As Sunday dawned the sun began to beam in through a small gap in Karen's bedroom curtains. Over the course of 30 minutes or so, the small beam made its way across her pillow, over her tightly curled dark blonde hair, past her ear and onto her right temple before reaching her right eyelid. It woke her. "Oh Jesus. My fucking head."
The day before, her husband Greg had to leave for a last minute work related issue. The new headquarters that he was charged with overseeing was falling behind because of contractor hold ups so he was going to be gone until at least Tuesday. His brother Kev and sister in law Julie were coming to visit from Australia so he felt really bad that he had to leave Karen to entertain them but he had no choice.
It wasn't the first project he had problems with and it wouldn't be the last. Karen was becoming accustomed with these little disappointments, but his job had provided them with a nice home, cars, and lots of vacations so she couldn't complain too harshly.
It was 8:30 and rather than having a few hours in bed they were up earlier than they had expected so that Greg could shower, dress and eat some breakfast before leaving for the meeting with the contractors nearly 700 miles away. By 10:30 Karen had cleaned the house and was enjoying a nice relaxed cup of tea before her in-laws arrived at the airport in 4 hours time. She sat out on her deck. It was a beautiful warm day. It had been some of the best weather the UK had ever had. Long spells of warm dry weather with the odd shower thrown in to keep things British.
She sat on the bench enjoying the view. The house was set in a large lawned garden with flat fields adjacent. A road ran along at the front of the house at the end of their 50metre drive. It was quiet road with very little traffic so it was pretty much always peaceful. She listened as the birds tweeted and the crickets chirped. It really was an idyllic spot.
As she drank her coffee the postman pulled in to the drive. He got out and waved "hi Karen."
Karen waved back "hi Jack. Got anything nice for me today?"
"If I had a pound for everyone who asked me that" said Jack with a chuckle "I'd be retired by now."
"I'm sorry hunny" she said as she started to walk over to him "I forget that you hear that kind of thing all the time. I'm a walking cliche in a summer dress."
"And a beautiful summer dress it is too." he observed.
Jack and Karen had grown up living close by each other and had gone through school together. They knew a lot about each other's lives, they knew a lot about everyone's lives in the local town. That's how it is in a small community. You couldn't fart without Mr Robbins the butcher knowing 30 seconds later. That's why she liked living away from the town these days. Jack and Karen had been very close friends in their early years and had made that old friendship pact. If neither of them were married by the time they turned thirty, they would marry each other, but as it often does, life got in the way.
Karen held her coffee up and asked "time for a brew?"
"You know, I think I have got 10 minutes to spare" Jack said lifting his cap to air his head "it's been hectic today."
"Come on in I'll pour you a strong one" she said holding the door for him.
He walked in and put the mail on the kitchen table as he sat down next to it. He sighed as he relaxed "no Greg? Have you killed him and buried him under the decking?"
"Ha. No chance. He keeps me in the life to which I have become accustomed, so killing him off wouldn't make any sense" Karen said truthfully "he's been called away on his new project at work and won't be home until Tuesday."
"Really" asked Jack with an eyebrow raised "while the cat's away..."
Karen set Jack's coffee down on a coaster in front of him "behave yourself. That was one time and I was very drunk. Besides your wife wouldn't be very happy if she knew we'd had a drunken fling either!"
Jack sat reminiscing about the night he and Karen had coalesced. His dreamy face gave him away "hey!" Said Karen "stop thinking about it. It was a mistake!"
"I'm sorry Karen, I know it was a 'mistake' but honestly it was one of the best mistakes of my life" said Jack with a smile.
"It was fun at the time" Karen said with a very staight face "but that little bit of fun could have ruined both our lives. You know it could. This town sees and knows everything. How we got away with it is beyond coincidence. Now drink your coffee and never mention it again!"
"You're right. I took it too far. I should think more about the consequences." He said remorsefully "I'm sorry I put both of our relationships at risk but you have always been, and always will be one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. I know I shouldn't bring it up but that night we spent together was special."
Karen sat down next to him "it was special, but it's done, it's something we need to leave in memory."
Jack drank his coffee "thank you Karen, for everything." He kissed her cheek, walked out of the house, got in his red van and drove away.
Karen felt her throat constrict and a tear welled up in her eye. She took a long deep breath and swallowed hard to compose herself. She managed to absorb the tear to avoid it trickling down her cheek. She justified the action as not having cried for what could have been. If the tear had found its way from her eye it would have meant something entirely different and she didn't want to have to deal with the consequences of that.
She opened her mail. Bank statement, gas bill, club card vouchers and coupons for dinner at Gino's. The coupons might come in handy if she went out with Kev and Julie, not that she needed coupons, but money off is money off.
Karen was still feeling hurt about the path not taken with Jack. She did love him and it wasn't a brotherly love. But it wasn't like the love for Greg either. Greg had provided a very good life for Karen and she more than appreciated it but there was no excitement, no spark, no pazzaz.
She spend her whole life with Jack close by and although he was just a postman he had more life in him than Greg ever would. Her thoughts went from thinking about things she and jack might have done to weighing up the pros and cons of both relationships. The real one with Greg and the fantasy one with Jack. Greg earned great money but there were no kids in his future. He didn't want them. He wanted things and stuff to fill his life. Jack was on a middle of the road wage but would have happily had kids if his wife had been able to conceive. Greg scored one for the money, jack scored one for wanting kids.
Greg liked to buy things for Karen but his affections were lacking. Jack would probably never be able to afford the kinds of things Greg bought her but his affections had always been there. They were level at 2 each. She loved them both in similar ways and it hurt to think of hurting either of them but she made her mind up years ago when she said she would marry Greg leaving Jack broken hearted.
The last thing to consider was, who wanted her more? Greg, or jack?
She felt the tear well up again and fought it back. She had to pull herself together. Her in-laws would be here soon and it was only going to cause problems if they started asking why she had been crying.
She went to the bathroom to check she was presentable. She tidied her makeup and took some deep breaths. The doors were locked and the journey to the airport was underway. It was a 90minute drive to the airport so she left at 12:30 to give her time to find a place to park and then time to walk to their gate. It was an uneventful drive and the traffic was light so she made good time. She parked up and was in the airport with 30 minutes to spare.
The place was like a glorified shopping mall with booze shops, fragrance shops, tobacco shops and cafes. She decided to get a coffee in one of the cafes before heading to the gate to collect Kev and Julie. She sat down and watched people. One of her favourite pastimes was people watching. She loved to empathise with them during their interactions. Like watching a soap opera but the real thing instead of a dramatisation.
She saw a young couple standing over by a magazine stand. They were hugging tightly. He was wearing a big rucksack, a T-shirt, cargo pants and walking boots. Karen imagined him going somewhere like Nepal to walk the Himalayas. The girl was crying and didn't want to let go of him. Karen felt the girl's anguish as she tried to hold on to him for just another few precious seconds but it was in vain as he had to board his flight. The look on his face was of conflict. He knew he should go but he wanted to stay. He wanted the girl to be ok but he couldn't be the one to make her feel ok by staying. They waved at each other as he walked backwards.
Karen thought about Greg leaving for his work trips and couldn't remember a single time when he had ever felt as conflicted as this young man was to leave his love. The day of their wedding, they left in a car for their honeymoon and she saw Jack give her a similar wave as he stood watching her leave.
The tear welled up again but this time she didn't have the strength to hold it back. It rolled out of her eye and dropped into her coffee. "Shit!" Kev and Julie would be there any moment and she was going to be puffy eyed. She drank her coffee and found a bathroom. She got some tissue, walked to a mirror and sorted her eyes out as best she could. More deep breaths and she was calm again, but that tear meant something.
She walked out of the bathroom and over to the gate. She waited for 15 minutes until she saw Julie. Then she saw Kev. They were walking arm in arm. She wished Greg would show her that small amount of affection in public. As Julie and Kev saw Karen their faces all lit up as they walked quickly towards each other. They hugged hard. Karen asked how the flight had been, Kev said it was long and boring while Julie said she enjoyed the movies.
They went to baggage claim and found the bags in record time. No waiting around to be the last person to find the bags today. Karen led them to the car and they made the 90 minute drive home. Kev fell asleep in the back seat. Julie said "my god flying makes me so horny. I think I might let Kev have anal tonight!" She looked round but he was out for the count "good he can't hear us, what's wrong babe? You're upset."
"My god is it that obvious?" Karen was looking in the mirror to see if she was a complete mess "did Kev notice?"
"Don't be daft" said Julie with a huff "he wouldn't notice if your makeup was all over your face, but a woman knows. What's up?"
