“What are you talking about?” Troy asked, turning to look at his daughter.
“I confronted her, Dad,” Michelle explained, “and she told me everything. Let her explain, please. It is not what you think.”
Troy faced his wife again. “Ok, explain,” he demanded.
“I’m not cheating on you with my boss, Troy,” Dana said, trying to smile. “He is a nice man, and I love him dearly, but not in that way. I only love you. He’s gay. That’s why he divorced his wife. He came out and is now living openly with his partner.”
“I saw you kiss him!” Troy challenged.
Dana blushed and nodded. “Yeah, that was me being silly. I knew that was the only time I’d ever get to kiss him, so I did it. Knowing he’s gay, I overdid it a bit. I’m sorry I did it, and I’m sorry you had to see it without knowing the context.”
“Like showing everyone your tits?” Troy asked angrily.
“Yeah, well, that was something impromptu,” she explained. “Having been the HR manager all these years, I’ve had to be so straight-laced. You know my playful side. That just seemed like a way to let go. It wasn’t a sexual act at all.”
“But, what about retiring and moving to Southern France?” Troy fired at her. “What the hell is that about? You’re moving? You retired? How could you not tell me anything?”
Dana lowered her gaze in shame. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“Surprise me? By leaving me?” Troy snapped.
“No! I was never leaving you! This is for us!” Dana declared.
“For us?” Troy asked, confused, “What do you mean for us?”
“We’ve always talked about wanting to retire to the south of France,” Dana began. “So, when the opportunity for me to take early retirement came up, I jumped at it. I was planning a big party to announce it to you, along with a trip for two weeks for us to go to France house hunting. That’s all it was supposed to be. I wasn’t moving there without you. I figured you would be surprised, but not in a bad way.”
“Just a trip?” Troy asked, somewhat bemused.
“Yes, a trip for us,” Dana explained. “We could go and see if we really want to live there and try to find a house. I was going to use the trip to suggest that we go ahead and move there because I know with your work, you can be anywhere. I even talked to your boss to find out if you could work from there, and he said you could.”
“So this whole thing was just a big misunderstanding?” Troy asked, then seemed to remember something. “But what about the hotel room? You were planning to spend the night there to fuck someone, weren’t you?”
“No! I swear! Angie was in the room with me the whole time and heard our phonecall,” Dana assured her husband. “Nothing was going on. When she realized how upset you were, she agreed that I should go home.”
Dana pulled Troy’s hand to her lips and kissed it. “Do you believe me now? Do you understand? I wasn’t cheating on you. I wasn’t leaving you.”
Troy stared at his wife for a few moments before replying. “Yes, Dana, I understand. I believe you.”
“Oh, thank God,” Dana declared then threw her arms around her husband. After a couple of moments, he pushed her back and shook his head.
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