--- Part Two - Coffee ---
On the drive home, I couldn't stop thinking about how much I enjoyed the short visit with Veronica. Running a quick errand with her and Emma hadn't taken more than an hour, and I rolled into my driveway not noticeably later than I do on some days.
I should point out now that I have a job where the normal work hours are Monday through Friday. I would say it is a standard 9 to 5, but people really don't punch a time clock. The military guys have some standard days they meet up for PT in the morning, but for the most part, people are on the honor system to do their forty hours. For many of us, forty hours is a short week. I routinely work ten hour days, rarely go to lunch unless it is part of an official function, and it is not uncommon for me to be the first one in my section in in the morning, and the last one out in the evening.
More than a few people over the years have asked me why I work so much, but the truth is, I do enjoy my job, and I feel like as long as there is work needing to be done, I should do it. And let's be honest, I've also had my fair share of goof-off time during the work day. I'm not some shining example of productivity, though anytime you can get your work done and have fun with your co-workers, I'd say it is a positive thing.
My wife is one of the people who insists that I put in too many hours. She has a policy where she will wait until 6 PM before she eats alone. I'm usually at the house by 5:30, quarter of six, but sometimes I surprise her by getting home by 4. The point of all this is, I realized that I could, if I wanted, put in an eight-hour day, and stop by to visit Veronica on my way home, and not really create a noticeable stir. The fact that I was even gaming all this out was a little shocking to me. What was I thinking of, a secret friendship with a married girl and her little baby? Why is this something I would hide? There was nothing illicit about it. I mean, outwardly anyway.
That evening, my wife was out watering some plants outside and I pulled the checkbook from her purse and marked $15 into the register and wrote "Lunch". Later, I lied and said I had to meet a co-worker for lunch but I had already annotated it in the checkbook.
I guess another point I should reveal about myself and my relationship with my wife is that, for as long as we have been married, she has handled all the bills. I make the money and she spends it is one of her favorite things to say. When we were younger and expenses were a lot tighter (like having $4.00 in the account until payday - a week from now), she had a very tight fist on the account. I've always been one of those, "but there were checks left, I can't be out of money" type of guys. I'm not irresponsible, but since I haven't had to balance the books, I've just bought what I needed and then confessed my sins when I got home. Now days, $15 for lunch (or helping out a lady in need) isn't going to break the bank. But, if I ever thought about having an affair, something like paying for a hotel room would be a huge flag and pretty much, an easy way for me to get busted.
On the Monday following our grocery trip, I had decided that I wanted to call Veronica and just check in on her and Emma. I had written her number down in my office, and like some sort of ESP, she called me. "Hi, this is Veronica - I hope I'm not bothering you."
I was almost speechless. "No, in fact I was honestly getting ready to call you and see how you were. How are you, is everything okay?"
I hate talking on the phone, but for the next 20 minutes we chatted about her and Jonah and Emma, she told me that when she met Jonah, he was still Active Duty Air Force and had just returned from a deployment. He had already made the decision to get out and go to school full time and not long after they met, she was pregnant. She was working at the time, but when she had the baby, it didn't make sense for her to work if they would have to pay so much in childcare, and between the two of them, they could share her car. Jonah had sold his old clunker before he deployed, and just never got around to buying a new one when he returned from his deployment.
I asked how it was he met her if he didn't have a car. Veronica waited a little bit then said, "I'll tell you the whole story the next time we see each other."
I said, "Hey, would you be open to having coffee with me in the morning? Maybe I could get out of the office for a bit and swing by?"
Veronica said she gets up when Jonah does and makes him breakfast, and he has to leave the house by 7, so I could stop by on my way int work if I wanted. I wondered what Mrs. Kravitz would think of seeing the husband leave and the older guy pull up moments later, but what the hell.
Tuesday morning, I left the house a few minutes early, stopped at the Love's on Fischer Road and I-35 South, grabbed two large coffees and since I had no idea how Veronica took hers, I grabbed an assortment of creamers, sugar packets, sweeteners and the like. It was about five of seven when I pulled into the apartment compound and a young guy in an older Honda Accord smiled at me and gave a friendly Texas nod as he pulled out.
I pulled up in front of Apartment 3A, and grabbed the coffee carrier. Before I could knock, Veronica opened the door and invited me in. "Hey, you just missed Jonah." she said with a smile.
I almost stopped in my tracks when I saw that Veronica was wearing just a t-shirt and panties. Okay, that's an understatement. I nearly lost the entire tray of coffee and sweeteners and creams when I saw the bottom portion of her panties below the t-shirt that was clearly not an extra large! She looked at me like I was nuts.
I said, "I'm sorry, am I too early?"
