It had been seven days since she'd seen
him. And she'd cried every one of those days. A whole week of tears,
and for what? To ease her guilt?
She had no one to blame. She's the one
that had broken things off. No contact. That was what she'd said. And
now she was miserable.
But it wasn't because she was lonely.
She'd never been lonely. A husband, two jobs, a lover and two best
friends all vying for her attention. Only now, she didn't have the
lover. She'd known that it would eventually come to this.
It had to be him or the husband. Had
she made the right choice?
She wasn't even sure how she and Sam
had gotten romantically involved. It had started innocently enough.
David was the one that had introduced them. Sam was one of his
childhood friends, and after Sam's divorce, he'd moved back to town
and reconnected with David. Then there was the end of summer
barbecue, and Sam came alone. He shook her hand when David introduced
them and it made her go weak in the knees.
Carly and David had been married for
eleven years, and she loved her husband. David was a traveling
salesman and although he was gone three weeks out of the month, she
knew she couldn't use that as an excuse.
She was fine being alone, that wasn't
the problem. She was restless and bored. And she needed the
excitement that Sam brought into her life. Late night rendezvous and
clandestine meetings. It made her heart race and her skin tingle.
Just thinking about him made her giddy. He was tall and muscular,
with blond hair that fell into small curls at the nape of his neck.
He had deep blue eyes and a Southern accent that made her melt.. He
was everything David wasn't.
But then... David got fired. Now he was
home all the time, and her unexplained outings were being
scrutinized. She had grown weary of the dishonesty. It had been
different when he was away, but now she had to face him, look into
his eyes and lie. It was more than she could bear.
They had been happy once; years ago it
had been David that gave her butterflies. She longed for those times
again. But she feared it could never be recovered. She had tasted the
forbidden fruit of Sam and now she realized there was no turning back
the clock. No matter how much her guilt ate away at her soul, she
couldn't shake the emptiness she felt since she'd decided to walk the
straight and narrow.
Sam had been her secret pleasure. Not
even her best friends knew, and she wasn't about to tell them now
that it was over. No, she was going to have to face the facts, and
try to rebuild her relationship with her husband. Of course he had
been the logical choice, the only one that made sense. And yet... she
couldn't help second guessing her decision. She thought it would be
easier to say good-bye to Sam and never look back. But looking back
was all she'd done. She missed him. And soon the cold hard
realization began to sink in. She was in love with Sam.
There was nothing to be done. She was
going to have to tell David. Then there would be a messy divorce, and
she would lose everything she'd struggled for years to maintain. And
for what? The reality was, that life with Sam might not be as
thrilling as it appeared. But there was only one way to find out. Was
it worth the risk?
She decided it was.
She would come clean that night. She
would pack her things, and confess her sins. And by next week, she'd
be with Sam.
On her drive home from work, she got
everything straight in her head. She would be honest, and succinct.
He could have everything, she just wanted out.
Upon her arrival, she found David
sitting in the living room in the dark.
“What's going on? Why are you sitting
in the dark?” she questioned as she turned on lights in the foyer.
He sat motionless in his recliner.
“David? What's... what's the matter?
You're scaring me.”
She flicked on the lamp next to him,
illuminating his red face and swollen eyes. He'd been crying.
He reached his hands up to her, “Carly,
come here.”
She took his hands and knelt at his
feet. He must've found out about Sam. She hadn't wanted him to hear
it from someone else. This was going to be harder than she thought.
But she had no choice now but to come clean. The sooner she got this
out of the way, the sooner she could start a new life with Sam.
“David....I...I don't know what to
say. I'm so sorry. I wanted to be the one to tell you. And we never
meant for it to happen... it's just... you're gone so much... and
Sam... Sam has been there for me. And we...”
He jerked his hands away.
“What the hell are you talking
about?”
“David... Sam and I have been seeing
each other for about a year. And.... and I want a divorce. He loves
me, and I love him.”
He laughed. Not just a chuckle, but
full on raucous laughter.
“Carly... you fool. You are so
self-centered, you always were. If only you'd kept your mouth shut.
There was a horrible accident out on route 5 this morning. Sam is
dead.”
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