"I am SO sorry!" Terri explained. "My Mondays are hectic. It's tough to get out of the office on time."
"No problem!" Jo reassured her.
"We already started," Louise added.
"I can see that," Terri said. "What are we having tonight?"
"Whatever we want," said Louise with a smile.
"We needed a little Happy Hour magic," said Jo. "She's feeling blue about Ferrari guy."
"Frank!" Louise insisted. "His name is Frank." Louise and Jo giggled.
"Geez!" exclaimed Terri. "You didn't even want to call the guy."
"But I did call him," Louise explained.
"No, you called his kid," said Jo. The two of them laughed loudly.
"And then I met him," Louise continued. "And he was from Argentina."
"And rich," Jo added with a smile.
"Oh my goodness!" Louise exclaimed.
"Oh my goodness!" Jo echoed. Louise and Jo raised their glasses.
"I thought you said that he gave you the brush off," Terri explored. "Yesterday at the farm, you couldn't wait to pack up and go home."
"He dumped me," Louise said, feigning sadness.
"Don't you have to be seeing someone already in order to get dumped?" Terri asked.
"Not necessarily," Jo said.
"Yeah, you would know!" Terri shot back. Jo stuck her tongue out.
"Okay," Louise revised her statement. "Frank... REJECTED me." She and Jo started laughing again.
"First, you said that the guy was a jerk. Then you didn't want to call or meet him," Terri recounted. "You said that you needed to be careful because you didn't want to get hurt or screw things up with Walter."
"I did?" Louise answered, grinning and pretending not to remember.
"So, why are you pining for the guy?" Terri asked.
"Pining. Is that really a word?" Jo asked facetiously, giggling.
"I just wanted to HOLD him," Louise cooed. "Just once."
"Yeah, well, I think you should let that one go." Terri was becoming impatient with their alcohol-induced babble.
"You should NEVER let a man like that go," Jo concluded.
"Be serious!" Terri said crossly.
"I was serious!" Jo quibbled. Terri ignored her.
"Louise," Terri continued, "you need to be careful. You don't want to take another risk and maybe mess things up with Walter."
"I'm not gonna mess up," Louise assured her.
"She loves Walter," Jo said.
"I love Walter."
"Well, then, I hope you're luckier than last time," Terri stated sternly.
Louise suddenly became more serious. "What do you mean 'luckier than last time'?"
"I just..." Terri began. "I just think... you should be careful, that's all."
"No! What did you mean by 'I hope that you're luckier than last time'?" Louise was getting agitated. "What are you trying to say?"
"It's nothing," Terri replied evasively.
"No, it's not nothing, or your wouldn't have said it," Louise insisted. "I want to know what you're talking about."
"Okay, screw it!" Terri couldn't hold back her concerns any longer. "You're not going to want to hear this, but when you were out fooling around with your South American dance partner..."
"Leave him out of this," Louise demanded.
"I can't leave him out of this, Lou," Terri explained. "That's what I'm trying to tell you."
Louise's face showed a mix of concern and confusion. Jo sat silently.
"Walter was a wreck when you were out with that guy," Terri continued. "I can understand that you were distracted with all that was going on, but I can't believe that you didn't notice what it was doing to your own boyfriend."
"What are you talking about?" Louise demanded.
"He was out of control," Lou. "He used to call me, call US, looking for you. At home, at work, late at night. Every time you went out with what's his name, I'd get a call. Sometimes more than one. 'Do you know where she is? Do you know where she went?'"
"He called me, too." Jo confessed.
"And you didn't tell me this?" Louise demanded.
"We COVERED for you, Lou," Terri explained. "That's all that we ever tried to do."
Jo nodded in quiet agreement.
"Then, one night," Terri continued, "I think it was a Friday, he came over to my place."
"What"? Louse was in disbelief.
"Yes, he was at my place he and banged on my door," Terri continued. "It was almost midnight."
"You let him IN?" Louise was visibly upset.
"No, Louise!" Terri countered. "I did NOT let him in."
"You'd better be telling me the truth."
"I swear, Lou! I am telling you the truth," Terri assured her. "I did not let your drunk, depressed boyfriend into my apartment. How stupid do you think I am?"
Louise seemed to calm down a notch. Jo took another sip of her drink.
"The strange thing is," Terri explained, "after that, after THAT night, it all stopped. No more calls, no more coming around, no more 'where is she?'. But you hadn't ended your thing with Antonio. You were still seeing him."
"That doesn't mean anything," Louise said angrily.
"Maybe not, Lou, but it didn't make sense. You were still out with the guy," Terri continued. "Every night before that, Walter was like, 'Where's Louise?' And then one day, nothing. No calls and, thank God, no more drunken knocks on the door."
Louise listened intently.
Terri continued: "I didn't want to say anything, but..."
"You think he was fooling around?" Louise demanded with shock in her voice.
"Maybe he was just embarrassed. I mean, it's hard to believe that he just stopped caring about you," Terri reasoned. "But what if it was something else? What if he found someone?"
"Oh my God!" Louise exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, Lou!" Terri said. "It's just speculation."
"You think...?" Louise was at a loss for words.
"I don't know. But if you start hanging around with Frank the way you hung around with Antonio, you're gonna blow it," Terri cautioned her. "Because I have a feeling that Walter's not going to put up with it."
"Oh my God!" Louise was visibly upset now. "Do you really think that he was fooling around?"
"Why not?" Terri asked. "He's a guy. He's definitely capable of making the same mistakes that you did."
"Oh shit!" The possibility was becoming frighteningly real to Louise. "He... He went on some business trips around that time," Louise added. "What if...?"
"It's okay, Lou." Terri tried to calm her down.
"But what if you're right? - My God!" Louise wondered aloud.
"Hey, we don't know for sure," Terri said. "Maybe he did - but so what? You guys are doing better now."
"But if I can't trust him, none of that matters." Louise was searching for answers. "Oh, shit. His business trips. He was taking a lot of trips."
"Louise," Terri said firmly. "You made mistakes, too. Let it go."
"I can't let it go," Louise said angrily. "What if it was someone from his office? What if the next time he goes away on business, she's there waiting for him at his hotel?"
"You don't need to worry about that if..." Terri countered.
"What do you mean, I don't need to worry?" Louise was almost crying now. "I have to ask him. I need to talk to him."
"Louise," Terri suggested. "Please don't open a can of worms based on suspicion."
"I'm not... I just need to know," Louise said. "Was is a co-worker? Was it a one-night stand?"
"It was me," Jo said.
"What?" Terri demanded.
"No!" Louise exclaimed.
"He came to me..." Jo continued.
"Jo!" gasped Terri.
"No!" Louise started to cry.
"That night..." Jo tried to say.
"No fucking way!" Terri exclaimed.
"Oh, like you didn't fucking know?" Louise demanded.
"I didn't know!" Terri said emphatically. "I don't believe this!"
"I'm sorry!" Jo was starting to cry now.
"No! No!" Louise got up from her stool. She was hysterical.
"He was so sad," said Jo, shaking.
"Jo!" Terri yelled. "Shut up!"
"I've gotta go!" Louise darted toward the door.
"Wait, Lou!" Terri called after her.
Terri grabbed her purse and phone. "Wait! You've been drinking."
Jo sat crying, looking down at the table.
"I don't fucking believe you!" Terri scolded her one final time.
"And pay the goddamned tab!"
'The Horse Farm'
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
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