Our night was cut short for the usual reason. Jenny and I got into a fight. It was becoming a regular thing the last six months. We had seven good years of marriage, but the last 8 years things had steadily turned cold between us and the last six months were one fight after another. We had been growing apart for years. She resented giving up her job when she had our daughter, Vicky. It wasn't like we hadn't talked about how our lives would change if she had a child. But she was resenting that change in her life. I kept working because I had the better paying job as an electrical engineer than her former job as a retail manager.
That night we started fighting at a birthday party for our friend Larry, thrown by his wife Pat at their house. Someone asked me how my daughter was doing, and when I said she was great and we got along like best friends, Jenny jumped in with her venomous fangs. "Sure, it's fun when you don't have to be stuck at home all damn day with a brat." I was furious, mostly because she made it sound like taking care of our daughter was some sort of terrible task. And she called our daughter, the light of my life, a brat, which was ridiculously far from the truth and, worst of all, she did it in public, in front of many of our friends. So I said "If someone thought you were worth paying enough to go to work, I'd love to stay home and take care of Vicky. But you're not." We were suddenly the Battling Bickersons, in front of 20 people, including some close friends. We had to leave before dinner was served.
It was icy silence in the car on the ride home, at first. Then it started up again. She accused me of not respecting her and I accused her of being an indifferent mother. We fought most of the rest of the way home. When we pulled into the driveway I said "I've got to take Christie home. I have to pay her for the full evening. Thanks for wasting our money."
"Waste some more. Check into a motel tonight. I don't want to see your face" Jenny said with contempt dripping from her voice as we walked in the door.
"Fine. The bed there will be much warmer without you in it, Ice Queen." Things were REALLY bad with us. "I'm just getting a change of clothes."
"Take them all, for all I care."
"Maybe I will!" I shouted as she stormed upstairs.
"Mr. Green? Is everything all right?" Christie Chen, our sitter, was right there, on the couch, watching a movie.
"Um, not exactly, Christie. Don't worry about it. I just need to get a couple of things and I'll drive you to your apartment. And I'll pay you for the full night." I went upstairs as Jenny shut herself in the bathroom. I packed a change of clothes, shorts and a shirt to sleep in, sneakers, a few other things. I needed my toothbrush and deodorant and a couple of other personal items. "Jenny, let me in. I need some stuff from in there." Silence. "If you don't let me in, I can't leave."
She swung the door open and stormed past me. "I wouldn't want to keep you from leaving. Be quick. The sooner the better."
I grabbed what I needed, zipped my bag shut, and started to go downstairs when I thought about Vicky. I felt terrible leaving her, but until I figured something out besides a motel room, I couldn't take her with me. And I wasn't going to leave her with that witch I was married to. Not for the long term. I stopped by her room, where she was watching one of her DVDs, but not really paying attention. Obviously, she heard everything that transpired from the moment Jenny and I got home. It broke my heart, actually shredded it to pieces, to see how sad she was. Jenny and I had to get a divorce. The hurt from that would be much easier for Vicky to bear than the almost daily fights she had been listening to for months.
I squatted next to her and touched her head. "Hey, my Angel. I have to tell you something." She didn't look up at me, just sat there with that sad, hurt look that ate at my soul. "I have to take Christy home, but I'm not coming home after. Mommy and I need a little space from each other tonight. I will be back home tomorrow. I promise."
She finally looked at me and, with tears forming in her eyes, she said "Take me with you, Daddy. Mommy doesn't love me." Then she was crying openly.
I took her in my arms and stroked her long, almost jet black hair. "Honey, I can't take you with me. You need to stay here. I need you to be a big girl tonight. And don't say that, that mommy doesn't love you. She loves you more than anything in the world. She's just having a little trouble showing it right now. But she loves you just as much as I do, sweetie."
I held her while she cried but I had to leave, to take Christie home and just get out, away from Jenny. "I'll see you tomorrow, sweetie. I'll be back by early afternoon. Who's my Angel?"
"Me" Vicky said in her little voice. "And you're mine, daddy."
I gave her one last hug, a big big hug, and then I had to go. I hurried downstairs and said to Christie "I'm ready. Let's go, kiddo."
Christie got up, looking uneasy. "Mr. Green, if there's something going on here, you can just call me a cab. It's not a problem."
"No, it's ok. I have to get out of here anyway." I held the door while she got her purse and we walked to my car.
A word about Christie. The word is HOT. She was 20, Asian-American so she had thick jet black hair that went down her back. Beautiful in every way. A stunning face with warm, open features, 5'7" and curvy with amazing legs. 34C breasts (I found out later). She was wearing tight jeans that hugged her butt and her thighs. The thoughts that go through a man's head when his wife hasn't put out in over a year. The fact that she was so good with Vicky was a great plus. She loved sitting for Vicky, and Vicky adored her.
Christie was a junior at a local college, living in an off campus apartment with a roommate. Her family was very well-to-do and they supported her, but in addition to having a roommate, she worked as a sitter to cut down on costs for her family, so she was a very responsible girl. She had been sitting for us the last year and a half, and normally she would have driven herself but her car was in the garage. I didn't mind giving her a lift. It wasn't like I was anxious to check into a cheap motel by myself for a night of miserable introspection. This was a diversion, even if just for 15 minutes.
"Mark, are you sure you're ok? You look very upset."
"Yeah, I guess I am. Troubles with Jenny as you've noticed."