I drove home, beyond tears. I raced into our, no, my house and went straight to the liquor cabinet and drank myself unconscious as quickly as possible. It would hurt tomorrow, but tomorrow was another day. I had to survive the night.
I woke early the next morning to a pounding head and an even louder pounding on the front door. I stumbled to the latter, wrenched it open, and immediately shielded my eyes from the bright light. That’s what saved me from the full impact of the slap John’s wife aimed at my face. Stunned, I dropped my guard.
“Slut! Just because you confessed your affair with my husband last night, did you think you weren’t going to get what’s coming to you?”
Even if I’d not been severely hungover, I would still have been confused as all hell. I figured out later, that some woman, probably Peta, had rung John’s wife, pretending to be me, and confessed to having an affair with John. With my mental and physical guard down, her next slap lifted me off my feet and deposited me on my ass in the hall. Ironic really. Now both husband and wife had bruised my ass. All I could do was watch as she strode away towards the street and her car. Halfway back, she faltered, then fell to her knees sobbing. Three small figures jumped from her car and rushed to her. Two boys, between about five and seven, beat a girl of about nine. They all wrapped themselves around their grieving mother. The girl looked at me with an expression of pure hate. I’d often thought of the effects of my affair being discovered on Dave and myself. I’d even spared a thought for John’s wife every now and then. I’d never once thought of her children. It was a look I knew I’d remember for the rest of my life. The way my mind was feeling at the moment, that probably wouldn’t be that far away.
The rest of that week was just a blur. I was roused on the Tuesday, I think, by the new manager of John’s company. She fired me over the phone. Bugger. Now I was awake and sober. I’d vowed not to do that until the pain had gone.
On Wednesday, there was an article on the front page of the local newspaper that was on the porch. The headline read WIFE SACKS HUSBAND SUES FOR DIVORCE AND DAMAGE TO COMPANY REPUTATION. I guess John’s wife had some hard feelings for him as well.
It must have been at least two months later that I next saw David. At least there were spring bulbs flowering in the park where I saw him. He was sitting on a bench with Peta and John’s wife. The eldest two children were playing on the playground. The youngest boy was being bounced violently up and down on David’s knee. Squeals of delight, and shouts of, “Faster, horsey, faster,” were echoing around the park. Even from a distance I could see the looks on David and Peta’s faces. They would be parents as soon as possible. I put my head down and re-started towards the liquor store.
EPILOGUE
Ten months later.
“Good evening, sir, madam. Welcome to our annual party. I’m Susan Smith, can I ask your names?”
“We are David and Peta Ferrand.”
“Ah, our VIPs.”