Three is a crowd: David back in the saddle. For now 

(Continued from last issue)

David and Diane have been married for years; then there is Julie, the young secretary whose axis collides with the couple’s in ways none of them saw coming.

DIANE

I did not want to tell Tracy about the disastrous results of my ‘plan’, but we had been friends for so long that it was impossible to hide the truth from her, and within an hour of arriving at the boutique, we were sitting in the back office with me telling her all about it.

“I won’t say ‘I told you so’, but I will remind you of what I’ve said all along – forget about that woman and her child, and concentrate on your home and your children. You can’t stop a man from straying; all you can do is make sure you and your children are catered for,” she said, once I had finished the whole sorry tale.

“I know, but he made it very clear that he intends to not just cater for this bastard, but be present in his life too; that’s bound to take away from the children and me, both financially and physically!” I argued.

“That’s why you’ve got to make sure you and the children are covered. This is the time for you to up your demand list; if your shopping lists have been worth five hundred thousand, make them eight hundred, if the kids have needed new shoes and clothes every three months, make it every other month, or even better, every month. As for the physical aspect, employ the children themselves; let them ask him for outings every weekend; basically, have them ask for his time and he won’t be able to turn them down.”

“I hope you’re right and that plan works better than mine did.”
“I know I’m right, and my plans always work better than yours do,” she answered wryly.

I could not argue with that and besides, while it might not be a final solution, at least it was a place to start.

JULIE

The next few days went by in a blurry daze, and I felt like I was operating on auto-pilot. David proved he had meant it when he said he was going to be a regular part of Junior’s life, by once again beginning to pass by the apartment each evening after work.

Although I was glad he was keeping his word and spending time with Junior, I was not able to bring myself to emotionally
connect with him the way I had in the past and made myself scarce whenever he arrived, leaving him with Junior while I busied myself in the kitchen or with some other mundane chores.

If he was put off by my stand-offish attitude, he did not let it show and I appreciated that he did not push for more than I was willing to give, especially when in comparison, he gave so much.

Even though I did not ask him for it, he gave me enough money to not just satisfy my mother, but more than cover the additional cost of having Sandra over for the holidays, and I was grateful for his generosity.

It did not erase all that he had done and put me through, but it did show that he was trying to make amends and that dulled the resentment I had been feeling towards him over the past few weeks. While things between David and I were far from picture perfect, at least they were cordial, which was more than I could say for Kenneth and I.

So far, he had only called once since my return to the apartment, and then, only to find out if I had indeed gotten money for my mother from David. When I confirmed that I had, he had hung up on me, and I had not heard from him since.

Even though I was too proud to call him, the truth was that I missed everything about him; from how easy and comfortable talking to him was, to how good he was with Junior, to how right making love and waking up beside him in the mornings felt.

DAVID

Despite the occasional awkwardness between Julie and me, I was generally pleased with the progress I made with her over the past few days.

When I had first started coming by the apartment again after work, she would literally hide in either the kitchen or bedroom for ninety per cent of the time I was there, but that was slowly changing; I was confident that we would eventually get back into the good space we had once shared.

On the home front, Diane was slowly coming round as well, and although we had not been intimate since Junior’s results had come out, she had moved back into our room which was a start.

I had, however, noticed that she had started being needier as well; she had never been one to check up on me, but now, like clockwork, she would call at seven on the dot to ask where I was and when I was getting home.

Although she had always handled the children’s after-school routine single-handedly, she all of a sudden now needed me to help them with their homework, and if I did not, it remained undone.

Her neediness unfortunately extended to my money as well; while we had argued about finances in the past, and more specifically her overspending, I thought we had resolved that particular problem, until I once again noticed that the household expense account was getting depleted at an alarming rate.

I did not want to bring it up and make an issue out of it, especially since I suspected she was simply insecure, in which case the solution lay in re-assuring her of her position as my wife and the mother of my first three children.

Ironically, the way to do that brought me right back to where I started when I first began a relationship with Julie – striking a balance between my wife and lover, and my home and love-nest.

margaretwamanga@yahoo.com