Since their marriage, nearly twenty years back, Adam had been a devote husband and solid family man. He met Sheri in his first year of college. Their "chance" meeting explained to him as contrived, by Sheri. That explanation came, one night, in the throws of sexual bliss. They had laughed over Sheri's devious planning. It was a side of her that intrigued him. Throughout the years, he remained happy and content β or so he felt. Adam was about to find out that happiness is relative, in his case, very "relative" in deed.
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Chapter One
It was surprise party. Adam hated them but, for love of his wife, he put up with them. He cherished her laughter and would have done nothing to extinguish the loving look on her face, at such times. The cleverness she had shown in college, somehow, diminished over time and no matter how hard she tried Adam was always, one-step, a head of her and her planning. So it was with no surprise, some reluctance and, in truth, even dread that Adam drove home that hot summer day. "Get it over with β it's only a couple of hours." He muttered to himself.
Adam's commute was not particularly long, by today's standards. It was 45 minutes at best, an hour worse case. He felt good about having his, personal, quiet time before arriving home. Jake, his son, had moved out. Adam, smiled to himself, as he thought about his children, driving along that day. He was thankful Jake had taken their parental guidance and continued his schooling, going on to college. Amanda, his daughter, away for the summer, was next. That fact saddened him for some reason. He shrugged off the sadness, liking it to simple parental worry, and tried to enjoy the passing roadside scenery.
Soft light of the setting sun filtered through the tall pines along Clarksgrove Road. He was still, some, twenty minutes away from this house. He had fallen in love with that particular stretch of road. At the end of several different out turns sat Roberts Lake, a place of serenity and memories. A smiled curled the corners of his lips, as he recalled the many days and nights of hot love making between he and Sheri, at Roberts Lake. Amanda was conceived at the lake, a special memory for Adam and 'Surprise parties aside β it had been a good life.' He thought, catching sight of one particular turn out they had used frequently. Adam mentally ignored the grammatical error, seeming to indicate his life near over.
Braking hard suddenly, Adam controlled the skidding stop and quickly turned onto the gravel road, he approached. He had no idea what he was doing or why, only that the memories of those long past days were on his mind. (Strange how memories can make you do impulsive things at times.) He had not placed a call to Sheri about coming home, in years. He was like clockwork, never feeling the need. For the first time, Adam grabbed his cell phone. He punched the speed dial number, calling Sheri.
"No babe, nothing wrong β just ran a little late. I should be home in...Oh and hour or so, no later. Yeah, love you too, bye." He gave no indication he knew about the party. Adam flipped the cell phone closed and continued the drive down the gravel road, taking his time, as memories continued to flood his mind.
Coming to the end, he turned into a small clearing, over looking the peaceful lake. The late day sun bounced off small waves like diamonds toppling and rolling on a table. His thoughts returned to the past and he sighed, "There's no future in the past buddy." Wondering where he had heard that phrase before. He got out of the car and leaned against the front hood, with arms crossed on his chest, staring into the lake water.
Adam was like many men. Unable to admit to recent thinking as "mid-life" in any way, he only knew something was wrong and it bothered him. He felt the chest heaviness of guilt, having to admit he and Sheri were "on-the-rocks". Their sex life dwindling, they fought a little too often, mostly over stupid things, and not one battle really scratched the surface of their problems. Adam's guilt, in part, came at knowing he had put little effort into revitalizing their love life. He had grown tired of trying.
The blame game had started slowly, escalating over months and years. As one might expect, their love life suffered most. "DOA - Christ, why does she do that? I mean God - lying there like a dead fish until she thinks I'm done, what the hell happened?" He muttered aloud, thinking about their failed sex life, as he walked towards the lake.
Pausing to skip a rock across the nearly calm lake surface, Adam tried to take stock of him self. "I'm still young. Hell, so I'm turning 38 β what does that mean these days?" He said angrily, to no one but the trees and growing night. He continued to voice his thoughts, as if verbalizing could somehow make his thinking more convincing.
"I'm fit, trim and God damn healthy β if you want to believe Doc Thornton, so what gives? Oh, and by the way, pretty damn good looking too!" He yelled out angrily and skipped another rock. He made the rocks and lake pay for the anger he felt, until his arm started to hurt.
'Fuck it. Guess we just go on like we are, maybe something will change.' It was his last thought, while looking at the lake, tossing his last rock. During his return to Clarksgrove Road, Adam cursed his stupidity for going to the lake in the first place; and set about trying to clear his thinking. 'The party you shit β don't blow it!' He timed his drive and, as promised, arrived home within the hour he had told Sheri. There was nothing on his face to indicate his earlier thoughts. He looked happy. Mentally, he reminded him self to look surprised, as he opened is car door.
Had Adam truly felt and been as he looked he might have noticed something strange. There were no cars in his circular drive. The triple garage doors were closed, there were simply no cars to be seen anywhere. One might think that would seem odd to him, at least peak his curiosity, if this was to be his 38th birthday party, right? Adam grabbed his brief case and, with a purposeful stride, approached his front door, stealing himself against what he was sure to be a loud, SURPRISE β HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!, greeting. Adam opened the front door, after getting his "surprised" mind set in place and the start of a smile.