The Strip - Max

31 / Home

I arrived home much earlier than planned and passed by an unfamiliar, shiny new BMW parked in the driveway as I walked up to the house. The sound of cartoons playing on the television greeted me, making me laugh as I walked through the front door. I expected to see Dan and one of his friends, drinking beer while watching Duck Dodgers. Given the brand of car in the driveway, I expected to see Greg. Considering the choice of television viewing, Amber would not be with him.

"Hello! Is that new BM—" As I proceeded into the house, I found the living room empty. "W—?"

"Dan..." I said softly as I peered into the kitchen. My eyes climbed the stairs towards the bedroom, noting the light in the hall was on and the bedroom door was just slightly open. A slight glow seeped through the thin space of the open door, possibly from the ensuite or a night table lamp. Curious, I started up the stairs.

"Bridget!" Dan's voice startled me as I lightly stepped. "Holy shit, I didn't hear you come in."

"Oh! you scared me," I replied. "I was sneaking up to surprise you. I thought you were up in the bedroom."

"Nah, in the basement getting some more beers. You're home early. Things... not go well tonight?" he asked.

"Ahhh, no, everything went great," I said as I planted a kiss on his lips that lingered as we walked.

"Just let me put these in the fridge." I followed Dan as he moved towards the kitchen.

"So, the car in the driveway? I half expected to see Greg here."

"Car? Oh, yeah, Bob... next door... someone showed up here looking for him about twenty minutes ago. Wrong house. I told him he could leave his car in the driveway. Why Greg?"

"It's a sporty looking BMW. I thought he might have bought it for Amber." I reached my hand out with grabby fingers, gesturing for Dan to give me one of the beers he had been carrying. "Or is a Beemer not good enough for her?"

"Oh God! It's gotten worse. She started out looking at used Hondas, then her mother got involved. Now she's browsing the Mercedes show room. And... get this! Her mother has her talking about some sort of... common law agreement." Dan twisted the cap off a beer and passed it across the kitchen island to me. "She won't move in with him until he builds 'HER' new house, but she wants something in writing as if they are freak'n married!"

"He's such a smart guy... how does he not see what she is doing?" I asked.

Talking about Greg's relationship filled the time, allowing me to avoid talking about my own. I had returned to work but still held onto fear. The fear that I misunderstood something in Dan approval. No matter how many times I replayed his words in my head, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had screwed up the one thing that meant the most to me.

"Alright... Work? How did it go? How are you feeling? Did you make an appointment to see Marley?" He dumped a load of questions and remained on the opposite side of the island. It was clear he wasn't going to allow me to avoid talking by engaging him in some intimate activities of distraction. He was onto me. He knew my ways.

I started with an unnecessary account of the staff meeting but flowed right into the meeting with Marley. He nodded his approval but didn't interrupt or allow me to stray off topic. Then the hard part became inevitable. I had to talk about the private with Ian.

"Please... please tell me I didn't misunderstand what you said. Please. About what I do at work... I don't want to lose you." Tears streamed down my cheeks as the worry that followed me into room number five surfaced. "I did a... p—"

"A private?" Dan asked. "Honey, you didn't MIS-understand at all."

"You said we need to talk about it, so I... I just. I don't know."