Authors Foreword: Here is a short story with a little black humor that even the BTB folk might find themselves neutral. Thanks for constructive comments. Hope you enjoy this very short piece.
June Craft had one goal only: to untangle herself from the arms of the sleeping man who held her this early Sunday morning. She refreshed herself and washed all her body orifices with warm water diluted with Clorox. Then she eased out of her bedroom door and closed it quietly, crept down the stairs to the kitchen and made a pot of coffee. She asked herself again for the hundredth time, "Why is my life a bummer?" She anticipated an hour or so of being alone before John, the piece of meat out cold in her bed, would slither downstairs.
Alone, she reminded herself that a judge had awarded her this house when she was divorced two plus years ago. Her thought sequence was almost a broken record. At moments like this she thought exclusively of her ex-husband and her now college freshman son. She feared that her ex-husband could no longer visualize her face, although his was crystal clear to her.
Moreover, her son, who had moved out of her house and in with his father at the time her cheating had been discovered, almost wouldn't call or visit her. When she called him, there was an unspoken sense in his voice of, "I am very busy, Mother!" As she hung up her phone, the irony of her being awarded the house because the 'minor child' needed a residence struck her speechless in that her 'minor child' found her boring.
As she sat down to sip her coffee she unconsciously picked up the Globe and turned on the NPR robots that always read the news on Sunday mornings. The two distractions, however, could not suppress her thoughts today: "What am I going to do about the 'Piece of Meat' cluttering my life and is now asleep in my bed upstairs?"
Another recurring question was, "How could I throw away a home, a family, a career and my future to make whoopee with my former boss who now lay upstairs in the deep sleep of a Lush?" Since both her and her lover had been dismissed for cause (Personnel Handbook Violations) and that her former employer had settled out of court with her ex husband, June's life had been accelerating down hill. This had been going on during the two plus years that her ex and her son moved out.
Continuing with her thoughts, she mulled over, "Those damned Brats of John's are over here every other weekend, and I think I will just scream every time they come for their visitation."
--------------------
Four blocks away Jim Craft lay in bed in his small two-bedroom apartment. His latest Internet dating site date lay beside him sleeping soundly. This had been their third date and he had decided he liked her enough to invite her to stay over – and she accepted his offer to spend the night. But, sadly, both of them had already concluded that there was no magic in their affair, and for both it would be back to the Internet Dating sites looking for that elusive 'magic' in the next date.
Jim got up and could hear his son, Craig, in the kitchen working – probably washing last night's dishes.
Jim walked into the kitchen and both smiled at each other and Craig whispered, "A good morning to you, Dad, and congratulations on finding a bed partner for last night – but I don't think I felt the apartment vibrate when you guys were getting it on."
Jim whispered, "Heh heh Well, you and I both ask too much. What are you hungry for?"
"Nothing for me. My new girlfriend has invited me to breakfast at her home and she will pick me up in 15 minutes. That is the reason I was killing time cleaning up the kitchen."
"'At her home' as in Mom and Pops or her apartment?""
"She didn't say and I didn't ask."
"The best advice I can give you, son, which you will not take is to, 'keep your pants zipped until you graduate and are working as an Engineer!'"
"You obviously are the voice of experience, Dad, because 'here I am the living proof!'" After tapping himself on his chest he continued, "But, thanks for the advice."
As Tim was preparing breakfast, his date, Irene ("God! I forgot her last name!"), walked into the kitchen just as a car horn blew in the parking lot below. Jim only had time to say, "Irene, say hello to my son, Craig, who happens to be running at the sound of the car horn you can hear. And, Son, don't forget to go see your Mother – and pick up those tools we discussed."
---------------
June's live in lover and former boss shuffled into the dinning room. She looked at him and said, "Good morning, John. You don't look so good, how do you feel?"
"I hurt, June. You are just going to have to bear with me for one more day. I shouldn't have opened that second bottle of wine last night. Neither my friends nor you drank much of it, but I seemed to have finished it."
June said nothing out loud, but thought, "In addition to your other faults, I am stuck with a lush. God! What a prize!" And then she added out loud, "There is a cup of coffee left, help yourself."
After John had started sipping his coffee, June suddenly had a plan. She lied, "My mother will start a three month visit next Friday so you will probably want to find yourself some other home for three months – besides my son is very attached to 'Mama' and will spend much time here. Since you two bristle in each others presence making yourself scarce might be the 'better part of valor.'"
June showed him a two-line excerpt print off of an email that her Mother actually had written to her sister 3 thousand miles away and copied her. The part that John saw said only, "bad weather here. Look for me at baggage claim American Flight 4886 arriving 2:15 P.M. Friday. "I really look forward "
John did not question what he read and replied, "That does it. I will look for an apartment closer to my job, starting today. I will come back by and pick up my things after I have found one. May I treat you to breakfast, "June?"
She kept a straight, concerned face with monumental effort and said, "No, John, you go on and start looking. You might find a good restaurant in the Bedford area nearer your work. I just want to read the paper before I start dreading tomorrow and returning to work myself in my less than exciting new job. "
An hour later, June decided to walk the quarter mile to the Whole Foods Super Store for a healthy breakfast. She was careful to not remind herself that Tim, her Ex, shops there and she just might get a chance to see him again.
At the store she went directly to the Deli counter and picked some items for breakfast, got an ice tea at the coffee bar, paid, and made her way to the food court seating area. Just as she turned into the seating area, she caught sight of the back of her ex husband's head. Her heart started beating wildly. A rather nice looking lady sat opposite facing June talking in low tones, non-stop while Tim mostly listened. He and the lady were obviously in a deep, but spirited conversation.
After about five minutes, the lady bolted up and said loud enough so that the whole Food Court could hear, "Please take me to my car, Tim." Her ex-husband bussed their table and followed her, passing June on their way out.
When Tim passed, June hoped that he had spotted her without acknowledging. She sat there trying to slow down her heart rate, while she finished her breakfast. She pushed her paper plate aside and moved her tea in front of her as she fetched and turned on her Kindle. She waited 5, then 10 and finally 15 minutes while she read her romance novel. She then stood to buss her table when suddenly her ex-husband, Tim Craft, stood in front of her.
He said, "Greetings June. May I take your breakfast plates to the trash and then join you for a chat?"
At first she couldn't speak at all, but after a moment she replied, "Why, yes, that would be nice gesture for such a beautiful day as this."
While Tim was away from her table she said to herself, "Of all days to look like a scare crow I am dressed in sneakers and gym clothes. Damned! If his deep seated anger doesn't scare him off, my 'Witch Hazel' costume will do the trick!" When he returned she smiled and said, "I know you still shop here because I have seen you more than once. Thanks for returning and stopping by." Tim's non-reply made her nervous. So she continued by saying, "Your date told the whole room that she was angry with you about something. Want to share the details?"
Suddenly, Tim smiled and relaxed as he said, "Last evening was our third and final date – she was my 4th Internet date, but the other three were one date only type experiences. This lady was nice and seemed at first to have it together. But there was no magic that we both expected and hoped to experience. So when we got up this morning, I brought her to breakfast in this place with 'no ambiance' – her very words – and so our breakfast chat went down hill from there until she loudly made her demand that every one heard."
June replied, "Well, the 5th time is a charm – I think I read that somewhere."
Her Ex replied, " Yeah. I have a first date with number 5 on Wednesday night. So, what's going on with you nowadays, June?"
"Well, as of 8:00 A.M. I was still involved with John but alas! All those '4-0' qualities I bragged and lied that he had, have disappeared just like magic. Poof! In fact I think he is turning into a lush as a co-worker from his new job and his wife came over for dinner last night, and John drank almost a bottle of wine by himself. Also, he is worried that his two small children will turn into monsters as adults – and rightly so since I entertain them every other weekend and I know the symptoms of budding Monster-hood."
Tim said, "Speaking of children, Craig is going by to see you with a list of tools to pick up. Don't let him forget, will you?"
June said, "Tim, our son is still hostile to me and almost never comes by, or calls, or even answers my calls – except for brief telegraph-type messages on my voice mail." Noticing the look of complete surprise on her Ex's face, she continued, "Would you remind him that his mother loves him very much? Also, I presume he is doing well in engineering school?"
Tim replied, "Yes. Quite well. And you will be glad to hear that he did not drop his piano practicing daily – the reason I need those tools I mentioned are that I want to refinish the piano stool. And, "Rrrrrrrrollll the drums, ' a girlfriend' picked him up this morning and took him to her home to have breakfast."
