Hungry for Love (37 page)

“
Ahhhh
,
honey it
’
s okay.  You
’
ll be okay.  Come here.
”
  Bill wrapped his arms around Laura and held her tightly until the sobbing turned into an occasional sniffle.  Then she dabbed her face again and blew her nose.  They sat down together on a couple of chairs and just tried to breathe for a while.

“
Are you going to leave him
?”
Bill asked.

“
I don
’
t know.
”

“
The two divorce thing
?”

“
Maybe I
’
ll just let him see me snuggling in bed a few times with the puppy.  Drive him totally over the edge.
”

They both laughed as Laura continued
,
“
Here I am sobbing all over you
,
and you
’
re in the same boat I am.
”

Bill shrugged. 
“
You know—I don
’
t actually feel that bad.  I keep waiting for it to sink in
,
but all I can think of is two things.  First
,
JoEllen is dead.  She
’
s not coming back.  And second
,
Chrissy is history.  Thank God!
”
  He stopped to think for a moment and realized he
’
d been right earlier—everything had changed tonight
,
just not in the way he
’
d expected but somehow it was all right. 
“
You know—I gained fifteen pounds since she moved in.
”

They both laughed and Laura said
,
“
Be glad it was you.  If she
’
d gained weight from living with you
,
she probably would
’
ve hired a couple thugs to murder you.
”

“
No kidding!
”
Bill smiled and shook his head then his voice grew softer
,
“
So I guess I
’
m back to square one again.  All alone.
”

“
You
’
re so much better off without her.  She was just a diversion.  Someone else will come along.  You
’
ll see.  And you
’
ll be happy again. In love again.
”

Bill looked into Laura
’
s eyes and grew dazzled by what she was saying.  Happy again.  In love again.  Compelling words.  As if entranced
,
he reached over to kiss her
,
which she assumed was a peck on the cheek but as soon as she realized what he was about to do
,
Laura leapt up and stared at him
,
her hands on her hips.

“
What are you doing
?”

“
I thought…you looked so…it seemed like….
”

“
Good God
,
Bill
,
you
’
re doing it again—this time trying to plug me in for JoEllen.  That
’
s not right.
”

“
No
,
wait
,
I don
’
t think so.
”
He reached for her again but she jumped back.

“
For God
’
s sake
,
are all you men the same
?”

“
But it
’
s been so wonderful spending this time with you
,
and I felt
,
I felt….
”

“
Of course you
’
ve enjoyed it—all we do is talk about JoEllen.  I
’
m like a conduit to her.  And that
’
s fine because we
’
re friends.  But why would I want to be with someone who just wants me to remember his wife with him.  That
’
s not love.  Love is you see someone and you can
’
t remember anyone else
,
not even JoEllen.
”

“
Ah geez I
’
m sorry
,”
said Bill.

“
Forget it.  That was one hell of a crappy party.
”

Bill laughed. 
“
Yeah
,
let
’
s get the kids and go home.
”

There was a benefit to infidelity despite the obvious
,
Kevin thought.  The time he was spending mentally calculating the penance he
’
d have to pay
,
the gifts he
’
d have to buy
,
the promises he
’
d have to make in order to keep his wife in line
,
had completely taken his mind off the traveling circus of psychosis that driving along Sunset Boulevard had become.  He almost laughed.  How had he let himself become so paranoid
?
  Just this afternoon he was peering to the left and to the right like a pony express driver deep in Indian country.  Surely it was just some crazy coincidence.  After all what had that teeny bopper in blue said—the car he was certain was after him was the most popular car on the road.  Or the most popular SUV.  Something like that.  Come to think of it
,
he
’
d been through so much lately.  He was in a precarious mental state because of this presumed harassment
,
and that might make sense to Bill when he went in to confront him about this rift between them.  Yes
,
he
’
d have to kiss some hairy ass
,
do some genuflecting
,
make some threats too.  He could hire a lawyer too
,
for sure he could threaten that.  After all
,
Chrissy wasn
’
t Bill
’
s wife and the point could be made that Kevin
’
s temporary insanity had saved Bill from a terrible fate—marriage.  Bill was a reasonable man and Kevin could probably make him see it that way. 

Or he could say it was Chrissy
’
s fault.  He was there just to do a good deed
,
to pick up his partner
’
s girlfriend for a surprise party and how could he know she would force him to have sex with her
?
  That was another kind of surprise
,
one he wasn
’
t ready to defend against.  In his state of hysteria
,
how could he be responsible for his actions
?
  Kevin took a deep breath
,
and he realized he was starting to feel a lot better.  Things were looking up.  And then Kevin too looked up and there they were—again—almost neck and neck with him in a single lane.  How did the cars not crash
?

Something in Kevin snapped.  He wasn
’
t going to take this any longer.  First his partner
’
s girlfriend practically rapes him
,
his partner threatens him with shysters
,
his wife looks at him like he
’
s garbage and now this—well somewhere he had to draw the line.

“
Okay
,
motherfucker
,”
he said
,
enraged
,
“
See how you like it!
”
  And he sped up
,
and wow did the Porsche respond like a dream—worth every penny he
’
d paid for it
,
and then
,
just like one of those steely race car drivers
,
he spun the car around and now he was the one chasing that demented asshole. 
“
Take that
,
you piece of shit
,”
he said with much satisfaction
,
although of course the windows were closed and nobody heard but him.  Maybe he should open the window so they
’
d hear what he had to say—just before he ran them off the road.  Yeah
,
justice at last. The chase continued with the hunter becoming the hunted or so it seemed in Kevin
’
s imagination. 

“
The worm has turned
,”
exclaimed Butch grimly
,
as her hands tightened on the steering wheel.  She and Wimp exchanged one frantic glance.