Let Me Tell You a Story

]"Let me tell you a story," she said, as she slipped into the chair opposite.

"Do I know you?"

"Not at all. But I know you, quite well. You're me, in a past life."

I wondered as she stared where I had run across her. She looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't place her. Well, no matter, I was waiting on someone.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know you. I'm expecting someone so would you please leave me in peace?"

She flagged a waiter and ordered a drink and grinned at me. "Honey, you got plenty of time. Lover boy isn't coming. It seems his other girlfriends' husband wasn't much on expanding his horizons except for maybe the clear and uncluttered view of a single man."

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"James Matheson. That is who you're meeting tonight isn't it? Surely you wouldn't get all dolled up like this for your husband. Where did you tell him you were? Tupperware, Book Club, Ladie's Night Out? It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you lied to him to spend time with someone besides him. If you're bored or tired of the marriage, why not do him the dignity of leaving him before cheating? It would make life a lot easier and just to be honest he's not as stupid as you think he is. You don't think men can't tell when the lying start and the affections cool down? They may be dense but most have a modicum of brain matter. Some are pretty sharp and many, many are unforgiving. It's a good thing you don't have kids yet, but seriously, it's only been three years since your wedding. Kind of rushing that seven-year itch thing a bit, huh?"

My face was surely getting paler. "How do... why are you...what do you want?"

"Not a damn thing, sugar. I got what I want. I got a man that thinks the sun shines because I'm in his life and I fully intend to keep it that way. Before I got that, I was married to someone else and I loved him as well. Not enough apparently, because when the snake slithered into the garden, I took him to my breast and he bit me. The poison killed my marriage and almost killed me. My husband found out and left me the same day. I never saw him again except for a meeting with the lawyers. He didn't even come to court. And that's my story. Yours hasn't been finished yet but honestly, I don't see a happy ending."

She stood to leave and looked down grinning. "Don't you think for one second I'm doing this for you. If you're stupid enough to keep going you'll deserve everything that happens to you. Now you got a choice. You can sit here and wait for the destruction of your marriage to happen or you can get your ass home and see if there's anything left to salvage. And like I said, he's not coming. He's over at Mercy. Apparently, whore number two's husband has a violent temper. If you think he's worth it you should rush over there. Your choice."

The waiter arrived with her drink and she swallowed it down in one long gulp. "Thanks for the drink, honey."

Then she was gone.

................................................

I sat for a minute, mentally reeling from what the stranger had said. Out of curiosity I called the hospital and told them I was his mother and asked about his condition. All the nurse would tell me is that he had been admitted but I would have to appear in person or prove who I was to administration during office hours the next day before his condition could be revealed.

An unease was quietly growing in my head. This had been a mistake. At least I hadn't slept with him yet. Then I realized what an ambiguous term that was. I'd performed oral sex on him several times and his fingers and once his tongue had intimate knowledge of my sex. Then I grinned to myself. I was 32 years old and still couldn't say blowjob or pussy. I couldn't say those things but I was willing to give them away? I called my husband.

"Hi, honey. I'm on my way home. I'm not feeling all that well and personally I despise the book we're reading. If you haven't had dinner yet, would you like me to pick something up for you?"

"I'm sorry you don't feel well, dear. Your friend Mona just stopped by. She found it odd that you were supposed to be at her place for book club since she didn't belong to one and even if she had they'd never been a meeting at her house. Frankly, I also find it a bit odd. Take your time getting home. I'm not sure I'll be here anyway."

She tried to get him to stay on but he was gone. Maybe he took her marriage with him when he left. The woman jumped to her feet, threw money on the table for the tab, and ran out of the restaurant.

.........................................................................

The woman who secretly called herself the Angel of Doom or Salvation slipped into the passenger seat of the luxury SUV her husband had bought her, and sighed. He looked over at her.

"Well?"

"I don't know. Maybe she'll see the light. Personally, I think the marriage is too far gone and she's too stupid to see it."

He sat for a moment marshalling his thoughts. "Remember what the therapist talked about? You know I love you with all my heart, honey, but you can't save all the stupid women of the world from predatory men. I knew going into the marriage you carried a lot of baggage, but it's time. You need to put this behind you and look to the future. You owe me a girl honey, and I don't want to add to our family until you're truly past your demons."

She smiled happily, thinking about her two 'stepsons', age four and six. They were one and three when she met their father. He had divorced his first wife when the smallest was three months old over a series of affairs that got exposed when one of the wives of her lover filed for divorce, named her in the complaint, and sent him the pictures she had. They were still fighting over custody when another jealous wife with a history of mental instability killed her in the office where she worked. Her family had a good lawyer and she spent two and a half years in a mental institution before being declared cured and released back into society.

The Angel of Doom, otherwise known as SuperMom, was the only mother they had ever had and it made her eyes damp at how much they loved each other. When they married, they discussed more children and he expressed his desire for a daughter.

"I threw my pills away last week. This was my swansong, my very last attempt at saving the world. From now on the only mistakes I'm going to try to rectify will be my own."

He pulled her across the seat and almost crushed her with his hug. They were about to pull out when they saw the woman she'd talked to rush out of the place and jump into her car. She swerved around them and went speeding into the night.

"Good luck," she thought to herself, sadly wishing she had been smart enough to stay faithful when she was presented with the same challenges. She still had a hard time believing her new husband loved her and she made sure he knew she was never going to disappoint him.

"Let's go home. Send Amy home early and let's snuggle the kids and watch Frozen for the five hundredth time."

She traced his arm as they traveled, thinking of giving him a private movie after everyone was asleep and the name of it would be anything but Frozen.