Simply Complicated (7 page)

When he arrived home, he could not stop thinking about Susan telling Jake about their affair. He knew what he had to do but he wasn’t sure how to accomplish it. If she was looking and acting as bad as Jake described, he knew he would have to end their relationship very carefully. Since he and Monica were scheduled to leave town for their romantic vacation the next evening, he thought telling her it was over before he left was his best bet.

The next day he called Susan and told her that they needed to talk. She was thrilled to hear his voice and said she couldn’t wait to see him. She was getting off work early and would be available to meet around lunchtime. Ken said he wanted to meet at her place, which made her really happy—whenever they met at her place they ended up sleeping together.

When he arrived at her apartment she was dressed provocatively. She ran up and kissed him. She could tell by his kiss that something was wrong.

“What’s the matter, baby?” she asked.

“You know what’s wrong. You know what you did, so stop pretending,” said Ken, angrily pushing her away.

“What are you talking about?” asked Susan innocently, still pretending she had done nothing wrong.

“Come on, Susan. Did you really think Jake wouldn’t tell me that he had lunch with you and you told him all about us? He also mentioned your little activities in his office. How could you do that?” said Ken angrily.

Susan was speechless. She really believed Jake would keep quiet.

“Wait, baby—let me explain. I had to tell Jake about us in order to find out where you had gone for your vacation. If you had told me that you were leaving in the first place, then I wouldn’t have had to contact Jake at all.

“I’m tired of being your mistress. I think it’s time you tell your wife about us. I’m ready for you to fulfill your promise of marrying me,” said Susan as she began to cry.

“I can’t trust you anymore because you broke your promise of not telling anyone about us. I could never marry anyone I cannot trust. It’s over between us. Don’t call me anymore. I want nothing to do with you ever again,” said Ken angrily.

Susan was shocked. She knew he would be angry but she never expected him to break off their relationship. She fell on her knees and sobbed crying. She begged Ken not to leave her.

“I promise not to betray you again. Please don’t do this. I can’t breathe without you. We belong together,” cried Susan, her hair disheveled and face splotched with tears.

“Get up and stop making a fool out of yourself. I hate for it to end this way but I have no other choice. Now come on and get off the floor,” said Ken as he tried to help her to her feet.

As she stood she began grabbing at him. “It’s not over. I won’t let it be over. I’m sorry baby—I really am sorry,” cried Susan as she kissed his neck and unbuttoned his shirt.

Ken knew sleeping with her was a bad idea but he never could resist her sexually. He thought it might make the breakup less painful for her if they connected one last time. She believed if she could get him to have sex with her that he would change his mind.

They had sex that afternoon and in her mind things were back the way they were. To Ken, the relationship was over and the sex was a way of saying goodbye.

Ken and his wife left for their vacation the next day. During their flight, he couldn’t help but think about Susan and what had taken place the night before. He had never seen her act that irrational before. He never expected that his affair with her would end this way. In fact, he never thought about how it would end. He knew he would never leave Monica for her even though he gave her the impression he would.

He was relieved it was over. He could tell she had gotten too attached and it was a matter of time until she snapped. Her telling Jake of their affair was the push he needed to end it.

Ken decided that he was going to use this vacation with Monica to make up for all the times he came home late because he was with Susan. Although she had no idea he was seeing someone else, she knew something was different about him and their relationship and she often asked him what was wrong.

He felt guilty for lying to her and decided to use their vacation to make up for it. They spent every day taking care of each other. They laughed, played, talked, and did everything a married couple should do to show how much they love each other.

He began to appreciate his wife and his life with her even more and soon came to the realization that his relationship with Susan was the worst thing he could have done.

He was so glad it was over. He was even happier that Monica never found out.

When they returned from their vacation, Ken and Monica’s relationship had gotten better. For the first time in months, Monica felt close to her husband. She had felt him drifting away from her and wasn’t sure what to do.

She tried talking to him about it but he would only tell her that work was getting stressful. She knew it was something more but she did not know what.

Even though his behavior and attitude changed towards her she continued to be a good wife and mother. She never started any arguments or fights with him.

She continued to take care of him. She prepared his meals and took care of the house. More importantly, she never denied him sexually out of anger or retaliation for his change in behavior. Monica kept the promises she made to love him for better and for worse.

It was because of her loving spirit and ability to maintain her ladylike demeanor that Ken realized he did not want to lose her. He now realized how lucky he was and how hard it is to find a woman like Monica.
If only I had appreciated her sooner
, he thought.

While Monica picked up Marci, Ken decided to go to the office to check on a few accounts. Since it was Sunday, no one was there. After reviewing his files, he looked through the messages his secretary had taken for him. He was pleasantly surprised that he had not received any calls from Susan. He saw this as a clear indication that she believed him when he said it was over.

He soon realized that he had not checked his messages on his cellular phone. He had four messages. He wondered if they were all from Susan.

To his surprise, only one message was from her and she seemed very calm.
“Hello baby. I now realize that you need time to leave your wife. I want you to know that I’m willing to wait.

“I apologize for rushing you. After we made love last week, I realized even more that we are meant to be together. I love you and will talk to you soon,”
her message said.

Ken could not believe it. He was hoping that after their discussion she wouldn’t call him anymore. He really thought it was over. He decided to ignore her message.

Two weeks passed and no calls from Susan. Ken went home on time every evening to spend quality time with his family.

He was starting to feel like his old self again. Monica and Marci were happy he was home more. Things were falling back in place.

Just when he thought he had gotten away with his torrid affair, Susan showed up at his office one day.

“Hello, Ken,” said Susan.

When he looked up she was standing in his doorway. He didn’t know what to expect.

“Susan! What are you doing here?” he asked with a surprised expression.

“Relax, sweetheart, I had a meeting with Jake to review my portfolio and thought I would see you before I left. So how have you been, Ken?” she asked with a smirk on her face.

“I’ve been good. Things here have been very busy,” said Ken.

Although she was looking nice, Ken could tell that something about her was different.

“You look good,” said Susan as she walked in and sat in the chair where they had once had sex. She stroked the arm of it as she gazed at him.

“Thanks. So do you,” replied Ken, being careful with what he said.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in your office. Of course I remember this chair and what took place in it. Do you remember? Or is that something you’re trying to forget?” asked Susan sarcastically.

“What do you want, Susan? I really have a lot of work to do.” Ken wished she would leave his office.

“Okay Ken. I want to know why I haven’t heard from you. You have had more than enough time to tell Monica about our relationship and that you’re leaving.

“I must admit that I thought you were serious about ending our relationship when we argued, but when we made love afterwards, I knew we were still a couple and that you love me,” she said.

Ken was speechless. He couldn’t discuss it because he was still at work and surrounded by his coworkers. He was afraid if he said the wrong thing that she would cause a scene.

“This is hardly the time or place to have this conversation. We’ll have to do lunch soon. How does that sound?” said Ken, hoping she would agree.

“That sounds fine. When can I expect to hear from you?” she asked.

“Soon—I promise,” said Ken, opening the door to urge her to leave.

“Okay, Ken. I’m expecting you to keep your word. I also expect to see you at my place before the week’s over,” she said.

As soon as she left, he called Jake to see why he didn’t warn him that Susan would be in the building.

“Hey Jake, do you have a minute?” asked Ken.

“Sure man—what’s going on?”

“Susan stopped by my office a few minutes ago after meeting with you. She was acting as though we are still together. She wanted to know when I was telling Monica I was leaving,” said Ken.

“What are you talking about? I didn’t meet with Susan today,” said Jake.

“She told me that she was at the office because she met with you to review her portfolio. You mean she made the entire story up, knowing I would talk to you about it?” said Ken.

“I thought you said she understood that things were over between the two of you? Was this the first time she made contact with you since you broke up with her?” questioned Jake.

“She left me one voice message while I was on vacation and since I’ve been home she hasn’t contacted me other than today,” explained Ken, bewildered.

“You need to get a handle on the situation and make her understand that it’s over. If you don’t take control now she’ll try anything, including threatening to tell Monica, to get you to stay,” explained Jake knowingly.

“You’re right,” Ken agreed, “I think I’ll call her to meet on Friday. I’ll talk to you later.”

He called Susan and explained that he wanted to meet at her apartment on Friday. He knew he had to convince her that it was over but he was afraid of setting her off. He didn’t want her to do anything foolish like call Monica or come by his house.

It was nearly 12:30 in the afternoon when Ken left his office and drove to Susan’s apartment. She was so happy that he kept his word and wanted to come over.

As soon as he walked in she began kissing and undressing him. She didn’t notice that he was acting a little differently.

“Hey baby! I was so glad you called. I guess you’re finally realizing that we belong together. I have your favorite drink on the nightstand next to my bed as always,” purred Susan, gently dragging him toward the bedroom.

“I’m not drinking today. Susan, we need to talk about what happened three weeks ago,” said Ken as he attempted to grab her hands so she would be unable to undress him.

“I forgive you for trying to end it with me, Ken. Let’s put what happened behind us. I was hoping we could continue where we left off,” said Susan, kissing him on the neck again.

“Don’t do that. I really came to talk,” Ken was growing impatient.

“We can talk. Let’s go into the bedroom. That’s where we do our best communicating,” said Susan as she led him by the hand into the bedroom.

Before he could say anything else she pushed him on the bed and climbed on top of him. She was so into getting her needs met that she didn’t care that he was behaving differently.

Whenever she tried kissing him passionately, he would turn away. He eventually turned her around on her hands and knees so he wouldn’t have to face her as they had sex.

After they finished, Susan laid on her stomach with her eyes closed. Ken started gently running his fingers across her back.