Falling for Him (Stories of Serendipity) (6 page)

He was fucking somebody else.

She was breathless now, almost on the edge.  "Bryan."

His voice was harsh.  "Scream for me, baby."

"What?"  Oh god, she was almost there.  Bryan's mouth captured her breast again, and he bit down.  Hard.

Amid a terrifying mixture of pain and pleasure, Amy hit the edge and screamed, as the raw release shuddered through her.  He kept pumping furiously, harder and harder, until he came and fell on top of Amy.

Never once did he open his eyes.

When she had caught her breath, Amy said, "Who is she?"

Bryan lifted his head and looked at her.  "Who?"

"Who were you thinking about just then?"

"What?  Nobody."  Amy had known Bryan her entire life, and the guilt in his eyes was clear as glass.

He ducked down and reached for his pants to pull them up, before turning to lower himself back in his recliner.

She watched him, skin glowing with the after-effect of sex, his hair in need of a trim.  His workouts had been working.  Whoever he was trying to impress would be pleased.

Amy sniffed back tears of regret.  "Goodnight, Bryan."

Chapter 5:

The next morning, after her Pilates workout, Amy eagerly logged on for her morning fix with Cool_Hand_Luke.  He was already there.

Cool_Hand_Luke:  How was your night?

Mommee_dearest:  It was alright.
  I think I've made a decision.

Cool_Hand_Luke:  Oh?

Mommee_dearest:  I'm going to file for a divorce.
 

Cool_Ha
nd_Luke:  Did something happen?

Mommee_dearest:  He's
having an affair.

Cool_Hand_Luke:  Oh…I'm sorry.

Mommee_dearest:  It's okay.  It's not like we've had the best marriage in a while.

A tear escaped before Amy even realized she was crying.  She wiped it from her cheek.

Cool_Hand_Luke:  What about the kids?

Mommee_dearest:  Don't you think divorce is better for them than living in a house with two pare
nts who can't stand each other?

Cool_Hand_Luke:  So
, you can't stand your husband?

Mommee_
dearest:  Not after last night…

Cool_Hand_Luke:  What happened
?

Mommee_dearest:  I don't really want to talk about th
at.  Can we change the subject?

Cool_Hand_Luke:  Okay, but just know that I care about you.  If he hurt you, I
want to find him and hurt him.

Mommee_dearest:  Your protectiveness is sweet, Cool_Hand_Luke, but he didn't hurt me physically, so there's no point.  Besides, y
ou still don't know who we are.

Cool_Hand_Luke:  I wish I did…

Mommee_dearest:  Why?  So you can come and hurt him?

Cool_Ha
nd_Luke:  No…I want to see you.

Mommee_dearest:  I don't think now is a good time, Cool_Hand_Luke.  I want to see you too, but I'm really confused, and I don't think that meetin
g you would help the confusion.

Cool_Hand_Luke:  I understand.  So, what are you going to fix for supper tonight?  Have you planned your day that far ahead?

She appreciated his attempt to change the subject, so she told him about the new recipe she was trying out on her family tonight: Bleu-cheese stuffed steaks, with a side of oven-roasted asparagus, drizzled with a balsamic vinegar reduction sauce.

Cool_Hand_Luke:  I wish you were my wife.  That sounds amazing.

Reality hit her like a sledge hammer.  She wasn't his wife.  He was already married.  While he didn't talk about his wife as much as she talked about Bryan, Amy knew that his wife stayed at home and took care of the kids, much like she did.  She wondered if his wife knew what he was up to at work.  A wave of remorse washed over Amy, wondering if Cool_Hand_Luke's wife felt the same way that she did.  Was she the cause of that woman's misery?

Mommee_
dearest:  I've got to go.  TTYL

Cool_Hand_Luke:  Um…Okay.  TTYL.  LY.

Amy logged off the computer, her mind whirling.  LY?  Did that mean Love You?  She wasn't even going to think about that.  That brought way more complications to the table than she was willing to deal with right now.  Right now, she had to figure out what she was going to do about Bryan.

She was certain that Bryan had someone else.  Before last night, it had just been a suspicion, but the way he had made love to her last night, not looking at her, not kissing her at all…Now she was positive.  He may not have had sex with the other woman, but there definitely was another woman.

It was time they just called the marriage off.  They weren't interested in each other any more.  That much was plain to her.  She would talk to a lawyer as soon as she could, and then after the holidays were over, she would present Bryan with the idea of a divorce.  She couldn't ruin Christmas for the kids.

She was surprised that the first lawyer she called was available that afternoon, so she kept herself busy until it was time to get ready to go.

When the time came, she dressed in some slacks and a turtle necked sweater, before driving herself to Michael LeBlanc's office.

Once she got there, she was greeted by an efficient looking woman with her hair pulled back in a tight bun.  She greeted Amy with a smile.

"Mr. LeBlanc will be with you as soon as he gets off the phone.  He won't be a moment."

Amy was too nervous to sit, preferring to stand in the waiting area, until a diminutive man wearing a wrinkled suit came to the doorway.  The thought actually crossed her mind that this might be Cool_Hand_Luke.  She looked at him in question, but dismissed the thought.  If she did that, she’d make herself crazy.

"Mrs. Caldwell?  Come back here to my office."  He turned, and she had to jog to keep up with him, as he led her to a cramped room devoid of anything personal.  His walls were bare with the exception of a few diplomas.  The bookshelves were filled with books piled haphazardly on them.  File boxes with papers spilling out were stacked in every conceivable space.

Sitting behind his desk, he flashed her a harried smile.  "How can I help you today?"

"I'm looking into a divorce.  I need to know how complicated it will be."

"That all depends on how complicated you want it to be.  And the other party, of course.  Will it be amicable, do you think?"

She pursed her lips.  "Oh yes, I think so."  Surely he wouldn’t fight it.  After all, he apparently already had somebody lined up to take her place.

"A quicky divorce is simply a matter of filing the proper paperwork with the courts.  Assuming there are no custody battles or issues with property.  The more of that stuff, the more expensive and time-consuming it will be."

Amy asked a few more questions before her curiosity was satisfied.  She took home the necessary information for the lawyer's end and bid him a quick good-bye.

Once she was back home, Amy changed clothes and started making dinner.  Brad was at a friend’s house and Ashley was supposed to pick him up when she was finished with her after-school tutorials, so Amy was free to cook the meal in peace.

When the kids got home, she set them to helping her finish things up before Bryan came in from work.

"It smells good, Mom."  Brad sniffed appreciatively.

"Yeah.  I like most of the new recipes you've been trying lately," Ashley chimed in.

"Thanks, guys.  I appreciate that."

Her timing was perfect.  Amy put the last platter on the table, just as Bryan was coming in the door.  When he plopped down in his seat at the table, he looked at the steak in front of him, oozing bleu cheese, then the platter of asparagus.  His face paled, and he looked up at Amy, wide-eyed. 

"What?"  She asked him, wondering what she'd done wrong this time, but not really caring.

"N-Nothing.  Looks great."  He dropped his gaze and started eating.  He took a couple of bites, then looked at Brad.  "How was your day, buddy?”  Bryan actually leaned over and ruffled his hair.  Amy watched the boy flush with pleasure at the attention.

“It was okay.  I went to Mark’s after school.  He got a new PS3.  I want one for Christmas.”  His wide eyes looked at Bryan, pleading. 

Bryan didn’t acknowledge him.  Amy watched him as he stared at his plate of food, before finally cutting a piece of steak and putting it in his mouth.  His eyes rose to Amy’s while he chewed.  Trepidation rose in her gut as she watched him glare at her angrily.  His jaw muscles worked as he chewed and stared.  Amy finally dropped her eyes and speared a piece of asparagus.  Bryan turned to Ashley.  “Don't you have a recital or something coming up, Ashley?”  She stared back at him wide-eyed.  He never expressed an interest in her dancing events.

"Yeah, in three weeks.  We're dancing at the Christmas festival downtown on Saturday."

"Do we have Thanksgiving plans?"  Bryan asked Amy, the angry glare gone, something else in his eyes.

"Just the usual.  Dinner here.  Any requests for side dishes or desserts?"  She looked around the table, thankful to not have to see Bryan anymore.  She couldn’t imagine what she’d done to elicit such glares from him and was glad to change the subject to one she was familiar with at the dinner table.  Food.

Chatter ensued about their favorites from what Amy had been trying out, and she made a mental menu plan in her head for Thanksgiving Feast, as it had been named by Ashley when she was three.  Thanksgiving was next week, and the kids were out of school.  They were making plans to spend time with their friends. 

As idle as the chit chat was, Amy couldn't stop the emotions inside her from roiling around.  Her thoughts spun around Bryan's affair, to Cool_Hand_Luke's wife, to Cool_Hand_Luke himself, to her kids and how they would be affected by a divorce.  She watched her family around the dinner table, knowing that she and Bryan were pretending.  Pretending.

As soon as she could, Amy gathered the dishes and took them to the kitchen to start washing.  The kids went up to their rooms to do homework, and Bryan went to the living room to watch the news.  When she was finished, instead of joining him, she went upstairs to their bedroom and took a long, hot bath, hoping to soak away some of her tension. 

Visiting the lawyer had taken a load off her shoulders, knowing that now she had a plan.  She knew what was in store for her future, and it wasn't a resentful marriage.  She was glad about that.  She had money saved up from an inheritance, so she would be okay on that front.  She would probably get the kids, since Bryan worked all the time.  She would need to find a job, but she had some skills.  It wouldn't be a great job, but the kids were old enough, maybe she could go back to school and finish her degree.  Teaching was a pretty good job, and she would have holidays and summers off.

Most importantly, she would have herself.  She would be able to re-create her identity.

The only thing was Cool_Hand_Luke.  What would he do?  She had always thought that women who had affairs with married men were idiots.  But that was before she had done what she'd done.  She was basically having an affair herself.  She couldn't deny it.  She wasn't divorcing Bryan so that she could be with Cool_Hand_Luke.  She knew that even if she hadn’t been talking to him online, her marriage would have still deteriorated. 

But she still wondered about him.  Would he divorce his wife to be with her?  She didn't think so.  Men didn't do that.  As long as the wife didn't find out, they were happy with the affair.

No, she was doing this for herself.  It would be nice if Cool_Hand_Luke would divorce his wife, but that was just Amy trying to justify her own actions.  If he divorced his wife, that would validate Amy's feelings for him, to some degree.  It would show her that he felt the same way about her that she felt for him.  She wasn’t strange for finding solace in the words of a stranger.

No, Cool_Hand_Luke was just extra.  She had to keep telling herself that.  Sure, she liked him a lot.  But she couldn't say that she loved him.  Even though she thought about him constantly.  She wondered what he would think about the food she was trying out on her family.  If he would like the way she looked when she fixed her hair a certain way.  If he would look at her with desire in his eyes.  If he would make tender love to her, the way she craved.  If he would lose control around her.

She sighed heavily and rose from the bathtub, putting those thoughts aside.  She had to get through the holiday, then divorce Bryan, then she could think about a future with Cool_Hand_Luke.  Until then, she just had to keep getting through her days.

Amy walked into the bedroom, wrapped in her towel, to see Bryan standing by the bed, looking at her with an inscrutable expression on his face.

"What?"  She asked, her tone harsher than she'd intended.  But she wasn't apologetic.  After last night's episode, she wasn't really in the mood to be nice.  He'd used her.  He'd pretended she was someone else.  Someone he really wanted.