The Forgiveable Journey Of The Cheated

18. Pileup

Once back home, demolished Eve immediately erases all photos in which she appears during the time that Dan was with Charlotte, because she cannot stand to look at herself. So three years of photo souvenirs of Eve vanish. Her kids will rely on memory for these years or a few photos that Dan may have in his phone. Eve had deluded herself into believing that Dan didn't care about looks. She was so naive. This was a huge awakening. Now it’s all she can think about.

Although she does not regret having dedicated her time, energy and money to her kids and the family (and not herself), she resolves that if she wants to be what Dan wants, she will have to invest in going to the hair and nail salon every 6 weeks, spend her savings on great clothes, and shave between her legs. Despite the 25 pounds she already lost due to stress, she vows to not regain any of it. She suddenly feels prepared to go apeshit to become as supermodel as possible in order to please him and remind him of his lapse in judgment. She harbours a more secret thought that perhaps she could attract her own plan B and experience the power of choice. 

Yup, personality wins over looks in the end, but looks have considerably more power! Of course sex, especially vocal and forbidden sex, trumps. 

The rage within her is now poisonous and her path more treacherous. 

And what does Eve do with her post picture-erasing rage? She writes to Liam of course. She tells him that she thought that the roller-coaster of emotions was coming to an end, but the conductor decided to give her another ride. She tells him she saw Charlotte this evening. 

He immediately responds “where?” 

Once Eve answered his question, he wordlessly leaves the conversation. It was an extremely unsatisfying response.

Liam had been spared the possibility of showing up and making the shit hit the fan by not being made aware of the event. Sometimes, years post-infidelity recovery, Eve thinks that it could have been an even greater explosive event if he had been there, giving this evening a touch of absurdity that could actually be laughed at. I’ll let you imagine all the wonderful and fascinating directions the evening could have taken had Liam showed up.

Now Eve and Liam’s confidentiality agreement is on its way out the door since Liam found out that Charlotte was not where she had said she would be. For the past two days, Charlotte had been harassing him to change his shift at work, claiming she needs a babysitter for their daughter Wednesday night because of an exceptional but essential work-related meeting. She had also begged Liam’s sister and parents to watch over Anna. In the end, Liam had switched shifts, which incidentally meant cancelling a first date with Rita83 whom he had met online and who had hinted that sushi and wine put her into a bold mood. His parents had also pushed back the hour of a birthday celebration supper for Liam’s niece. They would stay with Anna until Liam could arrive home from work. Liam asked them to refuse. He and Charlotte had just finalized the separation agreement for a separation she wanted and for which she had fought tooth and nail to obtain favourable conditions. “Let her find her own babysitter when it’s her turn” he whined to his parents. His mother told him he was selfish and that his reaction was typical of him. “We’re talking about taking care of Anna here. It’s not about you or Charlotte. Do you not want to see your daughter?” So he gave in. Again. Because otherwise he looks like a jerk. 

Then, upon seeing the message revealing Charlotte’s true whereabouts, he has an instant headache. All the changes to people’s plans! She had lied to everybody! Oooh, his raging heart. 

Upon arriving home, his mother slips downstairs to make sure Anna is OK and in bed. She secretly wants to make sure Liam is sober because Charlotte had often said that one of her main reasons for leaving him was because he drinks too much. Though his mother never says this to Liam, he knows her motivations for checking in on him. It is pretty obvious he had become dysfunctional since enlightenment. It is true that he is drinking more than usual, but it hardly could have been the true excuse a year ago. Regardless, everyone knew he had seriously fucked up in losing Charlotte. He had managed to snare a smart and pretty girl and then he hadn’t risen to the occasion.