"Hi."
"I thought... maybe we should talk."
"Okay."
"Are you free later? Maybe 6:30 at the park?"
"Yeah, I can be there."
"Okay."
"K, bye."
"Bye."
Walter was waiting on a bench when Louise arrived. Small children were playing nearby under the watchful eyes of their parents and babysitters.
"Hi." She sat beside him.
"Hi."
"Thanks for coming."
"Thanks for calling."
"I'm not sure where to start," she admitted.
"I..."
"Is there anything you want to say?"
"You called me," he said defensively.
"Is there anything you want to say to ME?"
"Well, I want to say that I'm sorry."
"I just... were you going to tell me about this?"
"Louise, I..."
"I mean, couldn't we have just talked about it?"
"That didn't really seem like a good idea..."
"It wasn't a good idea to screw my friend, Walter!"
"No," he admitted. "It was a horrible idea. It was the worst thing that I've ever done."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes! I felt terrible. I apologized to her the next day."
"So, you saw her again?" Louise demanded.
"No! No way!" Walter insisted. "I called her to apologize, and she apologized in return."
"Well, at least somebody got an apology!" Louise said crossly.
"We both felt really bad. And that was the last time that we spoke - I SWEAR! - until the other day, when this Francisco guy sent us off in his Ferrari."
"What did you talk about in the car?"
"Nothing much...."
"Like what?"
"We just remarked how strange it was that we were paired up to ride together," Walter explained. "Who is this guy, anyway?"
"Nobody."
"Are you sure? Because..."
"I'm sure," she said. "I just met the guy. Jo and Terri were going bananas over the whole high society thing. I didn't even like the guy."
"Are you sure that nothing's going on?" Walter asked in a serious tone.
"No!" Louise insisted. "Okay, I'll admit that I used to have a thing for guys like that. But that's in the past."
"How far back in the past?"
"Far enough."
"Like a year and a half ago?" Walter demanded.
"I told you that I just met him."
"Yeah, except..." Walter thought carefully about how to phrase what he wanted to say. "Back when all of this was going on..."
"Are you going to try to blame me for what you did, Walter?" she demanded.
"I'm not blaming you," Walter responded.
"Because this is on YOU!" she said hotly.
"I... I know!" he said. "It was my mistake. I admit that. It's just that..."
"What, Walter?"
"I don't know. There was a time when you weren't around very much. I thought something was going on."
"I told you about that, Walter. We had consultants in from the global offices. We were expected to schmooze with them after work," Louise said.
"You're not much of a schmoozer."
"It was business, Walter."
"It seemed to go a little late for business."
"Okay, fine! It's an international thing," she said. "In other countries, business people drink until late at night. I don't know why. I was barely getting enough sleep."
Walter didn't seem to buy her story.
"I mean, is that what you thought, Walter? That I was running around on you?"
"I thought..."
"Is that why you got drunk and went to Jo's apartment? And Terri's, too?"
"I..."
"You knew that Jo has issues, Walter."
"I didn't know..." Walter said.
"You know that she's impulsive with men. I told you those things in confidence."
Walter opened his mouth but stopped short of saying what came to mind.
"You took advantage of her, Walter! You took advantage of both of us!"
"No, I..."
"Yes, Walter, you did!" she said. "You knew that she was weak and you went there anyway. You knew what could happen."
"That's not fair!"
"What do you mean, it's not fair, Walter? It's exactly what happened! Anyone who knows her could have predicted it."
"I didn't..."
"Did you stop to think about how much damage this would do, Walter? How much this must have hurt her?"
"She seemed..."
"She seemed what, Walter? Okay with it? You slept with her and then you never talked to her again. That would hurt any woman, and especially her."
"I..." he started to say. "Look, I didn't go there to hurt her."
"No, you went there to hurt me, Walter!" Louise concluded. "Somehow you got the idea that I was running around behind your back. So you went to my friend's house and you took advantage of her just so you could get back at me."
"No...Louise!" he protested.
"Because you don't care about anyone except yourself."
"Screw you, Louise!" Walter objected.
"Screw you!"
"Okay, this whole thing...this was a bad idea," Walter said. "I should have known!"
Walter stood up and walked to his car. The stereo blared when he started the engine. Within a minute, both he and the loud music were gone.
Louise walked home while running the conversation over in her mind. Had she said what she wanted to say? Had she given Walter a fair hearing, or had she let her anger cost her a chance for reconciliation?
At one point she felt like calling Walter to apologize for being so blunt with him. She alternated between feelings of sadness and vindication.
Poor Jo! It was difficult to feel sorry for her, but the girl didn't have much control when it came to men. This complicated her ability to establish healthy relationships and left her at the mercy of scoundrels.
Walter had joined the ranks of these scoundrels. The whole situation left Louise feeling disgusted. She didn't know if she could face Walter again, let alone get back together.
Louise needed to calm herself down. Some mindless television and a container of Haagen Dazs Chocolate Chocolate Chip ice cream helped. She changed into her night clothes and looked forward to getting some sleep and returning to work.
She lay in bed working a crossword when Walter called. "Hey," he said.
"Hi." Her tone was cordial, not vindictive.
"I was thinking about hiking Evergreen Creek on Saturday. Would you be interested?"
"What time?" she asked.
"I was gonna leave at 8," he said. "Get out there before it gets too hot."
"What's the weather supposed to do?"
"It's supposed to be nice," he confirmed.
"Okay," she said. "Pick me up."
'The Horse Farm'
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
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