“Well?” Zach pushed. “What is this about? What have you been up to? Speak for goodness sake!!!”
Cathy looked as if she would crumble into rubble where she stood: her face was pale – she seemed about to give in. But she threw her head back in defiance and looked straight at her husband. “There’s nothing to tell you, Zach.”
“Oh really? There’s nothing to tell? There sure is a hell of a lot out there, darling wife. There’s a lot about you and your amorous affair in my absence. What? Is he the one sending you the mail?”
“I have nothing to tell you. And I can handle this on my own!” Cathy threw the words at Zach and started to walk out. As she passed by him, he grabbed her arm and whispered, “If you walk out of this door, we are done!”
“Watch me, Zach,” she replied in the same tone, and yanked her arm from his grip. She walked out and got into a taxi before she broke down completely. Her marriage was crumbling to pieces and she had just ruined the one opportunity to make things right with her husband. She had five days remaining to get the money Dale wanted. But who cared now? She had already lost the most important person in her life, the one for whom she had been willing to make the sacrifice. It was bad enough that he had deceived her, and he had made it worse by investigating her life in his absence and making her look like the complete harlot in the story. He just passed his judgment without hearing her side of the story. Oh, how she wished her mother was still alive to console her. She instructed the driver to circle the area before bringing her back to her starting point.
While Cathy was weeping her heart out, Zach was also battling with himself, wondering if playing offensive had done any good at all. He could have handled the issue in a more mature way, he knocked himself. His wife would have told him everything if only he had not allowed jealousy to overcome him. Now, he had lost his wife with a petty dare. He laughed dryly. Come to think of it, his wife had never challenged him or his authority before. Were it not for the situation at hand, he would have found it truly comic. Perhaps the benefit of his absence was his wife’s ability to fight back. But exactly what happened to make her so? He would never find out now. He shrugged. He looked at the piece of paper in his hand and shook his head again. To keep himself busy, he rearranged the messed up items in the bedroom, packed his backpack with a pair of tracksuit and water and left the room. If Cathy returned, he did not want her to see him. He did not know what to do with her now, and the time away will definitely reveal a rational way forward.
Zach went out and stopped a taxi. As it pulled away, he saw another one park in front of the residence. Out of curiosity, he asked his driver to stop for a moment. A miserable Cathy stepped out. Zach shook his head and instructed the driver to take him to the nearest guest house.
His face did not betray his raging emotions when he got to the reception area of the modest guest house. He made his requests: he did not know how long he would stay but he was to be given lunch only. Then he took his key and went to his room: 1173. He missed his wife already. He rubbed his face in his palms. How was he going to handle this?!
Three days passed quite swiftly for Zach as he sojourned in the guest house yet he did not have any headway as to dealing with his wife’s infidelity. Cathy was also struggling through the days. She had emptied her account of all that she had yet she did not have Dale’s 7,000. Dale had also been pestering her with his blackmail every day. She was afraid he would kill her, as his last mail had said.
She missed her husband and if wishes were horses, Cathy was sure she would have had one ride him to her immediately. She had not seen or heard from him for the past three days. In the light of things, she didn’t know what to hope for, but she missed him.
At that thought, she heard the doorbell. Fearing that it was another one of Dale’s mails, she tarried. But the ringing did not cease as it normally did. She armed herself with a kitchen knife and walked slowly to the door. She jerked the door open and aimed to slaughter but Zach’s military instinct intervened: he swiftly hit her wrist and the knife fell onto the threshold. Cathy yelped out of pain and stepped back. Zach entered the room and took her hand, apologizing even as he tried to soothe the pain in her wrist. He smiled at her bravery but he received a scowl in return and his smile disappeared almost immediately.
After carefully putting the knife away, he grabbed his wife in a fierce hug. “I’ve missed you, my love. The past three days have been hell on earth on a terrible mattress.” Cathy giggled.
Zach held on for a little while longer and held her at arm’s length. He looked into her eyes and said, “I’ll listen to you, Cathy. I love you and I need you in my life. Tell me what happened. Let me help you deal with this blackmail. Let me back into your life, my love.”
Cathy was stiff; she did not know what to say. She allowed Zach to lead her to the couch and sat her on his laps. She let him kiss her temples, her neck, even her lips, without moving.
Zach looked her in the eyes, the plea so clear in his, and said, “I will listen, Cathy. Tell me everything that happened.”
