Her Secret Affair

Chapter 29

A little before 5.30 P.M. the doorbell rang. It was the delivery guys from the restaurant Frankie had sent her the number to. "Hi, do you mind bringing it inside for me? I can't carry much with this arm," she smiled at the two men standing in front of her. 

"Sure, ma'am," and they walked in with the trays each. She had gone a little overboard for a small dinner, but she was in a good mood.

"What's the total, please? I forgot to ask when I called earlier."

"It's already been taken care of, Ma'am," the oldest of the two answered, before they both left.

Brianna smiled. "You really need to stop doing that," she thought to herself.

As she walked back to the living room, the door opened behind her. Joseph walked in with a box and a bouquet of orange and yellow lilies in his hand.

"Hi," he said as he walked in.

"Hi."

"Sorry, I left without saying anything this morning. I didn't want to wake you. Happy Birthday, Brie," he said handing her the flowers.

"Thank you. They're beautiful. Your mum is coming over with Nicky in a bit."

"Brie, about yesterday.."

"Jo, not now please. Your mum is coming by and I don't want to argue just before she shows up."

"Ok, so I guess we have to prepare something for dinner, or did you want to go out?"

"Neither, I've already ordered food for dinner. It was just delivered a few minutes before you got here. I just need help to unpack them and put them in serving dishes."

"I can do that. I got you a birthday cake," he said setting the box on the table. "I'll just take a quick shower and then I'll be right back."

The evening proceeded without any trouble. Nicholas was his usual hyper self, telling his parents all the stories they had missed this week. For him, nothing had changed, nothing was different. 

For Brianna, nothing would ever be the same again.

**********

"It's getting late, Mum," Joseph said as the evening came to an end. "Would you like me to walk you home?"

"It's alright, there's still some light outside. I can manage. Nicky, you're coming with me?"

"He can stay, it's alright."

"But Daddy, I want to go with Grandma."

"Alright tiger, go give your mother a kiss and then you can go."

After they had left, Joseph cleared up the dishes and took care of the cleaning. Brianna sat in the living room, lost in her thoughts.

"Brie, can we talk?" she heard him call her name in the distance. She looked at him, thinking of the right words to say, before slowly nodding.

"I'm sorry about how I have been treating you these past days. It was just really hard to imagine you with another man. The fact that I actually knew him kind of made it harder for me. And I had no right to say everything I said to you, knowing that I wasn't any better. I don't know how we move on from here, but I know that I don't want to lose you."

"Joseph, you're not in love with me. Why would you want to stay with me?"

"Of course I love you, Brie. You're the mother of my child," he said as he kneeled in front of her, taking her hands in his.

"Jo, you  are not in love with me. You may love and care about me, but you're not in love with me. You told me so yourself. And I don't see why we have to make each other miserable by staying together."

"You're leaving me for him, aren't you?"

"No, Jo. It has nothing to do with him. It's us. We obvioulsy don't feel the same about each other. Otherwise we wouldn't be like this right now."

They sat in silence for a while, Joseph still on the floor leaning his back against the sofa.

"I did love you, Brie" he said after a long while.

"I know. And I loved you. I will always do in a way."

**********

The next morning, they both woke up with a heavy heart. This was almost 9 years of their lives. When Brianna walked into the kitchen, Joseph had already made breakfast.

"Will you have breakfast with me?" he asked.

She sat at the table and started drinking her cup of tea.

"I've already called Mum and she said she'll keep Nicky for a few days while we figure things out."

"I'll start looking for a place once you've had your cast removed. I don't want to leave you alone."

"You don't have to move. I've thought about it, I will find somewhere. Here you'll be close to your mother."

"How do we even do this? This is as much your home as it is mine," he sighed frustratedly. "Brie, please don't go. Let's try to work things out, please. Give us another chance. I promise to do better, do be better," he begged.

"Jo, please. Don't make it harder than it already is," she said with tears in her eyes.

"Baby, please. Don't leave," he came around the table, kissing her face, hugging her.

"Jo, don't."

"Look," he said standing up, "you're cast is not supposed to be removed for another 3 weeks. Can you let me show you that things can be different? If by then you still want us to go our separate ways, I won't stop you."

Brianna sighed, feeling resigned. In her heart, she had already made her decision. 

**********

Three weeks later, on Friday afternoon, Brianna sat watching what felt like a millionth Disney movie this week with Nicholas. As she was feeling much better and managing better with her arm, he had been home for with her for the past week. A text on her phone distracting her from the movie.

F: Good morning, I hope you are ok. x

She hadn't seen Frankie for the past three weeks. She had called him the Monday after her discussion with Joseph to ask him to give her some space to sort out her feelings. He was dissapointed but, so far he has kept his distance. Once in a while, he would text her just to check that she is ok. 

B: I'm good, just wasting my brain cells with another Disney movie.

F: What is it this time?

B: Luca again.

F: A favourite then. Will you have lunch with me on Monday?

B: We talked about this.

F: I know. But I miss you. I just want to see you.

B: I have my doctor's appointment of Monday. I'm supposed to be removing my cast.

F: Ok. Hope that goes well. Give me a call when you're ready.

Brianna stared at her phone. Joseph had been very attentive the past three weeks. He has made sure to be home early enough to spend time with Nicholas, help her bathe, preparing dinner, and even the day's lunch before he goes off to work. He spent time wathcing old movies with her, talking about everything and anything, just like they used to do. The man Brianna fell in love with was back, but her heart was no longer his.

Although they were closer than they had been for a while, he knew that things were not the same. They were no more than two best friends sharing a platonic intimacy, a feeling of shared safety and comfort.

But Brianna was not ready to tell Frankie any of that. She didn't want it to look like she jumped from one relationship to another. And most importantly, she needed to be sure before she let him come into Nicholas' life in a more permanent way.