Decisions Decisions 20

As a "Loving Wives" writer, I always try to stay away from the cliches and come up with something original while still making the story fit the genre. I hope I've accomplished that with this story and I hope you enjoy it. Please vote and comment to let me know how I did. Thank you.

Decisions, Decisions

"HEY, YOU JUST RAN A STOP SIGN, ASSHOLE!" I looked out my side window at the pedestrian crossing the street, then in my side mirror; he was right. I probably shouldn't even have been driving. I had to forget what I saw and pay attention to the road until I got home.

As I pulled into my drive unscathed and without killing anyone, I thanked my lucky stars. I just sat in my car for a few minutes, wondering what to do... I had no idea. This was something I'd have to talk over with my wife. My decision would impact her just like the rest of us. Maybe I could talk to a professional, but who... a counselor or maybe a divorce lawyer?

Shit, shit, shit, I cursed to myself, what the fuck am I going to do?

I walked in my front door, took off my sport coat and tie and set my briefcase down next to the couch. I heard my wife call out from the kitchen, "Is that you, Honey?"

I didn't mean to be grumpy; it wasn't Leslie's fault, but it slipped out before I caught myself, "Who else would it be?" I snapped back.

Evidently, she hadn't detected my mood. "I thought it might be my lover coming back for seconds," she joked.

"Not funny," I said as I entered the kitchen and kissed her on the cheek.

She stopped testing the boiling potatoes with a fork and looked at me while I grabbed a beer from the fridge. "You all right? You seem a little agitated; is something wrong?"

"I'm sorry," I said, twisting the top off of a long neck, "I had to drive to Kankakee on a sales call today."

"You're in a pissy mood because you had to drive to Kankakee? Jesus, Brian, you've driven to Indiana and Wisconsin on calls before. What's so bad about Kankakee?"

I wasn't quite sure how to break it to her, because Sara was her best friend. "Have you talked to Sara lately? Has she said anything or been acting strange in any way?"

"No... what's going on, Brian, what's this all about, spit it out."

"I think she and Tony are having an affair."

That stunned her into silence while she just stood there and stared at me. Finally, as if breaking from a trance, "Our Tony, Tony Romano?"

"Yeah, our Tony Romano."

"Are you nuts? That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard."

"I'd think the same thing if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

"What... what'd you see?"

"I met the client in a restaurant down there. We talked over lunch. We were just finishing up when they came in and sat in a booth."

"That's it? They had lunch together and from that, you figure they're having an affair? Jesus, Brian, they have that big Macy's outlet mall down there. Sara loves that place; maybe they ran into each other while shopping and decided to have lunch. Haven't you ever had lunch with a friend?"

"Yeah, I have, but wouldn't you expect friends to sit on opposite sides of the booth?"

"You're saying they sat on the same side?"

"Tony stood there while Sara got in first then he slipped in alongside and put his arm around her."

It took her a moment to respond while she thought that over. "Okay, I'll admit that's a little strange, but it still doesn't mean they're having an affair. Shit, Brian, you've known Tony since you were in grade school... " She stopped talking and looked like she just had an epiphany. "They were pulling your leg," she declared.

"What?"

"They were pulling your leg. They saw you when they first walked in and did it as a joke... and you fell for it."

I thought about it for a few seconds, "It didn't look like any joke to me, Les; they were so busy cuddling and talking they didn't even see me leave."

"I guarantee you, Brian, as soon as you left, Tony moved to the other side of the booth and they both had a good laugh at your expense."

Again, I thought about it. In my soul, I knew it was just wishful thinking but it was possible; in fact, it made more sense than Sara and Tony risking their marriages. "I sure hope you're right, Hon."

"Of course I'm right; now dinner's ready, why don't you set the table."

I guess I was kind of quiet the rest of the evening. I was trying to convince myself Leslie was right, but every time I'd think back to what I saw I'd get a bad taste in my mouth. I finally came up with a plan, not much of a plan, but it was what it was.

"Honey, when do you see Sara again?"

"Are you still on that kick about her and Tony?"

"Just hear me out. If you talk to her over the phone, don't say anything. It's too easy to lie over the phone. Wait until you're face to face and can watch her reaction, then say something like, 'You sure pulled a good one on Brian the other day.' Don't give her any details and see what she says. If it was a joke, I'm sure she'll laugh and tell you what they did. If she doesn't know what you're talking about, don't say anything more, just let it drop."

Leslie sighed, "You're not going to give up on this, are you?"

"I think it's too important to give up on, don't you?"

"And what would you do if they were having an affair? What are you going to do, tell Julie and Arnie that their loved ones are cheating on them?"

"I don't know. We can cross that bridge when we get to it, but neither Julie nor Arnie are stupid, if Tony and Sara are having an affair, somebody's going to find out about it.

"Let's just try it and see if they know what we're talking about. I'll do the same thing with Tony, then we can compare notes."

"I really wish you'd just drop the whole thing, Brian. I'm telling you, they are NOT having an affair."

"Well, if that's what we find out, it'll be great news; I'll have a big laugh and stop worrying."

The next day, when I got home, Les told me she spoke to Sara on the phone. "You didn't say anything to her about yesterday, did you?"

"No, I didn't say anything, but I still think this is a big mistake."

"Did she say anything about the restaurant?"

"No, but I just don't see her ever cheating on Arnie--especially with Tony. It'd be too close to home. She's not that stupid."

"I sure hope you're right."

"Anyway, we'll find out on Saturday; we're going shopping together."

"Oh, that's perfect, Tony, Arnie, Jack Slater, and I are going golfing on Saturday. Even if one of them gets suspicious they won't be able to warn the other."

"You're not going to question Tony in front of Arnie?"

"No, we're all going in my car. I'll pick Tony up first and say something as we're driving over to Arnie's."

I could tell that Leslie was starting to consider the possibility of some hanky-panky between her best friend and Tony. She was probably expecting Sara to say something about seeing me in Kankakee during their phone call, and when she didn't, it got Leslie thinking.

We were both in a funk for the rest of the night. I thought maybe I could liven things up a bit in the bedroom later that night but when I started stroking Les' arm, she told me she wasn't in the mood. That didn't happen very often, but I understood. I wasn't really in the mood myself.

Friday was still rather quiet in the house when I came home. Neither one of us mentioned anything about those two, but I knew we both had them on our minds. I didn't even try to initiate anything in the bedroom that night.

The next morning was tense at breakfast. "So, are you going to ask Tony flat out, or what?"

"No, I'm going to do just what I said. I'm not going to accuse him of anything until I know something for sure.

"I've given it some thought. I'm going to say, 'You really had me going the other day.' If he doesn't know what I'm talking about, I'll say, 'Wasn't that you in that Jaguar convertible? How'd you get to drive that thing, anyway?' When he says it wasn't him, I'll just drop it. You need to do the same thing when you see Sara today. The last thing we want to do is falsely accuse them of something."

When I started for Tony's place, I was as nervous as a three-time loser in front of a judge. Even though I thought the odds were stacked against it, I was still praying for a happy outcome.

I was almost sweating from nerves when I pulled into his drive. His lovely wife, Julie, came to the front door as I popped my trunk. "He'll be right with you, Brian, he's getting his clubs."

"Okay, thanks, Julie." A moment later I heard his garage door going up and Tony came walking out with his clubs slung over his shoulder.

"Aren't you going to close the door?"

"Nah, Julie will be leaving in a couple minutes, she'll close it on her way out." He threw his clubs in the trunk with mine. "I feel good today, my friend," he said, shaking my hand while placing his left hand on my shoulder, "I'm going to clean your clock."

"Ha," I chuckled, "that's what you say every time we play together."

"Yeah, well, one of these days, I'm going to do it and I think today's the day, old buddy."

We had known each other for so long. We'd never had a cross word between us; he was like a brother to me. It was only ten minutes to Arnie's and I was starting to chicken out. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, he looked the same as always, but I had to know if he was the same guy I had always known, or at least, thought I'd known. "I guess you thought you were being funny the other day, huh? You had me going until I knew it was a joke."

He looked over at me. I was hoping he'd have a smile on his face, but instead he looked confused. "Okay, I give," he replied, "what was the joke?"

Looking back at that moment, I think I deserved the Academy Award. As heartbroken as I was, I knew I couldn't show it. I sure as hell didn't feel like smiling but that's what I did. "The Jag, wasn't that you who drove by the house in a pristine XKE convertible, tooting the horn?"

I glanced over and saw his jaw drop, "No, but I wish it had been."

"Really, you're always talking about them, so when I saw it, I thought sure you bought one, but then I wondered how you could afford it. I mean, the ones I've seen that actually run, start at a hundred grand and go up from there."

"Huh," Tony chuckled, "depending on the year, if the one you saw was pristine like you say, it was probably worth three hundred grand, maybe more."

"That's what I mean, when I mentioned it to Les she said you probably talked someone into letting you drive it past our house. The more I thought about it the more I figured she was right."

"Well, whoever was driving it, it wasn't me. I'm going to keep a lookout though, I'd sure like to see it."

That's where the conversation ended, five minutes later we were at Arnie's. Sara would usually poke her head out the front door and wave to all of us but she didn't do it that time. I wondered if she thought she'd give something away or maybe felt guilty.

As much as I enjoy golf, I didn't really enjoy myself that day. I couldn't keep my mind on the game and Tony actually beat me by two strokes for the first time in his life. At the time, I thought of it as cheating; after all, he was the reason I couldn't concentrate.

When I got home, Leslie was sitting on the couch as I walked in. She had a tissue in her hand when she looked up at me with red, puffy eyes. "Are you crying?"

She nodded slightly, "It's true, Brian, you were right, she admitted it."

Of course, I had known I was right all day but hearing that Sara admitted it was still a blow. "She did?"

"We stopped at a Starbucks for coffee and I did like you told me, I said I thought the joke she pulled on you the other day was funny. She had no idea what I was talking about.

"I... I couldn't help myself, I knew you were right and I blurted out that you had seen her and Tony in the restaurant. She immediately started to panic and begged me not to tell anyone."

Les dabbed her eyes again with the tissue. "Brian, I... I still can't believe it. She said she'd always had a thing for Tony. One day they ran into each other someplace and started flirting; the next thing she knew, they were in bed together."

Just then my phone rang. I looked at the display. "Shit," I mumbled, "it's Tony." Les just stared as I connected. "Yeah," from the slight delay, I think he was a little taken aback by my greeting, but if he was, he recovered quickly.

"Hey, old buddy, we need to talk, can you meet me at Plato's in... say half an hour?"

"Yeah, I'll be there," I replied before disconnecting without another word. "That didn't take long," I told Les. "Sara must have called him. He wants to meet at Plato's. I'm going to go and see what he has to say for himself."

He was already there when I walked in. There was some money sitting on the bar, presumably the change from Tony's drink. Jerry, the bartender, knew us both and was drawing a cold one from the tap as soon as he saw me. He already had it in front of me as I sat down. Tony took a ten-spot from his change and tossed it in Jerry's direction. Neither of us had said a word to each other. I thought since it was Tony's meeting, I'd let him start. It was all I could do to try and keep my emotions in check.

"Sara says you saw us together the other day."

"Eeeyup!"

"What was all that BS about the Jag earlier today?"

"A trap; when I told Les what I saw, she was sure you had seen me when you walked in and played like you were having an affair as a joke. When I said you got me good, I was hoping you'd say yeah, we sure did, but you didn't so I made up the part about the Jaguar."

"So you knew all day... the whole time we were playing?"

"Eeeyup!"

"Well, I appreciate you not saying anything, old buddy. That could have been really awkward."

I couldn't believe he just said that. "Awkward? You call the destruction of two families 'awkward?' There are kids involved, man, kids who don't deserve to be betrayed by their mother. What the hell is wrong with you? I always thought you were a stand-up guy..."

"I am."

"Bullshit! You're a back-stabbing snake in the grass, Tony. Jesus Christ, man, you've got a beautiful, loving wife at home and you're fucking the wife of one of your best friends. Who's next, huh... Les? You planning to get into her panties next?"

"No, of course not, Jesus man, calm down, I didn't plan this, it just happened."

"Bullshit!"

"All right, I don't expect you to understand but I can count on your discretion--right? I mean, you're not going to say anything--right?"

"It stops right now, Tony. I mean it, no more."

I could see his back straighten and knew he was switching to offense. "Brian, this is none of your business. Just let it..."

"None of my business? In case you've forgotten, I've known Arnie for a long time too. How would you feel if the shoe was on the other foot? What if he was fucking Julie and you found out I knew about it and didn't tell you?"

He hesitated for only a few seconds. "Okay, you're right. I'll tell Sara it's over. If I do that, you'll keep quiet?" I sat there thinking before I made any promises. "Brian?"

"If I don't say anything it's only because of Julie and Arnie... and his kids, not you."

"Thanks, Man; and I promise I'll call it off the first chance I get."

"If you don't, if I even think you guys are still seeing each other, all bets are off, got it? I mean it, Tony; this is your one and only chance, don't fuck it up." Without another word, I stood up and walked out the door.

I was still sitting in my car when I saw Tony leave about ten minutes later. It was only a few minutes to my house but I didn't want to make the same mistake I made coming back from Kankakee.

I tried some deep breathing exercises to help calm me down but I could still feel my heart pounding. I was afraid I'd have a heart attack. I closed my eyes and continued to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. After another ten or fifteen minutes, I started the car and headed for home. Leslie was in the kitchen sitting at the breakfast table staring at her laptop with a cup of coffee. She looked like she'd been crying again.

I walked over to the counter and poured myself a cup before sitting down. Leslie looked over the top of her computer screen at me. "Well, what'd he say?"

"That he's going to break it off. I wish I could believe him."

"You don't? Honey, you've known Tony since grade school; you really think he'd lie to you?"

"I have no idea, Les. That's the problem. Shit, we've been through thick and thin together, we've always had each other's backs, but I just don't trust him anymore."

"Don't do that, Honey, don't abandon your friend. He's going to need your support."

I looked at my lovely wife like she had two heads. "Support! You want me to support him cheating on Julie?"

"No, of course not, I don't mean support the cheating part, but he's your friend, Brian, I'm sure after realizing what he's done he's going to be remorseful; he's going to feel guilty, he's going to need you to lean on."

"I suppose you're going to be there for Sara to lean on?"

"Of course. You should read this article, Hon," she said, indicating her computer. "it's all about what to do if your friend has an affair."

"Les, if this thing breaks loose, it won't be Tony I support, it'll be Arnie. He and Julie are the victims in all this. No one forced Tony and Sara to start screwing each other. It was a conscious decision on their part. They knowingly betrayed their spouses, their families and their friends."

"Sometimes people just can't help themselves, Brian."

I was getting tired of the stupid conversation. We were getting nowhere. I looked at my watch and saw it was almost six-thirty. "I'm getting hungry, how about you?"

"Yes, but I haven't even started dinner yet. It'll be a while."

"Let's go to a restaurant. Whatever you were planning for tonight's dinner can wait till tomorrow."

Leslie just nodded. "You going to grab a shower?"

"Yeah, I'm not going like this. I'm still all sweaty from playing."

"Okay, you go ahead. I'll be up in a few minutes. I want to finish this article first."

I would have rathered she didn't finish it, but Leslie was a strong, intelligent woman and I'd never try to tell her what to and not to do, so I headed upstairs and into the shower. I hadn't realized how tense I was until the hot water started to relax me.

I was just getting out when Les was getting undressed to go in. "You didn't use all the hot water, I hope," she said with a smile.

"I think I left about three minutes worth," I replied. "You should have been here a few minutes earlier, we could have done our part for water conservation."

"I know, but I really wanted to finish that article. I only had about half a page left. I haven't closed out of it yet. I do wish you'd read it, Honey."

"Let's not talk anymore about it. I want to enjoy dinner with my wife and not think about it anymore tonight."

By that time, she was naked. Les leaned in and kissed me. "Deal," she said.

Originally, I was just thinking of going to an Applebee's or someplace like that, but seeing Les exit the shower in her birthday suit made me think that it had been a long time since we'd gone out any place nice, so I grabbed my phone and scrolled down to my wife's favorite Italian place and was lucky enough to book us a table for two. She was surprised when we pulled into the parking lot and scolded me in a good-hearted way. "You should have told me we were coming here. I would have worn something a little fancier."

"You look absolutely stunning, Honey." That awarded me another kiss.

During dinner, we talked about everything except Tony and Sara and Les never brought up that article again. She knew my feelings and I'm sure she knew that no internet article would change my mind.

Since neither of us had to get up early on Sunday morning, we almost always made love until the wee hours of the morning on Saturday nights, but not that Saturday night. Neither of us were in the mood. Instead, Leslie turned toward me, put her hand on my chest and snuggled into me. I reached around her shoulders and pulled her in tighter; we fell asleep cuddled in each other's arms.