The house was deathly silent all the next day. Marvin did not have office hours on Friday and he spent the day puttering around the house until it came time for the one o'clock call.
Sitting in the darkness of his playroom he played with his empty beer bottle and waited for the light to light on his phone. The first indication that the telephone tryst was about to start was the little beam of light shining through the razor blade slot. He watched the "Ext. in use" letters appear out of the darkness and he could hear the little beep, beep, of the phone buttons being pushed. There was silence from the bathroom and he figured she must be listening to the weather report. He waited for a few seconds and gently pushed the "Talk" button on the phone to be greeted by the expected Weather Girl's voice.
They listened to the report repeat itself twice and he was getting his hopes up that Roberto wouldn't call when he heard the buzz-buzz sound.
Maggie immediately switched over and quietly said, "Hello."
"Moggie," came the voice he didn't want to hear. "Moggie, il mio bello, I miss you. Will you soon come?"
"Yes," she whispered. "I'm leaving early tonight. I'll have my cell phone so call me if you get there before I do. OK?"
"Si, Moggie. Moggie, I have someone with me."
"With you? Who?" she said in alarm.
"My father's driver from Consulate. It is big trip."
"Does he know anything?"
"No, no. He good friend, amico. He help me."
"Are you sure?"
"Si. No worry. Remember by the airport. OK?"
"Yes, goodbye."
"Arrivederci, ti amo."
The light blinked out and he heard her hiding her infidelity as she erased the number.
Peeking through the slot he watched her remove her birth control pill disk from the case and punch out today's pill. She counted them carefully before she put them back into her cosmetic bag and hid it in the drawer of her vanity.
He spent the rest of the day trying to detect anything unusual in Maggie's actions or demeanor. Except for her coldness towards him he couldn't see anything that would make him think she felt guilty about what she was about to do.
"Again!" he added.
Marvin couldn't stand hanging around so he made up a story about going to the lumberyard to pick up something and when he got back she was already gone on her trip.
Megan was waiting for him when he pulled into the garage.
"I'm sorry daddy, she left."
"Sweetheart, this has nothing to do with you, remember that. It has nothing to do with us. She made her own decision."
"Do you think she will be back?"
"Yes, I'm sure of that. Apparently this is something she feels that she must do regardless of what happens to our family."
