The other day, or a month ago by the time this is published, I got the urge to work on one of my story starts. I dug through my file until I found it, created a new project, and went to start writing, only to realize it wasn't actually the one I was looking for. Sure enough, there was another start in my file that was based on the same premise, but went in a different direction. I grabbed both, figuring I would merge them into a single story.
As I wrote the first draft, I picked and chose from both story ideas, which I thought resulted in a better story than either of the original ideas would have been on their own. I also realized that what I had discarded was enough for a second story, that I also thought would be better than either original idea.
So, I put the first story aside and wrote a draft of that second story.
Then, I did something I normally try to avoid: I focused on two stories at the same time. My editing was not just about making each story the best I could, but also keeping them as different as possible while building on the same premise. Editing in parallel allowed me to swap bits between the stories to ensure they were both unique and the best they could be.
Keeping with this parallel creation process, they both contain this same preface, and I have asked that they be published on the same day.
I hope that you like both "Waved Off" and "Old-Fashioned" but I'm curious which one you will like better.
* * * * * | * * * * * | * * * * *
"Buy you a beer?"
My friends had just left, having joined me to celebrate my recent engagement. As the last bachelor in the group, I was the only one not in a hurry to get home to their wife. The stranger had good timing, as I was about to order another beer for myself.
"Do I know you?"
"No. Sadly, we've never been introduced."
"Then why do you want to buy me a beer?"
"It seemed like a fair trade. You get free beer, while I get to tell you a story."
I hesitated, unsure how to respond.
He took that as acceptance and sat down across from me. Before I could protest, the waitress set a bottle down in front of each of us, squeezed his shoulder like an old friend, and then headed back to the bar. I relaxed a little, seeing that Sally seemed to silently vouch for him.
"Okay, old man, but this better be good."
He just frowned at my comment. "If it was good, we wouldn't be meeting like this."
With a sigh, he continued. "You don't know me, but you should. Once upon a time, up until 7 years ago, your fiancée called me daddy."
I saw red as I realized this was the asshole who had abandoned Ashley and her mother. I stood up, intending to give him a piece of my mind before I walked away, but I paused as his face darkened.
"I thought you were a man of your word."
I wanted to call him out for his hypocrisy, but I realized he wasn't looking at me, but rather the half-empty beer bottle in my hand. I took a moment to tamp down my anger, then sat back down. I didn't say anything, but just glowered at him silently. He actually had the nerve to chuckle at my reaction.
"Good. That's the man I came to talk to.
"I won't bore you with things like how we met in college, exchanged vows, or raised your fiancée. I'll just skip ahead to when it all fell apart."
* * * * * * * * * *
It was just another Thursday afternoon in the office, until we heard the sirens. As people tend to do, we forgot about work and hurried to the nearest window.
We watched as a car came flying down the street; a stream of cops in hot pursuit.
It would have gone back to being a typical Thursday afternoon, had the car went straight. However, the driver tried to turn the corner instead. They failed, losing control and plowing straight into our building. Luckily, they hit a section with no windows, so nobody else was hurt. Still, the car took out our server room, and the building's power feed.
We were forced to evacuate, although they decided it was safe enough for us to grab our personal belongings on the way out. We wandered around in the parking lot until the boss got off his call to the head office, sending us home with a vague, "We'll be in touch."
I was excited to head home early, knowing that my wife was home on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. I wanted to surprise her, so I didn't warn her before heading that way.
* * * * *
I was disappointed to find a vehicle parked in our driveway. It looked familiar, and I realized it belonged to Ashley's basketball coach. I thought that was weird, but then panicked thinking something had happened to her. I rushed inside, only to stop short, stunned by the trail of clothes leading from the living room towards our bedroom.
It took me a bit to get my anger and breathing under control. I'm surprised they didn't hear me, but the sounds coming from the bedroom remained loud and unchanged.
They hadn't bothered to close the bedroom door, so I was able to get video of them fucking on our bed. I wasn't too worried about being seen, so I kept recording until they finished.
When they started to get up, I stopped the recording. I wanted to make sure it had time to sync to the cloud, in case they caught me and destroyed my phone. I quickly started a new recording before trying to sneak out of the house. However, I heard the shower start, followed by a squeal. Turning back, I snuck into the bedroom and took another video of them fooling around in the shower.
Satisfied with the footage I had, I slipped away. On my way out, I made sure that I documented the trail of clothes, stopping in the living room long enough to pull out his driver's license for the camera. Finally, I documented his truck parked in my driveway, making sure to include the license plate and VIN, to prove it was his.
I moved my car down the street, where I could see the driveway but wasn't likely to be noticed. I sent a quick text to the loving wife about the accident at work and being sent home, then started filming again.
It took just a few minutes for the coach to come running out of the house, his unbuttoned shirt flapping in the breeze and his shoes in his hand. I had to laugh, as they couldn't have made it any more obvious to the neighbors what they had just been doing. I waited until he was well down the street before texting her again, as I was in no mood to go home and see her.
[Some of the team are pretty shook. Hitting a bar to calm nerves.]
Actually, a drink with friends sounded good, so I fired off a few more texts before heading to the nearest bar.
* * * * *
Several of the guys were in no hurry to go home either, and were happy for any excuse to grab a drink. After the first round arrived, I laid out what I had walked into at home. My plans to get drunk were shot down by the group, and we held a strategy meeting instead.
Doug gave me the name of the lawyer from his divorce. Well, not his, but the one his wife used to take him to the cleaners. Jared offered to let me stay in the mother-in-law suite above his garage. Our boss was mostly quiet, but added a few suggestions before suddenly getting a strange grin on his face.
"You know, with everything here shut down for a while, next week would be the perfect time to send you off to corporate for that training course you need."
"What course is that, boss?"
He shook his head and chuckled. "The one I made up about five seconds ago, to explain why you're not at home with your wife."
I just sat there, dumbfounded, as he continued. "You can tell her that corporate is covering all of your expenses, so the lack of charges on your credit card won't look suspicious." His grin grew as he continued. "It's the kind of training that involves socializing with the other trainees during evening breakout sessions, so you'll have limited time to talk to her each night.
"In reality, you'll just be holed up above Jared's garage while you get your head on straight, talk to the lawyer, and get your financials in order."
I guess he's the boss for a reason.
* * * * *
Carole seemed unhappy that I would be leaving Sunday evening, which actually surprised me. I, on the other hand, was unhappy about having to stick around that long.
As soon as she left for work the next morning, I called the lawyer. Her calendar was open due to a continuance in one of her cases, so I was able to get an appointment for that same afternoon. I sent the guys an update, and they showed up in less than 30 minutes with a bag of breakfast burritos and a box from the spy store in the mall.
With four of us working on it, we made quick work of installing everything. We made sure we had audio and video coverage of the entire house, except for the bathrooms and Ashley's room, which only had audio. I had an old stereo wired up in the garage, so we hid the base unit amongst its components. Once I made sure that I could access everything from both my phone and laptop, I thanked the guys and headed out to meet my new lawyer.
It went pretty much like I expected it would, with her explaining how I would get reamed for alimony and child support, while still having to pay the mortgage until Ashley turned eighteen. Cheating means nothing to family court, and I made more than she did, so my only options were the brand and quantity of lube I applied in advance. It was worth it to cut out the cancer from my life, so I told her to make it happen. She said she would have Carole served the next Friday.
It wasn't easy to bite my tongue all weekend, but I managed it, somehow. I've never been so happy to pack a suitcase and leave my wife behind. The official story was that I was driving a company car, so I parked in the section of our parking lot that wasn't blocked off with caution tape, and Jared picked me up. He got me settled into the mother-in-law suite, while having way too much fun answering my questions with "Yes, mother." or "No, mother."
While waiting for supper, I made the mistake of checking the cameras in my house. Apparently, my loving wife hadn't wasted any time, as Gregg was sitting in my spot at the dinner table. However, that wasn't what broke me. What broke me was watching my daughter sit there laughing and joking with the two of them, as if he belonged there.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Okay, I can see why you divorced Carole and were upset with Ashley. That's nothing like what they told me, but that doesn't excuse you abandoning your daughter."
"I didn't abandon anybody. She walked away from me. Losing her hurt me more than anything her mother ever did."
"And I'm just supposed to believe you?"
"No, you'd be a fool to blindly take a stranger at his word, and I wouldn't be here if I took you for a fool."
