Love after Life

The Other Woman

"Mom, when you coming home?" Kyle asked. I sighed, wiped my tears, and put the phone back to my ear.

"Well," I began. "Your dad and I have to have a little talk soon, before I come back."

"Why?" Kyle asked, his voice breaking a bit. That broke my heart.

"I, uh, did something bad," I said to him. "And your dad is mad at me about it. RIGHTLY so, I'd like to add."

"Why not tell him you're sorry?" He asked. The innocence of children...

"Because sometimes, sorry just isn't good enough," I said, feeling the tears come down. "Some things just can't be fixed with sorry."

"I miss you," he said. "I'm sure Dad does, too."

"I miss you all, too," I said, sighing, my world shattered to pieces.

Karma. Pure karma.

Ten minutes later, we said our goodbyes. It's been a week since Tony kicked me out of the house. I stayed with mom a few days, but her smoking was too much for me, so I decided to stay at a motel. Staying with Gabe wasn't an option for me; not because he sided with Tony (which was fair; I'm in the wrong, I admit it) but because his apartment is much smaller than Mom's.

Shawna hasn't called me in three days, and Tony hasn't called me at all. I have no doubt he doesn't miss me, and I have no doubt the only time he'll ever call is when he's got the divorce papers ready. That's fair, that's plenty fair...

I stepped out of my motel room to get some air. I was staying at the Arbordale Motel, which was an OK place to stay at if you were going cross country, or if you were coming in from the rural areas to check out the university in town. The motel also has a pool in the back, but I'm not even close to being in the mood for swimming. Besides, it's dusk already.

The door to the room beside mine opened, and out stepped Josh. When he saw me, he looked a bit panicked, but then he started chuckling.

"Chrissy, imagine my surprise," he said, grinning a bit. "Why would YOU of all people be here?"

"Personal reasons," I replied, crossing my arms and leaning back on the wall. "What about you?"

"Well," he grinned. "I'm with my girlfriend."

Gross.

"Isn't today your wife's birthday?" I asked, glaring at him.

"Yeah," he said, shrugging. "Wait... dammit, I forgot to get her a present!"

He ran back inside, then he left again, rushing to his car and speeding away. Out from the room he rented came a GORGEOUS woman with silky black hair, pink lips, ocean blue eyes, and a figure to die for.

"What an asshole," she said, giggling, as she fixed her hair up a bit.

"He's married," I said, glaring at her.

"I'm well aware," she grinned. "He only ever mentions her every other conversation we have."

"What?" I asked, shocked. "Then why are you with him?"

"For fun, mostly," she replied as she reapplied her lipstick. "But, you know, it's getting boring. I plan to break up with him soon enough."

"When?" I asked.

"In about two, maybe three hours," she said. "Then I'll send every last message he sent me, to his wife."

"WHY!?" I asked, shocked.

"Because THIS is what he says about his wife to me," she said as she took out her phone and gave it to me.

My wife is such an awful c__t. Fat and ugly, too.

Honestly, babe, next to you, my wife is a pile of sh*t.

I'm DYING to divorce her!

Gross. So, so gross.

"Once I dump him, he's gonna go back to the wife like nothing happened," she chuckled. "Or maybe he'll try to overcompensate by being a thousand times more romantic than he's ever been. Thing is, that's not what she deserves. I don't care what kind of wife she is; she shouldn't be with someone who'd talk trash about her behind her back."

"Ruin him," I found myself growling. "I know his wife's number."

"Oh-ho!" She said, smiling. "Us ladies gotta stick together, am I right? I already know her number, but thanks anyway!"

"Hey, why be with him if-"

"What we did, I did for fun," she replied, shrugging.

"But there's so many single men out there," I said. "Why go for a married guy?"

"Hey, HE came onto ME," she said as she put the lipstick back in her purse. "We met at a bar, and he just laid it on thick, know what I mean? So I decided, why not? Let's have some fun! Carpe Diem, and all that!"

"When did you find out he was married?" I asked.

"Oh I knew from the moment we met," she grinned. "His ring was a dead give-away. But just from his demeanor, I could tell he was a married man looking for an affair. He tried to play himself as this totally suave man of the world, and when he saw that I was looking at his ring, he gave me the old sob story of the wife who doesn't appreciate him, takes him for granted, picks a fight over anything, yada yada yada."

"Fuck," I said, scowling. "I thought him better than that."

"He's into you," she said, stepping towards me. "Word to the wise, though: he's not worth it."

"Evidently," I said. Then came the word vomit. "I'm not into men, anyway."

"Was that why your marriage crumbled?" She asked, sounding concerned. "I could hear you through the wall."

"Kinda," I said. "I made a mistake..."

"You cheated with another woman," she said as she tied her hair into a ponytail. "And now you feel like crap about it because, and I'm just guessing here, he kicked you out and now you're living in a motel instead of at home with your family."

Oh wow, she hit the nail on the head.

"There's no getting my family back, is there?" I asked.

"Nah," she replied. "Not unless you ask your husband what YOU can do to help heal the family."

"What?"

"What, you expected them to just get over it and forgive you, welcome you back with open arms?" She bitterly laughed. "You did some DAMAGE to them! I got ten bucks that says your husband's really hurting, and your kid's confused about everything because they don't understand what Mommy coulda done that was so bad, she's not allowed back home anymore!"

I did do some damage, that's a fact.

"I," I began, gathering my thoughts before saying something stupid. "You're right; I did some damage, and I gotta own up to it. I gotta help my family heal, right?"

"Right," she said. "And that includes ending it with the other woman. Matter of fact, it all starts there."

"That part's done," I said, sighing.

"Judging from your body language, I'd say she ended it, not you." she said, shaking her head. "This is gonna be harder for you, then."

"I know," I said. "I think... yeah, tomorrow for sure I'll go right home and see my kids, then I'll ask my husband what I can do for him to help him heal."

"Good luck with that," she said, extending her hand to me. "Name's Russo. Vanessa Russo. You?"

"Christine Tanner," I said, shaking her hand.

"So, since tomorrow's the day you're going to try and fix the damage," Vanessa said as she caressed my hand. "How about a little fun?"

"Ummm," I gulped. "I'm more into butch women, or at least female body builders."

"Gotcha," she said, letting go of my hand. "Ah well! Too bad, I'm a sucker for blondes!"

Besides, Vanessa's a bit trashy for sleeping with married folk willingly. Ugh...