0 comments/ 70853 views/ 13 favorites The Hardheads By: Just Plain Bob It had been a perfect California day. The temperature had stayed in the mid to high eighties, not a cloud in the sky and the beach had been wall to wall with tanned bikini clad hotties. Topping it all off was a magnificent sunset and I sat there and watched till the last sliver of sun disappeared into the Pacific Ocean. I stood up, shook off the sand and then headed for my apartment. I parked the car and got out before I spotted the last person in the world that I wanted to see - my wife Beverly. It had been almost three years since I had packed my bags and walked away from her; three years during which I had never talked to her on the phone, written her a letter or sent her an email and I didn't want to talk to her now. It looked like I wasn't going to be given a choice. I couldn't get into my apartment without asking her to move which I was pretty sure that she wouldn't do, especially after coming all the way from Denver, and I'd be damned before I'd play the wuss and get back in my car and leave. As I walked toward my door I thought back and remembered all that had brought us to this point. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Bev and I had met in college, dated off and on for four years and then had graduated and gone our separate ways. Two years after graduation we ran into each other at a trade show and picked up where we had left off and a year later we had married. It wasn't a bad marriage, but it did have its difficulties. Bev and I were both career oriented and driven to achieve success in our chosen fields. That meant that at times we spent less time with each other and more time at work. There were out of town seminars to attend business trips to see clients, trade shows to work and the like. Sometimes we would go weeks without seeing each other. A lot of marriages couldn't have survived under those conditions, but it seemed to work for us. We were so happy to see each other when we did manage it that we never got around to arguing or having those little domestic spats that other marriages had. The only dark cloud, at least from my perspective, was that Bev was a very sexual woman and I did wonder from time to time if she strayed while she was gone. I didn't think that she did, but I still wondered and I supposed that she might have had the same thoughts about me. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I had been doing real well at my company. My performance reviews almost always had me in the "superior" or "outstanding" category and I had received several very large pats on the back in the way of bonus checks and I had been led to believe that I was on the fast track for promotion to the regional managers position that was going to come open. It didn't happen. The owner's son Randy, a recent college graduate with a degree in Business, but no practical experience, was given the position. I was disappointed, but I was a realist. The company's name was Ferguson and Sons so I guess I should have expected that old man Ferguson would bring his sons into the business someday. Randy should have been brought in at the bottom and allowed to work his way up, but that isn't the way old man Ferguson chose to do it so I had to accept it and work hard to get the next opening. It wasn't easy because Randy didn't really care for me and he was now my supervisor. I never knew why hid didn't care for me, but it was probably because I was good at my job and he pretty much sucked at his and he probably saw me as a threat. Whenever there was a bad project Randy made sure that it was assigned to me and a couple of times he got caught trying to take credit for my work. Old man Ferguson wasn't blind and he saw what was happening and he called me in the office one day to have a little talk with me. "I know you are disappointed Rob, but family comes first. Randy is young and a little wild, but he will learn. Just keep doing your job to the best of your ability and things will work out, you'll see." So I sucked it up, worked hard and waited for the next opportunity. Two years went by and then Randy was made a vice president and the regional manager's job came open again. In my mind I was already planning on how I would redecorate the office when we were called into a meeting and introduced to the new regional manager. Randy had talked his father into giving the job to one of his fraternity brothers from school. I saw Randy smirking as he looked at me during the announcement and it was all I could do to keep from going over to him and pounding him into paste. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Just when I had reached the point where I believed that things were as bad as they could get I got a rude awakening - they got worse. In a surprising development Ferguson and Sons bought the company that my wife worked for and suddenly we were coworkers. It did not turn out to be a good thing. Randy was smitten with my wife and from the time she walked in the door in the morning until she left to go home at night he was never very far away from her. Hovered would be the best word to describe what he did when Bev was around. He saw to it that Bev was assigned to the projects that he was working, saw to it that she had to work late with him to get this project or that proposal out on time and he even took her along on out of town business trips. Did that have any effect on me? Damned straight it did! It frosted my ass big time, but Bev was a big girl and I trusted her. Besides, she knew that Randy was an asshole; God knows that I'd told her that often enough when telling her about what he had done to me. About six months went by and then one day at work I asked Bev where she wanted to go for lunch. "Oh, didn't I tell you? I'm having lunch with Randy today." "Why?" "He asked me." "That's it? He asked you? Is it work related?" "No, he just asked me to have lunch with him and I accepted." "A worthless scumbag that I have no use for asked you to lunch and knowing how I feel about that asshole you said yes?" "Look Rob, just because you don't like him doesn't mean that I have to dislike him. He has never been anything but nice to me." "That's because he either wants to tweak my nose out of joint or he wants to get into your pants." I got a murderous look and she said, "And that means I'm going to spread my legs for him? He wants to get in my pants so it is a given that he will? Is that what you are saying to me?" At that point I realized that anything that I said would only put me deeper in the hole so I turned and walked away from her. That night I left work early and drove home without Bev. She called about ten minutes after I got home. "Why did you leave without me? How am I supposed to get home?" "Get a ride from Randy" I barked into the phone and I hung up. I made myself a TV dinner and then settled down on the couch to watch the Rockies play the Arizona Diamondbacks. Bev got home about an hour later and she marched into the living room and turned off the TV. "Okay Rob, Let's get this out of the way. What have I ever done that would make you distrust me?" "I don't believe that I ever said that I don't trust you." "Then what is with this shit that you are pulling on me?" "Look Bev, you made the choice that has us here snarling at each other. You go on business trips with him and that's business. I don't like it, but it is work related and I keep my mouth shut. You stay late with him and you go in on weekends and work with him, most of the time just the two of you alone, and again I don't like it, but it is work related so I bite my tongue and keep silent. "Today was not work related. Today was social. Today I asked you were you would like to have lunch with me - your husband, remember? - and you tell me sorry, I'm having lunch with the guy who fucks you every chance he gets and stabs you in the back every chance he gets and I'm supposed to be happy about it? "You can think whatever you want, feel whatever you want, but today you chose that asshole over me. It may have only been for lunch, but you chose him over me even though you know how I feel about him. You are a big girl Bev and as such you get to do what you want, but having anything to do with Randy if it isn't work related is not going to set well with me and if you don't care about that then you can get used to a lot cooler relationship between the two of us. Now get your ass out of the way so I can watch the game. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Things were not well with us after that. A smart woman would have said, "Whoa, things are getting a little out of hand here and I'd better put things right with my hubby" but that wasn't Bev's way. Her way was, "Tell me who I can have lunch with? Well we will just see about that." She started having lunch with Randy two and three times a week. I stopped talking to her except when I was at work and had something work related to say. One morning I got up early and left without her and from then on we took separate cars to work every day and then one night I got home and moved myself into the spare bedroom. When it was time to go to bed that night Bev asked, "What's this?" "You insist on spending your time with that asshole so you have picked up his stink and I don't want to have to smell it." I went into the spare bedroom and locked the door behind me. Bev pounded on the door, "Rob, let me in damn it, we have to talk." "No we don't Bev. You made your choice. You showed me that what I think doesn't mean shit to you and you are having a great time rubbing my nose in it so live with what it got you." She beat on the door for another three or four minutes but I ignored her and eventually she went to bed. I know I was being a bit of an asshole about the situation, but Bev just couldn't or wouldn't understand just how much I had come to detest Randy and what her associating with him was doing to me. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The very next day at work I was in the storeroom getting an ink cartridge for my printer. The storeroom shares a common wall with the room that has the copy machines and I overheard Bill Bradley talking to Mike Zimmer. "Notice how sexy Bev is looking today?" "How could you miss it? No wonder that Randy is fucking her every chance he gets." "No shit? Randy is really putting the meat to her?" "Well, I've never seen it, but Randy has hinted at it even though he has never come right out and said so." "Then it is probably just bullshit." "I don't know about that. Consider the evidence. He takes her on all of his business trips and before she came to work here he never took anyone on trips with him. They stay late to work on projects, or so they say, but did Randy ever worry about meeting a deadline and work late to meet it before she came on board? And what about all those long lunches they take. Ever notice that "Cat that ate the canary" grin when they get back? Oh he's fucking her all right." "Oh wow, you think Rob knows?" "I doubt it. If he did know I think he would rip Randy's throat out." "Well if he is fucking her maybe there is hope for the rest of us." "You would be happy with Randy's sloppy seconds?" "With Bev? Hell yes and so would you," and the laughter as they walked out of the room. I wondered if Bev was letting Randy fuck her. I did know that I felt humiliated when the people in the office looked at me and I knew what they were thinking. I didn't know it at the time but that overheard conversation was the beginning of the end for Bev and me. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Two days later Bev came up to me and asked me to have lunch with her. "Randy not available?" "I want to have lunch with you Rob, please?" We walked across the street to the little Mexican place and after we ordered Bev said, "What can we do to get us back on track?" "I don't see that there is anyway to do that. There is no, repeat no, give in my position on this. I have not tried to get you to quit your job and I have not once whined about the work related time you spend with Randy, but it chaps my ass when you spend one minute in his company if it is not work related. You, on the other hand, are too bull- headed to stop seeing him for lunch or sitting with him in the break room during coffee breaks because that would mean giving in to me and your pride will not let you do that." "You are being totally unreasonable about this Rob. It isn't like I'm stopping after work for drinks with him and not coming home until late. It is just lunch for God's sake." "That's what you say, but that's not what everyone in the office believes." "What does that mean?" "Don't you pay any attention to what goes on around you at work? When you come back from lunch with that asshole don't you see him walk past my desk and look at me with a smirk on his face? Don't you see the 'thumbs up' that he gives the guys by the water cooler when he gets off the elevator with you? Like he is just back from the motel where you had a quickie? Don't you notice how it suddenly gets silent when I walk into the break room and you are sitting with Randy and how when I approach a group of guys they suddenly scatter? Do you have any idea of how humiliated that makes me feel?" "Are you telling me that you believe I'm sleeping with him?" "I'm saying that I don't know, but I haven't seen anything to convince me that you're not." I told her of the conversation that I'd overheard, "So even if you aren't sleeping with him everyone believes that you are and "Mr. He has never been anything but nice to me" is going out of his way to make them think that." "I don't believe that for a minute Rob. If he were doing what you say he would be trying to make it true and he hasn't done anything along those lines." I looked at her and shook my head and got up from the table. "Where are you going? We need to talk this out." "No way we can do that Bev. You just called me a liar. No sense in wasting my breath if you aren't going to believe anything that I say." I threw some money on the table and went back to work. For the next two days Bev tried to get me to sit down and talk with her but I was still stung by her intimating that I was lying to her and I ignored her. And then suddenly she stopped trying to talk to me. A week went by and we didn't even acknowledge each other's existence and I came to accept that our marriage was not going to survive. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The final nail in the coffin was driven home at the company picnic. Every year old man Ferguson held the company picnic at his home. Bev and I went in separate cars and for most of the day it was sip beer, eat hamburgers and hot dogs, play tennis or swim in the pool. In the evening a hired band showed up and the net was taken down on the tennis court and the court became a dance floor. The music had been playing about an hour and I saw Randy lead Bev out onto the dance floor. They stayed out there for several numbers and then a really slow one came along. I saw Randy pull Bev in real tight and then I watched them kiss. It was not a quick peck, but a long kiss and I saw Randy's hands slide down and cup Bev's ass and then move so his cock would be pressing into her. I glanced around and saw everybody looking at me and so I finished my beer, got up and left the party. I went home and packed up my car with everything I wanted and then I drove to a motel. In the morning I was at the bank when it opened and I cleaned out the checking and savings accounts, cashed in all the CD's that were in the safe deposit box and headed out of town. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I drove around the country sight seeing for a couple of months and finally ended up in California. I got an apartment, found a new job and settled in to start a new life. Using calling cards purchased at Wal-Mart I kept in touch with my parents so that they would know I was okay. Mom let me know that Bev was frantic to get in touch with me and I told her to tell Bev she didn't need to get in touch with me because she had Randy. Mom asked me what I meant by that and I told her to ask Bev. Then mom asked how she could get in touch with me if she had to and knowing that she would promptly give the information to Bev I told her to send me an email and I'd get right back to her. I didn't bother looking into a divorce because I didn't plan on ever getting married again so why waste the money on a lawyer. Besides, a divorce would have meant serving papers with return addresses on them and that would just tell Bev where to find me. That had been just short of three years ago and now here was Bev camped out in front of my door. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I pushed past Bev and as I put my key in the lock she said, "Don't I even get a hello?" "What do you want Beverly?" "A hug would be nice. I could stand a "Glad to see you" and a kiss would make me happy." "I'm not glad to see you and hugs and kisses are out of the question." "May I at least come in?" I stepped aside and let her in the apartment and as I closed the door I asked, "How did you find me?" "A very expensive private detective found you for me." "Why did you bother? I would have thought that it was obvious that I didn't want to see you." "Yes it is obvious and that is why I had to find you - to ask you why. Why did you run off and abandon me? Why did you clean out the bank accounts and leave me with nothing? Why haven't I heard one word from you in three years? I would have at least expected to hear from a divorce attorney, but I didn't even get that. For three years nothing. Why? What the hell happened? I thought you loved me." "Don't be stupid Beverly, you know damned well what happened - your relationship with Randy is what happened. As for your other questions; the only reason to get a divorce would to be to free me so I could remarry and since I had no intention of doing that why waste money on a lawyer. From your standpoint you could always get one using abandonment as a reason. As far as I'm concerned you and Randy can pay the lawyer for that. "As for leaving you with nothing that isn't true. I sent you my power of attorney so you could sell the house and the equity in the house was three times what I took out of the accounts. Plus my last paycheck was direct deposit so you had that and even though I quit without notice my last quarterly bonus would still have been paid and that was also direct deposit. Those two checks plus your own paychecks would have been enough to carry you until you could sell the house. "You haven't heard from me in three years because I have nothing to say to you. I talked to you about your relationship with Randy until I was blue in the face and you ignored me. Your actions on the dance floor at the company picnic were the last straw. You made your choices and I left you with them." "I guess that wasn't one of my smarter moves. It was supposed to piss you off enough that we would go home and have it out once and for all so we could try and heal our marriage, but you didn't go home." "I don't follow the logic in that. You knew my position on Randy and even though you as good as called me a liar you knew what I believed everyone else was thinking and how it upset and humiliated me and still you kept on. Why did you expect me to get pissed when what I said was going to happen happened?" "I said it wasn't one of my smarter moves. You were right all along, but I just didn't see it. Randy did try to seduce me, but he tried to do it using revenge as a lever. He told me that you were having an affair with Gloria in accounting and suggested that I could get even by having a fling with him. I didn't believe him and I told him so. He went and got Gloria and brought her to me and she confessed that you hit on her and threatened to get her fired if she didn't give in to you so she did. I'm ashamed to admit that I believed her, after all, why would she lie about something like that? I thought that it was your way of getting back at me over Randy. The Hardheads: Frank and Mary My head hurt, my stomach was roiling and my wife was screaming at me: "You bastard! You rotten cock sucking bastard! How could you do this to me? One day, I'm gone one fucking day and leave you here alone and you do this to me." I had no idea what she was ranting about, all I knew is that I had to get to the toilet. I barely made it. After praying at the Porcelain Throne I rinsed my mouth out with mouthwash, took three aspirin and then stumbled back into the bedroom to see what the hell had Mary in such an uproar. She was packing a suitcase. "What the hell are you doing?" "I'm leaving," "Why? What the hell is going on?" "Don't play the innocent with me asshole." "I've just gotten up Mary; I'm not fully awake, I have one hell of a headache and a hangover and I'm not really up to speed here. What is going on?" "Look at your shorts stud. That isn't my lipstick near your fly and those aren't my panties and bra on the floor next to the bed." I looked down at my boxers and saw a slash of red, buy I had no idea how it got there. "I don't know what is going on here Mary, but I'm sure that it isn't what you are thinking." "Fuck you Frank, I'm not buying it." She snapped the bag shut and headed for the door. "Where are you going?" "Away from here Frank, away from here." I stared at her back as she walked out and wondered what the hell had happened. +++++++++++++ The party had been scheduled for three weeks and on Saturday, the day of the party, Mary's mother had slipped and fallen getting out of the bathtub, had hit her head and had been rushed to the hospital. Mary got the call from her father and he indicated that her mom was in a very bad way. It was too late for us to get in touch with people and cancel the party so Mary told me to stay and she would make the five hour drive and be back in a day or two. The party went off on time and while everybody missed Mary they had a good time. We had hardwood floors so the dining room furniture had been moved out to the garage to create a dance floor and as host I did dance with most of the women there. Some of them got 'flirty' when they got a few drinks in them and I did have a few sets of tits rubbed into my chest and a shapely leg or two pushed into my crotch which did produce an erection. I drank more than what was good for me and I didn't even remember going to bed, let alone going to bed with another woman. I didn't believe that I had. For one thing, I loved Mary and I had never cheated on her and for another all the women at the party had come as part of a couple. There were none who came as singles. I was good friends with all of the guys and there was no way that I would have made a pass at any of their women. But I couldn't explain the lipstick on my underwear or the bra and panties on the floor. I couldn't remember a damned thing. I picked up the bra and looked at it. The little tag sewn into the sidepiece in the back told me that the size was 38DD and that pretty much told me whose bra it was. Mary Ellen McPhearson was the only one at the party with a rack like that, but that made no sense at all. Mary Ellen and Todd had only been married a week; there was no way on God's green Earth that Mary Ellen would have been in bed with me. Hell, Todd was so proud of her he was never more than two steps from her side and the 'lovey dovey' way the two of them behaved around each other was enough to make you sick to your stomach. I made a pot of coffee and after I got two cups of the black stuff in me I tried to call Todd and Mary Ellen. I got no answer and just as I was hanging up I remembered that after the party they were leaving to go on a belated two-week honeymoon. I spent the rest of Sunday trying to track down where Mary had gone with no luck. Her friends either didn't know or were not going to tell me. I doubted that she would go to her mother's or sister's because it would be too far for her to be able to drive to work. On the off chance however, I did call her sister and her mother. Neither had heard from her, or so they said. I decided that I would just have to wait and get to her at her place of work on Monday. +++++++++++++ Monday I called Mary at work just before I started my shift, but she wasn't in yet. I called again at my ten o'clock break, but her extension was busy and after being on hold for almost eight minutes I had to hang up and get back on the job. At lunch time the receptionist told me that I'd just missed her, but that she would be back from lunch in about an hour. I left a message asking Mary to call me. I tried again at three-fifteen and finally got through to her. "What do you want Frank?" "We need to talk Mary. We need to sit down and talk. I know what you think, but I fou..." and Mary interrupted me. "I don't have anything to say to you Frank and I've no interest in what you might want to say to me" and she hung up on me. I left work early and drove over to where she worked, but when I got there I found that she'd just left. I went home and got on the phone and called every one that was at the party on Saturday to see if I could find out what happened. I'd had too much to drink to remember. Nobody knew a thing. Most just remembered me being the life of the party and from what they told me I must have done everything except wear a lampshade on my head. By the time I went to bed there were only three people I hadn't gotten in touch with: Todd and Mary Ellen and my best friend Bill Moser. Todd and Mary Ellen were on their honeymoon and Bill wasn't answering his cell or his home phone. I spent a miserable evening wondering where Mary was and how to get a hold of her and I didn't sleep for beans that night. I got up early and I was sitting in the parking lot waiting for Mary when she came to work. I got out of my pickup and walked toward her as she started walking toward the front door. She saw me and started walking faster to get inside before I could get to her. "Damn it Mary we need to talk" I shouted to her. She turned and stopped and waited for me to get to her and then before I could say a word she said: "Listen to me Frank because I'm only going to say this once and you know me well enough to know that I mean what I say. Stop calling me, stop trying to find me, stop waiting for me in parking lots or I will get a restraining order against you and then call the cops every time you bother me. I have nothing to say to you and I don't want to hear whatever lie you want to tell me. Now leave me the fuck alone!" She turned and walked into the building. I got in my truck and left for work and as I drove I got more and more steamed. I hadn't done anything. I knew I hadn't done anything. All Mary had was a suspicion and she was treating me like she was without even trying to find out what happened? Well fuck her! I didn't need that kind of shit. If she didn't know me any better than that she could just eat shit and die for all I cared. She wanted to be that way, let her. I didn't need the dumb cunt! I spent the rest of the day at work in a foul mood. I had cooled down a little by the time I got home and after fixing myself some dinner I tried calling Bill a half dozen more times, but still got no answer. By the time I went to bed my mood was black again. To hell with Mary! I didn't need someone in my life who treated me like she was. After five years of marriage if she didn't know me any better than she seemed to I would be better off without her. Yeah, right! Who was I kidding? I missed her, Jesus did I miss her. I'd just have to wait for her to get over her mad and call me. +++++++++++++ The next week and a half went by without Mary calling me and then on Friday night the doorbell rang and I answered it to find Bill standing there. "The grapevine tells me that you need some cheering up. I have come to drag you down to Barney's where we will get shit faced." I asked him where in the hell had he been and he told me that he had been out of town on business and that he'd lost his cell phone. Over a beer at Barney's I asked how he knew I was down in the dumps. "When I got back last night I stopped at Halloran's for a beer and I saw Mary with Tony Conners. Sally Bailey was there and I asked her what was up and she told me that you and Mary had split up." "Mary was with Tony? Doing what?" "Drinking and dancing." "What kind of dancing?" "Close and dirty. What the hell happened between you two?" I told him about Mary coming home early, what she'd found and how she had reacted. Bill's face turned pale and he said, "Oh fuck." "What?" "She wasn't supposed to see that." "You know what happened?" "It was a joke on you. You were supposed to wake up, find the panties and bra, see the lipstick and then wonder what the hell had happened. Mary wasn't supposed to see it. You told us she wouldn't be back until late Sunday night at the earliest." "What did you do?" "You were drunk on your ass and me Todd and Mary Ellen were the last ones to leave the party so Todd and I put you to bed. Mary Ellen started giggling and she took off her panties and dropped them on the floor and said, "Let him wonder about that when he wakes up." Todd told her to toss down her bra too." "What about the lipstick?" "That was Mary Ellen's idea too." I chugged down my beer and got up. "Come on, we have to find Mary and tell her what happened. She isn't talking to me, but maybe she will listen to you." We drove for an hour hitting every nightspot in town before we spotted Mary's car in the parking lot of Roddy's Roadhouse. The place was crowded and it took a couple of minutes to find Mary. She was out on the dance floor with Tim Spangler, one of her old boyfriends. They were very close and were grinding into each other. Tim had his hands on her ass and was pulling her into him and she was going along with it. Bill and I watched until the music stopped and Mary and Tim went over to a booth and sat down. Mary slid into the booth and Tim slid in next to her and then they turned to face each other and they kissed. They were all over each other and I turned to Bill: "Stay here, you don't want to get involved in this." I walked over to the booth; "Sorry to interrupt you lovebirds, but what I have to say won't take long. I wondered why you didn't want to talk Mary and now I know why. You walking out on me had nothing to do with what you found when you came home. You were tired of being married and want to go out and play and what you thought you found was the excuse you used to do it. If it hadn't been that you would have come up with something else. Tony the other night, Tim tonight and God only knows who else during the last two weeks while I sat at home staring at the wall and stupidly missing you. I'm glad I came in here tonight and saw you dancing and kissing. At least now I know the truth and I can put your worthless cheating ass out of my life and move on." I turned and walked away. When I got back to Bill he asked: "Do you want me to talk to her?" "No thanks bud, it doesn't matter any more." +++++++++++++ The next day was a busy one for me. Since we were renters and the rent was due I told the landlord I was moving out. I went out and found an apartment and then I went back to the house and I packed up all of Mary's stuff. I rented a storage locker and moved all her stuff into it and began moving my stuff to my new apartment. I had just put the last load in the back of the pickup when Mary pulled up behind me. She got out of her car and walked up to me: "What's going on here Frank?" "It's moving day Mary." I reached in my pocket and pulled out a key and handed it to her. "Unit 104 at the Self-Stor on 16th Ave. All your stuff is there." I turned to get in the truck and she said, "Wait Frank, we need to talk." I got in my truck and rolled the window down, "No we don't Mary. When I tried to talk to you you wouldn't have anything to do with me. In fact, you threatened me with restraining orders and police to keep me from trying to talk to you. At the time I thought we had something to talk about, but after what I saw last night I know better now. If you feel the need to talk go talk to Tony Conner, Tim or whoever else you have been spreading for since you walked away from me." I rolled the window up, started the truck and drove away leaving her standing there watching me go. +++++++++++++ Suddenly the roles were reversed. Mary started calling me at work and when I wouldn't take her calls she drove to where I worked and waited for me in the parking lot. Now the shoe was on the other foot and I did not want to talk to her. I had put her behind me and that is where I was determined she stay. When I saw her waiting for me in the parking lot I asked one of my buddies for a ride to my apartment and I had him pick me up at the loading dock. Later that night I went back and got the truck. I did the same thing the next three nights and she stopped coming. But she didn't give up; she just got sneaky. She parked down the street and waited for me to go home and then she followed me. Once she knew where I lived she camped out in front of my apartment door and when I came home from work I found her sitting there waiting for me. I ignored her and stepped over her to unlock the door as she said, "I'm not leaving until we talk this out Frank." "Enjoy your stay then" I said as I went inside and closed the door in her face. She started banging on the door and shouting, "I'm staying right here until we talk Frank and I'll keep beating on this damned door until you let me in and talk to me." I did my best to ignore her and I had just decided to leave the apartment and go find a place where I could drink in private when the police arrived. One of the neighbors had gotten tired of the racket and had called them. The police knocked on the door and identified themselves and when I opened the door they asked me what was going on and I told them. "Why don't you just talk with her and put and end to all the noise?" "Because I have nothing to say to the unfaithful slut and I don't want to hear anything that she has to say." "Damn it Frank, I was not unfaithful. Just talk to me, let me explain." "Sir" said the cop; "If you would just talk to the lady it would save us a ton of paperwork." "Please Frank, we need to talk." "How come we didn't need to talk when I was trying to get to you?" "I was hurt and angry and I wasn't behaving rationally Frank. Please, let's work this out." I stared at her for several seconds and then I said, "Okay, but not here. I've put you out of my life and letting you in my apartment would seem like I was letting you back in to my life. I'll meet you at Roddy's Roadhouse in an hour. We can sit in the same booth where I watched you and Tim hang all over each other and I'll listen to what you have to say. It won't change a thing, but I will let you talk which, by the way, is a hell of a lot more than you would let me do." +++++++++++++ I was sitting across from Mary in a booth and I just sat there and watched her and waited for her to say something. She sat there, nervously peeling the label off of her beer bottle and seemed reluctant to start. I started to get up: "Where are you going?" "You said you wanted to talk and you aren't talking so I'm going." "No Frank, please don't go. I'm just trying to organize my thoughts." "Talk Mary, or I walk." She took a deep breath and said: "First off Frank, I haven't been unfaithful. I went out with Chad, Jim, Tony and Tim knowing that it would get back to you and hurt you. I wanted you to suffer for what you did to me, but I never, I swear it Frank, I never did anything with any of them." "Bullshit Mary. I saw that display that you and Tim put on out on the dance floor and I saw the lovey dovey way you were in this very booth and I know Tim. No way you were going to grind yourself into him the way you did and him not do something about it." "That was all for your benefit Frank." "Again Mary, bullshit. You didn't even know that I was there." "No, but enough people who know you were and they would have seen to it that it got back to you." "Wrong again Mary. Either our friends like me so much they didn't want to see me hurt or they like you too much to rat you out, but no one told me anything about what you were doing. It doesn't matter anyway, because what I saw Friday night in here with my own eyes and your behavior toward me when you stomped out of the house told me all I needed to know. "And while I'm on the subject of your stomping out of the house, why did you pack a bag and leave without trying to find out what happened? Why after you left didn't you try? I would have thought that as the woman wronged you would want to know who wronged you. Everyone who was at that party was a friend of yours Mary. You didn't want to know which of your very good friends stabbed you in the back? I'll tell you why you just packed and left. It was because you didn't give a shit who it might have been. It was your excuse to walk out on me so you could go and play and be able to blame me for it. You weren't even out of the driveway before I figured it out. "You could have found out just as quick if you had wanted to. I knew something was fishy as soon as I picked the bra up off the floor. It was a 38DD Mary, and we only have one friend with boobs that big and you know as well as I do that Todd would have never let her out of his sight long enough for us to do what you think I did. Maybe ten years from now, but just after their wedding? No fucking way. And even though you didn't waste the time to find out for yourself you would have known the very next day if you would have just talked to me. No Mary, you bailed on me so you could go out and run around and you can tell me until you are blue in the face that you didn't spread your legs for the guys you ran around with and I won't believe you. The way you kissed Tim while I was watching told me that you are a cheating whore. Now, what else do you have to say before I get up and leave?" "Damn it Frank, I have not cheated on you. I did not spread my legs for anyone. I was mad and I wanted to hurt you. I wasn't thinking straight and I'm sorry, but I love you Frank and I want to put this mess behind us. I've talked to Bill and to Todd and Mary Ellen and I know you didn't do anything. I overreacted and I'm sorry. All I did was have some drinks and dance with some guys to make you mad. No harm, no foul on either side. Please Frank, I love you and I'll make it up to you, I promise." "That's it? Have you said it all?" "Yes Frank, I've said it all." "Good. Now we can get on with our lives." I stood up to go and said, "See you around" and I started to leave. "Frank, please don't go, we can fix this." "No we can't Mary. I can't forget that you had so little faith in me that you could pack and leave without even talking with me to try and find out what happened. You thought so little of me that you just assumed the worst and left. Even then it might have been okay if in a day or two you got over your mad and were at least willing to talk with me, but all I got from you were threats of restraining orders and police. Your sudden desire to talk with me didn't come until I caught you with Tim and called you a worthless cheat. And even then Mary, did you rush out of the bar to tell me I was wrong? Where were you the next morning Mary? It wasn't until six in the evening before you came to the house. Take you that long to get out of Tim's bed? The sad thing here Mary is that I love you, but I'll just have to try and get by it. You've managed to set it up so that I don't trust you now and I'll never trust you again and under those circumstances there isn't any way I could ever live with you again." The Hardheads: Frank and Mary "Please Frank" she was saying as I walked away. +++++++++++++ The sad thing was that, as I'd told Mary, I did love her and I missed her terribly every day we were apart. There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think about her and wish that she were by my side. But the things I'd told her were still true. She had shown me how little she thought of me, she had gone out of her way to keep from talking to me and I would never forget seeing what she had done with Tim on the dance floor and in the booth. I was just going to have to do what I said, I'd have to try and get by it, put Mary behind me and get on with my life. Easier said than done. Mary was determined to get back in my life and she enlisted help. I started getting phone calls from my mother and my sisters telling me what an asshole I was being for treating poor Mary the way I was. Even my dad got into the act: "What the hell is wrong with you Frank? Any fool can see that the girl loves you. I don't care what happened between you two, everybody makes mistakes, hell boy, that's part of the human condition. Get your head out of your ass before you lose that girl." Mary kept calling me and I kept telling her I had nothing to say to her and I'd hang up, but her memory was constantly with me and some nights I hurt so bad I cried. +++++++++++++ The holidays arrived and started out on a bad note. Thanksgiving dinner at my parents was a somber affair as both of my sisters and my brother and his wife let me know how displeased they were with me over the fact that I didn't have Mary with me. Mom slapped the icing on that cake when she said grace: "And Lord, please watch over and protect the loved ones who are not with us at this table today" and she was looking right at me when she said it. Once turkey day was out of the way I was able to put Mary to the back of my mind as I submerged myself in shopping for gifts for the family. Dolls and dump trucks for the nieces and nephews, an IPOD for my brother, a new Garmin 250C single frequency fish finder for my dad and a diamond bracelet and matching earrings for my mom. My sisters were the hardest to buy for - I'd always let Mary handle that - but I finally managed to find each of them something that I thought they might like. Their husbands were easier to buy for. They were both Broncomaniacs and clothing with Bronco logos took care of them. I bought a small tree for my apartment and decorated it. I strung garland all over the place and covered everything with mini-lights. But it didn't seem to matter what I did to try and make the apartment cheery and fill it with the holiday spirit something was missing and that something was Mary. I decided what I needed to do was have a holiday party and I got on the phone and began inviting people. The night of the party Bill asked me why Mary and I weren't back together. I told him the story and he looked at me like I was terminally stupid. "You have got to be kidding. Mary would never do something like that and you of all people should know it." "Oh come on Bill. You saw the same shit I saw in Roddy's that night." "Yeah bud, I did, but I know Mary well enough to believe her when she said all she was doing was trying to tweak your nose. Hell bud, she broke down crying when I told her what me and Todd and Mary Ellen had done. She asked me how she could ever get you to forgive her and I told her that all she had to do was talk with you and straighten things out. I can't believe you turned your back on her. What you are doing bud is letting your pride get in the way of common sense. It was me, Todd and Mary Ellen who fucked up your life, not Mary. Reverse it bud. What if you came home and found Mary looking like she'd just been screwing someone, what would you have done? And don't tell me how reasonable you would have been because I know you too well. You would have gone bananas and wouldn't have listened to a word she would have said. Better get your head out of your ass bud, before she gives up on you." That conversation killed any holiday cheer that the party might have generated, mostly because Bill was right. If things had been reversed I would have stormed out and done something stupid to get back at her just as she had stormed out and done something to get back at me. I walked away from the party and went into the bedroom, took a deep breath and tried to call Mary, but I got no answer. I tried six more times that night, but she either had her cell phone off or she wasn't taking calls from me. The next day I tried to call her at work and they told me that she had taken vacation and wouldn't be back to work until after the holidays. I called her mother and she hung up on me after calling me an asshole. I called her sisters and was basically told to drop dead. I even called my mother and sisters to see if they had heard from her and knew where I could find her. My mother wanted to know why I was trying to reach her and I broke down and started crying: "I miss her mom and I have got to find her and try to get her back." "Maybe you screwed around too long Frank. Maybe she doesn't want you back in her life now." I tried to lose myself in the holidays. I wrapped presents and then I went out and bought more. I went caroling with my nieces and nephews and I took them to see Santa at the mall. All around me Christmas music played and in every neighborhood I walked through the houses were decorated and the lights shown bright, but I couldn't get into the spirit - I needed Mary. Three days before Christmas I got a phone call from Bill. "I went out drinking with Tim last night. I told him that I'd seen Mary with Tony and then with him and then I asked him if he had anything going with her. I told him that I'd always had the hots for her and if he didn't have anything going with her I like to take a shot at her. He told me not to bother. He said all she was was a prick tease. He said she would dirty dance and swap tongues a little, but you got slapped if you tried to put your hands where they didn't belong. Tim's a cock hound and a braggart bud, and if he had scored he would be bragging about it. She was telling you the truth bud." For the next two days I called everyone that Mary and I knew trying to find her, but I never reached her or anyone who could, or would, tell me where she was. Christmas day dawned and I loaded all the gifts in the truck and headed on over to my parents house. Gift giving was to be at two followed by dinner and I got there about ten to two. As I pulled up in front I saw my mom looking out the window and as soon as she saw me she let the curtains fall back into place and left the window. I carried all the gifts into the house and put them under the tree and as I was doing it I couldn't help but notice a large refrigerator sized box wrapped in green sitting against the wall. I figured that dad had gotten mom a china cabinet or a hutch for her set of crystal. At two o'clock that family gathered around the tree. The kids were all antsy to get at the pile of Christmas presents under the tree. Mom got up and walked to the tree, but instead of starting to hand out the presents she said: "As you all know the tradition is to let the children open their gifts first and then the grown ups open theirs. This year we are going to break tradition and let a grown up go first, or at least he is supposed to be a grown up, but the way he has been acting lately makes me wonder. Frank, you get to go first, but I have to tell you that your gift is not returnable or exchangeable. It is one of a kind, it has no warranty and replacement parts are not available. It is something that you need, but would not get for yourself so your father and I got it for you. The big box is yours." I looked over at the big green box and wondered what I needed that I would not get myself that would come in a box that big. "Well go on Frank, open it," my mother said. "Jim, you help him." Dad got up and walked over to the box and said, "Grab one side and lift." We took hold of it and lifted it up to expose Mary sitting on a chair with a big red bow tied around her. The look on her face said as plain as day: "Don't say no Frank. Please God don't turn and walk away." I stood there and stared at her, heart beating rapidly, eyes misting over and then I opened my arms and stepped forward and Mary came off the chair and into them. The Hardheads "There wasn't anyway that I was going to have an affair with Randy, but I needed to confront you over Gloria so I led him on and did what I did on the tennis court was supposed to make the confrontation happen. When it was obvious that you were gone and were not coming back Gloria came to me in tears and told me that Randy was the one who threatened to fire her if she didn't tell me what he told her to tell me. As a single mother with two kids she couldn't afford to lose her job so she did it. She also told me about how everyone thought Randy was bedding me all along. By then it was too late and you were gone and I couldn't find you. Your mother either wouldn't or couldn't help me and nobody else could help me either." "That's all very interesting Beverly, but so what?" "So Rob, we both made some mistakes, but I've never stopped loving you. Can't we put this behind us and try to put things back together?" "What's the matter, Randy give up on you?" "For Christ's sake Rob, will you please drop Randy? I never had any interest in Randy and he damned sure lost interest in me after Gloria and I got done with him." "Oh? What did you do?" "I helped Gloria find another job and then I got her together with a damned good lawyer and she sued the pants off of Randy and Ferguson's and Sons. I testified on her behalf and the next day I quit my job. She won a high six-figure settlement and Mr. Ferguson fired Randy. Mr. Ferguson kept after me to find you and get you to come back but I never could find you. Last year he had a heart attack and Mrs. Ferguson brought Randy back to run the business and he ran it into the ground. They filed for bankruptcy two months ago. Randy was never anything to me Rob, not ever." "I still don't see where that changes anything Beverly. We still have the fact that you ignored me every time I tried to tell you what an asshole he was. You as good as called me a liar when I told you what was going around the office about you and Randy. You continued to shame and humiliate me in front of everybody and that was before what you did at the dance. I see no reason to believe that you won't get just as bull-headed about something else somewhere along the way and I will not put myself through that again." "You don't believe that I might have learned something from this mess?" "No, that isn't what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that I don't think I'm willing to take the chance. I'm pretty happy with my life right now." "Is there someone else?" "No. I date some, but there isn't anyone special." "Well I haven't even done that. I haven't been with a man since you left Rob. I've been keeping myself for you and I'm here to beg if I have to. Please Rob, can we at least try?" ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ She was tired from the flight and I let her have the bedroom and I took the couch. In the morning we talked some more, but I still could not see my way clear to try. The two of us were just too hardheaded and I could not believe that we wouldn't go through what we went through over Randy over something else. That afternoon she left to fly back to Denver and I expected that to be the end of it. I was wrong again. Three weeks later I came home to find Beverly once more sitting outside my door. "I quit my job, moved out here and rented the unit two doors down. I didn't think there was a prayer of getting us back together long-distance and I am going to work hard on getting us back together. Got plans for dinner? As I remember you always did like my meatloaf and that just happens to be what I have in the oven right now." I stood there and looked at her as I thought about how much I loved her and how much it had killed me to walk away from her and even though I didn't think we had a chance in hell of making it work all I could think to say was, "Baked potato?" "With sour cream and chives." What the hell I thought, give it a chance, if it doesn't work out you already know how to breakaway and disappear. "French style green beans?" "And French bread." "Sure, why not." "You won't be sorry baby, I promise you that." She extended her hand, I helped her up and then I followed her to her apartment.