I lay there and thought for a moment about what the morning would bring. I let my mind touch on my meeting with Larry. I didn't really know how to say what I wanted him to know. His last comment to me earlier, made me feel like he wanted to talk to me. I thought, "The meeting will take care of its self." I pushed Larry out of my mind.
I treated myself to happier thoughts. I had a vision of Caroline. She was standing naked in the flicker of firelight at the carriage house. It was cold there. Her nipples were at attention. She gave me her "little-girl-next-door" smile. I imagined that she was blushing but I couldn't tell in that light. I thought, "Athenais, the sexiest bitch on the planet." I knew I would dream about her.
I held Linda a bit tighter and I slept.
XXXXX
Morning came for me early. We had gone to bed early. Not even the glow of predawn was leaking into our bedroom. I looked at the backlit face of the clock on my bedside radio. It wasn't yet five-thirty. I snuggled closer to Linda and lay there another few minutes. I had a lunch appointment with Caroline Bixby's husband. I had to be at the Circle Grill in Dallas at eleven-thirty. I needed to leave here before ten.
Today was a workday for Linda but she didn't need to go in until nine. I could let her sleep for another couple of hours. I thought, "I could wake her up for an early morning quickie."
The monster spoke to me in my mind. He said, "Let her sleep, Luke." I laughed at myself.
I kissed Linda on the back of her neck and slipped out from under the covers. I made sure she was warm and covered properly. Our bedroom is in a separate heating and cooling zone than the rest of the house. We always maintain snuggle weather in there. I adjusted the thermostat to seventy-two degrees so it would be warm when Linda got up. Then I closed the window that had been open just a crack.
I went into the bathroom. It was warm in there and I did my morning routine except for my shower. I saved that for later. I dressed in sweats and running shoes before I went to the kitchen. I set the coffee maker to work, put on a light fleece jacket and walked to the running path around our lake.
One lap is one mile. I do three laps three times a week and I swim laps in our heated pool three times a week. Normally, I stretch and then walk my first lap as a warm-up and then run two six-minute miles back to back. I use my walk back to the house as a cool down period. This morning, I did the first lap in a slow jog. It was a bit cool out. When I got back to the starting line, I had warmed enough that I could leave my jacket on a bench and do my run in sweats only.
Coffee was ready when I returned to the house. I took a cup to the dining room and sat near the picture window that faced east. I drank my coffee and watched the world finish waking-up.
It was almost seven-thirty and I was finishing my second cup when I first heard Linda moving around upstairs. I stayed where I was until she had finished her morning ablutions and I heard the shower come on. There are some things that girls do in the bathroom that I don't want to be a part of. Showering is not one of them. I joined her there. My God, she is beautiful even when she is wet all over like a waterlogged kitten.
We have bathing each other down to a science. I usually get a kiss and a hug or two and sometimes, when we have time, we get downright nasty with one another. Linda didn't have time this morning. I settled for a hug and a kiss.
We dried each other and I went to the kitchen in my robe and slippers. I made a fresh pot of coffee and breakfast sandwiches while Linda dressed for work.
Linda got away on time and I dressed and left about fifteen minutes early. I arrived at my destination about half an hour early. I assumed I had beaten Larry there but I couldn't look for his car in the parking lot. I didn't know what he drove. I decided to wait in my car. I parked where I could see both the entrance to the lot and the front door of the restaurant. Maybe I would see him arrive.
If there were going to be fireworks, I would rather confront him outdoors than inside the restaurant. I really didn't expect trouble but the words, "situational awareness," came to mind. Twenty minutes later, I was about to assume he was already inside when he arrived. He was driving a nice Chevy pick-up.
I watched him park and then got out of my little TR3 and walked toward the front door of the restaurant. When we were close enough for him to hear me, I said his name. He looked up and recognized me. He surprised me by smiling.
He changed direction and walked toward me at a faster than normal clip. He was still smiling. I thought, "That's exactly the way I would approach someone if I wanted to catch them off guard and sucker punch them.
I tried to appear nonchalant but at the same time, I achieved a stable platform under my center of balance. I could defend myself.
He stopped a step or two before he got to me and held out his hand for me to shake. I took it. His shake was firm and honest. I felt myself relax. There was no threat here.
He said, "I made a reservation. Come with me." He demonstrated that he didn't feel I was a threat by turning his back on me and walking toward the door. I followed him in and he said his own name. A cute young girl escorted us to an out of the way booth where we could talk with some expectation of privacy. She handed each of us a menu and asked for our drink order. We both asked for water.
I took a few seconds to recap my impression of him. I had been subconsciously sizing him up since the first second I saw him. He seemed poised, confident and in good humor. His interaction with the pretty, young girl that was waiting on us was courteous and it seemed natural for him. Physically, he seemed to be in much better shape than he was the last time I saw him. He moved and carried himself much better. He definitely wasn't projecting the image of the jerk I had expected to meet this morning.
While we were alone, I said, "Larry, you seem to be in a much better mood than I expected you would be, given our circumstances. I certainly expected more friction between us."
He looked at me and a grin as broad as Texas spread over his face. He leaned in toward me and whispered, "Well, I got laid this morning."
I couldn't help myself. I broke up. I laughed and then he laughed with me.
He calmed down and said, "Okay, let me explain where I have been. I have wanted to talk to you. This is the first time that I've had the opportunity since I regained my mental health enough to feel competent to interact with a man like you."
I tried to butt in and ask a question.
He said, "Please, this is very difficult for me. Let me try to make you understand where I am in all this and if you have any questions, I will answer them. Then you can say whatever you need to say." I nodded and he continued. "I have suffered beyond what you could understand for the past year and a bit more. The worst part of it is, it was entirely my fault. I committed two unpardonable sins. I was stupid enough to cheat on Caroline and then I was stupid enough to let myself get caught."
Our waitress returned with a pitcher of ice water. Larry saw her before I did and he turned his water glass up. I followed suit. She poured and then asked if we were ready to order. I hadn't even looked at the menu.
Larry said, "They have a really nasty chicken fried steak here. You can see the cholesterols falling off the plate."
I chuckled and said to the pretty girl, "Please bring me the Chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes, cream gravy, Texas toast and green beans. I let her write that down and then continued, "A small cucumber salad in vinegar and oil would be nice."
Larry said, "That all sounds good to me except make my salad lettuce and tomatoes with a drop of the house dressing."
She smiled and said that she would have it right out. Larry had the pleasure of watching her walk away but she was behind me. I had the good manners not to turn around.
Larry continued his story. He said, "Luke I hurt Caroline terribly and she retaliated by hurting me far worse. I don't blame her. She tossed me out and wouldn't even let me see our daughter. The grapevine told me that she had retained a divorce lawyer and she wasn't even going to look back. I checked out her lawyer. It was the devil wearing a suit."
He paused for breath and said, "Let me continue. Finally, she answered the phone after I had left about a hundred messages for her. I spent about two hundred dollars on dinner at a nice restaurant and a whole evening begging her to forgive me. When I took her home, I didn't even get a good-night kiss." He caught his breath again. He said, "Several weeks later she called me and asked me to dinner at our house. She kicked me in the balls again. When I arrived, my little girl wasn't there."
I saw a tear well up in his eye.
He said, "Then the only woman I ever loved, found a way to hurt me even more. She said that I could come home and we would live together for our daughter's sake. Then she told me that she might eventually forgive me but first, she was going to fuck anyone that she wanted to for a year. She told me that if I couldn't accept those conditions that I should get the fuck out right then and she would file for divorce the next day. I agreed to her year of grace."
Our pretty waitress delivered our lunch. It looked very good.
