I would like to apologize to the readers of these stories. I'm obviously new at this and did not give it the attention it deserved. The chapters were too short, I submitted them erratically, etc. etc. I hope that this last chapter makes up, at least a little, for my previous goofs. I do promise that if I ever decide to revisit these characters or decide on another tale, I will have learned from my errors. Thanks for your patience and feedback - positive and negative.
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Karen sat and sobbed, alone in the house. She was convinced that she had had a period of insanity where she really had become someone else. She just couldn't even begin to understand why she had acted in the manner she had. She knew she loved Jack deeply, but why she had betrayed him she could absolutely not understand.
She also knew that she had to pour her heart out to someone. She just couldn't keep this bottled up any longer. But, she hesitated - she knew whom she had to call, but also knew that that conversation was going to be extremely painful for her. Oh well, she deserved it and she knew that she really needed to speak with her older sister, Kate.
Kate was a strikingly beautiful woman, dark haired where Karen was blond and tall where Karen was average in height. Kate was two years older than Karen and had been recently widowed. She was also a very hard nosed, blunt woman. She didn't believe in beating around the bush and in her line of work it was an asset many times. Of course, there were times when her "in your face" manner backfired and she recognized that.
Kate was also a clinical psychologist and while that could be helpful to Karen, she also recognized that Kate would not accept any equivocation, any self-justification, any self-pity. Karen had no choice. If she wanted to salvage her marriage, she had to talk to Kate and enlist her help. She really had no where else to turn. With a sigh of resignation she picked up the phone.
"Kate?, it's Karen - do you have a moment?"
Kate recognized the tension in Karen's voice and quickly asked, "Ok, Karen, what's wrong? Is this another bitch session about you getting old?"
"Oh Kate, I only wish. I really need to talk to you and I mean right now. Can I come over or can you come here? It's really important. I really need you, Kate," Karen wailed.
Kate recognized Karen's need and replied quickly. "I'll be over in about 20 minutes. In the meantime I want you to go into the kitchen and make us a big pot of coffee. No instant, Karen - real coffee in a coffee pot. Do you understand?"
Kate wanted Karen to get her mind occupied with doing something, not just sit around agonizing over whatever was wrong. Making coffee would give her something to do.
Right on time Kate walked into the house and found Karen in the kitchen. "Where's Jack?" Kate asked. "Not in the office on a weekend, I hope."
Karen was seated at the kitchen table. Kate could now see that she looked haggard and drawn and became concerned. She could immediately sense that this was not a minor blip in her sister's life.
"Ok Karen, spill it. Start from the beginning and tell me everything. Here, let me pour us coffee and we'll have a little chat." With that she busied herself with cups, etc. and got Karen to take a few sips.
Karen took a deep breath and began. She had to stop occasionally as her tears flowed, but little by little she told Kate the entire story, omitting nothing. Karen realized that she had to be honest and hold nothing back. It was almost cathartic. So between her tears and sobs she got the story of her infidelity out.
Karen sat quietly and awaiting Kate's response. She fully expected Kate to excoriate her. She cringed inwardly awaiting the tongue lashing that was coming. She looked up quickly as she heard Kate sigh.
"Karen, I don't have to tell you that you have really fucked up big time. This is not something that's going to go away by wishing. First, let me inform you that I am not going to treat you as I would a patient. You do not have serious psychological problems and I am not going to subject you to a battery of tests and hours in interview. You're my sister and what I'm going to say now you have to clear your mind for and pay attention."
"Kate, I lost my mind. I really think that I had a brief period of insanity. Kate, I bet I had... what do they call it.... a fugue period, or something like that?"
"Shit, Karen," laughed Kate. "Don't try to psychoanalyze yourself. First of all a fugue state is a period of amnesia during which the affected person seems to be conscious and makes RATIONAL decisions and upon recovery the period is not remembered. You were fully aware of what you were doing and you remember the events quite well.
"Look, Karen. We don't need Sigmund Freud here. You have been bemoaning getting old since you turned 40, and now that 50 is looming down the road, you've been really agonizing about getting old and unattractive.
"All of a sudden you see your old college boyfriend and.... click, you're 18 years old again with raging hormones. You remember the intense sexual excitement of those days. You didn't forget that you're not 18 and you didn't forget that you're married, you just set those facts aside and reacted to the situation as if you were a college freshman again.
Karen stared at Kate, a shocked expression on her face. "Then I was insane. I wasn't responsible for my actions, isn't that true? Kate, isn't that true?"
"Cut the bullshit, Karen. That is NOT true. We are all responsible for what we do. The first thing, the first step you must take, is to take responsibility for what you've done. You must recognize that you've screwed up royally and you must become very aware that you have not only been unfaithful to Jack, but you've humiliated, degraded and betrayed him. Your first step to any kind of possible reconciliation, if that is even possible, is to accept that.
Karen sat, pale and trembling. Tears were still flowing slowly down her cheeks. She sighed, "You're right, Kate. I was a fool, more than a fool. I knew what I was doing, I just didn't want to recognize the harm that could befall me or my marriage. I just don't know what I can now do to make things right," she pleaded.
"There's nothing that you can do right now," replied Kate. "First, we have to find where Jack is staying and then give him a little time to get his feet back under him. Then, I will pay him a visit and see if he'll talk with me. If he does, that could be, just could be, encouraging. We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, just keep away from your boyfriend and get on with your normal activities. This is just beginning."
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Sara settled herself in her window seat on the plane and was relieved to see that she did not have a seat companion. She really did not feel like having a conversation with a stranger. She had barely taken her paperback novel out of her bag when that relief was quickly banished. A tall, slender man slipped into the aisle seat and gave her a quick smile.
"Hi," he said brightly. "It looks like we have a long flight ahead, let me introduce myself. My name's Jerry Cookson," and he held out a hand to her.
Sara sighed and introduced herself. She thought to herself, "Ohh, this was going to be a long flight."
To her surprise and delight, Jerry Cookson turned out to be a delightful traveling companion and the hours in the air went by very quickly. She discovered that he was an attorney visiting his main office for a couple of days, and, coincidentally, was also staying at the Drake, where Sara had made her own reservations. Jerry insisted that she share his cab ride to the hotel and extracted a promise from her to be his guest at dinner than evening.
Sara spent four hours in meetings with a panel of physicians, taking notes and sketching in what her responsibilities were going to be regarding a series of medical texts to be published over the next few months. She envisioned no problems, but was aware that she needed more information which would be forthcoming the next day. There was nothing complicated about what her contributions would be and she envisioned nothing that would prolong her visit. She would be able to make her return flight without any delay.
Back in her room, Sara began to get ready for her dinner with Jerry Cookson. As busy as she was, she had not really given much thought to this new "friend." but he now occupied her thoughts as she readied herself. He was certainly good looking and was an excellent conversationalist. He looked to be about 50 years of age with a bit of gray at the temples. Sara colored as she realized that she was wondering what he would look like naked. Could she actually imagine going to bed with him??
"Why not?," she wondered. "Jim doesn't seem to have any problem screwing around. I rather suspect that my marriage is over anyway so why not experiment a bit?" She bit her lip and wondered if she could actually do just that. "Well, time will tell, let's see how dinner goes first," she smiled to herself.
"Sara, you look beautiful." Jerry exclaimed as he rose from the table to greet her. "Let me help you with that chair" His eyes flowed over her briefly and were filled with pleasure at the sight. Sara was lovely, dressed simply in a basic, black dress cut just a bit above the knee. The front was scooped a bit and her cleavage was clearly visable. Had she dressed to please him?
"Sara, thank you for agreeing to join me for dinner. You are certainly a lovely dining companion and a sight on which to feast these tired eyes," he laughed.
Sara smiled at the compliment and suggested some wine before ordering. Dinner went quickly with quite a bit of conversation flowing between them. She was amazed at how comfortable they felt with each other. Later, over coffee, the conversation became a bit more quiet and more personal.
"Sara, please excuse my bluntness, but despite the gay repartee, I sense some sadness in you. Am I being too intrusive and if so please tell me." Jerry said softly.
Sara teared briefly, but gathered herself. She needed a sympathetic ear so she unburdened herself and informed Jerry that her marriage was pretty well over and the reasons for her decision.
Jerry gazed at her with a wry expression. "I don't mean to belittle the circumstances, Sara, but you do realize that that's a story as old as time. I have now been divorced for about 2 years and the discovery of my wife's blatant cheating still hurts. I know that I no longer love her, but the betrayal still hurts. I guess it's just my pride that still feels the pain."
