Jake never called, left me any messages, or tried to contact me. He stayed in contact with our daughters, but not a word to me. It just about killed me. I would go for a couple of weeks before hearing from Mandy that he was still in Europe, and ok.
As for me I worked, came home, and rarely went anywhere. I certainly wasn’t going to go out with anyone. I would wait for Jake. It was my penitence for what I did.
This went on for about a year. In fact, exactly one year to the date that Jake walked out of the house, he called. I had been home from work for about an hour and was about ready to fix some dinner. My cell phone rang.
“Hi Laura, it’s me, Jake.”
“Oh my God Jake! Are you ok? Where are you?”
“I’m fine Laura. In fact, I’m sitting in my car out in front of the house.”
I ran to the front door with cell phone in hand. Sure enough there was a car parked out in front of our house.
“Please get out and come in Jake. I have missed you so much.”
“Is Rob there Laura?”
“Jake, I have not seen or talked to Rob since the day you left. Rob meant absolutely nothing to me. Please come in Jake.”
“Alright. I will hang up now and come in.”
I guess I was expecting to see the same old Jake get out of his car and walk towards the house. It wasn’t. His hair was long, but well groomed. He had sort of a scruffy beard, but it was well groomed also. He had lost some weight, and filled out with more muscle. He looked rugged in a sexy sort of way. He was kind of like that “most interesting man in the world.”
I stood in the doorway as he walked up the sidewalk. When he got to me I couldn’t help it, I threw my arms around him and hugged him. I was surprised that he hugged back. We held the embrace for over a minute.
We walked in and sat next to each other on the couch.
“Jake, I have missed you so much. I come home every night and cry hoping you would call. My only information came from Mandy or Jen when they would call. They said you went to Europe.”
“Yes, I have been there all this time. I’m sorry Laura, but it was the only way I could make sense of what happened. I started in Rome. I loaded what I would need in my backpack, and travelled across Europe. I met a lot of interesting people, and had some interesting experiences. I also thought a lot about us.”
“I have to ask Jake. Did you sleep with any European women? Did you feel the need for revenge against what I did?”
He laughed and said, “Believe me Laura I certainly had the opportunities, but no, I have always been faithful to you.”
“Oh Jake, I am so sorry”…
“Stop right there Laura. No more apologies. I know you are sorry for what you did. It took me awhile to figure it out, but I did. I also saw the same thing in Europe. People are the same everywhere. We are all human, and humans can make mistakes.”
“I bet you still hate me Jake. I was so stupid.”
“No Laura, I never hated you. In fact, I never stopped loving you. You are not stupid, but you did a stupid thing. I believe that at the time, for some reason, you were vulnerable, and he took advantage of that.”
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