Taking Chances (12 page)

I looked back at Harvey, who was visibly tense, and I mouthed, “I’m sorry.” I don’t think that made any difference because he stalked back out the front door to god-knows-where. Exasperated, I walked to the backyard, hoping Greg had the sense to follow me.

He closed the door behind us, and I sat on one of the plastic chairs, waiting for him to speak. I would stay quiet and listen to every single word he had to say, once and for all, so that I’d never have to hear him again. Since I didn’t start the conversation, he finally did.

“Audrey, I’m glad you and your family are alright,” he said. When I said nothing, he continued, “OK, I guess I’ll do the talking. I’ve already told you I’m sorry, which I am, but I also came to tell you that people make mistakes, that no one is perfect, that I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. I’ll make it up to you each and every day by loving you and making you my queen, which you deserve to be. I’ve never been so wretchedly depressed than these days without you. Baby, it’s as if I’ve lost an arm or a leg. I don’t know how many promises I need to make but I’ll make them all if you will give me a second chance.” He stopped, but I said nothing, in shock that he thought I could even consider going back to him.

“Everyone deserves a second chance, don’t you think? We’ll make it work. I’ll make it work. I’ll go to therapy, and we’ll do couples counseling. We’ll move away, and I’ll get another job. We can be happy again, I know we can.” I let him ramble on, saying all the things I might have eaten up and agreed to if I hadn’t been the one to catch him. Maybe if he had admitted his indiscretion himself before being caught. Had I not witnessed him and Natalie’s conversation I would not have found out, possibly ever.

“Do you have anything else to say?” I asked.

“Just that you are the love of my life, my soul mate, my everything,” he said, getting on his knees in front of me.

“Sit back down, please,” I said, and he did, leaning forward towards me. He looked like he was having a tough time dealing with our separation. He was thinner, his eyes sunken in as if he was sick.

“Greg, I believe in second chances, and so I can forgive you. But I cannot be your wife any longer because I don’t have it in me to continue to love you the same way. Not the way you’ve described. I no longer see you as the love of my life or my soul mate. I don’t feel like my arm or leg has been cut off. Maybe it was your cheating that caused me to turn those feelings off, or maybe they were hiding and only came to the surface with your actions. I don’t know. But I do know that my future happiness is not with you,” I said. I recognized the truth in every one of my words and experienced such a lightness that I wanted to run and tell Harvey about it.

“Is it with Harvey?” he asked, point blank. His nostrils flared.

“Why do you ask me that?” My heart hammered in my chest.

“Is it with Harvey?” he repeated. I did not understand how he could suspect a thing, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t have to answer to him anymore.

“Whatever I do now, Greg, is none of your business. I appreciate that you were worried about my family and me. As you can see, we are well and don’t need any help. I’ve heard you out, and I’ve told you why I no longer want us to be married. It’s time you were on your way.” I stood up and walked towards the side of the house to lead him to the driveway. He followed me, his hands in his pockets, his head down. I hoped he had finally accepted my decision. When we reached the front, I noticed that Harvey was leaning on his rental car. He saw us come out.

“Sorry, I’ll get out of your way,” he said, making toward the house. But Greg stopped him, a hand on Harvey’s chest.

“Where were you guys coming from just now?” Greg asked.

“Calm down, dude,” Harvey said, pushing Greg’s arms away.

“You calm down, dude. I asked you a question,” Greg said, now pushing Harvey, who hardly budged.

“Greg!” I yelled. Harvey moved forward and put his arm on Greg’s shoulder.

“Let’s let bygones be bygones, eh?” Harvey said, a smirk on his face.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Greg said pushing his arm away and getting in Harvey’s face.

“It means I just fucked your wife better than you ever could, you asshole,” Harvey said, disdain in every word. My eyes widened, and I covered my mouth in horror. Greg looked at me with a pained look and then pulled his arm back and swung. I was too slow to stop it, and his fist punched Harvey’s jaw, throwing him backward onto his car. Greg swung his hand around, undoubtedly in pain, and I yelled for them to stop. Harvey pushed himself off the car and ran at Greg, both of them taking a hard fall to the ground. I couldn’t tell who was hitting whom anymore as both of them wrestled, cursing at each other, not listening to my wild pleas for them to stop.

By this point both of my parents, Mrs. Garrett, and several neighbors were outside. My father and Nick, our neighbor, stepped in and pulled them apart. I was trying to hold back the tears, but I yelled at Greg to leave. He had blood under one eye, but I didn’t care. He could take care of it himself along the way. I went inside, absolutely humiliated, without even looking at Harvey. How could he have provoked Greg that way? If I had any doubts about it having been revenge sex, I didn’t anymore. He had timed it perfectly, somehow, to throw it in his wife’s lover’s face that he had slept with his own wife. I was so angry that I began to pace my room.

Without knocking, Harvey barged into my room. “Audrey, I’m sorry,” he said.

“You men are all the same. Doing something stupid first and then coming to beg for forgiveness. Well, I’m done with it, and I’m done with you. You said you had to go back to the restaurant, right? So go. I don’t need any more of this,” I yelled. He looked at me, his face already turning black and blue in two spots. He ran his hands through his messed up hair and sighed. Then he turned and left. I didn’t see him again before he left town.

Explaining what had happened was a little difficult. My parents and Mrs. Garrett wanted to know what had precipitated the actual fight, and Harvey left right away without giving them a reason for the fight. At dinner that night, as we sat outside around the barbecue, I had to lie and say that Harvey was upset about his wife’s betrayal with Greg and that it had all culminated into an argument and then a fist fight. They seemed to buy that. I felt bad lying, but there was no way on Earth I’d tell my parents the real reason for the fight.

The next few days were spent finishing cleaning up around the yard, with Mrs. Garrett pitching in. A roofer gave us an estimate, but told us it would be at least two weeks to start because of all the other jobs he has lined up. We then helped Mrs. Garrett with her insurance company, which had unfortunately turned into a real hassle. I never spoke to Harvey, but I caught my dad talking to him on the phone several times, discussing what the insurance company had said this or that time.

Mrs. Garrett would stay with my parents for just a few more days and then she would move to her friend’s house. She didn’t want to impose on one family’s generosity for a long period of time. My mom tried to convince her otherwise, but she didn’t budge. I finally had to get back to work and arranged for a flight back on that Wednesday.

While I wasn’t sure what my long-term plans would be, I still had this job where they were counting on me. Plus, all of my things were at my house, and I had to get them sometime. The decision to be made now was whether I would stay in town, come live with my parents (which we already know I did not want to do), or move somewhere else entirely.

The first thing I did after getting an Uber to my house was to move all the things I would need to the guest bedroom across the hall. I didn’t want to sleep in my own bed because, honestly, I didn’t want to be around anything having to do with Greg. Being in the house itself was bad enough, but it was a necessary evil for now. I started doing research (now that I finally had power to use a computer) and bookmarked several apartments for sale. I also searched for jobs in other cities, seeing if something caught my interest. An associates degree from college didn’t leave you open for many higher paying positions, I noticed. I researched universities as well, trying to come up with something I could study that would give me a good income. Wishing I’d done this years ago, I looked up student loans.

When Greg got home that evening, a fading bruise on his left cheek, he was surprised to see me.

“I’m here until I find another place,” I said, as I finished cooking dinner. “You can have some of this,” I said, pointing at the salmon.

“Thanks,” he said, putting his stuff down and sitting at the counter. “Where are you going to move?”

“I’m looking at apartments nearby. I’ve also looked at going back to school, so my options are open,” I said. He gave me a sad smile.

“You should do that party planning thing,” he said. Every time I hosted a dinner party at our house, the guests gushed over my detailed planning, and Greg would proudly tell them I did it all myself. He had told me a few times to go into that, but I never took it seriously. Now I wondered if I should.

“Hmm,” I said. “That’s something to look into. Thanks,” I said.

“You’re welcome.”

We continued the civil act for the rest of the night, sitting down and watching something together on TV. Then I went to my new bedroom and prepared my clothes for work the next day.

Tammy was insatiable. I didn’t leave any detail out, and our lunch break was over, but she still kept asking me questions.

“Have you talked to Harvey since? I mean, you’re back in the same town now, so what are you going to do?” she asked eagerly.

“I’m not going to do anything. We were there to give each other comfort and blow off steam, and we fulfilled that purpose. Things are too messy for us to be friends, and it’s best this way,” I said. Tammy gave me a pouty face and then a hug.

“I’m so sorry you’ve had such a horrible month. What can I do for you? Can I take you out?” she asked, her eyes lighting up.

“Yes, I think that would help,” I said, getting a little excited.

“Great! Friday night after we get out let’s do happy hour and then go out Saturday night?” she suggested.

“Sounds like a plan,” I said, and we hurried off to go answer phones.

I met with a lawyer that evening after work, and after that meeting, my mind was spinning. The cost was astronomical, and I spoke with Greg first. With great sadness in his eyes (which pained me but didn’t move me), he agreed to an amicable divorce with one attorney handling everything, that we would sell the house and split everything, and that he’d pay the attorney’s fees. If for nothing else throughout our marriage, I thanked him for this, which would save me so much headache and give me a real start.

A
few tough
weeks later Greg helped load my things onto a moving truck. He offered to help me unpack at my new apartment, but I didn’t think it would be a good idea. I wanted to leave him behind and this new place had to be empty of Greg. I enlisted Marco and Jeanette to help me, and together we brought the things from my old life into my new one-bedroom apartment in the downtown area. It was located near the event planning business that hired me as a receptionist. My goal was to learn as much as possible and be an event planner myself. I’d even registered for classes at the local college.

Tammy threw me a goodbye dinner at her house which several coworkers attended. I already had plans for her to come over the next night to help me christen my new bachelorette pad with a wine and movie girls’ night.

That night, sleeping in a new apartment by myself for the first time, I felt proud that I had come so far on my own. With the help of friends and family, of course, but I didn’t need a man to take care of me. Greg took care of me before because I let him, but not because I needed him to. As I got used to my new life, I came to like it. It took several months, but I started to get comfortable eating dinner alone and sleeping without someone next to me.

I enjoyed my weekend nights out with Tammy and the girls from my old job. We spurned many men’s advances together. No one seemed worthy of even a first date. Until I met Jacob— a very good-looking guy with an even better looking car. He was tall and intelligent, which is what drew me to him when we met at a wedding I worked at. He was a guest and asked me out as I tried to coordinate the wedding party to enter the reception hall. We connected later, and he offered to take me to a ritzy restaurant. Utterly charmed, I accepted, and we drove in his convertible to the restaurant.

“You look amazing in that dress,” he said, as he handed the valet the keys.

“Thanks. You look nice as well,” I said, admiring the enormous chandelier at the entrance. Already my mind thought like an event planner’s, and I imagined the place would be fabulous to rent out for special occasions.

“Reservations for two,” he told the hostess. He was blond haired, blue-eyed, and delicious. A rush of anxiety mixed in with excitement came over me as I took his arm and we walked through the upscale restaurant. It was my first date since Greg (if you didn’t count any of my time with Harvey in St. Thomas or that picnic as a date), and my nerves wouldn’t quit. I hardly knew Jacob, and we asked each other questions to learn more about one another.

“So when I say I’m at work, I mean I’m off hounding others to do my work for me,” he said, laughing. He told me stories involving the development company he owned. While they weren’t terribly interesting, I loved that he was a self-sufficient man.

I laughed to be polite until the waiter came to take our order. Having decided on a braised beef entrée, I was surprised when he ordered two of the lamb. I’d never had someone order for me and wasn’t sure I liked it.

“I’d really prefer the braised beef over the lamb,” I whispered after the waiter had disappeared.

“Did you? Well, try the lamb. It’s perfection, I promise you won’t be disappointed,” he said, taking my hand, and smiling. “You look lovely. I was so glad you agreed to come out with me. I was afraid you wouldn’t. You must have men pestering you every day.”

“No, not every day,” I said, and I took my hand back as the waiter returned with a worried expression.

“I’m sorry sir, but we are out of the wine for that year. May I suggest the 2010 red Cabernet here?” he said and pointed to the wine list.

Jacob looked very displeased and showed it as he said, “Unacceptable. I specifically requested it over the phone, and the manager assured me it was available. Let me speak to him.”

“I’ll be back with him in a moment, sir,” the waiter said apologetically.

“I won’t be drinking any wine, if that makes a difference,” I said, not wanting to bother the manager.

“Don’t be absurd,” he said. “Lamb without wine is sacrilegious.” He said this gravely, as if it really would be, and I tried not to burst out laughing. I considered getting up at that moment and telling him I didn’t think we meshed well when the waiter came back this way, trailed by the manager. I didn’t see the manager himself until he moved past the waiter to be directly in front of us at the table. My heart stopped— as did whatever he was going to say.

Harvey. Apparently he’d become manager of this restaurant, and here I was on the worst first date with a man who insisted on complaining about a missing wine bottle. While I tried to compose myself and catch my breath, Harvey found his own tongue and spoke to my date.

“I apologize for the misunderstanding. John here tells me you were under the impression you had reserved a bottle of the 2009 wine, but I clearly remember our conversation from earlier where you asked for the 2010 bottle, which I do have on reserve for your table,” he said, looking over at me. He was dashing, in his long sleeve button-down shirt, hair gelled back, and the five-o’clock shadow along his jawline. These past three months I hadn’t allowed myself to think about him, but at that moment my imagination swam with the possibilities. I almost forgot Jacob until he began a long list of complaints about the restaurant beginning with the lack of bread at the table, followed by the unbecoming conduct of the waiter (huh?), to the lack of responsibility with the missing wine bottle.

“I can offer you the 2010 on the house, since I do have that one, for the inconvenience. For you and your beautiful lady,” he said. I tried to hold back a smile as I looked at Jacob, to see what he would say.

“I suppose that will have to do for now,” Jacob said, obviously not pleased. Harvey walked away and brought the bottle back himself. He opened it and served Jacob a small amount for him to taste. Meanwhile, Harvey looked at me with an eyebrow raised. I tried to act like I was enjoying myself and even accepted the wine which Harvey, surprised, poured into my glass.

“Enjoy,” he said and walked off. Now I had to sit through the entire dinner. And eat lamb— how I hated lamb!

After they served our food, Harvey himself came over to check if everything was to our taste.

“It is, thank you,” Jacob said, not looking up. I, however, did catch Harvey’s wink at me. Oooh... that got me riled up. Who did he think he was? Winking at another man’s date?

“Excuse me while I use the restroom,” I said and went off in the direction I had seen him go.

“Where is the manager, please?” I asked a waiter on his way to the kitchen.

“I’ll get him for you,” he said. I followed the man to the back into a small office and moved in front of the waiter.

“It’s fine, she’s a friend,” Harvey said to the waiter who shrugged and left. “So is that your boyfriend? You sure know how to pick ‘em.” He said sitting back down.

“Oh, I do. Like when I picked you, and then you lied to me,” I said.

“I never lied to you, what are you talking about? You know what, never mind. Go back to that snob. It’s what you like anyway, right? Anything with a wallet? Sorry, that was never me.”

“Why would you care? I was just revenge sex as you proved when you threw it in Greg’s face!”

“The only reason I threw it in Greg’s face was because I couldn’t stand it that he still had some kind of hold on you!” he said, slamming his fist on the desk.

“What?” I asked softly.

“I was in love with you, and you were still in love with your husband, so I was jealous. I was being childish and wanted to beat his face in, so I provoked him. And he deserved it for everything he did,” he said with a controlled voice now.

“You were in love with me?” I asked, more surprised than I had ever been in my life.

A waitress bounced into the room on tip toes.

“Harvey, love, there’s a problem in the kitchen,” she said. He stood up, and I walked out and back to my table. Looking back, I saw him and her standing close together in the hallway, and she straightened his collar before leaning up to kiss him. I turned away, my face flush with embarrassment when I saw him looking over at me.

I sat back down and immediately said, “The food doesn’t agree with me. I’m going to leave, but you stay and finish your dinner. My friend is outside to pick me up, and thank you.” I picked up my purse, not leaving Jacob with a chance to say a word and bolted, walking until I got tired. Finally, I called an Uber and took it to Tammy’s, whom I had warned with a cryptic text that I was on my way over.

“Oh it was awful!” I kicked off my heels. She brought out leftover pizza for me.

“Mmmm this is so good. Much better than that overpriced lamb,” I said through a mouthful.

“So tell me… What did Harvey say?” she asked, putting her hands together conspiratorially.

“He said he had been in love with me. That’s why he said that to Greg, because he was jealous that I might still be in love with him,” I told her.

“No!” she said, throwing herself back on the couch. “That is so romantic. So when are you going to tell him you’re in love with him too?”

“I’m not in love with him, Tammy.”

“The hell you’re not. You’ve done such a good job of avoiding him every time I bring up the subject. There’s no way you would do such a thing over someone you didn’t care about. See how worked up you are right now?”

“Well, because it’s something he didn’t tell me back then, and it’s pointless now, anyway. I didn’t speak about him because he’s nothing to me.”

“Uh-huh,” she said, and I knew she didn’t believe me. “How did he look?”

My insides twisted at the question. What could I say? Irresistible, mouth-watering...

“The same. He’s with someone now, anyway. Some waitress,” I told her.

“Oh, well. So I guess Jacob’s out?” she asked with a devilish smile.

“Most definitely,” I said.

“Perfect! We still have our girls’ nights!” she said. I laughed, and we continued to blab on about all subjects until I got tired enough to Uber home.

As I walked down the poorly lit hallway to my door, I saw a shadow moving and almost screamed but quickly realized Harvey sitting on my stoop.

“Why must you scare me half to death?” I scolded.

“Sorry, I’ve been here for an hour since I left the restaurant,” he said. “Can I come in?”

“Fine,” I said. I couldn’t fathom why he’d shown up, but the faster we got this over with, the faster I could go to bed.

“Won’t your girlfriend be upset you’re at another woman’s place?” I asked throwing my heels in the corner.

“She’s not my girlfriend. She’s just- a mistake. Anyway, I came to talk to you about your boyfriend.”

“He was only a first date- and I cut it short,” I said.

“I figured, but when you didn’t come home…” he trailed off.

“How do you know where I live?”

“Marco,” he stated.

“Ah. Well, what did you want to tell me about Jacob? He’s a doofus, that much I know.”

“Well, since you’re not really with him, my job here is much easier. I came to persuade you to dump him and go out with me,” he said, taking a step towards me.

I shook my head to make sure my hearing was right. “I’m sorry, repeat that.”

“I want you to go on a date with me,” he said. “But not to that restaurant. It’s a surprise. Tomorrow, for lunch.” My jaw must have dropped to the floor. Never did I imagine Harvey would stop by my apartment to ask me out on a date.

“Um, OK,” I said cautiously, unsure of how the night had taken such a strange turn.

“I’m leaving before you change your mind. I’ll pick you up at noon. Be ready with sneakers and workout clothes,” he said and closed the door behind him.

A date with sneakers and workout clothes? So much confusion. I threw myself on the bed. He’d been in love with me and now asked me out on a date? Excitement over the next day gave me butterflies, but I tried to tone it down. No point getting my hopes up for nothing.

At twelve on the dot the next day I heard a knock at my door. Checking myself in the mirror one last time, I decided I looked decent enough with my hair in a ponytail and tinted chapstick on my lips.

“Hi,” I said, feeling the same giddiness building I always did around Harvey. He wore a fitted t-shirt, basketball shorts, and sneakers.

“Hi, darlin’. You ready?” he said, looking me up and down. My insides tingled, and I told them to stop. I sported tight lycra shorts and a workout tank top.

“One question. Do I need sunscreen?” I asked. He laughed and told me I did not. We went downstairs, and he opened the car door for me. Driving away from the downtown area, I wondered where we were going. His silence on our destination was amusing, and I looked over at him to ask him again. Suddenly, I was in disbelief. Why was I sitting here with these feelings again? Last time they had caused me so much heartache I had to drown it out with partying and teaching myself to feel numb.

“Well fine, if we can’t discuss where we’re going, then I guess you’ll have to tell me about your new job,” I said, trying to forget all of my concerns.

“That was an upgrade I made when the owner of the other restaurant bought this one too. So now I’m between both places. Keeps me pretty busy.”

“I’ll bet the waitresses keep you busy.”

“Ha! Not so much. But one can get lonely when you’re waiting for the right person to come along,” he said.

“I’m not working at the same place anymore,” I blurted, changing the subject as my pulse quickened.

“Yeah, Marco told me you’re at an event planning company. That’s great. I’m glad you’re doing something you enjoy.”

“You asked Marco about me?” I teased.

“Don’t look so pleased with yourself. I simply asked how you’ve been, though obviously, you hadn’t done the same since you looked very surprised to see me last night,” he accused me.

“No, I haven’t. Honestly, Harvey, I’ve avoided speaking about you altogether,” I said, the emotions returning so quickly that my throat dried up.

“Darlin’, I’m real sorry about that last day at your house. I didn’t want to cause a scene in front of your family. I felt like such a jerk the entire flight over here. Then I had to get you off my mind, but I wanted to apologize, and I didn’t think you’d want to hear from me. I’m just— I’m sorry.”