special anniversary evening he had planned. He had told her the night before that he wanted to take her to the café across the street from her office. It wasn't their wedding anniversary, but instead the anniversary of the first time they had met. She liked that he remembered the special dates in their relationship. Normally this would have been a great evening, spent with the woman he loves.

But she hadn't responded to any of his texts, and his repeated calls went straight to voice mail, indicating her phone was either shut off, or with a dead battery. The latter likely wasn't true, because he knew she had a charger in her office. Of course, that assumed she was in her office, and at this point, he didn't know if that was true either.

He had called the office once, and got a curt reply from the receptionist that she was not available at the time, but a message would be left. In the message, he spelled out his plans once again – the café across from her office at 6:00 p.m. It was where they had first met, and it would always be a romantic place in their relationship.

When it was time to go, he started to get a little angry with himself that he hadn't given her earlier reminders. His purpose with the afternoon texts was to build her anticipation, so that when they finally got together at the café, all of her focus would have been on their special evening.

On his way to the café, he had driven through the parking lot behind the office building, the one where she still worked as an accountant across the street from the café. Her car was still there, so maybe she had just been too busy to acknowledge her afternoon texts and calls. However, it wasn't like her to not even respond at all, even if she was busy. She always found a way to make time for him.

The hostess greeted him as he stepped into the café at 5:45, and led him to a table for two near the back. As luck would have it, it was the exact same table where they had first met each other, a purely chance happening.

******

The memories of their first meeting that afternoon poured out of his heart. It was lunch time, and the café was busy. He was sitting by himself at a table, when he saw the hostess that day come back and ask him if he wouldn't mind sharing the table with a stranger. Shawn agreed, and when she returned with his table partner, he was glad he had said yes.

The girl was a vision of beauty. Tall, thin – but with curves in the right places – and long, sandy blond hair. She didn't so much walk back to the table, but instead glided, as if it were no effort at all. She had a captivating smile, and her eyes were the bluest he had ever seen. Immediately he began to feel nervous. This gorgeous creature was way out of his league. After all, he was just a private contract handyman, his own boss, doing carpentry and small repair work for households and businesses. He was very successful at it, but it meant he dressed in blue jeans and long sleeve work shirts. He would certainly be underdressed at this table.

The hostess introduced her as Erin, and she sat down. They immediately made small talk, starting with Shawn apologizing for his attire and explaining his work. Erin immediately waved him off, saying it wasn't a big deal with her, and that she just appreciated him being willing to share a table. As the meal wore on, they shared a little more about each other, and by the time lunch was completed, they had shared phone numbers and set up a date for the weekend.

Their relationship progressed, and eventually Shawn asked Erin to marry him, even though he always had that thought in the back of his mind that one day she was going to realize he wasn't good enough for her. Erin accepted, and after a year of dating and six months of engagement, they married. The wedding took place in the spring and was a big affair, although Shawn would have been happier with a smaller wedding. But he also knew that on the day of her wedding, Erin was the most beautiful bride there had ever been. Her smile that day was enough for Shawn to know that having a big wedding was the right thing to do.

As their relationship progressed into marriage, so too did their work lives. Erin was able to land an accounting job straight out of college – the same job she still had today, in the same location, the accounting office right across the street from the café where they first met. It wasn't uncommon for Shawn to join her there for a mid-week lunch date. They always tried to sit at the same table, but with the size of the noon-time crowds that ate there, it wasn't always possible. Still, they treasured their time together at the café. It would always be a special place.

Shawn's handyman business took off as well. He built his reputation on excellent work, usually coming in at or below his estimate, and always finishing a job on time. Soon, the word-of-mouth advertising he got for free meant that when one job was finished, another was always waiting, to the point that he was scheduled for six months ahead of time. There were others who were doing the same job as Shawn, but not as well, so people didn't seem to mind the wait for his services.

Shawn and Erin had decided early in their relationship that they wouldn't rush right into parenthood. They both wanted kids, but felt it would be better to wait until they had established their careers. Since things had been going so well, Shawn was starting to think that the idea of being a father might be coming closer and closer. But he deferred to his beautiful wife – whenever she was ready, he would be ready as well.

In fact, that deferral pretty much described much of Shawn and Erin's relationship. Shawn worshipped the ground on which Erin walked. He loved how she took charge of their finances, made decisions on what car to buy or where to shop or dine out. As long as she was happy, Shawn was happy as well.

******

By this time, it was 6:30 – she was 30 minutes late. He dug his phone out of his pocket and tried to call again – both her cell, and the office phone. The cell went straight to voice mail, as it had all afternoon, and the office phone was answered by a machine. He knew that the door to the office building across the street was locked at 5:30, so trying to get in would be a waste of time.

By 6:45, his emotions had started working on him. He was feeling concern – perhaps something was wrong with her, and he felt helpless not knowing what to do to contact her. Maybe she had never gotten any of the messages and calls he sent, but he had created these plans with her last night, so it wasn't like she didn't know, and he didn't think she'd forget something as important to them as the anniversary of their first meeting.

Finally he got up and went to the hostess station. He asked the lady there if someone had called to cancel, or perhaps had shown up before he did and then left. The hostess didn't have any messages, but asked what Erin looked like. He got his phone out one more time to find a picture, and when he showed it to her, the hostess blanched. Shawn immediately noticed her reaction, and pressed her to tell him what she knew. At first she didn't want to say anything, but the longer he pressed, the more she realized he needed to know.

She looked at Shawn and said, "I do recognize her. She was here earlier in the afternoon, about 3:00 or so. She came in by herself, but it wasn't long before a gentleman came in and sat down with her. They talked together for about 30 minutes, and when he left, he stood up, moved over to her side of the table, and gave her a kiss. Once he left, she stayed for about 15 more minutes, and then left by herself."

Shawn's heart dropped. He looked at the hostess one more time and said, "Are you sure it was this woman?"

The hostess replied, "Yes, I'm sure – women that beautiful are not easily forgotten."

Shawn went back to the table to get his jacket, and then headed for the door. The hostess stopped him and said, "I'm sorry to have to tell you, but I really felt like you should know." She then pressed a piece of paper into his hands and said, "That's my phone number – if you need someone to talk to about this, please call me."

Shawn thanked her and left. He got to his car, and decided to drive one more time through the office building parking lot. Her car was still there, which perplexed him even more. Had she gone somewhere with someone – perhaps the man in the café? Or was he still in there with her? Immediately thoughts of the two of them having an affair washed over him, and he felt sick to his stomach.

He headed home, arriving at about 7:30. Not knowing what to do, he headed to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. He then went back into the living room and sat down. No lights, no television, nothing but just sitting there, his mind spinning as he thought of two things – what had happened that he had missed, and what was he going to do from this point on?

Gradually there was no light left in the room at all, but Shawn didn't care. Oddly enough, he found it a little easier to think that way. Unfortunately, even with the darkened room there were no thoughts coming that provided him with any answers. There was no magical cure evident. As the clock moved later and later, he became more upset, fearing the worst.

Finally a few minutes after 10:00, he heard her car pull up in the driveway, the car door shut, and eventually the keys in the lock on the front door. As it opened, he could barely make out her silhouette against the backdrop of the street lamp on the corner outside. She shut the door, reached for the light switch, and flooded the room with what was now agonizing light to Shawn's eyes.

Erin turned to the middle of the room, and was startled to see him sitting there. She looked at him, and said softly, "Sorry I'm so late. It was not a good day at the office, and I needed to stay and take care of some things. How was your day?"

Here we go, thought Shawn. It was time to start sorting this out. "Well, it was an interesting day," he said. "The morning was pretty good, but the afternoon and evening were pretty much the worst fucking day of my life!"

His language startled Erin. Shawn never spoke that way, unless it was in the middle of a torrid session of sex. She looked at him with a concerned appearance on her face. "Shawn, that's rough language – I'm not used to hearing that from you. What happened?"

Shawn was ready to launch. "Sit down and make yourself comfortable, Erin. This may be a long evening. Three things happened to me today that I have never had happen to me before. It's like it was all designed to pile on top of me all at once, crushing my soul and leaving me broken and bitter."

Erin sat on the couch opposite of Shawn as she looked at him and started to say something, but he cut her off. "Number one, since two o'clock, I've been desperately trying to contact my wife. I've texted you, I've called your cell phone, I even called your office phone, and all I got was a stupid cunt of a receptionist who for some reason couldn't get a message to you. Unless you got the message and ignored it, which looking at all the facts, is a viable explanation."

"Shawn, I would never ignore a message from you! I don't know why the receptionist didn't give it to me. I'll make sure that it never happens again. As for my phone, I shut it off earlier this afternoon because I was working through a tough issue and didn't want it disturbing me. Obviously I forgot to turn it back on – I'm sorry about that, honey."

Shawn wasn't buying it. "What if I had had an accident? How would they have contacted you? I don't ever recall a time when you didn't at least acknowledge that I had messaged you. Even just a simple 'I love you,' or 'I'm thinking of you.' Hell, I would have even taken a stupid little emoji, just to know that you were getting my messages."

"Shawn, I said I was sorry! It was the first time, as you said. Can I get a little leeway here? I promise it won't happen again. Please don't be mad at me for this."

"Oh, don't worry – there's far more reasons to be mad at you than just this one. Number two, a woman whom I had never met before today gave me her phone number and told me to call her if I needed anything. And you know what? I took that number, because there may be something I do need." He pulled the piece of paper with the hostess' number to show her that he was serious.

Her facial expression changed once again, going from one of sadness to one of shock. "What are you talking about? Why didn't you tell her that you were married, and you didn't need her number? You've never done anything like this before, honey. Is this all because you couldn't contact me on the phone today?"

Shawn stood up – he could no longer sit still. As he paced the room, he said, "Well, like I said, there are lots of things that happened today that had never happened before. Shall I go on?"

"Maybe you should give me that phone number first. You don't need someone else's number – I love you, Shawn! How can I make this all better for you?"

Shawn was working hard to keep his anger in check. If he had thought about it, this was certainly the angriest he had ever been in his life. He put the piece of paper back into his pocket as he said, "No, I'll keep if for now. We'll see if I need it in a few minutes."

"Shawn, why are you doing this to me?"

He didn't answer her question. Instead, he continued making his points. "Number three, the reason I was desperately trying to get ahold of you was to tell you how much I was looking forward to our date tonight – remember, the café, at 6:00, on our 8

th

anniversary of our first meeting? I was even at our table...sitting there, waiting..."

A look of shock came over Erin, and as she reached up to put her hand over her mouth, she began to cry. "Oh, baby, no wonder you're so upset! I can't believe I forgot about it! I feel like such an idiot now...Shawn..."

She stood up to come over into his arms, but he stopped her. "Sit back down, we have a long way to go."

"Shawn, please!" she cried out. "Let me make it up to you – I need you, Shawn, and I hate to see you this angry at me! Please, baby!"

"Do you want to know what you can do for me? Here, I'll give you a chance. I need to know everything that went on with you, from 2:00, when I started trying to message you, until you got home. I need the TRUTH, Erin – don't leave anything out. This is important, because any chance of saving our marriage rides on your answer!"

"Shawn, what the hell?!? You're talking about our marriage is on the rocks because I accidently missed our anniversary..." And then she stopped. The look on her face quickly changed from anger to fear. At that moment, it hit her – he must have known about her meeting with Roger in the café earlier that afternoon. He must have known that Roger kissed her. She didn't know how he knew, but it all made sense to her now.

He walked over to where she was standing, and grabbing her shoulders firmly, said, "Erin, I'm serious about this. Please answer carefully. All I want is the truth. You at least owe me that."

She plopped down on the couch, and grabbed one of the pillows and held it tightly against her chest. Softly, she said, "Your right, Shawn – you do deserve the truth. I'm going to tell you the bad part first, but if you'll stay with me and let me explain, then if you want to leave, I won't be happy, but at least I'll know that your heard everything there is to hear. Will you stay at least until I get done?"

Shawn sat back down on the other end of the couch. "I promise I will hear you out – in fact, I need to hear you out. This is probably the most important conversation of our lives, so I'm not going anywhere."

She lowered her head as she tried to form the words she was going to say. She wasn't prepared to have this conversation with him yet, but she knew she had no choice. She decided that probably the best way was to get the worst of it out in the open first thing.

"Shawn, I want to start by telling you that I love you, and I desperately want to spend the rest of my life with you. You are my soul mate – you are everything I ever wanted in a man, and I am more sure of that at this moment than I've ever been before.

"But I know I've hurt you, and for that I'm sorry. I know that mere words cannot take away the pain I've caused you, but I promise I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make it go away.

"Another man kissed me today, in the café. But I stopped him, and that was all that happened. Please believe me, Shawn – I have not cheated on you, and I would not. Do you believe me?"

He sighed. "I want to, but you're right – the pain is pretty strong. You've only partly answered my question. What else happened today?"

She looked up at him, and he could see the tears flowing freely down her cheeks, where they jumped off and landed on her swell of her blouse covering her breasts. "Let me do more than that, Shawn – let me go back to the very beginning. You deserve to know everything, and as much as this hurts me to have to tell you this, you deserve to know."

"What the hell do you mean, it hurts you? Aren't I the one who's getting shit on here?"

She shook her head, and said, "Yes, but my pain comes from knowing how much pain this is causing you, and believe me, baby, the last thing I want to do to you is cause you pain." Her voice trembled as she continued.

"His name is Roger. He started working for the accounting firm a couple of months ago. At first I didn't think anything of him – he was just a new guy, and he had a job to do, the same as the rest of us. But after a couple of weeks, I noticed he had started flirting with me. It was very subtle at first – things like timing his arrival at the water cooler with mine, or holding the door open for me when we went in and out of the building.

"Later, it became more obvious – I would catch him staring at my legs, or standing over me trying to get a peek at my breasts down my blouse. I know I should have called him on it right away, but it made me feel a little special – it was a little invigorating to know that I was affecting him just with my looks alone."

Shawn interjected – "Don't you know that what he was doing is sexual harassment? He should be fired for that!"

"I know, looking at it now, that it was wrong. But at the time, I'm not sure if it was harassment or not, because that implies that I was resisting his advances. The truth is, it was consensual – I was leading him on. Once in a meeting when I saw him staring at my legs, I uncrossed my legs and then crossed them again, just so I could see what his reaction would be. If I knew he was going to be coming in to my office, I would undo the top button on my blouse, hoping to hear his breath alter when I knew he was looking inside."