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.
