Silent Exit (2 page)

     'Tess is new.' This brought Tess
back to the circle with a jolt.

     'Um …. yes.' She started to say.

     'Hi everyone, I'm Tess, my
boyfriend is the group training director for a mining company here. I'm not
working, but I love to read.'

     Everyone welcomed her. She realized
that they had made food and brought it in. They were even explaining their
recipes. This meeting was becoming more and more like the stepford wives, she
felt uncomfortable, it was fake.  One of the girls from the other end of the
table approached her. Her build was slight and she had obviously spent too much
time in the sun. She was puffing on a cigarette and releasing the smoke as she
spoke.

     'Tess would you and your boyfriend
like to join us for dinner tomorrow night?'

     'I will check with David and see if
he is free.' She replied.

     'Take my number.'

     The girl pushed her mobile phone
under Tess's nose.

     'I'm Trudy. I've been here a few
months. I know what it's like when you first get here.' She nudged her head in
the direction of the women at the table and raised her eyebrows.

     Tess laughed, it seemed Trudy felt
the same way as her, maybe it wasn't going to be so difficult in Vietnam after
all.

     Dinner with Trudy and her husband
Dan had been fun. They were both heavy drinkers, but they're hearts were kind.
Trudy and Tess became quite good friends and got together every few days for
coffee or lunch.

     The loud sound of David snoring in
his drunken coma brought Tess out of her thoughts. She had a lump in her throat
and she felt sick. They had been in Vietnam for eighteen months, so much had
happened. She knew that she had to make a final attempt to talk to David.

     The following evening, she did just
that. He was as rude and as stubborn as ever. She had tortured herself enough
and was beginning to realize that his problems were not her fault.

     'I'm just so unhappy David. You
haven't slept with me for months.'

     She was sobbing. Her nose was full
and she was using tissues at a furious rate.

     'Yes, well maybe it's because you
nag me when I get home from work Tess. It's rather distracting.'

     His tone was dismissive.

     'David, you're out till the early
hours of the morning most weekends, whilst I'm home alone.'

     David sighed deeply and continued
to look at his mobile phone.

     'Look Tess, I ask you to come out
with me and you don't want to. If you want to stay home and isolate yourself,
be my guest. But don't then get angry with me because you cannot control me and
tell me what to do.'

     Tess had become really ill months
back and was still struggling to recover fully. She had already been diagnosed
with a parasite and had received treatment for it, but not long after, one
morning in December, she had slumped to the floor in a heap. Her body started
to seize up and she was struggling to breath. David had rushed her to the
hospital. She had taken a bad reaction the medicine and contracted measles at
the same time. Her immune system had taken a beating and she spent months
recovering until now. Seven months to be precise. It had left her with post
viral fatigue and asthma.

     She continued to reason with him
and battle with his answers. He had smart comments for everything that she
said. He knew deep down, she was still too unwell to sit in smoky bars in her
condition.

     David had not made any intimate
advances towards Tess in months and he did little to explain why this was
happening. She had asked him if he was having an affair, he just laughed at her
and said that she was deluded. He snored so bad, that Tess had taken the spare
room. He had promised to quit smoking and drinking, which added to this
problem. Of course, he had done nothing, in fact his alcohol consumption and
smoking had got much worse.

     Tess walked out of the room and
took refuge in her bedroom, she was still sobbing and her throat hurt, as did
her heart. She felt broken. She heard the door slam. David had left, gone to
one of the bars no doubt. She flipped open her laptop and opened her chat
window. Stefan had sent her yet another message. She thought about his deep
brown eyes and his athletic physique. She longed for his strong arms to hold
her. Feeling lonely and vulnerable, she messaged him back.

     Tess: Hello, are you there?

     His response was immediate.

     Stefan: Yes.

     Stefan: Tess why have you ignored
me for so long, I miss you.

     Tess: I need someone to talk to ….

     Stefan: What's wrong?

     Tess: I've been terribly sick and
I'm very, very lonely :(

     Stefan: What do you mean you’re
sick??!!!!

     Tess: I've been through an ordeal
and I'm coming out the other side.

     Stefan: Your phone number. Now !

     Tess: It's not appropriate at the
moment.

     Her heart was racing and she was
now crying even more. She wanted to speak to him so badly, but had never
revealed any emotion to him before and couldn't start now. Besides, what would
his wife think?

     Tess: Stefan I'm OK, just feeling a
little down.

     Stefan: I want to help Tess. Tell
me what to do?

     Stefan: Is that clown still
drinking?

     Tess: Yes.

     Stefan: You need to remove him from
your life Tess.

     Stefan had read through the lines
and realized early on, that David was not good for her. Her emails and texts
had revealed enough to him over the years. Tess explained everything that had
been going on and that before now she had been too ill to travel home. She was
surprised about his concern, but reminded herself yet again that he was
married. She promised to keep Stefan updated.

     Tess fell asleep eventually, but
was woken by David rolling in at just after 3am. He seemed to care little about
going to work in the morning, but he had probably been with his boss and
wouldn't need an excuse. They were both as bad as each other, with the booze.
He opened the bedroom door.

     'You still mad at me?' He slurred.

     He was swaying in the door way.
Tess rolled over and ignored him.

     'I love you Tess, you do know that
don't you?'

     Silence.

     The following morning, she decided
it would be best to leave. She had finally given up. He would not change and
she now knew this. Today was her day to depart. David had managed to get up for
work. She walked into the bedroom. His shirt from last night lay on the bed.
She lifted it to her nose and tears began to fall. She would not see him again
and he was sure to drink himself into an early death.

     'I'm sorry David.' She whispered.

     As she boarded the plane, she
realized that she had left without fuss. No more arguing, just a silent exit.
She had gone without slamming doors and without protest. She used the aircraft
bathroom for her emotional outbursts during the flight. Her heart ached. Ached
for him and how they used to be. She thought back to how they met and
remembered just how arrogant he was back then too.     

     Breathing in the fresh cold air of
London, she felt anxious, but considerably calm. She had endured the last of
her loneliness on the plane. Now she would have her friends and family around
her. She wheeled her suitcase to the bus stop. The courtesy bus would be here
in three minutes. She loved the organized chaos of London Heathrow. It was a
humongous airport that was bursting at the seams with passengers, but it just
somehow worked.     

     She switched her UK SIM card over
in her phone and awaited the messages. There were a few from her best friend
and one from Stefan.

     I hope you had a good flight. Come
over when you can. Stay strong. S x

     After a week back home in London,
Tess was ready to see Stefan. It wasn't a choice. She needed to see him. She
dialed his number, her heart felt as though it were in her throat. She had a
fluttery stomach. It had been a long time.

     'Hi.'

     'Tess? When are you coming to see
me? Shall I come and get you?'

     'I'm free now. Come to my place.'
She didn't want to meet his wife. It might just send her over the edge.

     'On my way.'

     She opened the door and his aroma
surrounded her. The desire was still very much there. She felt emotional and
she desperately wanted him. She wanted him to hold her. These past few years
had been one big mess and now here she was, standing opposite the love of her
life, who had married someone else.

     They stood staring at each other in
silence.

     'Tess, I'm so sorry for what's
happened to you. I should have fixed this years ago.'

     The muscles in his jaw were
clenched. He moved towards her.

     'If you had cared more about me,
this wouldn't have happened.' She said.

     Tears came so quickly, there was
little she could do. She would never have released any emotion to Stefan before
this. He moved further towards her, but she backed off. She turned away from
him.

     'I always cared about you Tess. How
can you say that I didn't?'

     'You let me go to Saudi. You
encouraged me to go.' Her tone was loud and she had got herself into an
emotional state.

     'And then you …. and then …. you
married someone else.' She was now shouting.

     'How could you do that? Did you
want to completely destroy me?'

     Stefan moved in and grabbed her.
Her body was taught with emotion. He held her tight until she could not fight
him any longer. His touch deflated her. He pulled her in closer still. She
responded by clinging to him, tightening her grip. She breathed in his smell
and held onto his body. They looked into each other’s eyes and moved in,
touching lips. An electric feeling plunged through her body. She could think of
nothing else. Just the two of them entwined. His tongue moved in. She responded
and the urgency heightened as they slowly descended to the floor. He kissed her
so tenderly, she longed for more. His hands were all over her, the desire was
unstoppable. This is what it was all about. This is what chemistry felt like.

     Stefan looked into her eyes. He
thumbed her dark hair away from her face.

     'Tess. I wanted you to be free. I
thought that by encouraging you to go overseas, you would fulfill your dreams
and then return to me.'

     'Tess ….'

     Silence.

     'Tess …. I didn't get married.'

     She stared at him in disbelief. She
could not speak.

     'I couldn't go through with it. It
wasn't fair on her. All the time I was with her, I constantly wished it was
you.'

     'But …. You didn't tell me.'

     'I didn't tell you, because you
were with David. You didn't want to talk to me Tess. I couldn't interfere with
your new life, it wouldn't have been right.'

     They held on to each other, staring
into each other’s eyes.

     'Let me be with you Tess, let us be
close again.'

     'I love you Tess. I always have.'

     There it was. The words she had
been waiting for. She took a second to take it in.

     'Are you sure about this?'

     'I've never been more sure about
anything Tess. Let's do this.'

     He led her into the bedroom and
began to kiss her again, this time more urgently. She kissed him back and began
to lift his shirt from him, revealing his amazing torso. She kissed him there
and continued to make her way down his body.

     That day, Tess found intimacy and
love.

     'I love you Stefan, I really do.
Let’s do this.'

     David placed his shirts carefully
in the suitcase.

     'What the hell have I done?!' He
shouted.

     The room was spinning around him. He
had lost control over his life. His heart felt hard and it physically hurt. He
did not know that she would go through with it. He did not realize that she
would really go, really leave him. His heart was broken and it was his own
fault.

His phone rang, as the car pulled up to
the airport.

     'Hi, yes I'm at the airport now.
I'm going to do it. I really am. I'm going to get Tess back.'

                                        
The End