Walter called four times and left two messages. Louise deleted the messages without listening. Terri called to check on her, but Louise couldn't talk without crying, so their conversations were short.
Back at home, Louise sat on the bed and sobbed. She cried more than she had in years. Eventually, she tried to watch some television but couldn't focus. The shows seemed inane and pointless, nothing that would compel her to stop thinking about Walter - or Jo.
She felt a compelling desire to leave the house, to escape. Terri had been her top ally, but a conversation between them would require analysis and intensive evaluation. They would rehash bad memories and delve into raw wounds. She didn't have the energy to face the drama.
Louise browsed the numbers on her phone and dialed the one that seemed most promising. "I need to see you," she sobbed.
"I'll pick you up," Frank replied.
"You don't know where I live."
"I'll find you."
Frank drove, not to any destination and not particularly fast, but fast enough. The lights of the city bent through the curved windows and swirled into a dynamic spectacle. Being low to the ground made it all seem to pass by more rapidly. They cruised for nearly an hour. Louise said nothing; she stared out of the window for most of the trip.
Frank pulled into the small parking lot behind Giovanni's.
"What's this place?" Louise asked.
"It has the best pizza in town," Frank responded, "and the owner is a friend."
They sat across from each other in an empty upstairs dining room intended to host groups and parties. The space was quiet and secluded, the perfect spot for a private conversation.
Louise began: "My life is a wreck."
"Maybe," Frank said reassuringly, "but you'll be fine."
"Fine? I don't think so," she said defiantly. "I just found out that my boyfriend slept with my... with one of my best ex-friends."
"One of your ex-best friends?" Francisco clarified.
"Yeah, Jo," she responded. "The one who rode with him in your car."
"Well then, I can understand why you would be upset."
"I mean, it didn't just happen. It happened like a year ago, but they never told me."
"Did you expect that they would tell you something like this?" Frank wondered.
"No, I..." she said. "I just feel like an idiot. How did I not see this?"
"You probably did not believe that it was possible," Frank reasoned.
"I feel like a total idiot."
"You are not an idiot. Some people in your life did something cruel."
"I just can't believe it."
"It's not an easy thing to accept," Frank said. "But don't make yourself miserable over what happened. You didn't cause this."
"Except maybe I did in a way," she confided.
"And what role did you play in their affair?" Frank asked.
"It was NOT an affair," Louise objected. "At least, I don't think it was. It was one night, as far as I know."
"I'm sorry. Please continue."
"I was... with somebody else," Louise confessed. "I met a guy at work."
"The tango dancer," Frank clarified.
"Yes."
Frank chose his words carefully.
"Would you say that you are more upset with her or with him," Frank asked gently.
"What?" Louise was surprise by the question, by the way that Frank had avoided discussing her own transgression and focused back on theirs.
"Who has disappointed you more? Walter or your friend?"
She thought but could not decide. "Both, I guess. I mean, I trusted both of them."
"And you learned of this situation when?" he asked.
"Last night, over drinks," she confirmed.
"I'm very sorry, Luisa! I realize that his must have come as a shock," Frank said. "Had you known your man for a long time when this happened? Or was he new?"
"We had been dating for a little while."
"And this other man?"
"He came to my office for a project - from a regional office in Uruguay," Louise replied. "It just got out of control."
"Life is out of control," Frank said.
"My life is," Louise concurred.
Frank smiled.
"So, it's actually my fault."
"It is not your fault," Frank assured her. "None of this is your fault."
"It is!" She started to cry. "It's all my fault."
Frank let her cry uninterrupted until she was ready to speak again.
"If I hadn't... done what I did," Louise reasoned, "he wouldn't have run to her."
"Does he know?" Frank inquired. "Walter? About the other man?"
"No," she said. "I don't think so. I mean... I'm sure that he suspected. That's probably why he did it. But I never told him."
"Your friend knew about this?"
"She is not my friend," Louise insisted.
"Agreed," Frank said. "Not much of a friend."
"How did everything get so messed up?" she asked.
"You followed your heart," Frank explained. "People do, and their lives, well, these things are never simple."
"No," she muttered.
"And life has consequences."
"I suppose," she said.
"There are always consequences," he continued. "Sometimes, it takes a while, but we always end up paying some price for our choices."
"That's depressing."
"That is reality."
"Are you trying to make me feel bad?" she asked.
"No," he said. "You already feel terrible. I apologize if I have made it worse."
"You haven't made it worse," she said. "You listened, and that was very nice."
"Bueno!" Frank said with confidence. "Please, eat something! I don't want you to be sick."
After dinner, Frank drove Louise back to her house.
"What now?" Louise asked.
"You live your life," Frank told her. "Right now, it is a bit of a mess. But I assure you that things will get better."
"That's hard to imagine," she said.
"There are bigger problems than this in life," he said. "I know that it doesn't seem that way, but you will handle this, and you will be fine."
She looked back at him with eyes that sparkled with tears. "I don't know what to do."
"He is still your man - for now anyway," Frank continued. "Think about what you would like to say to him, what you NEED to say to him. And then call him in the morning."
Louise sniffled. "Okay."
"You can do that?"
"Yes."
"You will be fine, Luisa," Frank assured her. "The next time that I see you, you will be smiling."
Louise let a small grin slip through. "Thank you," she said, "for the ride and the pizza - and the talk."
Francisco took her hand in his and kissed it. "¡Buenas noches, bonita, y buena suerte!"
"Good night!"
'The Horse Farm'
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
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