THE PSYCHIATRIST
Chapter Three
THE NEXT DAY
We hadn't gotten home from Lou's Tavern until 3:00am and by the time I helped Holly get cleaned up it was closer to 3:30 when we finally made it to bed. Holly was out like a light but I tossed and turned a bit before being able to drift off to La La Land. I woke up around 10:00am and snuck out of bed trying my best not to disturb Holly. I slipped on some shorts and a polo shirt before heading to the kitchen.
Soon the smell of fresh brewed coffee was in the air so I sat down at the kitchen table with my first cup of the day pondering how to start the conversation that Holly and I needed to have about what had happened the previous night. If she had no recollection of the things that took place, should I tell her? That was a tough question and one that I didn't really have the answer to. I did decide to have five one-hundred dollar bills on the table when she came into the room; maybe that would brighten her mood. But how do I start the conversation? What should I say?
We had already planned that our 10 year-old daughter Jenny would be on a two-night sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa so we had the whole day to ourselves to work this out. I got to thinking; maybe we shouldn't talk until after dinner but I quickly realized that I was just trying to postpone the inevitable. No, we needed to talk this morning.
Holly came down around 11:00 in her sexy summer robe that just came mid-thigh and her bright red flip flops since it looked to be a very bright sunny day. "Good morning precious", I said to her and she responded, "Good morning my handsome man." I was thinking, so far so good. She gave me a tighter and longer than normal hug. That's when she saw the $500 on the table. "Did Jim tell you about the bet I won when he gave you this money last night?"
"Yes." I told her, "In fact Chuck had already told me about it before I was even able to talk with Jim. So, this cash is for you to spend any way you wish; my little gambling chick." She smiled at me but there was a troubled look in her eyes which were puffy and red. I could tell she had recently been crying. "Didn't you sleep well?" I asked.
"I slept like a log, I must have been exhausted!"
I chuckled at what she didn't know about her activities the previous night and said, "I'll bet you were exhausted and I was hoping you would get a chance to sleep in". I said all this as I was getting her a cup of coffee just the way she likes it.
Then she said, "I actually woke when I heard you leave the room about an hour ago but have been lying in bed trying to figure out what happened last night and I can't remember much. I do vaguely remember that when we got home you were helping me into the bathtub and I remember how much love and tenderness you were showing me. The sensation of having a wonderful man wash my hair while I was totally like putty in his hands was amazing! You really are undoubtedly the best husband in the world, you know that, don't you?"
I jokingly responded by telling her, "That certainly is true and I don't want you to ever forget it. It's interesting that you were trying to figure out about last night, did you have any more memories of what happened after I was called away for that fire emergency?" That's when I saw a very troubled expression cross her face and her fore-head even wrinkled up a bit with excess worry. "What is it honey?" I asked, "What seems to be the matter?"
She looked straight into my eyes as she took a good sip of her coffee and asked me, "When we finally got into bed we were both naked which I love so much with my handsome man, but I can't remember something and it troubles me to ask because I don't want you to ever think that our love making sessions aren't memorable, but did we make love last night before we went to sleep?"
Wondering where this was going, I simply said; "No, we didn't, you were pretty tuckered out and you were asleep pretty much as soon as your head hit the pillow."
Now her worried expression deepened and she asked one other question; "Did we wake up in the middle of the night and have sex?"
"No, but why do you ask?"
With that she put her head down burying her face on her arms and cried like a baby for a full two or three minutes. This certainly isn't the way I was hoping the conversation would start out, but here we were. I reached across the table and rested my hands on the shoulders of my bride and said, "What is it honey? Why are you so upset?"
She moved her head from her arms and glanced into my eyes then buried her face on her arms again saying: "Oh Rob, I've ruined our marriage. I've been unfaithful to you and I don't know if you can ever forgive me. I didn't mean to do anything like that and I can't even remember doing it but I know that I cheated on you."
Oh, my god, I thought. She's remembered something of last night and now I need to somehow act like what happened was somehow excusable. How am I going to do that? I decided to probe her memory a little: "Is it because of your vague notion that you might have kissed Chuck last night?"
"No, No, No! I wish that were all but I'm afraid it is much more serious than that, I think I may have had sex with someone and I don't even know who. Maybe it was Lou, maybe it was Chuck or maybe even that psychiatrist friend of Chuck named Jim. I don't know who or what or when but I know something dreadful happened and now I'm afraid of losing you and screwing up our wonderful family."