The Fling

35

While Abigail cooked, I sat at the kitchen island sipping red wine. She was wearing my t-shirt, and I had on gym shorts.

"This is a dinner my mom used to make for the two of us," she explained as she pounded two chicken breasts. "It's not fancy, but it fits your dietary restrictions."

After seasoning the chicken and putting it in a skillet, she smashed some small potatoes that she'd boiled earlier, and then cleaned a bundle of asparagus. The chicken cooked quickly, and she removed it from the pan before putting the potatoes in and starting the steamer. When everything was done, she plated the food, topping the chicken with a dollop of pesto.

We sat down at the table, and I took a bite of the crispy golden potatoes first. "Shit. These are amazing!" I then tried the chicken and declared it to be incredible, too.

"Thanks! I love to cook, but my kids are rarely appreciative of my efforts. They'd rather order pizza than eat something like this."

"They'll learn to like good food as they get older. I was the same way until I was probably twelve."

She grimaced. "When you were twelve, I was older than you are now."

"So?"

"It's a little weird, don't you think?"

I put my fork down. "I don't think it's weird at all, but it is weird that you tend to bring it up a lot."

"I'm sorry. I wonder if Bert felt like I do when he started his affair with Reagan."

"Doubt it," I snorted.

"It's horrible that the older man and younger woman coupling is accepted by most people, but when you reverse genders it becomes almost taboo," she said before taking a bite of chicken.

"That's my point! You're only bugged by my age because society has told you it is wrong. I refuse to listen to an outdated point of view and am gonna be with who I want."

"But why do you want me?" she asked softly.

Her vulnerability struck me hard because I related to it so fiercely. "Do you not know how amazing you are? You're smart, funny, generous, kind, and breathtakingly beautiful. You make me really happy, and I'm very thankful that we ended up at that spa at the same time."

"I told you when we met that I was broken."

"You're not! You might have some cracks, but we all do."

"I have more than most people. My marriage wasn't perfect, and Bert had flaws, but I was happy. When he pulled the rug out from under me, it really messed me up. I know that I am probably better off without him, but it still hurts. What hurts the most is that my family changed drastically. I never thought I'd be a single mom or that I would lose having Lizzie in my daily life."

I took her hand in mine. "I hate that you have been put through that. My experience isn't the same, but I know what it's like to think something is forever and then have it ripped away."

"Do you still love her?"

This blunt question was unexpected, and it took me a second to gather my thoughts. "I'm always going to love her because she was my first love, but that doesn't mean I'll never love anyone else."

"That's where my headspace is. Does it bother you that a part of me still loves Bert?"

I chuckled. "I've met him, so it's hard for me to understand why, but I get that he's the father of your children and that you've seen a side of him I'll never see."

"I also hate him, but I'm trying to hate what he did instead of hating the person. My therapist says that's healthier. See what I mean by broken?"

"You just need a little glue."