Once again I appreciate the invitation by BlackRandl1958 to participate in a writing event.
Traci Kilkenny walked into the restaurant at straight-up 7, the appointed time for the reservation she had made. As she walked to the host station, she scanned the tables to see if her guest was already there and seated. He was.
As she approached the table with the host, she got the first close-up look she had at her guest in the past eight years. She had seen him in passing from a distance a few times in the last few years, but as she got up close, she spotted the changes time had wrought on her ex-husband.
Always the gentleman, Al Wentworth stood up when Traci got to the table. She started to lean in to him for a kiss before Al stiffened and took a step back. Traci got a surprised look on her face but took the hint and sat down as the host held her seat.
As she looked into Al's blue-gray eyes, Traci thought that time had been very kind to her ex. At 60, the same age as his ex, Al had a full head of curly gray shoulder-length hair mixed with a smattering of brown. His face was mostly unlined. He gave his ex-wife his signature crooked grin, reached across the table with his right hand and gave her left hand a squeeze. He noticed that she was wearing the engagement and wedding rings he had given her in another lifetime.
Al also noticed the subtle differences the years had made in his ex-wife. She had cut her shoulder-length blonde hair into a short, chic style, and her face had gained several "laugh" lines. She looked to be about 15 pounds heavier than when he had seen her at the final divorce signing eight years ago, but all in all, he thought she was still as beautiful as when he first met her almost 40 years ago.
After making small talk until their orders were taken, Al asked the $64,000 question.
"What's this about Traci? Why after all these years did you want to see me?"
Traci took several deep breaths before answering.
"Because I want you back in my life, at least as a friend, if that works for you," she answered. "In addition to everything else we had going, once upon a time we were pretty good friends, and I miss that.
"How about we give that another go, no strings attached?"
"I can't make any promises, Trace, but I think I'd like to try. I think I'd enjoy sitting down with a fine-looking friend every now and then," Al said.
The pair had a fine evening and repeated it two weeks later. They continued to meet for dinner every two weeks.
Al had to admit to himself that he enjoyed his evenings with Traci. He hadn't dated hardly at all since the divorce, and he found himself enjoying both her company and her beauty.
******
Al had graduated from college six months earlier with a degree in accounting when he and several of his new co-workers were at a bar celebrating the end of the work week. As he had never been in this particular bar before, he was looking around at both the people and the décor when his eyes locked upon the face of Traci Valentine, one of several first-year medical students also celebrating the end of the week. It might not have been love at first sight, but at the very least it was lust at first visage. Al walked -- actually staggered slightly -- over to Traci's table, and introduced himself. When the two parted company later that night, Traci put a soft kiss on Al's lips and put her digits into his phone.
A little more than a year later, the young accountant and the med school student were married. Finances were a little tight because Traci was still in med school, but Al made decent money and was a budgeting wiz. A gift or two from their parents also helped the couple along the way.
Traci decided to go into medical research, and six years later she was two years into a successful career. When the pair got married, they decided this was the time they would start having children, but one night after a big noisy session of lovemaking, Traci quietly admitted to Al that she wasn't ready yet to be a mother. Al admitted he was disappointed, but what do you say to the woman of your dreams: he acquiesced until a later time.
Several years after that Traci was part of a four-person team working on dementia-related illnesses. She loved the team aspect of her work, although like many researchers, she noted that it was more emotional than most people realized with every little triumph or setback seemingly so much more. She would often come home and talk Al's ears off for hours about the events of the day and what the team was doing. Al would sit at the kitchen table smiling from ear to ear as his wife told him practically everything from her day.
For the previous six months much of Traci's evening chatter was about Dr. Steve Kilkenny, a member of her team who was going through a seemingly nasty divorce after being cheated on by his wife of 12 years. Like with the other members of her team, Traci had become close to Kilkenny, and Al had liked the guy on the occasions where they had been together. A few years older than he and Traci, Kilkenny was a handsome, personable guy, Al thought, and Traci in particular seemed very distraught about Kilkenny's marriage falling apart.
Al was actually relieved when Traci stopped yapping about Kilkenny and his marriage woes, but he started to get a little concerned when she hadn't mentioned anything about him at all for about two straight weeks. It was March, though, one of the busiest times for any accounting firm, so Al quickly put his worries behind him as the 10 to 12-hour workdays starting piling up.
The one thing Al did notice, however, was that Traci's late days also picked up. Once or twice a week she would work as late as her husband. She attributed that to her team coming to several critical junctures in their research.
Like most people, Al and Traci didn't have a perfect marriage, but Al would have put money on the fact that they had a very good, maybe even a great marriage. Great communication was a key to that, Al thought, which was why he was so surprised when Traci started to become churlish in her behavior toward him.
"What's the matter, Babe? Have I done something wrong? Please talk to me, Sweetheart," Al said one night after another minor skirmish.
A couple of weeks later, Traci informed Al that her entire team would be going to Sweden for a conference two weeks into the future. Al didn't say anything as the travel was an every other year thing. He thought that maybe a break of a few days would be just what the doctor ordered for the pair.
Two nights before she was scheduled to fly out, Traci seemed somewhat recalcitrant about her recent attitude toward her husband. For the first time in two weeks, Traci and Al wound up in bed doing a lot more than sleeping. After having very rousing sex until the early morning hours, Al dragged his sorry ass into the office.
"Get that man a large cup of coffee," said Larry Barnwell, another accountant in the office."
"Make it big enough that I can jump into it," Al answered back.
Despite being practically dead on his feet, Al was humming a cheerful tune all day in the office. "His Traci" was back, Al thought to himself.
Two days later Al dropped off Traci at the airport, and then headed in to his office. It was another long day as April 15 approached. As he was getting ready to leave the office just shy of 9 p.m., he realized Traci never called him to tell him she had arrived at the hotel. Since it was 3 a.m. in Sweden, Al realized it was too late for him to call, but he set his phone alarm to 7 a.m. Sweden time so her could call her, knowing her itinerary was for a start time of 9.
Al was groggy when his alarm buzzed him at 1 East Coast time, 7 Swedish time, but he pressed Traci's number on his phone expectantly. When it went straight to voicemail, Al knew Traci had forgotten to turn her phone back on when she got off the plane. Since he wasn't planning on calling the hotel directly, he had to get online to find its phone number.
After ascertaining the person answering the hotel desk phone could speak English. Al asked for Traci Wentworth's room. There was silence on the line for about two minutes before the person who had answered came back on and said they had no Traci Wentworth registered.
"Wait, what about Steve Kilkenny, Jing Leong or Russell Curtis? Any of them registered?" he practically yelled into the phone.
"Uh... we have a Dr. Jing Leong, a Dr. Russell Curtis and a Dr. and Mrs. Steve Kilkenny," the voice replied.
"Dr. and Mrs..." Al mouthed out loud quietly to himself. "Thank you, ma'am."
He hung up the phone.
Al was no longer groggy, but was now sick to his stomach. He thought about reaching into his liquor cabinet, but reached instead into the medicine cabinet for a packet of Alka Seltzer. Although his day hadn't officially started, it was already ruined, Al thought to himself.
Al went into his office early to get a head start on the day. At 10 he took a coffee break and called a friend who was a family attorney.
"Are you sure you don't want to wait for Traci to get home before you start the paperwork?" Robert Levinson asked. "I mean... you don't have any hard evidence and you haven't even talked with your wife yet."
"It's a no fault state. What difference does evidence make?" Al inquired. "She's spending a week in Sweden registered as his wife after giving me subtle hints for the last six months. I wasn't born yesterday and I don't need to see any photos or video. We've done well for ourselves and don't have any children. Just split everything down the middle. She can buy out my half of the house if she wants. It's no longer home to me."
"You seem pretty distanced already," Robert commented. "But you know sooner or later your feelings are going to catch up to you."
"Actually, I'm devastated, Rob, but I've already had a lot of time to consider things. I actually considered jumping on the next plane to Sweden and beating both of them to death. But I'm no Power Ranger, or whatever the hell they call those guys who are super spies and can kill people with just a paper clip.
"I guess I just want to know why. If she ever loved me at all she owes me an explanation. Hell, if she ever loved me at all why didn't she have the decency to tell me it was over and ask for a divorce."
Traci was the one who made the reservations for the conference in Sweden. She didn't see any reason to get a room for herself as Jing, Russell and the project supervisor, Amy Carter, all knew about the affair she and Steve were having. Jing in particular had told her she was jealous because Steve was such a handsome and personable guy.
"I was trying to be respectful and wait until his divorce was final before making my move, but you didn't wait, you little minx," Jing had said to her when she realized the pair were an item.
"Well, we started having lunches when he needed a shoulder to cry on, and lo and behold, I must have had a good shoulder. He was hurting, and he's so easy to talk to. I actually started to care for him, and he and I have a lot in common.
