Warning to the reader: this chapter, as many of you know, will deal with the issue of abortion. If that is a sensitive or difficult topic for you, you may want to skip down the page a bit once the conversation and plot turns that direction.
*****
The next week was the week before finals, so I was busy at work, trying to wrap up the semester. Gina was frantically busy getting her work done for the end of her semester. She admitted that she had "spent more time fucking than studying" but then said she regretted none of it, except maybe some of the studying. Consequently, we didn't plan to see each other at all that week, aside from the occasional jog, and I knew I wouldn't see her during exam week, though I half expected a booty call at some point when she got stressed.
In the meantime, Lynn and I made it to the first counseling session. The counselor quickly got reacquainted with us while looking over her notes from the year before. Once she learned that Lynn had left and been gone for 9 months after our last session, she asked me to leave the room for a bit. I went into the waiting area and flipped through magazines for 20 minutes. Then Lynn came out to the waiting area and the counselor motioned for me to join her in the office. Our counselor was about my mom's age, but she was very professional and direct, not at all exuding a motherly "vibe."
"I'm sorry to make you wait, but in situations where a wife leaves like that, there's usually some abuse involved, and I had to have a private, frank discussion with your wife."
My eyes widened, and I realized that in some ways the deck was stacked against me if I pushed for a divorce. The husband seldom comes out looking like anything but a bad guy.
"I'll call Lynn back in a moment, but first I need to ask you one or two things. While Lynn was gone, did you have a relationship with another woman?"
Since Lynn already knew, I saw no reason to lie. "Yes. Once I thought Lynn wasn't coming back...and she wasn't calling me...and..."
"It doesn't matter. I'm not asking you to defend yourself. I'm just trying to get the facts that we need to deal with together. So my next question- does your wife know about this?"
"She knows it happened- that's all."
"Good. That's...that's actually good. And are you still in a relationship with that woman?"
"Yes."
She held a good poker face during these questions, but she winced the slightest bit at that news.
"Do you plan to continue in that relationship?"
"For now, yes. I don't know if it's going to work with Lynn- I'm pretty hurt by all that she did. And I'm...I love this other woman. It's too soon to say if we have a future together, but I'd been planning to work on that when Lynn reappeared..."
"OK. Well, I'm going to bring Lynn back in here, and it's not my place to tell her anything about this other woman- that's your decision to make. But am I right in saying that if I asked you to cut off contact with her that you would refuse?"
"Definitely. I'd sooner leave Lynn."
"I was afraid of that. But you're still willing to work on your marriage? Trying to have it both ways?"
"No. I'm willing to wait while Lynn shows me that she's going to work on it, too. Then I'll be ready to think about it. I'm not going to leave a good thing just to go back to the shitty marriage I had last year."
"I hope it's not too late at that point, Gareth, but we can only work with what we have, not with what we want." She stood up and opened the door, beckoning to Lynn.
The three of us talked for a another ten minutes, and then after some questions about our schedule, she gave us our homework assignment.
"Two key things were missing from your marriage when Lynn left. Communication and time together." Mentally I added a third- sex. "So this week, Lynn, you are going to answer all of Gareth's questions about what you were thinking and feeling and why you made the choices you made- leading up to and following your departure. Gareth, your job is to ask questions. Lots and lots of questions. Don't give up until you are satisfied that you can explain to me what was going on. I took notes on my discussion with Lynn, and I will ask
you
questions next time to see how well
you
can recount what she shared with me."
Lynn and I both shifted in our seats. That sounded both easy and hard.
"As for time together, Gareth you naturally are upset and want some distance. But if you are serious about giving Lynn a chance, you have to be present, you have to give her the opportunity. And so for the next week, you are to sit down together for at least two meals a day. No interrogations during the meals, Gareth, and try not to argue. Just have meals together- go out if you can. Talk. Get reacquainted. Try to feel like a couple again. Go back to your favorite places together. If you can do all that, it will be good progress. Don't come back if you haven't done it, OK?"
"That's it?" we asked together, me with relief, Lynn with disappointment. Without having discussed it, I think Lynn and I both expected the sex assignment again- Lynn with hope, me with some reluctance. Surprised by our reaction, she looked up from her folder, peering through her glasses.
"Yes...that's all for now. You'll find out that it's plenty. I hope to see you next week- same time."
*******
It wasn't an easy week at first. I asked a lot of questions, many of which made Lynn uncomfortable or upset, but she answered them. I still stayed in the guest bedroom, and we had breakfast together every morning. Lynn came to campus a few times, either to bring me lunch or to take me out for lunch. We went to a few nice dinners. Our conversation stayed civil over meals, and after a few days we even laughed together over some story from our past.
During one of our lunches that week, we were in my office, Lynn sitting across the desk from me, both of us having lunch meat sandwiches that Lynn had prepared. There was a knock on my door and I said, "Come in."
I started choking on a bite of my sandwich when Gina opened the door. Fortunately, Lynn's back was to the door, so she didn't see Gina's reaction- a mixture of surprise and disappointment. Lynn turned around while I took a drink of water, and Gina said, "Oh, I'm sorry Professor. I am just...stressed out over a...paper. And I was hoping you could clear up a few things."
"Oh...well...the, uh, TA should be around this afternoon...or you can find me after class."
Lynn watched Gina casually during our stilted conversation.
"Yeah, I saw the TA and he...couldn't really find the problem. I was hoping you could...put your
finger
on it."
How did she manage to say that without laughing?
