The Contingency Plan (The Lonely Heart Series) (16 page)

Putting the card in her purse, she sat on the bed.  The view of the shoreline engulfed her.  “I see why you retired.  This place is so peaceful.”
The place had already planted a seed in her mind. 

“When I was a boy, my father’s family had a house just down the street that was eventually sold by my dad when my mom left.  But some of my fondest memories were at that beach house.  So, I thought that I’d try to recapture some of that bliss.”  He leaned against the door and watched her. 

She watched him back, blinking slowly.  “I feel like there is so much that we need to catch up on.”

Sully smirked. “We can’t do it in a day and a half.  Maybe you should stay longer.”

The idea sounded tempting, but she shrugged it off. “You know that I can’t do that.”

“Can’t you?” Sully said, standing up straight.  With a suggestive wink, he grabbed the knob of her door.  “Get comfortable, and I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

When the door was closed, Charlie finally let go of a sigh, though she wasn’t sure if it was relief or disbelief.  This entire place was simply unreal.  It was a gorgeous getaway with a two amazing kids and one amazing man, and she was so confused at the moment until she wasn’t sure which way was up.

Pulling out her cell phone, she called her children back at home, who were being watched by her mot
h
er-in-law, Maria. 

“Hello,” Maria answered their house phone.

“Hi, Mama. It’s Charlie.  Just calling to let you know that I’m here in Virginia and I wanted to check back home to see how everyone was doing.”

“Alex is still at work.  He comes home tomorrow.  The kids are outside playing street hockey.  Is that something you let them do?”

“Yes ma’am,” Charlie said with a giggle.  “It’s fine.  They’ve been doing it for a couple of years now.  Don’t worry. No one gets hurt.  All the kids in the neighbo
r
hood play.”

“Okay, dear.  Well then everything is fine.”

“Thanks for staying over and watching the kids. I appreciate it.”  She truly meant it even though she was sure that Maria would still find a way to overstep. 

“No need to thank me.  These are my grandchi
l
dren.  Of course, I’ll do it for them.”  She paused and moved into another conversation.    Her voice was more high-pitched now.  “I did talk to Alex earlier today. He sounded like something was wrong.  Are you kids having problems?”

Charlie shook her head.  “Nothing out of the ord
i
nary.  We just need to reboot.”

“What is this
reboot
?” Maria asked. “A husband and wife shouldn’t spend so much time away from each other. Your work schedule is too much for this family, Charlene. You need to address it.”

Gritting her teeth, Charlie tried to watch her tongue.
After all, this was her husband’s mother. 

After first taking a deep breath,  she responded.  “I will talk to Alex about this when he comes home.  For now, thank you for watching the kids.”  Charlie rolled her eyes but kept her voice light and polite.

“You’re welcome, dear.  I’ll tell the children that you called,” Maria said, hanging up the phone.

Charlie laid her head back on the bed and pinched the bridge of her nose.  She was starting to get a headache.  Five seconds on the phone with that woman and she was ready to go and jump out into the bay.  But it had been like that for a while now. 

Alex’s mother was an old-school wife, who b
e
lieved in the traditional placement of a woman in the family, which was in the kitchen, at home, in a su
b
servient role  - not in the boardroom and damned sure not in the corner office.

Hell, maybe if her husband’s family didn’t push her so hard to quit her job, she would not fight so hard to stay in her position. In truth, she was tired of the long hours, exhausted by the high-pace and longing to spend more time with her kids.  But if she did come home, what would she be coming home to? 

Her husband was more like a roommate than a life partner; her house was more like a hotel than a home; and she had no real friends outside of Frank. 

The kids were in school, which meant that all day she would be at home doing nothing while the rest of the world simply moved on with her.  In essence, she was afraid that if she went home, then she would just disappear altogether. 

However, no one else could understand that, at least not the adults in her life.  The kids seemed to be much more sympathetic.  They were always happy to see her and understood when her work took her away from them.  In fact, she wondered if they ever co
m
plained at all or if it was just Alex using them as pawns in his game to completely obliterate her career. 

“What am I doing?” she asked herself, sitting up. “I have a day and half to spend with my other children and I’m sitting here thinking about Alex.”  Standing up, she shook him off.  She was sure that her problems would still be there waiting for her in New Jersey, when she returned.  There was no point in ruining her time here now.

169

The Contingency Plan

Chapter 10

Mid-Afternoon on a quiet Sunday, Alex was lying in his bunk watching cable television and eating cereal when his cell phone suddenly rang.  He knew that more than likely it was Charlie letting him know that she had arrived in Norfolk, so he almost let it go to voicemail. 
Almost.
  That was until he saw Lola’s cell phone number pop up on his screen.

Making a mental note to make a special ring tone for her, he quickly answered it. 

“Hello,” he said, feeling butterflies erupt before he could even hear her voice.

“How’s work?” Lola asked, walking through the grocery
store
with her cart. There was a sudden pep in her step as she heard his voice.  He actually soun
d
ed happy to hear her voice too.  

Alex grinned.  “Work is good and boring today.  I’m just watching television and chilling,” he said, making eye contact with his best bud Mason, who frowned at him. 

“Well, I got your text saying that you were hungry earlier, so I stopped at the grocery store to grab you something. Is it okay if I bring it down to you? I’m not far away.”  Lola waited to be let down, but she held her breath anyway.  All she could think about an
y
more was Alex.  And even though she felt guilty for pulling him away from his wife, she couldn’t help that he filled a void in her own life. 

Alex sat up in his bunk and looked at his watch, then peeked out of his window like he was looking for spies outside the firehouse.  “You want to come here?” he asked, debating with himself quietly. 
What was he doing?  This was getting close…too close
.  But he wanted to see her more than she knew. 

Mason stopped watching television and started to watch Alex. 
What the hell was going on with this dude?
  He’d been weird all day, and now he was acting like the fuzz was after him.

“Yes, if it’s okay.  I’ll just drop by and bring you something to eat,” Lola said with cheer in her voice.  “If you don’t think it will cause you any problems.”  She was testing him, seeing how far he was willing to go with her in this thing, or if he was just another man interested in keeping a secret on the side. 

Alex was so torn.  He wanted to see her, but this was like his second home, which meant everyone here knew everything about him, including the fact that he was married with kids and had never had female friends of any sort.  As soon as she showed up, the red flag would be called on the play.  It would be the talk of the firehouse.  But Charlie never brought him anything to eat.  She never took the time out of her day to do anything special for him.  And didn’t he deserve at least that?

“Hello?” Lola stopped pushing her cart.  She heard him breathing hard on the phone, but no words came out. 

Alex ran a nervous hand over his mouth.  Sweat was starting to form on his forehead.  “Yeah, I’m here.” 
Aww, fuck it
, he thought to himself.   “Sure, that sounds…that sounds great.  Just call me when you’re on your way, and I’ll meet you out front.”

Mason cracked a grin.
Sonofabitch
.  Alex Mend
o
za was cheating.  He shook his head and turned back toward the television, waiting for his friend to hang up the phone.  As soon as he did, he was going to crawl right into his ass. 

“Great. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes,” she said, pushing the cart again.  “Do you have anything in particular that you’d like?”  She asked with a smile.  He was different.  She wasn’t just throwing herself under a bus for him after all. 

Alex pursed his lips and shrugged. “Surprise me.”

“Don’t I always?” she asked suggestively.

Alex laughed.  “Yeah, you do.  I’ll see you in twe
n
ty.”  Hanging up the phone, he looked over at Mason and ran a hand through his hair.  “What?” he asked, defensively.

“You know
what
.  That didn’t sound like Charlie,” Mason said, putting his feet up on the desk in front of him.  His dirty boots left a mark on the top of the polished wood. 

“It wasn’t Charlie.  It was a friend,” Alex said, se
t
ting down his bowl.  “And she’s stopping by to bring me something to eat.”

Mason mockingly laughed. “So it’s finally ha
p
pened, huh?” 

“What?” Alex asked with a frown.  He tried hard to play stupid, but the harder he tried the more obvious he was. 

Mason and Alex had been friends for over nine years, so formalities and lines were not a part of their relationship. Plus, when two men put their lives on the line each and every day like they did for each other, they got a chance to say shit that other people could not. 

“You finally are stepping out on Charlie.”  Mason probed his close friend hard. He wanted very specific details on the chick that had outshined the love of Alex’s life after ten plus years of devoted faithfulness in the bonds of a very Catholic matrimony.

“I’m not
stepping out
on Charlie.” He was.  “She’s just a friend.”  She wasn’t.  “And she’s just bringing me something to eat, because she’s just nice like that.”  Alex could barely look at Mason. His lies tasted like sweat on his tongue. 

“You know that’s bullshit, right?” Mason said, pu
t
ting his hands behind his shiny bald head. 

“It’s not bullshit,” Alex said with almost enough conviction to make himself believe his abominable lie. 

Mason looked up at the ceiling and raised his voice. “It’s
bullshit
, man, with a capital B.  How long have you been fucking this girl?” His green eyes were burning through Alex now. 

Alex shook his head.  “I’m not…” He couldn’t co
n
tinue.  The truth was choking him.  And maybe talking to someone might make him feel better. 

Mason asked again, this time raising his voice over his friend’s.  “How long?”

“Almost a week now,” Alex blurted out.

“Who is she?”  Mason put his feet down and turned to his buddy. His belly slightly bulged over his blue uniform pants. 

“Lola…” Alex said so with a repressed smile.  Her name was like sunshine to him right now in the darkest part of his marriage. 

Mason laughed. “Oh, shit. The bar maid from the Drunken Monkey?”

Alex could hear the disapproval.  Defensively, he countered. “Yeah. She’s a good girl,” he said, walking to their door and closing it so that no one could hear them.  The door slammed.   Turning around, he became more serious.  “It’s not like you make it sound.  You know, like she’s cheap or something.”

Mason didn’t really care that Alex was defensive.  He pushed his friend further.  “Why her? I mean, true she’s a six on a ten scale, but she’s not Charlie. She’s decent, but Charlie’s a fucking ten.  You two have a good life – good jobs, great kids, a beautiful home.  She’s a freaking dream.”

“It’s all cosmetic,” Alex said, sitting back down on his bunk.  “Charlie and I haven’t been happy in a long time.  And do you know how hard it is to keep up with a ten as you call it?  Tens take a hell of a lot of work.  And Lola is not a six. She’s a total eight.”  As crazy as he was about Lola, he could not deny his wife’s many attributes, but maybe it was the attributes of a ten that he couldn’t stomach anymore.

“So you’re stepping out on Charlie with Lola?”  Mason sighed as he stated it again to get under Alex’s skin. “Dude, I’ve been where you’re headed and you know what?  It cost me everything.  Don’t do it.” 

“It’s already done,” Alex confessed. “And the truth of the matter is that I’m not sorry. I know that I should be, but I deserve to be happy too.”  He beat his hand against his chest. 

“And you think this random chick is going to do that for you?” Mason clasped his hands together. “I wish someone had given me some advice other than
wrap it up
and
cover your tracks
, because going back and trying to fix a broken marriage can be a lot like trying to fix broken glass.  I mean, I ran out on the Mrs. with Crystal.  Remember that mess?  I thought that she and I were meant to be, and you know what, she ran out on me as soon as she got wind of the fact that my alimony and fucking child support payments were going to take up most of my check.” Mason cringed at the thought of the woman still. 

They both laughed, but Mason was dead serious.  “Dude, you need to make damned sure before you do this that you’re making the right decision.” He didn’t want to see his friend throw everything away over a girl. 

Alex threw his head back.  “Look man, for all I know, what we have won’t even get out.”

Mason laughed harder now.  Now Alex was just being ridiculous.  “How can it not get out? She’s showing up on your job bringing you lunch.  She’s not trying to be discrete at all.  She wants everyone to know that you guys have something going on.” Mason bucked his eyes.  “And this is after a week?  Shit, in a month, she’ll be asking to be added to your fucking insurance.”

“Lola’s a good woman. She doesn’t want anything from me but attention and love.”  Alex didn’t like the idea of anyone attacking her because of his wrong deeds. 

But Mason wasn’t buying it.  “That’s what they a
l
ways say,” he said with a huff. He didn’t want to even get into the shit storm that his old mistress had caused for him.  Just the thought made him want to call his shrink.   “So what are you going to do with Charlie?”

Alex swallowed hard.  That was a question that he had been asking himself for a few days.  “I don’t know, dude. We just aren’t working out.”

“You keep saying that, but are you trying to make it work.  The time you’re spending banging this new girl, you could be spending on saving your marriage.”  Mason winked at his friend when he knew that he had gotten through to him. 

Alex sucked in a breath.  He knew his friend was right.  “But what if I don’t want to save it? What if I’m tired?”  It was the first time that he had actually acknowledged it, said it aloud.  And God in heaven knew that he needed an answer. 

Mason paused and put his hand on his friend’s knee.  “I can’t tell you what to do, but what I can tell you is that honesty is the best policy, starting with yourself.  If you lie to yourself about what you want and about what you are doing, you can’t be honest with your mate and she deserves that more than you deserve Ms. Lola.”

“Gee, thanks, Dr. Phil,” Alex sarcastically mi
m
icked before he stood up. “Look, keep this between us, will you?”

“Dude, the chick is headed up here.  Everyone in the firehouse will know in twenty minutes anyway,” Mason said with a frown.

“I’m going to meet her outside. I’m not inviting her up,” Alex explained in a low voice.

“Like it matters,” Mason said, grabbing the remote.  “Good luck, man. Put in a good word for me with Charlie.”

“Fuck you,” Alex said, walking out of the room. 

***

After talking to Maria, Charlie had decided not to call Alex at the firehouse.  His mother would get the message to him that she had landed safely.  Plus, she didn’t want him to ask any significant questions like what hotel she was staying at or who she was visiting on business. 

Normally, he asked well in advance, but this time he barely acknowledged that she was leaving.  Why?  The answer was clear.  She was losing him; she had lost him, but she didn’t know to whom or what yet. 

Once she was settled in her room as promised, Su
l
ly showed up and gave her a complete tour of the house.  Every room was exquisite, filled with little details that made it warm and cozy.  It was like she was home.  All she was missing was her boys.  How she would have loved for them to come on this trip and meet their sister and brother.  She would have loved to have told all of them the truth, hiding not
h
ing. 

This home was peaceful, and the people who lived in it were at peace.  She could feel it all around her. They surrounded themselves with each other, never worrying about being alone or being misunderstood.  She watched them as Sully prepared dinner.  Benny had beaten the steaks; Charlize had seasoned them; Sully had started the grill and poured the wine, and she had cut up the vegetables.  It was fun, full of moments that would never be forgotten.  They were simplistic in nature but oh so powerful.

Suddenly as she basked in the experience, she felt guilty. 

Why don’t you ever do this with Alex?
She qu
e
ried in her mind. 
Why do you have time to spend with these kids and not your own? 
There were many questions but few answers.  Somehow, she and her husband had become passing ships in the night; yet here she was reuniting with an old flame from nearly 18 years ago and she felt like she knew him better than she knew herself.

Coming back to the moment, she looked out b
e
yond the vast elevated patio lined with furniture, tables, lanterns and huge stainless steel grill and oven to the breathtaking view of gray foaming waves as they hit the sandy shoreline and then receded back out into the ocean.  Nina Simone played on the I-pod adding more ambiance to the already perfect night, and Sully kept the wine flowing plentifully.