Nighttime Confessions: Daylight's Exposure

The third and final part of my sequel to capecodmercury's story, "Nighttime Confessions" is contained herein.

*

Don sat in the conference room of his lawyer's office nervously waiting for Meg and her lawyer to show up. He fiddled with his list of things he wanted to go over with Meg one more time, specifically he wanted to address the kids and visitation. He wasn't going to keep the kids from their mother more than he had to. But he was seeking primary custody.

Don knew Meg was and had been a great mother to both kids, so he wanted to hold out an olive branch of sorts to Meg in what was almost sure to be a very ugly situation. He was basically convinced of his eventual course of action.

It was kinda weird that both his mom and the kids had asked him to make decisions slowly. His mom, he now knew, was asking for him to be careful about making decisions in the heat and anger of the moment. She was smart to say that to him. Initially he was thinking that Meg's warped sense of responsibility in the marriage was a reflection of her parenting capabilities. But after a lot of soul searching he realized he knew she was very good with the kids and had sacrificed a lot for them. He was willing to bend more on letting her see the kids than any other issue.

His children had, on the other hand, made a thinly veiled request for their parents to stay together. The kids were as scared as he was, and he imagined Meg also was right now. All of their worlds were about to be turned on their ear.

Don thought back to a few nights earlier; his parents asked him to talk to a friend of theirs, a female counselor Ms. Dorothy Nesmitt. He agreed only because they made the effort to contact her. When they met for dinner the Monday night before his meeting with Meg, Ms. Nesmitt asked him point blank, "Mr. Prescott, normally I don't meet with just one of the people involved in a situation like this. There isn't a lot of point to it. I know you probably feel a bit uncomfortable and rightly so. But let me ask a question if I could?"

"Ok!" he replied politely.

"Since I don't know what happened and because you aren't my client, I don't really care about the details. But, have you made up your mind about what you are going to do?"

Don, unaccustomed to sharing the internal workings of his marriage, was taken aback by the directness of the question. He sat and thought for a moment. Then replied, "I am almost sure the relationship is fractured beyond repair."

Nodding, Ms. Nesmitt sat back in her chair as she looked intently at Don. Don would have described her as a handsome, middle aged black woman whose eyes seemed to pierce you while she thought. She leaned forward and asked, "The incident that precipitated this current set of circumstances, how long ago was it?"

Don swallowed hard, "About ten days ago."

"I am impressed, most people act on their emotional fluxes during the hours immediately preceding and following the point of impetus. But I assume you have been thinking this whole thing out over the last ten days."

Don nodded.

"Very impressive Mr. Prescott, I am of the opinion that if you can get past the emotional turmoil and look at all the facts in the cold sober light of day. You will make a decision based on most of the facts instead of just a few of the facts. That way, if you decide to try and reconcile, or to divorce, you are, at least in my opinion, making an informed decision." She broke contact with Don's eyes and took a drink of water.

She continued "So, since you have made what appears to be a final choice, other than a nice meal and pleasant company, is there anything I can help you with?"

Dan reached for his glass of water and slowly took a drink. Placing the glass down he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Well Ms. Nesmitt, my dad warned me you were direct and a no nonsense type of person."

She nodded then raised her hand in gesture for Don to continue.

Don wet his lips and said, "One thing is bothering me about all the information that concerned friends and co-workers and even articles in magazines have mentioned in conversations here and there. I have heard a dozen times you need to stay together for the kid's sake. What's your take on that?"

Dorothy Nesmitt smiled as she touched her napkin to her mouth, "Thank you for asking about that. Staying together for the kid's sake is what I'd call "A Fool's Choice". Mr Prescott, your children are profoundly affected by any split in the parental relationship, especially divorce. I am firmly in the camp that says for the sake of the parents, if divorce can be avoided then do so.

The children however are a different story, if they have asked you to do everything possible to stay together and you accept their desires to "Try," and work things out, then that is very good. It will give you and your wife one more chance to forgive and work through your current dilemma.

However, your children are the most vulnerable in this circumstance. To get back with your wife merely because of the kids, without the loving, caring, respectful relationship you had when you married will cause stress and problems beyond your imagination. Children from homes where the parents co-exist without a true reconciliation are emotionally scarred and usually they will have trouble forming good relationships in the future. They are truly wounded to an even greater extent than children from divorced homes. Without the relationship between the parents being whole again the children will not have any type of quality loving relationship to base their own model of future happiness on. Just as importantly, the strife and stress of the co-existing parents can destroy any hope of future happiness for the mother and father also."

Don slumped visibly, his mind in turmoil again. What this woman said made sense, and he came away from the dinner meeting with a deep sense of sadness.

Over the next two days Don looked at his life with Meg - the good and the bad. He wavered back and forth. One moment he was in pain over the betrayal and couldn't even breathe; the next wishing he could find a way to forgive Meg and take back his life.

When he finally walked up to his lawyer's office Don had made up his mind. For sanity's sake he left a small possibility of reconciliation. He wanted to see if, after almost two weeks, Meg could tell him something to allow him to consider giving her a chance. Don refocused his thoughts on the task at hand. The last two weeks had been hell on his mind and emotions. He reviewed the small list again as he heard Meg's voice outside the door to the conference room. He straightened up and took a deep breath; this was it. The door to the room opened and Meg and his lawyer entered followed by another man Don assumed was her Lawyer.

After a quick introduction by Don's lawyer so everyone knew each other, Don was given the floor, he having called the meeting.

Don looked over at Meg, her eyes red with bags under them, probably from lack of sleep. Her hair was down and she was dressed in a baggy shirt and jeans. It still was painful to see her sitting across from him at what virtually amounted to divorce proceedings.

Clearing his voice Don started, "Meg, thanks for coming; gentlemen thank you also for your time. Meg, you know I will be asking for temporary custody of the kids and to be named custodial parent should we divorce."

The first tears rolled down his wife's face at the mention of the "D" word. He steeled himself and continued, "I want to show that I am willing to act with good faith in everything we discuss from the start. We both know a lot of people who are divorced and we have witnessed the 'every other weekend' and 'holidays and summer vacations' thing."

Meg nodded and he went on, "You have been a great mother and I want you to know I will allow you as much access to the kids as we can work out between us over and above what the court says. If the kids want to see you, and you agree, we will work it out between us. OK?"

Her tear filled eyes met his, as she choked out, "Thank you for not keeping my babies from me."

Don felt good, "I will still want custody, but as much as is possible I will always try to work out time for the kids to get to you."

Meg's lawyer was nodding. He was studying Don, his face showing an expression of genuine surprise.

Don was surprised how dry his throat was; his stomach was in a knot and he was afraid his sparse dinner would make a reappearance. He was also surprised that as volatile as his emotions had been, and with the anger he knew was just under the surface, he wasn't really feeling anything. It was as if, other than his stomach, he was numb inside and out.

Looking at the woman who had dominated the past eighteen years of his life he said. "Meg I am not going to kid you, there is a huge void between us and I don't know if you can overcome it. I am devastated by this whole turn of events. I mean one week you're trying to figure out how to keep your slime-ball boss away from you at a conference and then next thing you're jumping into bed with a man you've known for two days."

Don's own words struck a cord deep within him as he looked at Meg, "Or is it even true you had only known him for two days. Was this a longer affair than I even imagined." The bitterness in his voice was undisguised as he stared at Meg.

Meg, was sitting quietly across from her husband, hands folded on the table in front of her, listening. The look on her face indicated how shocked she was by the sudden change in demeanor and obvious anger in Don's voice, and she shook her head vigorously in denial.

She shouted out, "No that's not true!" Then Don watched as she made a physical effort to calm herself. Her eyes shifting as if thinking about what she was going to say, Meg lowered her voice and continued. "Don I never touched anyone in a sexual way other than you since we became an exclusive couple. I am telling the truth I just met Phil that week."

Don sat for a moment thinking through her answer, nodding he replied, "Strangely enough Meg, I do believe you, which makes this all the more bizarre." He began to slowly run his hand through his hair indicating the tension he was dealing with increased dramatically.

"Meg I thought I knew you, but the fact you gave in the first night after drank the way you did was confusing enough. Neither of us, to my knowledge, have ever allowed ourselves to drink that much without the other around to watch over us. But when you joined that club and gave yourself to him the second afternoon and evening, that is beyond my comprehension. I honestly don't believe I know you at all."

Try as he might Don couldn't get his underlying tension controlled and his voice wavered and increased slightly in pitch. Marge fully understood how close to reaching his boiling point her husband was and tried to find the words to answer and calm him. "Don, you do know me, all my little moods, the good and bad traits. You have seen me at my very best and absolute worst." She sucked in her breath at that comment as her mind flashed back to the night Don had walked in on her and Phil. The involuntary shudder that ran though him told her he was probably thinking about the same thing.

She continued, "Don, like I said you do know me, and I allowed my self to get into that circumstance. I don't want to try to minimize or trivialize my actions. I made a mistake, one that could cost me everything I hold dear. There is no good reason for what I did. I am sorry beyond words for my choices and actions during those two days and nights. I truly want to work this out, and make this up to you. I want to stay married... to you."

Her words were beginning to run together as tears began to flow down her face at a more rapid rate. She waited a few moments to calm herself then forged on, "I honestly had made up my mind Wednesday morning this was the only time I would be with these people. As dumb as it seems now, it was like a blanket I gave myself to cover up my foolishness, this one time. By Wednesday morning I was filled with all kinds of ideas, wavering between guilt and thoughts about how much fun it was. It wasn't better than our lovemaking, but it was different. I could understand how you would enjoy sex with someone other than me."

Marge looked at Don, trying to gauge if her words were having the desired effect. She noticed he listened as if he believed her, which was good because she was telling the truth. But towards the end he had cocked his head to the side, and got an inquisitive look on his face, as if he was unsure about something.

Don seemed to be about to ask her something, but instead nodded and motioned with his hand for her to continue. "Don I am asking, no begging you to give me another chance, I was so foolish and heartless at the convention. I tasted of forbidden fruit and felt I could get away with it. I told myself you wouldn't know I was playing around and that the group wouldn't know that this would be my only time with them. I felt I was so smart, so in control... I realize now I was a fool. I know I don't deserve it, but please, if not for my sake then for the kids, let me be the wife you thought you had. The wife I can be and always was until that stupid convention."

Don listened to his wife as she cried out her pain. It was taking all his self control not to go over to take her in his arms and comfort her. He knew all too well he still loved her and his heart was breaking. She had wounded him gravely and the emotions washing over him at this moment were like waves rolling ashore during a hurricane. It was something you couldn't control or stop, you had to just endure it.

"Meg first off, one of the things we are doing here tonight is setting up a plan for our future, whether that future is together or apart. So far I believe most of what you say to be true, or at least true from your perspective. One thing I will say I have come to a firm conviction on is that 'IF' we get back together it will be for us and because of us. I will not stay together for the kids' sake. I have come to realize that without a desire to be part of our partnership, staying together for the kids is just prolonged relationship suicide."

Don knew his resolve was weakening; his desire for Meg was swaying his very fragile emotional state. He knew that logic dictated a firm resolve, she needed to prove a lot of things before the thought of getting back together could addressed. He also knew, despite what many people he knew had said over the years, you don't just stop loving someone. Don knew he still loved her, deep down still wanted her back. He also now knew this wasn't going to happen for a long time. Because right there, along side seventeen plus years of love for this woman, was the train wreck of all of the trust and honesty he had ever felt for her. How was he going to put a relationship together when her fidelity would be constantly brought into question? The thing that was really upsetting him was he didn't have any desire at all to touch her physically.

"Meg I don't even know where to begin to sort this all out. There is no reference point in our lives for you to draw on to see the pain and turmoil I am in at the moment."

The change in Meg's facial features took Don back. She had metamorphosed from a timid fearful woman to an angry hate filled antagonist in just seconds. Don didn't even have to hear what she would say, the twisted mask of rage now etched on her face was all it took.

"How dare you say that, especially after you tore my heart out twice in this marriage. I almost left you thirteen years ago when you had your little fling with that... that hooker at the bachelor party for Billy Cantor. Remember him? The guy who worked with you at your last job?

Oh, I can see it in your face you remember. The best man, Paul... something or the other, had paid for a little sex toy so everybody at the party could have a little fun. Well Paul's girlfriend told us all about the fun at the party. How the little lady gave all the guys a choice of a blowjob or fucking her."

Don noticed that Meg's lawyer had straightened up and was leaning forward a small smile creased his face. Refocusing on Meg, Don noticed she was red in the face and her body leaning towards him menacingly. "I talked to the girlfriend of one of the others. She was just blabbing about how all the guys had their own special private time with the rental girl in question. Even you can't deny you were very guilty when you came back from the party. If memory serves, you wouldn't even answer my questions about the party.

"The worst part was I was seven or eight months pregnant with your child, Don. You waited until I was the size of a house then decided to get a little on the side. I went through all the emotions you are now, and did it with the added burden of being almost at the end of my pregnancy. I cried for weeks, but I stayed with you, because I love you. Honestly, I didn't confront you because I was so scared and I didn't need any more stress in the marriage.

"But you didn't stop there did you? No! What was it? Five or six years ago when Barb moved in next door? That young sexy divorcee and you were her confidante. I trusted you with her; she was always so attentive to you. Well, Ruth told me about your little liaison in Barb's bedroom the night of her going away party at her house.

"Oh yeah! The look of surprise on your face just glows, I know about that time too. Ruth told me she'd been upstairs in the bathroom and heard muffled excited voices. When she made some noise the two of you came out and Barb's clothes were disheveled and her make up smeared, like she'd been fooling around, hmmm?

"Funny, when we talked about Ruth's visit a few days later you blew it off, but you didn't explain all the little things that Ruth told me she saw and heard. You even found out later from someone else how big a disparity your story and Ruth's story had. But you never came back to clear it up, to tell me what really went on between the two of you.

"How dare you play the hypocrite and tell me I don't know how it feels, I do in spades."

Emotionally expended Marge slumped back in the seat looking at Don, her voice a tiny measure of its former self as she added. "Neither of those two times gave me reason nor right to do what I did to you Don. I know you don't believe it but I do love you so very, very much and I am willing to do anything to make this up to you anything at all. All I am asking for is a chance."

Don looked at the table in front of him as he ran his finger's through his hair repeatedly. A single tear ran down left cheek as he took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Then looking up at his soon to be ex-wife he answered her. "If you would call Miss 'Nose in every bodies business' Ruth over here and put her under oath. You'd find that many of the embellishments she added to her story about that night's activities at Barb's would disappear from her story.

"Meg the reason I didn't feel any need to come back and explain away all the differences was that I told you the truth when you first asked. Isn't it amazing that a known rumor monger, which in reality is all that Ruth is, whose whole self designed purpose in life is to stir up shit in other people's lives just so she can feel important, has more credibility than your own husband! More credibility than your mate? The person you 'say' you love so much? What Ruth did was exaggerate her description of a very meaningless event to make it seem worthwhile reporting. But you apparently accepted her version as gospel and mine as tarnished."

Don half stood and leaned over the table staring at his wife, his body trembling, his face flushing with indignation. His voice which had first been a ferocious hiss degenerated into a guttural rasp as he continued.