Walk a Straight Line (24 page)

 

 

Colleen was furious at herself. She should have dropped a dime. She should have spoken up and said something. She should have yelled that Gina and Michael did not belong together. Yet, she hadn't. Who was she to interfere in somebody else's relationship? At least Gina was walking into this one with her eyes wide open. She, on the other hand, had walked into her marriage with her head in the clouds. It had all been about Terence. Colleen had been too far gone to think straight.

“Hello, Colleen.”

Speaking of the devil
, she thought
.
Colleen turned around and greeted her soon-to-be ex-husband. “Hi, Terence.” She only returned the greeting because there were a couple of nosy people looking their way.

“You look ravishing,” Terence complimented.

“Thank you,” Colleen answered nonchalantly. But on the inside, she experienced a great sense of feminine satisfaction and was pleased. Colleen had picked out this red dress. It was superhot with a split that did not end.

Gerry had almost had another baby when she saw it. She told Colleen that the dress did not look like something a matron of honor should wear. Gina had jumped to her defense. She was tickled at Colleen's choice and had supported it. So, Colleen wore it. She looked good, and she knew it.

She gave Terence a look that said, “This is what you've lost. Look and weep.”

“Can we talk?”

Colleen seemed agreeable and followed Terence into the parlor. Seeing her just magnified how much he really loved her, and how much he had lost.

Terence had no idea how to even try to get her back. He'd been looking forward to the wedding because he knew that Colleen would be here. He had prayed and fasted and repented to God, but Colleen was another matter. She just wouldn't bend.

Even Gina had been cordial to him as well. Terence could see the pity in her eyes, and he hated it immensely.

“Colleen,” he began, “seeing you here today, and at a wedding, no less, made me reminiscent of our own special day. I just wanted to let you know that I still love you and want to be with you. Do you think you can find it in your heart to give me another chance?”

Colleen snorted. “No, I have no intention of taking you back, Terence. I have endured too much with you. You are nothing but a wife-beater and a womanizer. I don't know what I ever saw in you in the first place.”

Terence sputtered at her vehement response. “Are you saying that you never loved me?” His heart rate increased, anticipating her answer.

“Love?”
Colleen spat and wrinkled her face in disgust. “You're a fine one to talk about love, Terence Hayworth. I doubt you even know the meaning of the word.”

Terence looked at Colleen. He couldn't believe that she was speaking to him like that. Where was his sweet-natured wife? Troubled, he asked, “Did I do this to you, Colleen, huh? Did I turn you into this cold, unfeeling person standing before me?”

“Yes!” Colleen spat. “You did. Congratulations, Terence. Consider the rose-colored glasses officially broken. I hope you're proud of yourself.”

“I hope you're proud of yourself.” Terence threw her words back at her with disgust and began to walk away.

Colleen stopped him. “Wait,” she said. Then she went into the dining area and over to the wall unit, where she had placed the manila envelope. She crooked her finger to make sure Terence followed. They went outside into the garden and out of earshot.

Silently, she handed it to him and stated, “Consider yourself served.” She walked off with her head held high.

Terence creased his brows in confusion. He tore open the envelope and snarled when he saw what was inside. He quickly perused the documents.

Colleen wasn't even filing for a divorce. She wanted an annulment. In other words, she wanted to erase the memory of him from her life. Forever. Terence crumpled the papers and stormed after Colleen. She was not going to eliminate him from her life like that! Who did she think she was?

Terence found Colleen talking and laughing with two men as if she hadn't just driven a pole into his heart. Anger assailed his entire being. Jealousy flooded through his pores.

He had reached his boiling point. Colleen was over there flirting as if she didn't have a care in the world, while he felt as if the entire world had caved in on him. Terence couldn't take it any more.

He dragged her back out to the garden. From the corner of his eye, he saw Gina and Michael follow him. Colleen almost tripped over her gown, but he was past the point of caring. He would have his say. Once they were at a distance, Terence yelled. “You're not going to erase me out your life, Colleen. I didn't sleep with her. I couldn't even . . . I couldn't perform.” His shoulders hunched with that admission.

Colleen merely looked at him as if he'd sprouted horns.

“Did you hear me, woman? I said
nothing
happened.” Terence was so riled that he was not thinking rationally. That was not the sort of announcement that one would make public—if ever.

His words sank in, and Colleen's mouth hung open. She turned her head and pointed to Gina and Michael who most assuredly had heard his admission.

He felt compelled to address them. “I'm sorry you had to hear this, and believe me, I'm mortified, but I'm desperate.” He looked at Colleen whose face was as ice. “I'm sorry.”

She turned her back to him and folded her arms.

He wished she'd scream or do something. But she hadn't.

Terence left immediately after that to lick his wounds. He spent the weekend in a slump, appalled at his uncontrollable behavior. What had possessed him to put himself on blast like that? He replayed the whole debacle in his mind. He hung his head. He had made a fool of himself and put his manhood on the line for a woman who didn't even want him anymore. “Lord, is there any end to my humiliation?”

Terence knew that it was time to say good-bye. He hadn't intended for things to go this way. Yet, he accepted that his actions had led to the downfall of his marriage. Colleen was right; he was a wife-beater and a womanizer, and he didn't deserve a woman like her. It was time he recognized that and moved on.

Terence opened his briefcase and retrieved his notepad and pen. He was going to write Colleen an apology letter and ask for another copy of the annulment papers to sign.

With a heavy heart, Terence started writing. Just as he was almost done, he heard the clank on the hotel door.

Terence opened the door to find Colleen standing there. Wordlessly, he let her in. He saw her wander aimlessly around the room until her eyes fell on the letter that he had been writing. She saw her name inscribed on it.

“May I?” she asked.

“Go ahead,” Terence said, with a sweep of his hands. “It was meant for you anyway.” While Colleen picked up the letter and read, Terence busied himself by cleaning up a bit. He couldn't imagine why she was here. Then he noticed that she had the crumpled annulment papers in her hand. Terence felt dejected.

He walked over to Colleen who was still busy reading and took the papers out of her hands. He made his way over to the little desk, took a deep breath, and reluctantly signed the papers.

Colleen looked up and saw him scrawl his name on the line. “What're you doing?”

“Signing them,” he said, stating the obvious. “I would think that's why you brought them here.”

She didn't answer, but she seemed to be stalling. Then she asked, “So, you meant what you said in this letter? You're ready to let me go?”

“Yes, I did.” Terence handed her the signed documents. She took them and looked at them.

Colleen took the pen from his hand. She rested the papers on the coffee table and poised the pen to sign. Then she stopped. “I don't want to do this.”

Terence reeled from her revelation. He leaned closer to make sure he'd heard her right. “What did you say?”

“I said that I don't want to sign these papers.” She tossed the papers in the waste bucket. Walking over to him, she gripped his shirt and looked him directly in the eyes.

“You said something at Gina's wedding that really got to me. You said that I was different, and I was. I was hard and calculating, and I didn't like that person. I liked the person that I was with you, Terence.”

Terence sounded like a dumb mule, but he asked anyway, “What did you say?”

“What I said was I like the person that I was with you,” Colleen repeated. “I came over here to ask for another chance, but your letter tells me that you're ready to move on.”

“I only said that because I thought that was what you wanted.” Terence beseeched her. He cupped her face with his hands. “Bump the letter. I love you, Colleen.”

“I know that—by the way, was that true what you said?”

Knowing exactly what she was talking about, Terence blushed with embarrassment. “Yes, it was. I never slept with Dana, but I did come close.”

Colleen thought about what he said for a moment, and then said, “I can appreciate an honest answer. Were there others?”

Lord, what do I do?
Terence hedged, but decided to give Colleen a straight answer. “Yes.”

Colleen dropped her head and shoulders with a new grief. She shook her head with obvious disbelief. She twisted her body toward the door. “I must have been mistaken thinking this could work.”

Terence rushed ahead of her and guarded the door. “It was before we got married, though. We were dating for such a short period of time, and even though I knew early on I wanted to marry you, I still . . . I was messing around with a couple of other women.” He felt his second chance slip through his fingers. He grabbed Colleen's shoulders and shook her.
Look at me.
His will prevailed, and she faced him. Water crystals were forming in her eyes. “Colleen, I did fool around. But not once after we got married. I meant those vows, and besides that one act of stupidity, I kept them. You've got to believe me. Our marriage has changed me. I'm not the same man I was a few months ago. And it's because of you.”

He waited while she debated. Finally, she spoke. “Thanks for telling me the truth, Terence. Even though it really hurts. I love you too much to not forgive you.”

When her words registered, Terence dared to reach out to hug her in an intimate embrace.
Thank you, Lord.
“I'm really sorry, Colleen. If you'll give me another chance, I promise you that you'll never have cause to regret it. Ever.”

Colleen looked Terence in the eyes. “I see your earnestness, and I'm going with my instincts here. I'm miserable without you, and I'm choosing to believe in your sincerity. I'm taking a chance. Just.don't.hurt.me.”

Terence gathered his courage to ask his wife a question. “Colleen, if you wanted to give me another chance, how come you brought the annulment papers?”

Colleen wiped her eyes and smiled. She went over to get them. “To do this.” After that last comment, she took the papers and ripped them up.

Terence smiled.

Colleen smiled.

Then he took a step toward her.

Colleen stepped toward him.

The two hugged, and then kissed. It was minutes that felt like an hour before they separated.

Colleen broke contact first. “I love you, Terence. I can't believe that you were writing me a good-bye letter. I think hellos are much nicer.”

Terence felt humbled by the renewed love reflected in her eyes. “Me, too,” he agreed. Then he shouted, “Thank you, Lord! Hallelujah!” Looking at Colleen, he confessed, “You don't know how much I prayed for this.”

Colleen went to the door and opened it. “Come on,” she said, with an outstretched hand, “let's go home.”

Terence grabbed her hand and held it. Desire sprang to life, and she drew him closer to her. Those were the last coherent words, she uttered for a long time.

 

 

Keith walked around his home feeling lonely. Eve had called with the news that Bass was her son's biological father. He admitted that he felt relieved, but it was accompanied by a momentary pang. He knew that a child with Eve only would've complicated things.

Michael and Gina were on a mini-honeymoon in the Poconos. Gina wanted to wait until summer for a full honeymoon, when they could explore Europe at their leisure.

His mother had also flown back to Cobb County, anxious to get back to her life and friends. Keith told her about his intentions to move, and she perked up at the idea. She felt the move would be good for him.

Keith looked at a snapshot of Gina and Michael he had on his mantle. He picked it up and studied it. He took his finger and ran it alongside Gina's face in a sweet caress.

“Good-bye, Gina,” he whispered, sentimentally, before placing the picture down.

 

 

Gina waited in the car. It was time to say good-bye to her and Michael's wonderful love cottage. Their time in the Poconos had been well spent. They had bonded as a couple.

Up here in the mountains, away from Keith, Gina could be happy with Michael. She realized that Keith was probably right. He had to move. Distance was the best solution in order for her and Michael's marriage to work.

Michael pulled the door closed with finality. He entered the car. Impulsively, she reached over and kissed her husband. “I love you,” Gina announced.

“I love you too, babe.”

Before he put the car in gear, Gina yelled for him to stop. There was something that she had to do. Michael looked perplexed but handed over the keys to the cottage. Grabbing her pocketbook, Gina ran back inside. She raced toward the bathroom and securely locked the door.

Slowly, Gina unzipped her pocketbook and retrieved a picture from one of its compartments. She looked at a picture of Keith she had taken at her house during winter break. She looked at it for several seconds before bringing it to her lips. Gina placed a lingering kiss on Keith's lips.

“I love you, Keith,” Gina whispered.

Then she slowly ripped the picture into tiny little pieces. She felt as if her heart would burst, but she knew that this was what she had to do. She was married, and she couldn't carry around any reminders of what could have been. She couldn't look back. She had to look ahead to her new life with Michael.

Gina rolled a wad of tissue paper in her hands and put the bits and pieces inside it. Then she threw the contents in the toilet before flushing the entire thing down the drain.

“Good-bye, Keith,” she said, and held onto her heart. She heard Michael toot the horn and knew it was time to go.

When she returned to the car, Michael helped with her seat belt. “Thanks,” Gina said and looked at him.

“You're welcome.”

He smiled. And, just like that, Gina knew everything was going to be all right. She closed her eyes, accepting her prince, and awaiting her happy ever after.