This is chapter 5 in a 7 part series. It will not make sense without reading the previous chapters.
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Chapter 5 - The Opera of Our lives
January 2018
Since the fire, it had been a long and grueling month for Rob. There was still work to be done, but he had worked with teams from several partner companies and the professors inside the badly burned building to determine what could and could not be salvaged. They found space for all the equipment in other buildings within the engineering college, other buildings on campus, or simply some place to store it while future plans could be made.
The machinery and equipment that could be used had been moved and set up. Some of that required establishing new connections to either power or water, which needed upgrading. At least the end was in sight.
It may be good to have responsibility, and the accompanying pay, but this was one of those times when he wished someone else had it.
The entire time that he was working, Dean McVicar and the other professors were working with him, and his crews, almost side-by-side. Hell, most of the students were pitching in where they could. It was a nightmare scenario for scheduling, also, but it couldn't be helped. The whole engineering college would likely be in chaos for the next month or two, if not longer.
Upon getting home one Friday evening, a couple of weeks into the new school year, and seeing that Debbie hadn't made it in yet, Rob decided to take a quick shower and then start something for dinner. He had just finished grilling some chicken for a nice and easy chicken salad, with which to make sandwiches when his wife walked in.
She seemed lost in thought, when he said, "Hey."
Pause. "Oh, um. Hey."
"How was work and school?"
"It was fine. How was yours? You are actually home before 10:00pm tonight."
Trying to bring some positivity into their conversation for a change, he said, "I know. What a relief. The overtime pay will be nice, but I could use our end-of-the-school-year vacation right about now."
He smiled at her hoping she would feel the same. He continued, "Speaking of, where would you like to go this year? With your graduating, we should celebrate. Do you want to go back to California for some hiking, or something more cultural this year, like Chicago? Oh, I know, why don't we try Vancouver and then we could have a little bit of both."
Debbie looked very uncomfortable at that moment. She didn't answer and stood to get herself a glass of wine. She then poured one for Rob, also. Rob just looked at it.
"I can't go this year. I've been offered the opportunity to attend a research trip during that time. Please don't be upset." Since Rob had brought it up, she thought now would be the time to approach the subject. She was wrong.
"Upset? Why would I be upset? Just because I've seen so little of my wife this school year, and almost none of her lately, and she seems to have prioritized her dissertation and career over her marriage. Now, you don't want to spend your vacation with me; why would that make me upset?"
"Don't be that way, Rob. I've been meaning to tell you, but you've been working so much that I haven't had a chance. I have to do this."
"You HAVE to do this."
"Okay. I really NEED to do this. It would look good for my career and getting that position we both want me to get."
"Well, I could always go with you. At least we could spend the evenings together."
Looking even more uncomfortable, she said, "I'm afraid it's more complicated than that."
"Oh, God. Please, dear wife; tell me. Go ahead and get it all out rather than my dragging out every piece."
Rob was getting angry now. He still hadn't touched his wine.
"It's in Florence."
Even though he knew what was coming, he replied, "Florence, Alabama?"
"No. Italy."
He did NOT like the direction this was taking.
"Are you the only one going?"
"No. Others from my department, you know, Renaissance studies, are going to Italy where the Renaissance started."
"Who?"
"What do you mean, who?"
"Who else is going?"
"Why does that matter?"
"This campus isn't that big. You know I can find out if I ask around. I could just ask one of your colleagues. Go ahead and tell me who else is going." His voice was rising.
"Richard."
"...and?"
"Just Richard. He arranged it for me. You know it's likely I'll get one of the teaching spots that is opening. He has already started suggesting that will happen. This will look really good to say that I've spent time in Italy studying the Renaissance there, since I'll be teaching it here. It is going to be a big multi-university event. Richard has invited others from several universities to come, and he's pulling in several favors from people he knows in Italy to make this happen.
Rob was furious. "The hits just keep on coming. How nice of him to arrange it so just the two of you are going, without me. Remember when we talked about sitting on the corner of his desk and kissing at Halloween, or going to his house to review your work? Not to mention the blowup we had a few weeks ago. Now just the two of you are going to Italy? That trip sounds very romantic?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Rob poured out the glass of wine and grabbed himself a beer.
"It means that Richard is doing a good job of putting himself, your department and any potential teaching position between the two of us. And, from where I'm sitting, he doesn't seem to be getting much push back. As a matter of fact, you seem rather eager to go with him. Speaking of going places, are we still going to the opera together next month, or has he taken that away from me, too?"
Debbie continued to look at Rob but didn't answer. She didn't even look sorry, just annoyed.
He said, "Oh, that's just fucking great."
She had no idea how to spin this but tried anyway. "Rob, have you ever been to an opera?"
"Well, no, and neither have you. I thought that would be one of the great things about our going to it together. You know, husband and wife, sharing something new together. Damn, I must have been mistaken all these years."
"Don't be sarcastic. He knows all about operas. He's been to dozens. The president invited Richard and me to sit in his box, with his wife. Richard is going to be our teacher for the night."
"The president invited you, or was Richard and a date invited, so of course he thought of you, a married woman?"
Debbie began to dig in her heels, and unknowingly, her fate, "That doesn't really matter. I have an invitation to sit with the president and his wife. I'm going."
Rob replied, "This just gets better and better. When did you start openly dating other men?"
"What! How dare you?! This isn't a date."
"Let's see, Valentine's Day, at the opera, invited by a man that isn't your husband, when up until tonight, you and I had tickets for ourselves. This was something I thought we were looking forward to doing, together. Now you are doing it with him. It sure sounds like a date, and that's what it's going to look like."
"That's not true."
Rob said, "It may as well be a date. Do you have any idea how many people saw you and him kiss at the Halloween festival? That's how rumors get started, though the two of you as an item is beginning to sound less and less like a rumor. Now, given the whispers, everyone that sees the two of you together will think it's a date. Some might even think I approve."
He continued, "How's that going to make me look in this small college town? I'll bet you never considered that. Ha. It's evident that you don't really care. Now that we are finally shining some light onto our relationship, let me ask you this; even though we keep talking about his driving a wedge between us and you keep denying it, things that used to be reserved for me are being given to him. Why is that?"
"You're making things up now."
"Oh, am I? Even before the fire, you were spending more time with him than me. Now that things are beginning to settle down after the fire, a perfect opportunity for us to do something together is being given, willingly, from me to him, by you. You've chosen who you would rather go with, and it isn't your husband. Why is that? Do you prefer his company to mine, or are you afraid someone might see me with you?"
Debbie replied, "That's crazy. I'm not going to answer that."
Rob said, "You already have. It's clearly a mixture of both. It seems like you are moving on and moving up. Did your mother help you make that decision?"
"That's ridiculous. I'm not moving at all. I'm still with YOU."
"Tell me, wife, when was the last time that we've had a date or attended an official function together?"
She just sat there. Had it been that long?
"Cat got your tongue?"
"I'll... we'll do something. Soon."
"No, no, no, no. That's okay. WE were supposed to do this, and I don't want a pity fuck, or even a pity date from my own damn wife. If you don't want to be with me, then you can go be with whoever the fuck you want. I do not care anymore."
Rob grabbed his beer and walked outside. He was furious. He wanted to go beat the shit out of Richard, but all that would do is put him in jail. He could barely keep his anger under control. After several minutes, he knew one thing; he didn't want to be near his wife right now. He walked back inside, dropped his half full bottle into the sink, grabbed his keys and headed towards the carport.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"Why the fuck do you care? You don't want me anyway." He replied and slammed the door.
Debbie was stunned that the conversation had blown up that quickly. What rumors was he hearing about her and Richard? She thought that he must have been making that up to guilt her into going to the opera with him. She decided that she wouldn't be coerced into abandoning her going with Richard. Besides, she needed to go with Richard to get the job, or else the blowjob would have been for nothing; damn it.
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Rob fumed as he drove to The Slide Rule. He grabbed a small table and waited for his beer to be delivered while he brooded, wondering how things got this way.
He had been sitting at his table for a while sending the "fuck off" vibe when a jiggly redhead, whom he liked so much, sat at this table. What was it about her that just seemed to relax him? As soon as he had that thought, he stiffened again. He wasn't in the mood for relaxing.
"Hey, Rob. I saw your sitting here alone. What brings you in?" After their last get together at the bar, Kate told the hostess, a waitress, and the bartender, all of whom knew Rob, that if he ever came in alone, to give her a call.
"Hmmm. Oh? We, uh... We had an argument, and I wanted to get away before I said something I was really thinking and couldn't take back."
