"Oh no, oh crap. Not again. I need to get out; I need to get away from you..."
"But Lisa..."
"No, no, don't say it. I gotta get out."
She jumped up and headed for the door. Surprised by his own speed given his disheveled state, he managed to catch...
“Debbie, you really need to watch the tone of your voice and you need to stop yelling. It is not good for you or the baby. You know, she hears you now and she also feels that you are highly anxious.”
Michael was not sure Debbie’s anxiety level exceeded his, but he did a hell of a better job staying calm. She had been wailing and crying for over 30 minutes now, going on and on about how she was tired of being disrespected and made a fool. How in the world was he making a fool of her? And talk about disrespecting someone? Had she not decided to just bust into his private suite uninvited?
He heard of the concept of de-escalating conflict by keeping calm and being mindful of an even, low tone of voice, and he had attempted to apply this strategy to this current mess. Too bad Debbie had obviously not read the same book and therefore did not know she was supposed to respond by getting calmer. Maybe he should lend her the book? Or send it to her. That might be less dangerous, given her recent outbursts.
“I would not be highly anxious as you call it, had you not decided to bang that little whore in my house.”
“My house.”
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He instantly regretted having re-stated the obvious, as Debbie responded by sinking into the couch, once again sobbing wildly. He felt so helpless and wondered if he should step up and comfort her, but her current level of emotional exhibitionism frightened him. He decided to keep a safe distance.
“That is just it, Michael. Everything is yours, isn’t it? But, I am your wife, for heaven’s sake. I am supposed to share all these things with you. I should not need a private invite to come to see my husband to share the ultrasound pictures of our baby. OUR’S, Michael. Mine and yours. I am the one giving you children. She never loved you enough to do that. She lied to you and used you. Yet you treat me like shit.”
More sobbing. He found himself biting his lip and hit a sore spot. Ouch! Did Lisa bite him earlier?
“So, Debbie, how about you calm down and show me the pictures? I mean, I told you how sorry I am that you walked in on us. Let’s just move on. I’m here with you now. I am not treating you like shit now, am I? I wanna hear what you have to say. But please, try to say it without yelling.”
She looked at him. Tears streamed down her face and her cheeks were red and splotchy. She was so pitiful. He knew she loved him, and it must have been horrible to see someone you loved in such a compromising position with another person. If he thought about Lisa getting it on with Danny, he saw pure red and felt like smashing things, so he could relate to that. Still… she should not have come in without knocking. For him, it all came down to that display of bad manners.
“You are sorry I walked in on you, Michael? How about being sorry for continuing to fuck your ex-wife?”
“Language, Debbie- the baby!” This time, he could not avoid raising his voice.
“Fuck, language! I didn’t hear you minding language when she screamed out all those dirty words while you were giving it to her earlier. And I think I might have heard some curse words from you, too. Why Michael? Why can you not stay away from her? Is she that good? ”
Heat rose from deep inside as he felt himself blushing furiously again. She heard them? Oh, no! Well, of course she had to have heard them. But some part of him had still clung to the hopes that she had been too shocked to remember details. Obviously, trauma induced deafness had not set in. How long has she been there? As far as Lisa being that good…that was really none of Debbie’s business.
“Debbie, look, Lisa and I...are…we are…it’s complicated…” At a loss for a more accurate definition of what Lisa and he were, he stared at his shoes.
“Complicated? You are divorced. What the hell is so complicated about that? How about I divorce you for what’s going on here? I mean, don’t you think I am tired of being used by you? I am pretty sure adultery is a great reason for divorce, Michael. And who would blame me? I bet I get the kids and at least half of everything you own. Then what will you have left? You think that spoiled bitch will want you after I am through with you? She only wants you now ‘cause she can’t have you.”
She just had to put his worst fears into words on all kinds of levels, didn’t she? Bull’s eye! Was that what she was after? Was she just another person trying to steal from him? Well, she better watch out what she played at here. Anger rose and his eyes narrowed. His voice became cold and clear like frozen nitrogen.
“Are you threatening me, Debbie? We have an airtight contract. If you think I will put up with you taking the kids from me, you better watch out. I’m not playing about this, and you better remember why we got married. You know it was not because I am in love with you, so stop it. I never lied to you about that.”
Flinching, Debbie rose and stepped close to him. She stared down at the ground for a minute before she answered, her tone calmer now.
“Michael, please, I don’t want to fight you. You know I did all this for you. I don’t want to have to take the kids. They are your children. I just want a little bit of respect for this sacrifice I am making for you. I have done everything you asked. I even went on public record stating that I support that fake friendship between you and her. What has she done for you? She spreads her legs? Well, whoopee for her! What a hardship. What she has not done, and what she will never do is have your child, remember that. Remember how angry you were at her. How hurt you were when you found the birth control.”
He closed his eyes, not wanting to remember any of the things Debbie invoked. He swallowed the bitterness that always accompanied those memories.
“Look, all that is in the past, ok? I do respect and love you for what you are doing. But you need to stop acting like the jealous wife. I am sorry, Lisa and I were careless. But you need to start knocking when you enter any rooms in my house, can we agree on that?”
“Fine. Can we also agree you stay away from her?”
When had he ever consented to stay away from Lisa? Was Debbie high on prenatal vitamins? This was not a negotiation. He was laying out the rules, and she had no bargaining power here. Staying away from Lisa was not going to happen. Especially not now, when she might carry his baby. He considered lying to Debbie to just shut her up and get her out of the house so he could finish his conversation with Lisa and get a clearer idea of what was going on with them.
“Yeah, Michael, why don’t you answer your lovely wife here? Will you agree to stay away from me?”
Shit! Not again! Did anyone knock in this house? His house?
Sighing and raising his eyes in silent prayer, he turned and faced Lisa who had entered the room, carrying Prince in her arms.
