Interlude (6 page)

Karen and Cal packed up their things as the
rising sun filled their room. Karen gave an audible laugh as she
looked in the bottom of her suitcase.

“And to think we could have given this a try
tonight.” She said, holding up a skimpy lace ensemble that left
very little to the imagination. It had straps and buckles and so
much going on that Cal could only stare open-mouthed as she balled
it back up and stuffed it in her bag with a frustrated sigh. She
turned back around, her face tense in thought as she found the
words to express her emotions.

“I really had a good time yesterday. I know
this is weird because we haven't known each other that long, but I
feel like you fill a need in me that I didn't know I had. Hell,
this is the first time with each other in real life, and I feel
like we've been together for years! I don't want this to be the
last time I see you.” she said, grasping his open shirt as he tried
to button it. He brought her into his arms, her face pushing
against his chest as she smelled his scent. Her newly applied
lipstick brushed off on his skin as he smelled her hair.

“We'll find a way. I can't get this small of
a taste and not want more. You're the cinnamon to my oatmeal!” Cal
said finally.

“What's with all the food talk? Don't they
feed you?” She asked, giving him a crooked smile.

“Girl, if they fed me something as powerful
as you, I'd never even fit through the door!” Cal said as he
finished buttoning his shirt.

The rest of the morning passed too quickly as
they both texted and Karen double checked her flight plans. She had
another terse conversation with the guy named Soren, but she tried
her best to keep it from Cal's hearing. Perhaps out of courtesy? He
thought to himself. They walked to their cars hand in hand, Karen's
luggage wheeling noisily behind them as it bounced off the cracks
in the concrete. After Karen loaded her bags, they held one another
for a longtime. Only the quiet chirping of birds, and their own
beating hearts, was audible in the secluded little parking lot.

“I'm gonna miss you.” Karen said finally.

“Me too.” Cal said. He wished they could just
stay together in some secluded place forever, hiding from the
waiting world and making love constantly. She reached up to kiss
him, her soft lips pressed against his as she held the back of his
head. Her fingers were still knotted in his hair when they finally
broke for air. “We'll be together again, I swear. I'll do whatever
to make it happen.” Cal stated with sincere resolve.

“Promise?” She said.

“Promise!” He said, giving her his boyish
smile and a confident nod as they finally parted ways.

Cal tuned out most of the way back to his
house. He recalled all the sensations, all the wonderful times that
he took that hot, lovely woman as his own. Her own enthusiasm as
they made out like teenagers and screwed each other’s brains out
whenever they were alone. Cal noticed distantly that the porch
light was on as he pulled into the driveway. He knew he turned it
off when he left. As his key moved toward the lock, the door swung
open all on its own. Momentarily startled, Cal was relieved to see
it was just Alice. She was supposed to be gone until Monday
evening, but he guessed she came back early from Kelley’s. She had
a look that portrayed more than her usual displeasure with him. Cal
could feel his stomach flip-flop as she spoke through gritted
teeth.

“Who is she?” Alice hissed slowly. Cal, not
really knowing what to do, simply slid by her in the doorway and
shuffled up the stairs to the bedroom. He threw his gym bag on the
bed and started unloading the weekend's laundry. Alice had followed
him up, her hands on her hips as she waited for the answer. “Well?
I'm waiting!” Her temper was oddly calm for someone suspecting an
affair, but then again, Cal was never good at reading her wild
emotions.

“I saw your laptop when I came home.
“wewontell.com”? Are you kidding me?” She screeched. Cal pondered
as to how she could have known about the site. He had been so
careful, even going so far as to doctor the server logs at work
every day to hide the evidence of his and Karen's messages and
emails. Then he finally realized what he had done. He couldn’t help
what happened next: He started laughing! At first an uncontrollable
grin spread across his face that slowly built to a chuckle, then
finally loud guffaws as he realized that he had stayed logged on to
the very website that he had been so careful to hide! “What a
noob!” He thought to himself as he slapped his forehead, tears in
his eyes as his laughter finally tapered off. Alice was taken aback
by his odd response.

“I've been having an affair.” he finally
said, wiping his eyes while still wearing that stupid grin.

“A WHAT!” Alice shrieked.

“You heard me. An affair. Jeremy signed me up
as a joke on some dating website because he knows how miserable I
am. Hell, every living thing on this planet knows how miserable I
am!” He said, throwing his hands up.

Cal paused for a moment, his mind plotting
this new course. He now had a plan. There was no hiding this! He
grabbed his gym bag off the bed and began stuffing the contents of
his dresser drawers into it as Alice followed behind him. Her
little red face sort of cute to him as his bag was now filled to
bursting with his clothing. He really didn't need much else. His
psyche formed a strong new person in him as he gathered what little
he considered his. The realization that he held so little
importance to this house, and the things in it, made him laugh to
himself again. As he went over to grab his laptop, Alice blocked
his way.

“Answer me! You owe me an explanation!” She
said. Her hand on his chest to halt his advance. With a smirk, he
pulled her close for a slow and drawn out kiss. He playfully chewed
her lip as she finally accepted his sensual attack on her. As her
hands felt about on his body, grasping and pawing at him in
building arousal, he broke the bond between them. She gazed up at
him, her confused eyes holding both anger and lust as he pushed her
away. He grabbed his laptop and deftly swirled the charge cord
around his hand, dropping the whole snarl of cables into the bag
with his clothes. As he made his way to the door, Alice shouted at
him but it had little effect.

“Daddy will fire you!” She said, her little
fists clenched in rage.

“I would hope so.” Cal said in return.

“I'll ruin you! We'll all make sure you'll
never work in finance again!” She squeaked.

“Again, I'd be surprised if you didn't.” He
said camly over his shoulder as he walked down the stairs.

“I'll.., I'll divorce you!” She bleated.

“Refer to my last answer.” Cal said with a
chuckle. He tripped over the threshold as he exited out into the
mid-day heat. He stumbled over that thing daily. It's as if the
house didn't even want him there! He popped the trunk with his key
fob as Alice grabbed at his arm.

“But, I love you.” She said in a tone that
suggested that she really was confused. He gently pried her hand
off his forearm while he closed the trunk.

“I'm not sure you know what that means. I
have to go. I've had an epiphany that basically makes it impossible
for me to be here anymore, to be here with you.” He said. His tone
that of a person consoling a bratty child. He watched her confused
and angry stare as he slowly backed out of the driveway. Going down
to the end of the street, he paused at the stop sign for a while.
The ticking and rattling of his car's little engine his new
marching music as he decided which way to turn. He finally thumbed
the turn signal right as he pulled his phone out.

“Hey Jeremy. Something's come up and I need
to crash at your place.” Cal said before his friend could
speak.

“Yeah, Alice already texted my wife. Did you
really just bail on her?! She said you hooked up with some girl
from that site I put your profile on! Did you? You're crazy dude!
They're gonna put you through the wringer man! You worked for her
dad! DUDE! You're out of a job too!” He said in amazement.

Jeremy's litany of revelations made Cal smile
as he unfolded his sunglasses. The old Cal would have been in a
panic attack and looking for the Xanax. He somehow knew that the
old Cal was gone now. This new persona was so much stronger, so
much more powerful! He'd started going to the gym to build up
muscle to maybe impress Alice and her waning libido, but he now
knew that he had the stuff inside him all along! His new biceps and
defined build were icing on this new cake that Karen had made out
of him.

“Naw, my old lady would kill me. She and
your....uh, ex-wife, heh heh, are pretty tight.” He said
awkwardly.

“You fucking owe me man! You were the one who
signed me up on that damned site!” Cal said. He let out a long
sigh. “Don't you still have that travel trailer in your side yard?”
Cal asked in frustration.

“Uh, yeah. You can stay there. I guess you'll
be doing it pro bono since you're newly unemployed?” Jeremy said.
He was also trying to appease his wife, his muffled argument with
her audible through his hand over the phone.

“Cool. Thanks man!” Cal said. He knew Jeremy
would fall for the guilt card!

Cal spent the next few hours dodging ugly
looks from Jeremy's wife and kids as he took up residence in the
dated travel trailer. Apparently the kids had taken to using it as
their playhouse during the off season. The visit from “Uncle Cal”
an unwelcome intrusion into their space. Cal's friend lived in the
same, average housing tract as him and Alice, but his house was a
cul de sac model. It was also up on a hill, giving Cal a nice
sunset view from the trailer as his weird new life took shape.

Cal finally texted Karen when things had
calmed down. He resolved to not tell her about the relationship
status adjustment. They were simply too new of a couple to make
that kind of drama work! She had mentioned flying back East, but he
didn't know how far. Was she off the plane yet? Maybe she was busy
with the troublesome client that had cut their weekend short? Cal
waited patiently as he rummaged through the trailer's food stores.
“I'll have to go shopping.” He thought to himself as he awaited
Karen's reply. As the sky turned to dusk, he was puzzled as to why
he had not heard from Karen yet. He tried not to worry, this not
being like her at all. She was usually so quick to send him a
response. He hated to seem like a nagging, needy boyfriend, but she
was starting to worry him. He took his mind off things by taking
stock of his existing resources in this new life. He got out his
laptop. Given that he did programming, Cal would never make do with
an off the shelf machine. This one had been custom built for PC
gaming, but it served his needs as an IT nerd perfectly. The
powerful machine was also his weapon of choice for his mobile app
work. When he had signed on with his latest project, he took a
lower payout on the job in return for stock in the company, as well
as retained intellectual rights on the code that he had written. He
knew that this app, a game that lets you find your friends via cell
phone, was probably going to go nowhere, but he needed the sense of
ownership on something other than his normal work stuff.

He sent an email to Barry, his customer for
the app work. He offered his services full time if needed, and
intoned that he would take anything freelance that came up. He
clicked send and waited again for Karen's reply. After cracking
into Jeremy's protected WIFI, Cal watched the news online as he
heated some dried noodle Ramen. He dozed off just as the
anchorwoman broke a story about a hostage situation in Alabama
involving state troopers and a white separatist group.

Cal startled awake. The morning sun heating
the trailer. Realizing he had nowhere in particular to be, he
checked his phone again. Still no text from Karen. He swiped his
finger on the laptop's track pad and waited for the screen to blink
on. There was an email from Barry stating that he had much more
freelance work, but no positions for programmers as of late. Cal
sighed. At least he could save up for an apartment. He spent the
day busying himself with chores to appease his new landlords. He
mowed for Jeremy, and took care of the shorted light fixture in
their back yard. After that, he made his way to the market for some
real food. The whole time he checked his phone religiously for her
response. He made his way to the gym after unloading the groceries.
He pushed his way through his workout mechanically, not getting the
endorphin release he usually did. He knew why too. His new source
of endorphins was halfway across the country. He cursed her ability
to withhold this from him. The feelings that she stirred in him!
Now he was left to wait for her as he struggled to make sense of
things.

Cal checked his email again. There was a new
stack of jobs from Barry. Some work for a new online auction site.
Cal had a piece of code he developed that allowed him to write
network infrastructures almost automatically. He had won an award
for an earlier version of it in college, right before he met Alice.
Since then, he used his spare time to refine the code and make it
self-executing. All he had to do was enter some objectives, define
some parameters, and entire TCP/IP layers would begin to form and
connect. He tried explaining the value of this to people, but it
was no use. Instead, he would use it on all of these jobs Barry was
sending in. He could see the money now as his phone vibrated
quietly in his pocket. It was her! He didn't recognize the number
she was sending from though.

Sorry I didn't get back to you! Things got
weird with the client. I have 2 take care of some stuff, but when I
get back we need 2 talk. You deserve to know the truth. XOXO
Toots!

“Holy crap!” Cal whispered to himself in the
trailer. He texted back to the new number: