I walked in the door, thinking it would be like any other day.
Thinking, as they say, was my first mistake.
Mom was talking with one of her friends. Okay, maybe "talking" isn't the correct description.
Mom was sitting on the couch, and one of her friends was venting to her. The friend, Kelly, looked a combination of sad and angry.
Kelly looked up at the sound of my footsteps. "Oh, hi, Gary."
Mom turned to face me. "Kelly went to the office this morning because her husband forgot some paperwork that he had been working on last night."
Kelly interrupted. "That motherfucker was lying on his desk with his teenybopper secretary riding his cock. I gave them both hell and he told me to either live with it or leave."
"So you left."
"After going back home and hiring a divorce attorney, cleaning out the joint account, and cancelling all of his credit cards, yes. I packed my stuff and left. I left him a note saying if he liked his secretary so much he should live with her."
"How old is his secretary?"
"Your age. 19. I got some good video on my cell phone of them boinking that I turned over to the lawyer I hired."
Kelly and her husband were both in their 40's. They'd been happily married for as long as I'd been alive.
"So are you here just to blow off steam?"
Mom answered that one.
"Nope, she'll be staying for a while."
"Where?"
Mom and I had a two-bedroom house. Mom was in one of the bedrooms and I was in the other. Dad had passed away a few years back. Luckily, the house was fully paid for. So even though things were tight financially - one income these days while raising a teenager doesn't stretch very far - we always knew we'd have a roof over our heads.
"Your room."
"Okay. I can sleep on the floor."
Kelly said nothing, but she gave me an odd look.
"How much stuff did she bring, anyway?"
Kelly took that one.
"I traveled light. Just one suitcase full of clothes, plus a purse with my financial stuff and important documents. And my laptop. Most of the clothes are in your mom's closet now."
Just then, Kelly's phone rang. She looked at the number and smirked. Then she put it on speaker. We could all hear every word.
"I didn't think you'd actually leave!"
I figured it was her husband.
"Why wouldn't I? You made your choice. And you can consider yourself lucky. I'll let you keep the house without contesting it, in return for a bigger cash payout."
"Yeah... your lawyer called me and informed me of that already."
"So go ahead and move your teen girlfriend in. Do it, Hal. I don't care. I'll be fine on my own."
"But... but... I didn't want to lose you!"
"Then you should have thought of that before you started boinking Jenny. Once I found out, you lost me forever. Have a nice life."
Kelly clicked off the phone.
"So how long will you be staying?"
Kelly smiled. "Indefinitely. I've agreed to pay your mother a reasonable amount of rent."
"Um... well... I hope you don't mind sharing a room with me." I was still somewhat in shock.
"Not at all. So, I understand you're a working man."
"It isn't much. The executives at Dad's company felt sorry for me, so they gave me the lowest possible level job after I finished high school, on the condition I actually work and don't assume I can slack off. I'll get promoted in a year if I get good reviews, just like anyone else in that position. You either get promoted out of it or fired."
"So you work Monday through Friday, just like everyone else there."
"Yes." Today was a Thursday.
"Well, keep working hard, Gary. I'll be behind you 100%."