Thinking about a private beach made me think of another thing, our trip. We were supposed to be leaving out today, for the best romantic getaway we could find. I audibly sighed, knowing there was no way in hell THAT was going to happen now. I winced in pain from the bruise as I exhaled deeply. What the hell was I going to do now? I guess it was time to formulate a plan of some kind, but what?
“Shawn, could you do me a favor, man? I need you to go scout my house to see if my wife is home. I will ride with you in the back seat, and if she isn’t there, I can run in and grab my stuff. If she’s home, you can just tell her that you took me to the hospital or something like that, OK?”
He looked at me, “Of course man, anything. Whatcha’ planning?” he asked.
“I need a plan, actually. But for now, I plan to lay low, and figure out my next move against both Cyrus and Caitlin. I know I’m going to completely FUCK Cyrus up, but still unsure of what to do about Cait. I love that woman more than myself, but now… I hate the bitch, too.”
I really wasn’t looking forward to thinking about her right now. I would have to confront my wife at some point, but for now, just the thought of seeing her again made me want to vomit. I will likely NEVER get the image of her getting banged by Cyrus out of my head.
“OK man, well let’s get ready to go over there, and then you can figure out what you want to do after.” Shawn suggested.
I was really glad that he was my friend, and not just our mechanic. Shawn had been one of my groomsmen, alongside my old college friend, Todd, that had been my best man. I had met Todd during my junior year at State, and I had met Shawn after I had graduated, and was about half-way done with my commercial flight training. Caitlin and I had stayed in touch with Todd, visiting him and his family every month or so. Shawn didn’t really like Caitlin too much, but it might be due to his natural tendency to mistrust all women. His wife had left him a few years ago, to run away with an older, more ‘sophisticated guy’, or at least that what she had told him. Apparently the guy had money, and could provide her the real pampered lifestyle that a mechanic just couldn’t afford. I felt bad at the time, and was now starting to understand how it felt.
What is it with these women? At the start, you are good enough for them, happy enough with us to marry. Why after time passes, do some seem to get greedy, and suddenly we aren’t good enough anymore? I think I was about to be in the same boat as Shawn, a woman hater. Damn, I really needed to clear my head. I wasn’t ready to swear off all women yet. Just one would do for right now.
He drove me over to my house, stopping a few houses away to make sure that no one was home. We didn’t see my wife’s car, nor any sign of lights on inside. By this time it was around lunchtime. If my wife had gone to church, like we usually do, she would be home soon. That was a funny thought by itself, my unfaithful wife going to church. It was a good thing we weren’t Catholic, or she would be in confession forever. If she hadn’t gone to church, we might have more time. Either way, I wanted to be out of here as quickly as possible.
He drove closer and pulled the car into my driveway. We both jumped out, and I ran to the front door to unlock it. With one last glance around the entire neighborhood, not seeing anyone watching, I went inside. When I got in, the whole living room had been cleaned spotless, as if last night had never happened. The only thing that was missing was the busted coffee table. Its pieces had been removed, it seemed. I did see the photos on the dining room table from the night before, so grabbed them and made sure those came with me. Caitlin would hate those, once she actually looked at them in the light of day.
I walked into the kitchen, grabbed two bottles of Sam Adams from the fridge. Hey, they were my beers, and good ones, so why the HELL NOT? I then proceeded to head towards the bedroom. I pulled my suitcase out from under the bed, and began loading it with as much clothing as I could. I went into the bathroom, grabbed my toiletries bag, and put all of those items needed to keep myself clean in it. With that done, I put the toiletries inside my suitcase, zipped it up, and rolled it out into the living room.
Other than the missing coffee table, it looked just like it always did. I scanned, and spotted my cell phone and wallet sitting on an end table by the couch. I grabbed both, and pocketed the wallet. My phone said I had missed messages… I would check those later.
I went to my home office, and grabbed my laptop bag. I opened up our little fire safe, and grabbed my passport. I had a small stash of cash in there as well, so grabbed it. I had no idea when I would be back to the house, IF I even came back.
Considering myself done, I went back into the living room. I took a hard look around the room, and realized that I would really miss this house, and these rooms. All the memories attached to every item we had collected, was breaking my heart even more. On the mantle, where we had our family pictures, was one in particular, that I loved. It was of the three of us, when we visited Caitlin’s parents for Christmas. It must have been about three or four years ago.
“FUCK YOU!” I yelled at the walls. Shawn just let me get it out, and said nothing.