Numbers the By

Numbers the By

At 10pm, I left for good.

At 9pm, we took a break. I stood outside in the light rain. She continued the argument, alone, in the kitchen. She broke a few dishes, cursed my name, and took a knife to our honeymoon photo.

At 8pm, She wanted me gone. She wanted me to remain. She wanted her pound of flesh. She wanted every drop of my blood. By this time, I had no recourse. I exhausted all of the reasons, without a single one holding fast.

At 6pm, we began the shouting match. What I did was wrong. What she did was equally wrong. Why either one of us knew what the other did was pure happenstance. Both of us claimed the moral high ground that neither of us were qualified to stand. My remorse for my actions surpassed my anger for hers. By her tone, I understood she held an opposite position.

At 5pm, the pizza delivery guy arrived. I paid for and tipped him for his service. The box seemed a little on the light side. None-the-less, I set our dinner on the table. She opened the box and wished she hadn’t. It contained a series of color photos of my last affair with her sister and my wife’s affair with my cousin. Needless to say, somebody has a flair for the dramatic.

At Noon, I asked her to leave because I had to clean the apartment before my wife returned from her business trip. She told me I should have a backbone and tell her our marriage was over. As much as I wanted the beautiful creature laying naked on the silk sheets, I wanted less drama in my life more. She knew what I was about to say. I knew she knew. Her departure coincided with one last kiss and the ominous whisper of a warning of events yet to come.

One week ago, my cousin arrived in his new convertible to pick up my wife for their conference in Vegas on Monday. I asked her why she did not fly out on Sunday for she already had the tickets. She told me she wanted to experience the drive across the desert while she had the chance. I should have known better as I bid them well, but I had other events on my mind and my calendar for the weekend suddenly opened up.