Preemptive Strike

"Turns out Jason's been pulling this shit on her for years—she's caught him twice before. So I apologized again, and got her email address, and forwarded all our messages to her, in case she needs them for evidence.

"She said after the last time she'd told him, and absolutely promised her parents, that if it ever happened again he was gone. I think she was going to call a locksmith right away, so he wouldn't even be able to get into the house at the end of the day."

He gave her a slight smile. "It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy."

Emily sighed a little, and put her arms around him and her head on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Nick. I know I've said it a million times. But right now I'm feeling sorry for her, too, and for what I did. Three kids and married to that selfish bastard and about to be a divorced single mom. And what I did didn't help any."

"Honestly, Em, and I'm not even trying to make you feel better. But if he hadn't gone after you, it would have been somebody else. The guy is a low-life piece of shit. I can feel sad for his wife and kids too, but Pritzker has it coming."

*********************

They were doing better, they were almost there, but he couldn't let it go. Not quite.

And then a few days before Halloween, Nick came into the office and found Suzanne weeping quietly at her desk.

"Suzanne, what's wrong?"

She looked up, embarrassed. "It's nothing, it's just Matt, he..." She started to weep again. Matt was Suzanne's son—he was 26.

Nick took her hand gently and said, "come on, let's go into my office." He settled her down on his couch and closed the door.

"Is he all right? Is he hurt?"

She shook her head. "No, it's not that—it's Tina, his fiancée, she's...she broke up with him."

Nick sat with Suzanne for a while, listening quietly, patting her hand, and the story came out. Matt and Tina were only three months away from their wedding, and he'd cheated on her. He and his friends got really drunk on a trip to Miami Beach, and he had a one-night stand with a girl he picked up in a bar.

Tina heard about it through mutual friends, and she'd broken the engagement, returned Matt's ring, and wouldn't speak to him.

Suzanne said, "Matt knows he screwed up, Nick. He's beside himself. He's apologized, he's told her he would do anything to make it up to her, promised he'd never cheat again so long as he lives. He asked about counseling...

"But she's just so hurt, so angry. And it breaks my heart—not just because Matt's my son, but because they were so good together. They really made each other happy. It's just such a waste, you know? A great relationship, thrown away because of one really dumb mistake."

They talked about it for a while, and Suzanne eventually started to feel a little better. She gave Nick a half-smile.

"Thanks for listening to me, Nick. I'm sorry to get so emotional, but—"

"Don't be silly, Suzanne. I'd be upset too. I'm sorry for Matt. Maybe after some time has passed, Tina will give him another chance."

Suzanne went off to the Ladies Room to wash her face, and Nick finally sat down to work. But the story kept popping back up in his mind all day, and not surprisingly it made him think about himself and Emily.

On the drive home he asked himself the big question—the one he'd wrestled with over and over again back in the summer: was he better off with Emily or without her? And the answer was pretty obvious.

Did he want to be a divorced guy, seeing his boys a couple of times a week at best, living in some apartment, trying the whole dating scene again? No.

Did he think Emily would ever cheat on him again? Well, nothing in this life is ever a sure thing, but: No.

Had she owned up to her stupidity, and done everything she could to make it up to him? Yes.

Did he still love her, and did their family life make him happy? That was the easiest one of all: Yes.

He called Emily from the car. "Hi, Em. Listen, do you think you could get a sitter on short notice? I'd like to take you out to dinner tonight.

"No, nothing special is going on, I just want some time with my wife.

"Yeah, okay, I'll be home in 20 minutes, you can tell me then. Thanks, bye."

*********************

Nick was full—he loved the veal Saltimbocca at Bistro Romano—and Emily was a little bit tipsy. She'd had most of their bottle of wine, since Nick was driving.

He paid the sitter, watched until she got her car started and drove away, then locked the front door and turned off the outside lights.

Emily was waiting for him by the stairs, smiling, but he said, "come into the kitchen with me, would you Em? I'd like another half-glass of wine."

She'd been wary at first during dinner, wondering if something serious was on Nick's mind, but they'd had a nice time, and now she was feeling relaxed and happy.

They sat, and Nick told her about Suzanne's son and his broken engagement. He reached across the table and took Emily's hand.

"I've been thinking about it all day. Such an unhappy ending—such a waste of what sounds like it was a great relationship.

"I don't want the unhappy ending, Em. I want this to be over, okay? You and me: we're back. We're done with it. You did something really fucking stupid, I was hurt and angry, we worked on it, and now we say enough.

"Is that okay with you?"

Emily smiled broadly, holding his hand tightly. There was one tear sliding down her cheek.

"Of course, honey. You know that's what I wanted all along.

"It doesn't mean I'm going to stop feeling ashamed of myself, though. That's going to take a while longer."

He said, "well, I don't mind if you keep trying to make it up to me from time to time."

Suddenly he laughed. "You know, I read a story once about a guy whose wife had cheated on him. It was months later, and she was trying to get him to forgive her. She said, 'if you'd stay married to me, I'd blow you at the mall if you wanted me to!' "

He grinned at her. "So how about it, Em? Will you blow me at the mall?"

Without cracking a smile she said, "nope. But if you come upstairs with me right now, I'll blow you in the hall."

They both laughed. Nick reached over and took her hand. "It's a deal," he said.