Page 32 of Marriage and the Midlife Crisis

After a quick trip to the restroom to blow my nose and splash cold water on my face, I reluctantly turned my phone back on, deliberately ignoring the missed calls, voice mail messages, and texts from Ryan. Instead, I focused on the three missed calls from Jen. Tapping her name on the screen, I took a deep breath and waited for her to answer.

“Oh, thank God. Ryan called me, looking for you. Are you OK?”

“Yes,” I croaked, then cleared my throat. “Well, physically, I’m fine at least,” I amended with a bitter chuckle. “Mentally, I’m…”

My breath caught as a sob rose up in my chest, and it all came pouring out. The shirt with the makeup and perfume, the thong, packing the suitcase, the stripper, the lap dance, the lies – I told her the whole, ugly story.

“So, I told him I wanted a divorce, and I left,” I finished quietly once I’d run out of steam.

“Oh, honey,” Jen said through tears, “I’m so sorry.”

“It was Saturday. He cheated on my birthday.” My voice was barely a whimper, and I hated him for reducing me to that.

“Mel,” she hesitated. “For what it’s worth, he said that Mitch hooked up with some woman and he put her underwear in Ryan’s suitcase as a joke.”

I scoffed. “Right. That doesn’t explain the fact that Ryan admitted to being in a strip club in the first place, let alone the makeup and perfume I found on his shirt, and the guilty-as-fuck expression on his face. His lying game needs some work. He should ask Mitch the Bitch for some pointers.”

“Do you think Mitch would tell you what happened?”

“Mitch will back up whatever story Ryan comes up with, I’m sure, and he’d have no problem lying to me.”

“That’s probably true,” Jen conceded. “Where are you?”

I hesitated before answering. “I’m at the condo. Mom and Dad won’t be back until next month, and I know they wouldn’t mind. I just couldn’t face going to a hotel.”

“Why didn’t you come here? I hate the thought of you being alone right now, and I know Mark will agree when he gets home.”

“I’m a mess, Jen, and you guys don’t need to deal with that. Plus, Cody definitely doesn’t need that kind of drama.”

“He’s seventeen, hon. He’s used to drama, believe me. I get it, though. Do you want me to come over? Have you eaten? I can pick something up on my way.”

She shot the questions at me rapid-fire, without giving me a chance to answer. “I haven’t eaten, but I don’t think I could keep anything down right now anyway. I’m sure Mom has some cans of soup in the pantry if I feel up to eating later. I’ll be fine.”

“You didn’t answer my first question. Do you want me to come over? I can bring wine and we can talk…or plan for Ryan’s terribly painful and tragic demise.”

I smiled sadly. “I don’t think I’m up for company tonight. I may take you up on that tomorrow night, though.”

“You’re not going to work tomorrow, are you?”

I sighed, knowing there was no way I was in the right frame of mind for that. “No, I’ll send an email to Neela tonight and request some time off. I don’t think it will be a problem.”

Jen agreed, then told me that Mark had just pulled in the drive. “What do you want me to tell him?”

Not wanting to ask her to keep secrets from her husband, I told her she could tell him everything, before adding, “If he wants to call me, please ask him to wait until tomorrow. I don’t think I can go over it all again tonight.”

“Will do, hon. We love you, and we’re here if you change your mind about coming over to stay. Call if you need us.”

“Jen,” I hesitated, then pleaded, “Please don’t tell Ryan where I am. I’m not ready to talk to him and I don’t want him showing up here.”

“I won’t tell him a thing, except that you’re safe, if that’s OK with you.” She paused, then offered, “He sounded worried sick when he called me.”

“He should have thought of that before he fucked a stripper.” I didn’t even try to temper the bitterness of my reply.

“Agreed,” Jen said. “Maybe I’ll point that out to him.”

Once I’d ended the call, I shot off a quick email to my boss to let her know I needed to take a few days’ personal time due to an urgent family matter.

Before I logged out of my email, I noticed that I’d received a reply from Kim Frazier, the therapist I’d reached out to yesterday, confirming that she had an opening late tomorrow morning, and would have another opening on Friday if tomorrow wouldn’t work.