Simply Complicated (40 page)

“I see your dilemma. Well, the way I see it, he started seeing his lover even before you and I became involved. I don’t think talking to him about it is judging him,” he said.

“You know what’s weird about all of this? When I found out I couldn’t cry. What’s wrong with me? Why did I not cry?” she asked.

“Nothing is wrong with you, baby. Maybe you didn’t cry because it has not fully come out yet. Maybe part of you still believes there is a logical explanation for everything. On the other hand, maybe you didn’t cry because the love you once had together is no longer there and you find yourself staying merely for the children,” he explained, reflecting on his own reasons for staying with his wife.

“I don’t know. Love is simply complicated. Here I am talking to the one man I have always loved about the man I once loved. That’s what love will do. This is the part of love that people don’t think about or see,” she considered sadly.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well, look at us. We have always loved each other and will probably do so for the rest of our lives. And yet we love our spouses too and at some point in our marriages we were once in love with them.

“From the outside looking in it would seem as if we are nothing more than two people committing adultery and are wrong for even being friends and talking to each other. Our love would probably be looked upon as impure and unfounded.

“But for us, it’s something more than just a casual love and sexual relationship. We see what we have as pure and honest love in its rarest form. From the moment we first met we have loved each other. Few people ever find their soul mates.

“No one would ever understand the love and bond we have. They would be blinded by the fact that we are married to others and our love would be twisted and criticized.

“It’s ironic. As hurt as I am about Donald, I think I understand why he may be having an affair. Maybe he has found his soul mate too and is staying with me for the sake of the children. How ironic would that be?”

“I don’t know what to say. I wonder how I would react to Lynn having an affair. I must admit you’re handling this much better than I would,” he said.

“That’s why I’ve been saying that something is wrong with me for being so calm about everything. I feel as if I should be very angry and upset. So, do you think I should confront him about my suspicions or should I wait?” she asked.

Ted carefully thought about his answer, “It’s hard for me to say. I think you’ll eventually have to talk to him about everything. When the time is right, you’ll know.”

“You’re right. I think I will wait to talk to him. I first need to figure out what I want to happen once I confront him about it. I would hate to leave him now while our kids are in the last few years of high school,” she explained.

“You know I’m here for you whenever you need to talk,” he offered.

“I know; thanks again for listening. I really appreciate it. You are a good friend, Ted. Have a good night and I’ll talk to you again,” Kristie smiled as she pictured his face.

“You have a good night too. And Kristie, always remember that I love you,” said Ted.

He was so happy that she called him. He missed talking to her. He did not tell Kristie but he decided that he was going to leave Lynn. Living with her had become unbearable. He was going to seek custody of their two youngest children, Rebecca and Jonathan.

Ted was not sure how Lynn would react to him leaving. He didn’t want to drive her over the edge, especially since she had already attempted suicide. But he knew he was tired of being in an unhappy marriage.

He didn’t know when or how he was going to tell her but he resolved to do it. He hoped she wouldn’t think he was leaving her because of the surgeries but he suspected she would believe that anyway.

Nearly two years had passed since Ted divorced Lynn and received custody of Rebecca and Jonathan. To his surprise, she handled the divorce rather well. They became good friends and got along much better once they were no longer married. Her relationship with the children grew stronger and they spent every weekend with her.

She started teaching part-time at the local community college and was very happy to be in the classroom again. She and her lover continued to see each other whenever they could. He remained married, although he constantly told her that he wanted to leave his wife. He continued to say he was staying for his children.

Lynn considered meeting someone else but whenever she mentioned it to Don he convinced her to stay with him. He knew she loved him, so he often used that to keep her to himself.

Their affair had lasted for nearly ten years. Since she lived alone after the divorce, they met at her place whenever he called. She allowed him to keep some of his belongings there. Lynn always believed she was the only other woman he was involved with besides his wife.

This belief continued until Lynn discovered he was sleeping with at least one other woman. When she was washing a pair of pants he left at her place, she found a used condom wrapper. She knew he never used condoms with her or his wife.

I can’t believe this. Don promised me that he was not seeing anyone else. How could he lie to me? I trusted him enough to not use condoms when we have sex and this is how he repays me.

And here I am stupid enough to not date anyone else, hoping and waiting for him to leave his wife. I wonder what else he has lied about! I bet he has no intention of leaving Kristie. I feel like a big fool.

I got it. Maybe he and Kristie started using condoms. I bet that’s it. Maybe she found out he’s cheating and will only have sex with him if he uses a condom. But that can’t be true because he claims they never have sex. That’s probably a lie.

So I guess my original theory was correct; he is seeing someone else. I don’t know what to believe. The only way to find out is to talk to him when he comes over this afternoon,
she thought, angry and confused.

It was around 1 p.m. when Don arrived at Lynn’s house. As soon as he opened the door with his key he saw her waiting for him with her arms folded and legs crossed.

“Hey lady—how are you today? You look lovely as ever,” he said as he kissed her on the lips.

“I could be better and you?” she asked with an attitude.

“What’s wrong with you? You seem to be mad about something. Does it have anything to do with me?” he asked.

“Why? Have you done something wrong that would cause me to be upset with you?” she asked icily.

“I don’t think so but by your tone I guess I have or at least you
think
I’ve done something wrong,” he wondered, looking confused.

“Don’t act as if you’re innocent, Don. You know what you have done or should I say are doing. Why don’t you take a second and think about what you’ve done that I would probably be mad about. I guarantee something will come across your mind,” she said, not giving him any clues about what it might be.

“How can I guess what you’re upset about? I’m not a mind reader. Why don’t you just come right out and tell me what’s bothering you so we can move on?” he tried to place any fault on Lynn.

“Nice try, but you must have forgotten that I was married to a lawyer for over twenty years. I picked up a thing or two along the way. I guess you must have done so many things that could make me angry that you can’t tell which one I found out about. Is that what the problem is? Come on, Don. Just come clean.

“Obviously I have some sort of evidence or I wouldn’t be sitting here furious with you right now. So why don’t you save us time by simply coming clean?” she shouted.

“You’re not making any sense, Lynn. I have no clue what you’re talking about. You must be losing it. I didn’t come here to be interrogated or accused of something that you refuse to reveal. I came over here because I missed you and wanted to see you and this is how you greet me. I can go home to Kristie if I want to be treated like this.

“As a matter of fact, perhaps I should leave. I see you’re not in the mood for my company. It seems like you want to argue with someone and honestly, I’m not in the mood for that. I’m not Ted—I am not going to put up with your crap,” he yelled back.

He knew just what to say to get her to back down. He often played on her insecurities and she foolishly allowed it to happen. She immediately became submissive and apologetic.

“Wait baby, don’t get upset. I don’t want you to leave. It’s just that I found this in your pants pocket and I didn’t know what to make of it,” she said, throwing the condom wrapper on the table.

“What the hell is that? Are you sure you got it out of my pants?” he asked, trying to act surprised.

“Yes, I’m sure. I was going through your pockets before I put your pants in the washing machine and found it in there. So whom did you use it with?”

Donald feigned innocence, “Baby, I don’t know how that got in my pocket. Are you sure one of your kids didn’t put it in there trying to frame me?”

“Why would they do that? Besides, they don’t know we’re seeing each other,” Lynn wasn’t falling for his act.

“Didn’t you tell me that one of them came into your room and found some of my things and questioned you about them?” he asked, trying to shift the blame.

“Come on, Don, I doubt that my children have condoms in their possession; if they did, how would they been able to put the wrapper in your pocket?”

Don shook his head and tried to sound convincing, “I don’t know, baby. All I know is it’s not mine. I told you that other than my wife, you’re the only woman I am involved with. If you choose not to believe me, that’s up to you. I have no reason to lie to you.”

“Are you and Kristie still having sex? You told me that the two of you stopped having sex some time ago,” she accused.

“I never told you that. Besides, I really don’t think what I do with my wife concerns you. When you and Ted were married I never questioned your sexual relationship with him. In fact, I never told you to stop having sex with him,” he said defensively.

“Oh—so it’s like that now? Before we could talk to each other about everything and now you’re selective in what you share with me. When did that change?” asked Lynn, her tone hurt and disappointed.

“That never changed. We can talk about everything except that. She’s my wife and naturally we’re going to have sex,” explained Don.

“You know what Don? You’re right; I don’t want to talk about this. Maybe my kids did plant the condom wrapper in your pants pocket to stop us from seeing each other. I suppose that’s possible. Let’s not spend the rest of our time together arguing. I’ve missed you and I’m glad you are here,” she said as she hugged him tight and started kissing him.

“That’s my girl. You know I love you, baby. I will never think about being with another woman. I’ll let you in on a little secret; I’m thinking about leaving my wife real soon and when I do, you and I will be together. Now come over here and show me how much you’ve missed me,” he said as he pulled her close to him and kissed her passionately.

While he was at Lynn’s place he didn’t know that Kristie had taken off work so she could follow him to see if he was in fact seeing someone else. She had been tailing him all morning.

She was just about to head home when she saw him leave his office around 12:30 p.m. He had no idea that she was trailing him. She followed him to Lynn’s house but stayed in the car. She saw him use his key to let himself in. She suspected that he had been cheating but she never expected him to have a key to his mistress’s house.

She was surprised at how close his lover lived to their home. As she sat in the car, she contemplated what to do next. She didn’t want to cause a scene and confront him so she decided that she would take pictures of him going inside and coming out. She managed to get several pictures of him leaving his truck, using his keys, and entering the house.

She hoped to see his mistress but was unable to glimpse at her through the door. She planned to wait until he left so she could take more pictures.

He was inside for nearly two hours. She grew tired of waiting, so she called his cellular phone to see if he would answer.

“Hey baby, is everything okay?” he asked.

“Hey Donald, everything is fine. Are you at your office?” she questioned innocently.

“Yes but I’ll be leaving in a few minutes. Why?”

“I’m in the area and planned on stopping in to say hello,” she replied.

“That sounds great but I’m headed to a meeting in the conference room in five minutes,” he answered nervously.

“Which conference room—the one in your office?” she pressed.

“Yeah baby, of course,” he said.

“Oh! I thought you said you were leaving in a few minutes,” she retorted, trying to stay calm.

“I’m leaving soon. The meeting isn’t going to take that long. I just need to go over a few things with the secretary,” he said.

“Okay baby. Since I’m in the area I’ll still stop by only for a few minutes. I haven’t been to your office in a while. I don’t want your secretary forgetting who I am,” she joked, masking her distress.

“Okay, that’s fine. How far away are you so I can hurry with my meeting?” he asked.